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Old 07-06-2009, 02:27 AM   #15 (permalink)
cfg83
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Southern California
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1999 Saturn SW2 - '99 Saturn SW2 Wagon
Team Saturn
90 day: 40.49 mpg (US)
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sohl -

Quote:
Originally Posted by sohl View Post
...

Now, I don't know for sure that my little grille block caused or contributed significantly to needing these repairs, but I have to wonder. The confusing thing is that for all this time, I did not notice a higher coolant temp on my dashboard guage, and I did not notice the fan coming on much more frequently that it did before (but I do admit that I can't easily hear it except in my garage). But, in any case, I'm not going back to using a grille block on this car. I didn't see much benefit in the milage, and once bitten, I'm twice shy. I hope none of you using a grille block meet the same fate.
--
Sohl
I'm also sorry to hear about your problem. I've replaced my radiator and my water pump in the last year :

New Radiator at 154K Miles ... - SaturnFans Forums
Classic water pump coolant leak? - SaturnFans Forums (175K miles)

However, no one at saturnfans was surprised at the mileage of these failures, so it's hard to make a definitive statement that my grille block was the culprit. S-Series Saturns like mine are known to overheat, so I have a manual fan radiator switch and I tend to be paranoid about the coolant temp (i.e. I watch it like a hawk on my ScanGauge in traffic jams).

How many miles do you have on your Protege? Would you classify this as a premature failure?

CarloSW2
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Last edited by cfg83; 07-06-2009 at 04:57 AM..
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