I’m Saul Reisman here at Saul’s Autotek and today we’re under the hood of a 2003 Saturn Vue.
This was one of General Motors‘ first cute youths that they produced and some of these guys are not only still on the road but are still in great condition and great service. These were an inexpensive car. They were available in all-wheel drive. They had a high center of gravity and high ground clearance which meant there was a pretty great capable car for living in Colorado. They’re also great in the mountains or out in the Prairie where you can get good fuel economy out of them. They were optioned with a four-cylinder or a V6. In the case of this V6 powered Saturn Vue, every 100,000 miles, the timing belt will need to be replaced on this vehicle. Similar to timing belts in many, many other cars. The reason we’re going to talk about this one specifically is this vehicle was actually a partnership vehicle.
When General Motors produced this vehicle, they partnered with Honda and they used several parts from both brands. So, while this vehicle is equipped with a General Motors powered V6. rather than Saturn Vues with a Honda-powered V6. The reality of both is they both utilize a timing belt that needs to get replaced approximately every seven years or 100,000 miles. In the case of this vehicle, we’ve gone ahead and removed the timing belt and our technician has actually taken one additional step to provide a little security, and he’s gone ahead and locked down the camshafts on this vehicle. We literally have gripped our camshafts together, both on the front cams and on the back cams in order to ensure that they can’t rotate while we’ve got this guy apart. The reason being, when that timing belt gets put back onto this vehicle, it has to be aligned perfectly on every single one. Not only does it have to be aligned perfectly but if the vehicle’s timing is off by even the smallest amount it can severely affect the performance of the vehicle. It could even bend the valves inside the engine.
So here at Saul’s Autotek, our technicians take things above and beyond. Rather than just marking the location of the camshafts, which is what the original equipment manufacturer suggests, we lock those cams down so they cannot move period. We know if those cams can’t move, it cannot spin out of time and this job is going to go together perfectly every time. Rather than just paint marking and looking at the marks to make sure that it looks where it’s supposed to be. We’re going to guarantee physically locking those cams out, that there’s no way it can spin out of time.
The reason is we want your vehicle to work the first time every time, and we’re going to take every step above and beyond.
Even if the manufacturer says, “Well, you only need this.” Well, we’re going to go one step further because we want to take care of you. We want to make sure that your vehicle not only gets the proper repair, but gets the proper repair in the timely fashion, with the best technicians, and with the best components. So we’re going to take care of the timing belts on this Saturn today and you’ll see it here on the road in just a few minutes.
If you’ve got concerns about your Saturn, bring it on into Saul’s Autotek. We’ll take care of your Saturn, your Honda, or any other GM cross vehicle that you need your timing belt taken care of.
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