Two problems related to radiator have been reported for the 2002 Saturn LS. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
2002 Saturn l300 v6 excessive tire wear and engine problems the oil drained into the radiator and the whole engine had to be reworked all hoses sensors and radiator had to be replaced the valves and lots of other head work had to be done. We have had to have it aligned 3 times in 18,000miles and 60,000 mile tires last about 12-18,000 miles before being told they are hazardous and have to be replaced. The new oil sensor replaced with the engine rebuild now is leaking again and we have to replace it again. Rear brake lamps blow out constantly and even burned the wiring and plastic frame.
The oil and antifreeze have a common wall in the radiator. The antifreeze is corrosive and ate thru allowing the oil and antifreeze to mix in the engine causing the engine to be completely rebuilt with most parts replaced. The temp gauge has been replaced 4 times as the engine runs cool and will fail inspection and destroy the O2 sensors. The power steering pump has gone out 2 times as well as the ac compressor. The rear lights on the driver side are always getting hot and burning out. The taillight fittings for the stop light have gotten so hot that they needed to be replaced 3 times. Dash lights are constantly flickering when you apply the brake or (when it is running) turn on the ac unit or the heating system. The safety latch on the front doors have been replaced 2 times as they were cracking. I paid for all of the repairs and was told that there was a recall based on the antifreeze that gm used as it was corrosive and affected many models of gm cars. I filled in all of the forms for the class action suit and at the end I was told that the Saturns were not covered - that the government had allowed this class to be removed from the gm claim. This was not fair as it was the same problem caused by the corrosive antifreeze used by gm and the poor design of using a common thin wall to separate the oil and the antifreeze.