my experience with a tune-up

[comPuTer]

This happened to me more than a month ago and I had meant to share it with the group but forgot. This may also be related the recent post "studder at idle on 2003" from "lowec".

I am not very adept at a lot of mechanical stuff, so I had my recent tune-up done for me. I have had a stellar experience with our local Saturn dealership. My wife had a Saturn for 4 years, and, after seeing how well they took care of all our Saturn needs, have been visiting them for all our other vehicles ever since.

Now back to my tune-up story.... Based on the recommendation from several of you, I bought some really good wires online and had them install them along with the double-platinum plugs. My Cruiser performed a lot nicer after the tune-up and I noticed an improvement in power.

About a week after the tune-up, I went to start my Cruiser and it started revving erratically - almost uncontrollably. From prior experience, it "sounded" to me like some type of vacuum problem. I had to have it towed and had it taken to the Saturn dealership since they were the last ones to touch it.

It turned out that one of the intake manifold gaskets had blown which did indeed create a vacuum leak. When I went to pick it up, the service manager explained to me what the cause was, and that they replaced all 4 intake manifold gaskets and were going to cover the "entire cost" of the visit (they also detailed my Cruiser which they do for their customers anyway). It turns out that DC "recommends" replacing those gaskets whenever you replace plugs and wires. I had no idea I needed to have that done. Because the Saturn failed to "offer" to do that along with the other work, they took full responsibility for the entire matter!

I wanted to share that story because there are some very good dealerships out there - we just need to find them and stick with them!

[Wicked_PT]

quote:Originally posted by comPuTer

This happened to me more than a month ago and I had meant to share it with the group but forgot. This may also be related the recent post "studder at idle on 2003" from "lowec".

I am not very adept at a lot of mechanical stuff, so I had my recent tune-up done for me. I have had a stellar experience with our local Saturn dealership. My wife had a Saturn for 4 years, and, after seeing how well they took care of all our Saturn needs, have been visiting them for all our other vehicles ever since.

Now back to my tune-up story.... Based on the recommendation from several of you, I bought some really good wires online and had them install them along with the double-platinum plugs. My Cruiser performed a lot nicer after the tune-up and I noticed an improvement in power.

About a week after the tune-up, I went to start my Cruiser and it started revving erratically - almost uncontrollably. From prior experience, it "sounded" to me like some type of vacuum problem. I had to have it towed and had it taken to the Saturn dealership since they were the last ones to touch it.

It turned out that one of the intake manifold gaskets had blown which did indeed create a vacuum leak. When I went to pick it up, the service manager explained to me what the cause was, and that they replaced all 4 intake manifold gaskets and were going to cover the "entire cost" of the visit (they also detailed my Cruiser which they do for their customers anyway). It turns out that DC "recommends" replacing those gaskets whenever you replace plugs and wires. I had no idea I needed to have that done. Because the Saturn failed to "offer" to do that along with the other work, they took full responsibility for the entire matter!

I wanted to share that story because there are some very good dealerships out there - we just need to find them and stick with them!

That's a good coment about the gaskets. But to bad GM is shutting down it's Saturn line. The Satrun vehicles just aren't selling. So you may not have that Saturn Dalership to rely on for much longer.

[tpscruiser]

The intake gaskets are reuseable, you should lightly coat them with clean motor oil before re-assembling the intake manifold. A Chrysler service tech told me they don't need to be replaced.
It is possible that when the manifold was installed that one of the gaskets was out of position and that's why the leak developed.
I have replaced plugs and wires on both our PTs and only have oiled the gasket and reused it, never replaced it. No problems so far, one has 10K and the other 4k since being worked on.

[Wicked_PT]

quote:Originally posted by tpscruiser

The intake gaskets are reuseable, you should lightly coat them with clean motor oil before re-assembling the intake manifold. A Chrysler service tech told me they don't need to be replaced.
It is possible that when the manifold was installed that one of the gaskets was out of position and that's why the leak developed.
I have replaced plugs and wires on both our PTs and only have oiled the gasket and reused it, never replaced it. No problems so far, one has 10K and the other 4k since being worked on.

Yep. What he said. When they installed my coil pack and plugs they used the same original gaskets. No problems here either. But it doesn't hurt to check them for any wear.

[Goldenturtle02]

It IS good to hear about a dealership that takes responsibilty for their work. When ever I get service like that I try to call the manager or owner and let them know how pleased they made me. My furness broke last week, the service guy came out about 1/2 hour later and had it going again! I phoned the company to thank them and they seemed surprized!
When I changed my plugs and wires, I checked the gaskets and one had disloged a lil bit pushed it back into place, and so far have had no problems!

[Hooligan]

ALWAYS check those gaskets when you remove the intake manifold. I have changed plugs & wires on both my '02 & my '06. The '02 had 23+K miles on it. The '06 had a slight miss at idle at startup and I replaced both wires & plugs, NO more miss!!! Didn't want to take it to the dealer as they would have replaced with stock materials and I wanted MOPAR Performance wires & Platium plugs. Go with the best!!!!

[rszappa1]

not me. I dont care what the tech or the dealer says...I would always replace the gasket when you remove it....Hey it costs just a few bucks...

[comPuTer]

quote:Originally posted by rszappa1

not me. I dont care what the tech or the dealer says...I would always replace the gasket when you remove it....Hey it costs just a few bucks...

I have to agree. I was told the gaskets cost $.50/each. Why take the chance for such small savings?

Besides, I've always heard (and again, keep in mind, I'm not much of a mechanic) that every effort should be made to replace gaskets in internal combustion engines when they are disassembled. Once the gaskets are used the first time, they mold themselves perfectly to the necessary fit. To get the exact same type of seal a second or third time, the two mating parts would have to be aligned exactly the same as the first time. Any slight difference could result in a future problem. Is that not true?

[comPuTer]

quote:That's a good coment about the gaskets. But to bad GM is shutting down it's Saturn line. The Satrun vehicles just aren't selling. So you may not have that Saturn Dalership to rely on for much longer.

I would like to set the record straight about the future of Saturn. I had some conversations with some folks inside Saturn and GM. There is no talk of discontinuing the Saturn line. In fact, relative to the other branches of GM, GM has poured a lot of money in to Saturn over the past 2-3 years. And Saturn has one of the highest customer loyalty bases of any car. All of GM is suffering.

What they are going to do is to shut down some of the Saturn assembly lines. For example, the Saturn Relay line is going to be shut down because the Relay is basically the same vehicle as the Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander, and Pontiac Montana, it will be built on one of those lines.

[zzzhuh]

quote:Originally posted by comPuTer...the Relay is basically the same vehicle as the Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander, and Pontiac Montana, it will be built on one of those lines.

That's exactly what GM was doing at Oldsmobile.
"A new kind of car company" RIGHT