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I asked at dealership if replacing the whole message board would correct this problem and the response was they were unsure why the transmission life was not dropping and didn't know if replacing the message board would solvie the problem. This is the Cadillac dealership where I bought the car. Have other owners of vintage 2000 - 2005 Deviles had this problem and how were they able to correct?
In general the tranny life does not drop like the oil life. Staying at 100% is normal. In the 97 service manual I think it says somethink like it will stay at 100% unless it has been run hot or after the milage goes over 100,000 miles.
With that in mind, our 2005 Deville with 54,000 miles has something like 75 or 85% displayed on the tranny life. I think this hasn't changed since we got it about 4 years ago. And, since it was used, I have no idea what the car might have incurred before we got it.
Look in the service section of your owners manual. I'm pretty sure the Cadillac transmission can go 100,000 miles before needing service. I'm not going to do anything to the tranny fluid until it hits 100,000 miles.
Ok, I looked at the service manual. It says don't change the fluid and filter until you get the message 'Service Transmission' or something like that.
Then, be sure you get someone that knows a Northstar tranny to service it. And, in my opinion, NEVER do a 'flush'. This is pumping who knows what thru your tanny. Just do a dump and refill. To dump a Northstar tranny you must drop the pan which will get a couple of quarts out. Then, there is a plug inside that, when removed, will dump several more quarts. Many service people do not know about this plug.
I have an extended warranty good til end of March 2012 and dealership has offered to change the entire message center if I wish but suggest it might not correct either the transmission life or average miles per gallon indicators in question. They also feel that my transmission fluid looks fine and suggest I not change until the car reaches 50,000 miles which would be around 2013.
Of course, this display can be reset. Easily, by holding the Reset button while it's being displayed. Someone might have reset it in error, for example the last time the oil was changed. The Oil life display is 'next to' the tranny life display, and a sloppy oil jockey might have reset the wrong one, or both of them.
Since you seem to have two displays that are 'stange', the tranny life at 100% and the Avg MPG not displaying all the time - you might have an actual problem.
I would want the Caddy place to run good disagnoistic on the car before starting to replace things, even with the extended warranty. The problem might be in the display itself, but I think most of the display items are driven out of one of the 'computers' on the car. This 'computer' might be the cause of the bad displays, and not the dash message center.
The Avg MPG calculation is not done with the fuel gauge. It, and other associated displays (fuel used and Range) are calculated in the computer. It looks at each fuel injection and counts it. Fuel injections vary in length of time it is pulsed. We are talking microseconds here. The computer counts these and knows how much fuel is being injected, and gets the fuel volume from here. The speedometer gives the distance (Of course, it also is electronic, counting some kind of rotating pulse drive in the tranny). It then displays the fuel used, avg mpg, and range using these values.
You don't actually need the people, you need the big law firm that will take it on. And make $100,000,000 dollars while the people in the class get a certificate that is worth $4,000 off MSRP for purchase of a new Cadillac.
I love our justice system.
Thanks,
Laura
GM Customer Service
Anyway, I took out all the screws inside the glove box. It still would not pull out. To get it out, you have to pry off the trim piece that goes all around the glove box. I actually use a dandelion weed digger tool to pry it out.
Maybe if you took the entire box out you could get to the latch from the top....
Dealership is Frankel Cadillac in Hunt Valley, Maryland!!!!
The problem is this is an alumium engine and head. Alumium is soft, compaired to iron, and probably also goes thru expansion and contraction more than iron. So the head bolts basically fail. When doing repairs, mechanics report that thread on the bolts near the place where coolant is blowing by the gasket have metal on them. And also report that bolts that are not 'pulled' usually cannot be re-torqued down correctly, will strip the holes. This is the reason that you cannot just put a new gasket on a Northstar and fix it.
Also, unlike some motors with head gasket failures, Northstars do NOT put coolant into the oil. It puts combustion gasses, at huge temperatures, into the coolant. Which will quickly overheat the car. A Cadallic with overheating problems (and not having usual leaking problem) almost always will have a blown head gasket. And a car in the 90's is not worth fixing. Salvage it out.
The repair is to pull the motor, to get to the rear head motor surface, overdrill the head bolt holes, rethread these holes and screw in steel 'inserts'. These inserts are threaded inside to the orginial size and threads, then put the head back on with all new bolts. From what I've heard, this solves the problem. Caddy dealers do not have the 'machine shop' equipment or skills to do this. There has to be a motor machine shop that knows how to do this repair. There is a 'kit' sold with a template to drill the holes and the inserts. It isn't expensive, last I heard it was $350, but the cost is labor to pull and reinstall the motor and the machine shop time. The costs for this has been around $3,000.
A dealer that says there may be other damage, is usually BSing. Other than the head gaskets, a Northstar is very strong. At 100,000 miles or so there usually is little wear on the cam chains, the cylinder bores look like new, ete, etc. The heads are also in great shape. Cadillac just cannot get this motor to hold the bolts. The design probably does not allow significantly longer or larger head bolts.
The Northstar came out in about 1993 or 94, in the Allante (sp). And the problem quickly became known. The real sad thing is Cadillac could build the motor with the steel inserts. In my reading about the problem, I've never heard a reason why they have not done this. No need to do it now, I think the Northstar is no longer used, or this is the last year or so of it.
My wife thinks she has to have a Cadillac. I always carry an extended warranty on them. I've not had a head gasket failure, but our current 2005 with 57,000 miles is the highest milage one we've had. When the extended warranty ends, the car is leaving my place. And, we have had quite a lot of other failures on them.
I just googled the problem, and there are other people with $10,000 dealer estimates to fix this problem. So, I guess this is the cost for a new motor and dealer labor to install it. Most people try to find a wrecked car and transfer a complete motor. Last I knew, only about one place in US is 'rebuilding' Northstars. Don't know what they want for a motor.
Our 2005 has had several problems. Heat did not work until turned up to 80 or higher. Replaced two or three 'servos' (electric motors that open/close flaps) and the dash display/control head (three times in shop). It worked ok for about a year, it's now doing it again. Front impact sensor failed. A tire pressure senor failed. Engine miss, one of two coils replaced.Driver window regulator broke. Direction signal in outside mirror failed. Crossover pipe gasket leak coolant (pretty major, kept car for a couple of days, have to take a lot off to get to it.) The driver's seat is starting to fail, it shutters when moving back and forth. My wife drives the car for lots of short hops around town, so the seat is constantly going to exit position and back. This is going to have to be fixed sometime soon.
It's a lease car, we bought it with 38,000 miles in 2007 I think. I would never buy a new one, they lose a ton of depreciation money quickly.
Even with all this, I probably haven't gotten my money for the extended warranty back.
twice. First time at 30K-3yrs old. Second just recently at 50K- 3yrs. Don't believe the 5yr- 150K stuff.
The head gasket problem can still occur with good maintenance, but it will surely occur with bad
maintenance. It is also important to make sure the DexCool level is correct. Air in the system is bad !
So far I have been fortunate. I have not really had problems with this car.
Total engine replacement with 72,000 mile used motor: $3400.
Someone is taking mom for a ride.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
From what I've read about $3,000 is what the cost of a Timesert 'fix' for the headbolts. I don't think I would put $3,400 into a used motor, buying another potential headgasket problem. Especially if it was a 90's model Caddy. These are $3,000 cars, at the best.
If I was caught up in this, I would try to find someone to do the Timesert fix.
Edmunds valued the one I looked at as a $2700 car so you are dead on. Seller wanted $1500 so the figures just didn't add up. This was several months ago and the car is still on his lawn. I swear that last time I went by, there was a cardboard sign in the window which said: "FREE"
Such a shame, the car was a beautiful gold color with creame interior. What was GM thinking designing the heads like that?
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
But, by 95, 96 models the problem seemed to be very obvious. And this Timesert company had developed the 'kit' to fix the problem, and Cadillac had service documents that specifically called for using the kit for the fix. The kit comes with a template that is bolted to a head with the old bolts. There are holes in the template that are used to overdrill and rethread all the bolt holes. A steel insert which cannot be screwed out, is screwed in, with Locktite. This supposed is a permanent fix. Timesert sells just the inserts if a shop already has the template from a previous job. Standard new headbolts are then used to put the head back on.
Why Caddillac did not produce motors with steel inserts after it became a known problem is the big question.
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(P0171/P0174)- bank 1 & 2 system too lean; I have taken out the MAF sensor & cleaned it (did not look to be bad since all wires where in tact), next I plan on replacing the O2 sensors. My question regarding this is- how many up/downstream O2 sensors does my '01 DeVille have & where are they located? And is it something I should be able to replace myself?
(P0340)- Cam sensor condition; is replacing the camshaft position sensor something I should be able to do myself? Where is it located?
(P0741)- TCC solenoid failure; same issues/questions?
I am simply looking for some help/good advice. I am not a mechanic, but after the dealer wanted nearly $600 to replace a window regulator & I took a shot it myself; completing the job for $65.90 and 1.5 hours I'm willing to try my hand at anything with this car that doesnt involve taking the engine out. Also, I am replacing my own brake pads & rotors (if needed) since the shop wanted $700 for that job- my question regarding this job is if I only replace the front brake pads, do I still need to bleed the rear brakes as well? Thanks in advance for your assistance & look forward to hearing from you all soon.
A. Cones
SFC, USA
A couple of causes of lean. The big rubber connector from the air cleaner to the throttle body isn't sealed well on both ends. Someone pulling on this to get to the air filter didn't reset it well. And, there is another rubber boot between the throttle body and the intake. Unburned fuel and general back flow of fuel after shutdown can pool in this area and rot the bottom of this rubber boot. You can feel the bottom of this and fill the 'soft' area. An air leak here will cause a lean condition. I think its a pretty big job to replace this boot. Actually any air leak past the MAF will cause a lean fuel situtation. It might not be an O2 sensor problem at all.
The crank sensors (there are two of them) are above the oil filter and can be gotten to and replaced somewhat easily. I'm not sure about the cam sensor, but I think its on the right, front of the motor (front of right head). This is the area right in front of the passenger area, since the motor sits crossways. I think the cam sensor is a [non-permissible content removed], it's an almost flat screw in thing and there is just almost no room there to get a wrench and hand in there.
P0741 is a tranny solonid code, I think. There are two shift solonids inside that tranny, an A and B solonid, that can be gotten to and replaced from dropping the pan. Failure of these usually causes shift problems. If this code goes with the lockup solonid (locks up the 'overdrive' or torque converter), then you have what I've seen called the '$40 part buried $2,000 deep in the tranny'. This cannot be gotten to without pulling the motor and tranny. You need to research the P740, 741, 742 codes and see which is which.
If you are going to work much on this Northstar and its tranny, you need the Factory Service Manual. New one can be bought at www.helminc.com , they print manuals for most manufactors. It's not cheap, probably abouot $175 plus shipping. You should first look on eBay for a used one. It won't be cheap either, but less than a new one. Only buy a Factory manual, the others are not worth anything. You could probably buy a 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and the mechanical stuff would be the same, only interior parts might be different. You will probably find DVDs for sale for about $30. I've never looked at one of these, they might be very functional for repair, and maybe not. Of course, if the info in these is good it have to be bootlegged from the factory manual or ripped from the factory DVD manual. Anyway, you need a factory manual to do much at all.
I've read your post on other forums and have come to truly respect your advice and experience on these issues, thank you very much for the insight. The tranny issue really concerns me though, guess I will simply do whatever work I can get accomplished myself and then send the car off to the shop. Thanks again.
SFC A.C
SFC A.C
Does it look like someone has been working in this area before? The coil pack for the rear bank of cylinders is back there, and coils do go out (Had the front one replaced on our 2005). If someone has messed up the wiring loom there, or gotten it pinched, or even gotten the wiring miss-routed, this might be your problem. I think I've read that the sensor wire to the tranny lockup goes thru here and a crimp, cut, or even if the wiring is not routed correctly in regards to the ignition wiring can cause error codes to be set.
I've done some minor mechanical work - changed belts and hoses, replaced window motor, etc, but I am overall 'afraid' of Northstars. The blown head gaskets and the lockup solonid are real horrors to me. My wife wants to drive these big tanks, and I try to keep an extended warranty on them and get rid of them when warranty expires.
I've had 3 Devilles, and read a lot of Caddy forums. So, I'm more of a bystander than a hands on person about these things. But, I've read about a lot of issues, and when my old brain is working somewhat, I try to repeat what I've read in the past.
SFC A.C
My DeVille , like your fathers, also has very low miles for its age and I too have had some oil usage issues. One problem was the electrical-mechanical connection (sorry, I forget the name of the part) was actually leaking oil and causing my oil warning light to constantly illuminate along with that irritating beeping signal. About a week ago I checked the oil and my dip stick came up bone dry even though my percentage read 68% inside the car. Just today when I was under the vehicle I noticed that the panels under the car had several beads of oil so I'm probably going to have to replace some seals in the near future. As long as I've ever known Cadillac's have been notorious for burning oil at an accelerated pace. I'm not sure if my issues are just due to GM quality or my own neglect of the car over the years as it sat still while I was deploying back and forth to Iraq over the years?
What you need to do is get on a road with no traffic, get the car rolling about 5 mph (no need to start from a dead start), and floor the car. Keep you foot in it, let it hit redline for two gears, you are going to be going about 80mph or so. Let the throttle off and let it 'coast' down. Run it up about 3 or 4 times like this. If done during the day, you are going to see a lot of black smoke come out of the exhaust. Many times this will break the rings loose and oil usage will be reduced. You need to do this about every 6 months or so.
Use of premium gasoline will make stuck rings worse than regular usage.
My 1995 went from a little oil usage to instantly using a quart about every 600 miles. A few Wide Open Throttle (WOT) runs dropped it back to about a quart in 2/3000 miles.
Of course, you want the oil to be full when you do this. Something I've also found with Northstars, they take 7 1/2 quarts on an oil/filter change. This leaves the oil about a half quart low on the dipstick. Don't add more oil, don't add all of that 8th quart. If you do the motor will just quickly pull a half quart thru the PCV valve and burn it. On a change, use the 7 1/2 as specified, and leave it a little low on the stick.
You are going to have to do some googling to find the code for this. My guess, unless you have the top of the line model, I doubt your Deville has this.
It's got ABS and Traction control, but I doubt Active Brake Control was available on a 2001.
Thanks a lot, I looked and my car does not have a sticker stating anything on the cover of the spare tire, therefore, I will be ordering the one without ABC. Do you happen to know if these EBCMs come pre-programmed if ordered directly from GM, if not, is it more of a hassle (mechanical and financial) to try and do this job myself? Thanks in advance-
SFC A.C
Not sure about the BCM. Some of the 'modules' have to be programmed with the VIN of the vehicle, and you need a Tech II to do this. These cost $2,000+. A dealer could do this if needed, but it's going to cost you.
These don't give much info at all about the codes. You should google these codes and there might be much more info available.
Were these 'Current' or 'History' codes. With Current you should have a Check Engine Light on. If History, these could be some time in the past.
C1214 System Relay Contact or Coil Circuit Open
C1248 EBCM Turned The Red Brake Warning Indicator ON
You do know how to manipulater the Up/Down, Reset, Display (not sure exactly which they are. On my 2005 these are 3 buttons on right side on the dash) and display all the code that are in there? One of the neat things about a Cadillac. If you don't, you need to google 'cadillac code display' or something like that. There are several sites that have the full instructions about how you can put your instrument panel in a diagnostic mode and see all the set codes, and you can reset all these codes.
I would consider resetting all the codes, drive the car a few days, or until the Check Engine light appears again, if you have it. This will then give you Current codes that are giving problems lately.
And if you pull the battery cable, and reinstall it, Cadillacs are real bad about setting a sh*t load of codes, incorrectly. The voltage surges hitting the computer when the cable goes back many time will set a lot of invalid codes.
Thanks for the insight. I believe the codes I have are current because after I replaced the Cam Sensor my check engine light cleared along with all other codes NOT related to the brakes. My brake lights (ABS, traction control, BRAKES) all remain illuminated on the dash. I will definitely look up the tricks of the trade for the cadillac DTCs but my auto scanner was unable to clear these codes. All signs point to the EBCM which I have found for $486 brand new (dealer wanted $940 just for the part and no telling how much for the labor). I will most likely take it to the dealer for programming however since they've quoted me $110 even though I know thats pretty high for a simple programming (but they have the tools for that & I don't). As always, thanks for your assistance with these issues- I'm slowly turning myself into a fairly decent novice mechanic.
SFC A.C