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I think this message got started when someone said there 'should' be a class action lawsuit.
And, it isn't just 10 year old cars with head gasket problems. Northstars from 1993 until at least 2000 have head gasket problems. Maybe even later ones.
But my point was that any car that is 10 years old should be expected to have problems.
When I gas up, I try to make a point to check my coolant and oil on my 04 Deville. Also, I had the coolant changed when I bought it just in case. So far, so good.
-jasper
The basic problem is that the northstar is an aluminum engine, and leaking coolant is bad for corrosion. Dexcool may be worse in a leaking system that other coolants, but other coolants are not good with aluminum either.
Thanks!
It's probably one or both shift solonids inside the tranny. The parts are relatively inexpensive (both should be changed if the repair is made), but the tranny will have to be opened up to get to them.
I 'think' the motor does not have to be pulled to get to these. Just opening it up from the bottom, they can be accessed.
If it is one of these solonids, it should be setting an error code. This code can be read out and it will point to the solonids. Otherwise, it might be something else.
There is a third solonid. Known as 'the $40 part buried $2,000 deep in the tranny'. This one activates the lock-up on the torque converter. A failure on it will set a different error code. The reason it is so expensive - the motor and tranny have to be pulled in order to be able to disassemble the tranny enough to get to this one.
Find someone to read the error code, and can tell you what they mean.
Look on ebay for a set (2 books) of service manuals. Probably should go for about $50. A new set can be bought at www.helmsinc.com . Factory manuals will cover tranny dis-assembly.
P.S. It's a Cadillac. You could spend LOTS of money on it!
P.P.S. If you don't know the service history on the car, I would change the coolant. Look at the belts, there is a small one that drives the water pump off the rear of the left cam.
The transmission (and ususally they pull the motor and tranny together) has to be pulled to get to this solonid. This solonid locks up the torque converter. So, the car usually can be driven, your milage will just suffer because it is not locking the converter up after 45mph or so.
The other two solonids, shift solonids, known at the A and B solonids, are easier to get to and do not require the removal of the tranny. And yes, if you do go into the tranny to get the VSS/speed sensor one, you should also replace the A and B shift ones.
Can get equally good deal on a Deville DTC or Eldorado ETC. I prefer the classic body style of the Eldorado and would have to get use to the look of the new style Deville. Like the taillights on the Deville but the front end is different. Also, age 46, only me and the wife and a small dog, no kids.
Is it just a question of looks and desired style or is the redesigned body on the Deville model for 2000 significant enough that I would notice the difference in quality, ride, or performance?
Bottom line is I could learn to like the looks of the Deville body style if the drive experience was significantly different over the traditional chassis on the Eldorado. I prefer the looks of the Eldorado but do not want to give up too much for that style preference. Hence lies the dilemma.
Thanks in Advance.
Go test drive both and decide.
One thing about 2000 model Northstar - Crank sensors. There are two of them. And many of them fail. Failure will cause a total engine stop, and it could be at speed. If your car does just die suddenly, this is probably the problem, and I would repair it quickly before you have a flameout at 75mph in the left lane of a busy highway.
Curious question.. The other guy that was talking about a 2000 ,,, you said something about it cutting off with him...Does my 96 have the same thing that can do that??? Because it has been (as you say..Flamed out!) At different times. mostly while slowing or accelerating, BUT.. has done it sitting still in driveway?? Thought it could be a lose wire( had a turn signal module fixed not long before it started).... or thought maybe the Computor...So am I on the wrong track there? thanks rebeccat
But, I am pretty sure earlier models of Northstars also had 2 crank sensors. 1995 and earlier had a totally different 'computer' system (ODBC I), and I'm not sure about these.
Your 1996 is an ODBC II, and probably has 2.
If a Northstar just 'drops dead', a crank sensor problem would be the first thing I would consider. Especially if NO error code was set. It seems these things shut stuff down so fast, it does not even get to set an error code.
They are not especially expensive, and not too much problem to reach. They are both just above the oil filter adapter. I think oil needs drained, filter and adapter removed, and there they are.
The oil in the car was changed at 51,000 miles.Not due for another change until 54,000 miles.
Car now has 52,000 miles on it. And the light is coming on saying: "Oil Life 87 % "
I checked the oil and the stick is still at full mark.
:confuse:
What gives????
If your oil indicator is coming on when the engine is running, that may mean that the oil pressure is low.
The oil life message is displayed in the driver information center. This indicates how much life is left, and you have used about 1/8 of the total life, so you can go about 6-7,000 more miles. However, if the oil pressure is low, your engine is probably near death.
The message is a constant on in the information center from the moment I turn the car on.
So I hope it is only informing me of the life of the oil..although my other caddy had nothing like that. Some posts here have spoken of the need to top up oil before it's time for a change and I was wondering if that's what it meant...a need to top up...but the stick was still on full.
How would you find out if the oil pressure is still good? what would I ask the mechanic to do?
Thanks for the help.
You don't have a problem. The main thing is, you need to get your dash to display something other than your oil usage percent. You need to have an owner's manual to read so you will know how to do this. And there is all kind of other stuff in the owner's manual. When you get it, you should read it end to end at least once.
Many, many, many of the questions asked on forums like this can be answered by reading a vehicle's owner manual.
My 98 Oldsmobile Aurora (with a small northstar engine) had a trip computer/information display that could display the oil pressure. Unfortunately Cadillac's information display does not.
I've been told that the Northstars are all over the map on coolant temps and I'm just not used to a guage jumping all over like this does. Still, people keep saying "oh, it's normal, they're just like that"
But when should I start to freak and pull over? Will the car warn me before I ruin the head gasket or warp anything?
The car has a 197deg thermostat. In cooler weather, with the temp control set to Normal, it should maintain about 197 to 205 or so. The hotter the outside weather gets, the more it will struggle to maintain this level. Stop and go 100deg weather, I could see it hitting 230deg.
Now here is the funny thing about Caddies. If you put the temp control to Econ (or you have AC problems and the computer will not let the AC run and will default to Econ, the computer will let the motor temp go up all the way to about 220deg before it turns the electric cooling fans on! How about that??? Otherwise, with AC on, the fans will run constantly at low speed and at about 205 it will kick them up to full speed. A Caddy will actually run cooler with the AC on rather than off!
Ok, the other thing. If you load the engine, and this can be done with high speed driving or driving up a steep hill, and the temp in Caddy start to climb fast and overheats, you probably have the dreaded Northstar blown headgasket problem! You might have other problem - bad thermostat, the belt that drive water pump is slipping, radiator stopped up, etc, etc, but a Caddy that can be driven around at low speeds with no problem, but will overheat at speed or on hills - headgasket becomes a very possible reason.
What exactly, if anything, would need replacing along side the repair?
My experience with my Seville was that the coolant temperature always ran at the center point (200 F), but in very hot (100 F) weather climbing a grade the temperature indicator might warm to 210F. My Aurora was different, with no radiator grill, it would run 220F on warm days in stop and go traffic.
If the A/C compressor is running, then the cooling fans are on to cool the refrigerent, which will keep the engine coolant temperature down too. My SRX, not in the mountains, stayed right at the center mark even in 105F weather this summer. The interior stayed cool too, with the rear A/C fan running on a medium (2) speed. My SRX does have heavy duty cooling (perhaps extra fans?).
Is this a heap of BS or is the guy telling the truth?
What he probably said was due to expansion and contraction of the alumium motor and head of a Northstar under running and stopped conditions, the head bolts have become stressed, loosening these bolts. These are the bolts that hold the head to the motor, with the head gasket as the sealing between the two. When the bolts loosen, or thru other problems with the gasket seal, the exhaust pressure when a cylinder fires is blown into the water cooling passages between the head and motor (the gasket fails). This will cause massive overheating. (If you do not have overheating, water/steam coming out of fill tank, you may not have a gasket problem. Or, you might be in the early stages of gasket failure. A mechanic can test the coolant for combustion byproducts - if found this is gasket failure.)
Most of the cost of repairing a Northstar head gasket is labor. The motor must be pulled to access the rear head. There is a 'kit' sold for the repair, a 'Timezert' kit. The head is removed, a jig bolted down on it for drilling alignment purposes, all the head bolts are drilled out oversized, they are rethreaded, a special Timesert insert is screwed in, then the head is reassembled to the motor with a new gasket and headbolts. Both heads should be done when the motor is out of the car.
From what I've heard, cost is $2,000 - $3,000. The kit is not very expensive, less than $400, a few new gaskets, new headbolts. Most of the cost is labor, and finding a shop that is even experienced in doing this may be tough. The heads almost always are not harmed, and the motor does not have to be 'decked'.
And yes, this happens to Northstars. And is the main reason I do not own a Cadillac. My wife loves them, but I do not want to own an older, out of warranty Cadillac where a head gasket repair would cost 20% or more of the value of the car.
Now, as to how well a mechanic can do this job and re-assemble properly?????????
but the information center does not give me a reason that I would need service...damn, my old car I knew waht to do - thisd modern marvel, I have no idea. :confuse:
Not much idea about starting problem, it could be several things.
There is a 'neutral safety switch' located somewhere on the shift mechanism (jiggling the shift) that will only allow the vehicle to start in park or neutral.
There is also a brake safety switch that will only allow it to start when your foot is on the brake.
If either of these is failing, it could fail to start.
A weak battery might not start, but after being juggled around recover enough to start.
A positive or negative cable that has corrision might come and go.
Intermittent failure in the ignition switch.
Lots of things. When it comes and goes (unless it's a weak battery - this could be tested), it's tough to find electrical problems, when it is 'gone'.