so far so good, i hope...

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BAD97LSC

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tonight i finally had some time to screw with the catera i bought last month. for those who remember i snagged this 97 catera with 76k for 400 bucks. it needed the infamous engine oil cooler replaced, so i ordered the master gm heavy duty cooler kit and changed it, total labor was roughly 10 hours start to finish, broke it up into 2 days, well after i did this and flushed all the mud out of the motor and filled it back up with fresh coolant i discovered the water pump was leaking, now that the sludge was out of it , the leak was free to leak! well i put it aside for a few weeks and ordered a new water pump and timing belt last week. i took it apart again tonight to find the pump was shot thankfully and the timing belt is new, yee haw cuz i didnt want to change the belt anyway, job sucks so i slapped in the new water pump, filled it back up and so far its dry as a bone, i'll know for sure tomorrow if i see anything on the floor under the car, but the way it was leaking, it was dripping even with the car cold and off, so i think i done good!!! i hope so because after taking the timing cover off, inventing new cuss words, and smashing a solder iron and a drop light, if i find anything wrong tomorrow i will drive it outside and light it on fire. god do i hate cars now, i so love not having one to drive, my wife can have a car i seriously dont want one. if the caddy checks out tomorrow i'll transfer her tag from the lincoln and bring my tag back to the dmv, then the mark goes up for sale again.
 
I can't believe you haven't gotten any replies to this yet! I'd have figured that someone would have given you the "we tried to tell you not to buy a cadillac!"

I've always heard that Cadillacs were a real pain, but I've had a lot of cars that were pains, so I can't really say it's a Cadillac thing!









<---- OH YEAH! LUCKY NUMBER 500!!!!!
 
no trust me i have worked and owned many different kinds of cars and trucks from all walks of life, every vehicle sucks its not a cadillac thing, when a car wants to cause problems, it will always sucks no matter who made it lol!!
 
jamie97lsc said:
no trust me i have worked and owned many different kinds of cars and trucks from all walks of life, every vehicle sucks its not a cadillac thing, when a car wants to cause problems, it will always sucks no matter who made it lol!!
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I agree with you they can all be a pain in the butt. I'm not to happy with a mark VIII.
I sure did like the 1995 Cadillac seville I use to own Almost 200,000 when traded. No major problems. The trick with the Norh star motor is to change the antifreeze changed every 2 years or 25,000 miles.
 
Qoute on North Star

Change the engine coolant, and keep it changed every 2yrs/24k miles... it MUST be done, and add the coolant supplement tabblets from any GM dealer..... that will help prevent in any head gasket problems.

Working on the NorthStar is not a big deal... alternator isn't any more difficult then other cars... water pump? Why do you make it sound like its crazy? It's mounted on the oppisite side of the engine with it's own belt.

As for the starter..... you know how rare it is for a starter on a NorthStar to fail? It is mounted in the valley of the V in the block.... it is protected from the elements and extreme heat.... where are most starteds mounted? on the outside and bottom of the engine, where they get wet anytime it rains, have to deal with the cold, but then since the exhaust usually runs right next to them, also the extreme heat.... the NorthStar starter never gets wet, and is protected from the extreme heat of the exhaust.
 
Glorywagon said:
As for the starter..... you know how rare it is for a starter on a NorthStar to fail? It is mounted in the valley of the V in the block.... .
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The shop next to my office worked on a northstar motored car sometime "last year".

That car has been back to the shop 2-3 days a week since they replaced the starter.

I thought it was an employees car, and I asked about it 6 months or so ago..because I saw it on a regular basis.

When I asked about the caddy the shop owner cringed, and said he wished he'd never touched that car. It came in with an intermittant no start problem and.. now has had everthing that was removed for the starter install, replaced. Intake gaskets, intake manifold a second starter {because the problem still exists)

Seems that everything the tech touches..breaks.

Granted, it might be the ineptitude of the shop.... or it could be inherent design flaws with the engine platform.

If it were a starter that was located in a traditional location OUTside the motor, this car probably would be carrying it's owner around in CADILLAC BLISS, rather than spending it's days living in a stop parking lot, getting molested by probably "not Northstar experienced technicians".

Dont get me wrong, I dont hate the northstar.. quite the opposite in fact.
but.. this is just one instace where that "rarely failing starter" has turned into a nightmare.
 
Yes but you don't hardly ever hear of it happening but it does.
I had a 1980 Ford semi truck at 6,000 miles the motor dropped a gear off the timing and busted everything even the bell housing. Detroit Diesel fixed the problem under warranty ( should have installed a new engine ) with re manufactured parts not new. That same motor went down at 68.000 and 148,000 then it broke a crank shaft at 190,000. Did I say all Detroit engines are junk ? No just that one.
I did call Ford customers relations and told them I was gonna paint lemons all over it and park it in front of the dealers . They said Mr. Martin it belongs to you so paint lemons on it if you want too.

Then there's the guy that bought a UGO and drove it 300,000 and never done nothing to it.
We have all bought a Lemon in our life haven't we?
Or the million mile Town Car.
I got a brother that has had five lemon's in his life and married them all. (to hear him talk)

Jamie keep up the good work. Danny
 
Glorywagon said:
Did I say all Detroit engines are junk ? No just that one.
Click to expand...

and did I say ALL northstars are junk..no, just that one.

I like the northstar program it's come along way since it's test bed "the 4,6,8 Caddies".

it's a pretty cool program.. ableit the stupid location of the starter motor.
If I have to change a starter.. once in 30K or once in 300K I still dont want to yank the intake manifold in order to do so..

call me lazy I guess..
 
XLRVIII said:
and did I say ALL northstars are junk..no, just that one.

I like the northstar program it's come along way since it's test bed "the 4,6,8 Caddies".

it's a pretty cool program.. ableit the stupid location of the starter motor.
If I have to change a starter.. once in 30K or once in 300K I still dont want to yank the intake manifold in order to do so..

call me lazy I guess..
Click to expand...

I agree
 
my feet or my wife drops me off at the shop usually. i'm doing fine with no ride, i like it, no gas to buy, no insurance to pay, cant beat it!
 
But... it's fun to drive.
Especially when you have no where to go.

Hell, I have spare vehicles that serve no other purpose BUT to drive nowhere.
 
water pump is done, everything is a-ok and now the car is for sale lol. i decided to flip it and make a profit instead. we still got the one mark VIII left and i dont need anything to drive so screw it, i'm gonna make some money off it.
 
Jamie,It is so great to hear someone else say "i hate cars" and still work on them everyday. My wife just laughs at me cause I will say that and then take 2-3 more clients. I do agree that every car is a pain in the a** in one way or another and the simple job well lets just not use that phrase anymore. I have been at this for 30+ years and personally have owned 167 cars to date. Being in Indiana with our temp swings of 40-50 degree in one day, all most everyday, rust shows up in the New cars in about 7 Days, playing havoc with every bolt plug etc. So maybe there is a brotherhood of mechanics just like us. Maybe we need a support group.:rolleyes:
 
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