1999 Saturn SL1 help

K LAUGHLIN

MEMBER
1999 SATURN SL1
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
196,000 MILES

My intake manifold is shot. But I dont have money to fix it. I have been driving it this way since june its now nov. It leaks alot more oil but I am very concious of keeping oil in it. Now when im in traffic jams I see the coolant hand reach the middle point and I think the fan kicks on but it only helps for a moment. Sometimes smoke will come out from under the hood slilghtly am I burning something more up? Can I make it through the winter without the repairs? Im in columbus ohio.

2 Replies

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

Your minor coolant leak will be turning into a whole motor very soon if you continue to drive it that way. It only takes a single overheating to turn it into toast.

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Friday, November 5th, 2010 AT 7:20 AM

SATURNTECH9

MECHANIC
30,870 POSTS

The intake manifold doesn't leak oil it leak's coolant or vacuum. If you have a oil leak in that area it's going to be the valve cover gasket leaking down onto the the intake manifold or the head gasket is leaking oil by where the power steering pump is mounted. There is a oil passage way that passes thru the head and on the single over head cam engine's it's common to leak oil out there. As far as the temp gauge getting up to just over half way and fan coming on that's normal if it didn't reach that high I would suspect you had a bad thermostat. As long as your not boiling over the cap or the gauge isn't getting up to the red your ok temp wise. If your worried about the temp gauge reading the wrong temp you could always replace the coolant temp sensor there only 10. Make sure you inspect the connector going to the sensor if it's corroded then you will have to replace the connector too. As far as the oil leak goes if it's that bad I would spray off all the oil and find out where it's really coming from. Your probably burning more oil thru the engine then leaking it. That's usually the case.