Jeff Blankenship wrote:
> No need to get reactionary, or defensive.
Sorry, but what he said seemed to be on the riduculous side. Right or
wrong, it evoked a response.
> By what you (Loren) wrote,
> I think the tensioner failed,
The tensioner didn't exactly fail. To fail would imply that it no
longer applied tension to the timing chain. (which it sounds like it was
VERY close to!) It does sound as if the oil hole somehow became plugged
or restricted, unless it was some other problem. Either way, they're
going to look at it, and if you've got proof of a reasonable oil-change
ritual, they'll probably cover at least some of the repair. (since the
car is 2 years out of warranty, I'd be surprised if they picked up the
whole bill)
> and I hope we'll be able to document enough
> oil changes and prove that she met the maintenance schedule, and get some
> satisfaction from Saturn. If I give him confidence that reasonable care was
> exercised, I feel that he's willing to be my advocate.
No doubt.
> Yet the guy didn't mention how extroardinarily unlikely this failure was,
> and Saturn's recourse for a claim, until someone a bit more savvy (me)
> went in to talk to him. He was clearly ready to let my wife pay in full,
> make her feel guilty for not having all her work done there, and try to
> sell her/us excessive service. I can't feel 100% good about that. Alan
> is correct in picking up on that.
I'm guessing he probably asked the right questions, "I see you haven't
had your car serviced regularly at Saturn, has it had regular service
elsewhere?" You just did a better job of answering the questions than
she did. And if you have the receipts to back it up, hopefully they
will help you out.
> I still want to know where that 3 month oil change schedule comes from.
> I'll have a cow if that's in the owner's manual.
You made me look. (since I have the manual here at my desk anyway) The
manual says:
"Change the oil and filter every 3 months or 3,000 mi. if the car is
usually operated under one or more of the following conditions:
- Most trips are for less than 5 miles.
- It's below freezing outside, day and night.
- It's very humid outside.
- Your engine is often idling or running at low speed as in heavy
traffic.
- You're towing a trailer.
- You drive in dusty places.
- Your Saturn is used for delivery service, police, taxi or other
commercial purposes.
"If none of the conditions listed above apply, the oil and filter change
must be performed at or before 6 months or 6,000 miles."
Curious how they worded it differently for the 6k than they did the 3k.
(the "at or before" bit) But, unlike most manuals that I've seen, it
doesn't specifically say "x months or miles whichever comes first". I
wonder if they changed the wording in later manuals? (I'm too lazy to
go look at my wife's 96 manual out in the garage right now)
Regardless of what the manual says, I've seen the inside of a Saturn
engine with 40k that had the oil changed "religiously" every 6k.
Hmmmm... wonder why I was looking inside that engine? (I just happened
to be there when they were tearing it down) The inside of the engine
looked hideous and required a complete rebuild. Saturn did not pay for
it. If I remember correctly, the car even had an extended warranty in
effect.
Funny how a Kansan could actually think that they don't drive in a dusty
place.
--
Loren Williams | Homepage - http://www2.southwind.net/~lsw
'94 Saturn SC2 | Wichita Region SCCA - http://www2.southwind.net/~scca
|