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I signed on 10 years ago and bought a used 1998 Autobahn Aurora. I have not ducked some expensive repairs. I use a local mechanic because he flat out diagnoses issues and fixes them first pass, no bringbacks YET. But during the past 2 years (aging car), thanks to this Forum and its selfless members, I have been able to do some research or inquiries on my particular problems before I took the car in and provide that heads-up to my mechanic.
The back up plan to my local mechanic is always the local Cadillac dealer that also was a long time Olds dealer. They have seen it all with this car, and many times. I just don't like their price tag on the repairs and prefer to support my local busness who has provided excellent service at a fair price, as well as pick up and return of the car.
Thanks to exchef and 99dodge for jumping in here. PLEASE keep us posted on the results of their recommendations. All of us will benefit.
# 04014C - (Oct 1, 2004)
Models:
1995-1997 Cadillac DeVille Concours, Seville, Eldorado
1996-1997 Cadillac DeVille
Equipped with 4.6L V8 (RPO LD8 - VIN Y; RPO L37 - VIN 9) Engine
1995-1997 Oldsmobile Aurora
Equipped with 4.0L V8 (RPO L47 - VIN C) Engine
THIS BULLETIN IS BEING REVISED TO ADD 1997 CADILLAC MODEL VEHICLES. PLEASE DISCARD SAFETY RECALL BULLETIN NUMBER 04014B, DATED SEPTEMBER 2004.
Condition
General Motors has decided that a defect which relates to motor vehicle safety exists in all 1995-1997 Cadillac DeVille Concours, Seville and Eldorado, 1996-1997 Cadillac DeVille; and 1995-1997 Oldsmobile Aurora model vehicles. These vehicles have a condition in which the original equipment nylon tubing used in the fuel rail construction may degrade and crack. Additionally, the 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora uses a unique underhood fuel return line that may crack at unusually high rates. Cracking of the fuel rail can result in a fuel leak into the engine compartment. The operator may experience fuel odor and possibly engine stalling due to loss of fuel pressure to the engine. If this event were to occur, and if an ignition source were present, an engine compartment fire could occur.
Correction
Dealers are to inspect and, if necessary, replace the engine fuel rail with a new stainless steel fuel rail. Dealers will also replace the chassis fuel lines on 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora model vehicles from serial # S4100001 to S4147771
Been watching your posts through the years since I bought my 99 in '01. Have over 104,000 on it and i hope to add another 104,000. I just replaced my oil pressure switch but am having a hard time reconnecting the wire, as there is a motor mount (and exhaust pipe) in my way. I could reconnect it prior to screwing in the switch, but there's too much torsion in the wiring as I'm threading it in to provide a tight connection. Any special technique/suggestions in reconnecting, or do i just need a contortionist's hand?
Thanks in advance and arrears for your advice over the years!
George
Thanks for the compliment. What you describe is a job I have not done. If I understand the problem correctly, you may be able to wind several turns on the wire prior to threading the switch into place, so that the wire unwinds as the switch is seated.
Good luck.
Les
If interested please let me know I will hold it for 2 weeks. I would put a value on this manual of at least $60.00 - $80.00 plus the cost of shipping.
a different direction. check the easy solution first. Take a can of contact cleaner,
pull back the rubber housing around the headlight switch stick and you will see electrical contacts inside. squirt a few shots of contact cleaner in this area and
toggle your light switch on and off a few times to be sure the contact cleaner got in the areas of concern. This cleaned up my issue in no time.
I have heard other pay dearly for a new switch housing and sending upwards to 500$. When you could have just bought a 2 dollar can of contact cleaner and a few Q-tips.
peace
crankcase sensors, about $210, by good mechanic-never recurred after that.
sincerely-shadetm
in all 3 openings & spray generously, turn floor mat over to prevent staining carpet.
I used penetrating oil first-then finished with carb cleaner-problem solved!!
Also I just recently started using 89 octane instead of 93 and my mileage improved
to 23mpg! Sincerely Shadetm
when I shift from park into reverse there is a large jarring thunk......ditto shifting from park to drive, but not as pronounced.
no tranny problems when driving.
I have not fully investigated as it just began today.....
I would guess that I likely have a broken engine/tranny mount....
can anyone shed some light on this???? or been thru this problem??
and advise on mount replacing proceedure??
Thanks a lot...Ian
This response probably won't help you, but when I purchased my 1998 in 7/98 used (Olds dealer manager's car), the first thing I noticed (foot on brake) was the amount of "play" between nuetral and drive, and nuetral and reverse. No clunk as you describe, but a short but noticeable delay in gear engagement engagement accompanied by a definite feel of the engagement, a slight bump in feel. RPM was normal. I thought this annoying play was unusual, particularly for a car that stickered for $40,000.
I pointed out "play" out to the manager, and he had a mechanic come out and check......mechanic then said it was "normal" play for this vehicle. So I purchased the Aurora with the caveat that even though the car was under full factory warranty, I would be one really dissatisfied customer if the "issue" turned out to be "something."
I have owned several automatics and manual transmission cars with rear wheel drive, and this play or even a clunk was usually traced back to the differential, the drive shaft universal joints, or the rear independant axels' universal joints. And while I have had CV joints relaced on fwd cars, there wasn't this type of noticeable clunk you describe. Not attributed to a broken engine mount either.
I'm at 95,000 miles and the "play" has neither gone away nor worsened. I never did like the car reminding me of this "play" in the drive train, especially when driving with the cruise control on, particularly on hills where the car coasts downhill and then re-engages when more throttle is called for.
You would be doing a lot of us a favor if you let us know what your mechanic finds.
Jack
I will have a friend shift the car at standstill with hood open so I can observe the engine movement to confirm my suspiscion.
The delayed engagement that you described also is typical of my car, if that is any consolation and I describe it as a mild annoyance.
As for advising further of mechanic's findings...I am the mechanic....and I will be happy to relate what I find once I dig into it....
cheers, Ian
__________________________________________________________________
Ian,
Make sure you get a written quote on parts and labor, and a written warranty.....from yourself. If anything goes south on the fix, you will then be in a position to take yorself to court for damages.
Good luck,
Jack
aurora blows intermittenly. Dealer checks it and says it is working, but once I leave the shop it may or may not blow.
Can anyone help me with the solution to this problem?
Anyone ever run into this? Cost to fix?
DT
Coolant Leak: Join the club. Regarding the coolant leak, you may want to read the recent posts about radiator leaks (crack) and water pump leaks IF the motor oil isn't contaminated by coolant and there are no other obvious symptoms. In addition, back a year or two ago one guy found a leak/crack in the underside of the overflow tank, small but steady.
Rim leak. You didn't say what condition your rims are in.....dented/damaged where the sidewall meets the rim? My rims are unmarked. My last rim leak issue was an installation problem ( and now I have another on a different wheel).
On the first rim leak, NTB politely presented me with a $37 bill, stated there were no puntures, and said that the tires were not mounted correctly: rims were not properly cleaned prior to installation. I frowned and told the guy I was not amused...."First, you guys performed the incorrect installation, and second, I have the optional road hazzard coverage." Guy was not pleased at that announcement in front of all the other waiting customers. Didn't even check his customer records on the tire and hazzard coverage purchase from 15 months earlier.
Told him if I had half a brain as a 19 year customer I'd make them take the other 3 tires off the rims and do the job right. Silly me. I didn't. Now I have another slow rim leak on a different wheel and have to take the car back in. Fortunately I have not gotten stuck with a flat out on the road, but unless I get into NTB at 7 am, this is going to be a 2-3 hour mistake, time I don't care to donate to people who do this stuff for a living. If they can't do a tire installation correctly, what does that say for all of the other services they offer? What is my time worth?
Things at NTB seem to have taken a turn for the worse since acquired by Sears. They wacked most if not all of their vehicle and customer tire history, so a new customer is just like an old customer to them. Loyalty buys the customer nothing, and this is particularly disappointing when I can go to tirerack.com, fully research what I am about to buy, have new tires shipped to my local mechanic, and have the job done for less with no bringbacks. Second, the former pride in workmanship and friendliness seems to have faded from the same employees.
Hope Sears reads this and realizes that the competitive edge in this market is passing them by quickly. I don't need them, but they sure do need me.
Don't swap rims, the problem could be far more simple.
Thanks for any advice :confuse:
If you have a fuel pump or fuel pressue issue, GM was smart enough to put an access door on the floor of the trunk to get at the top of the tank where the combination fuel pump/gas gauge sender is mounted. So you don't have to drop the tank to get at it. Think it's forward of the spare inder the carpet.
Jack
I had a similar problem and on my 2005 it was the computer. The computer controls the pressure to the transmisson for shifting. When I shifted from park to reverse it was a strong clunk, with a lesser clunk from reverse to drive.
I took to dealer and they got a read out that it was a bad transmission after replacing the computer with a factory rebuilt unit. I told him that I had no problems with the transmission during driving, only when from park to reverse or reverse to drive. The mechanic replaced the computer with 3 factory rebuilt units and got same bad codes. He put back in original computer and did not get same code. He spent quite a bit of time talking to GM factory tech's knowledgeable on the Aurora and they finally sent a brand new (not rebuilt computer). That fixed the problem.
By using a GM dealer, I was not charged for the multiple swaps of the rebuilt units and was not charged extra for the new computer.
Previously computer replacements with rebuilt units did not last very long and had periodic problem with the cruse control. I forgot how many rebuilt computers I went through over a 2 two year period, but it was quite a few. By finally using a new computer-I have not had any problems in over 2-3 years.
Be really careful if you are advised you need a new transmission. I talked to quite a few people that had transmission rebuilt only to find it was actually the computer. They also found that in the fine print the transmission shops exclude computer problems from their warrantee coverage.
Don
I dont remember if I locked it last night and there is always the chance of sabotage/vandalism.
In order to remove the key cylinder, you have to put key in and turn to on position and simultaneously push a hidden release pin. So, if you get key in, do not remove until problem is fixed and suggest immediately removing the cylinder assembly.
The second part of problem is replacing the cylinder which matches key and key pellet must match anti-theft system which gets costly. I saw something at ACE about cutting anti-theft keys so maybe they have the blanks in various resistances. If so, just buy new cylinder with key. Go to ACE and have them locate the blank with the proper resistance and cut it to the new key that came with cylinder. But then it won't match door or trunk and you will have to carry one of each. Or go to dealer and order the original.
Again, if you get key in and turned, do not remove until you have removed the cylinder and inspect it for the trouble. Simulate starting the car by turning and removing key many times until you are absolutely no doubt in mind problem is gone and will not re-occur.
At any rate, if the oil pressure is ACTUALLY low at hot idle, then you'll have to at least drop the oil pan and investigate either a clogged oil screen, a loose oil pump pickup tube, a worn out oil pump (the gear clearances can be measured) or just a worn out engine (excessive bearing clearance at the crankshaft).
Certainly you have high enough miles to exhibit any of these causes.
This car has been so good to me until the last 4 months. Its slowly dragging itself to the junk heap. I had to replace the valve cover gaskets, so now it has spouted new leaks and requires all the seals replaced. It has a phantom miss that defies diagnosis. The sun roof motor has started to chatter and the drivers power lock only works on occasion. :sick:
FYI: The door/trunk key is not the same key for the ignition on the 95 so thats a non issue. Door/trunk key contains no resistor. The resister colar assembly is easily uncoupled from the lock cylinder.. so fortunately I dont have to replace that. Maybe this weekend when I'm more relaxed I'll give it another shot.
Unfotunately, my database does not locate that part, sorry. I looked and looked.
Maybe someone else in the forum can help us on that location. :confuse:
Mine appears wonderfully intact, but it won't open the door. It seems/feels like it is not catching on any internals to open the door. If I am lucky, it's just a retainer clip of some sort that popped off or broke.
My fear is that the door handle broke internally and will hjave to be replaced. Are these still available through a GM (Cadillac) dealer? Can they be purchased to match the car color, or do they come in some neutral color that has to be painted?
Thanks for any and all contributions to my cause.
Jack
Les
You do realize this is a low pressure system and has only about 7 PSI at idle? Proper checking likely includes reading at higher RPM.
Thanks,
Jack