Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Cadillac Catera Maintenance & Repair

1…1718202223…29

Comments

  • catman97catman97 Member Posts: 3
    The no-brainer el cheapo first thing to check is the gas cap. Not tightening the gas cap will cause the engine light to go on. When engine light first camer on I immediately drove 45 minutes to the dealer only to discover that I had no screwed the gas cap on completely tight. When I "bumped" into fellow Catera owners after first getting car and would ask each to compare notes. Unanimous that everybody loved driving the Catera and would add "be advised that the engine light will come on if you don't completely tighten the gas cap".

    Also could be a broken gas cap if persists after tightening. Wasn't the case with my Catera but with 2004 Saturn Vue had to replace defective gas cap.
  • ssklsskl Member Posts: 45
    Check air cleaner, sometimes one little thing will cause a bunch of probs. I'm not as good at these Catera probs. as some others but am learning, be patient these cars are built like a brick shithouse and need to be driven hard I think. The same cars under the Opel nameplate in Germany were used for Police cars. Built for the autobahn if you know what I mean. I've had several oddball cars and this is the best. I think GM copied many of the design features of this car. The similar CTS Cad. replaced the Catera. The window may due to not being used, check switch in console, sometimes spills will cause poor contact. WD-40 is safe for electrical, won't hurt to spray a little on switch. Worked miracles for my old Mercedes.
    Water Displacement formula 40 was engineered for drying rocket fuel and was accidently discovered to have other commercial uses. Good Luck! Dave
  • fehufehu Member Posts: 7
    Have you had a tune up lately? First of all if a cadi engine gets dirty expecially the sensors the check engine light will come on. You need to get the oil changed, get a new air filter put in and make sure the engine doesn't have oil all over it. Cateras have a bad habit of the gaskets getting worn out around 40000 miles. If you have 60 on it you probably have at least one valve cover gasket worn out. Cateras are tempermental. Great when they run well. I would just go to the car wash, leave the engine running and spray the engine with hot soapy water. make sure engine is not extremely hot, then get an undercarriage wash at the car wash. Change your oil that is cheap enough and put in a new air filter. A check engine light is usually something to worry about but on a catera they come on a lot. I have a 2000 also and it comes on and goes off. I know I need a valve cover gasket changed. And yes the gas cap can cause the light to come on but when you ran the diagnostic at auto zone it told you sensors. Clean it up see what happens from there.
  • dallasdude1dallasdude1 Member Posts: 1,151
    I would clean the Mass Air Sensor, its about $6 for a can of CDC cleaner. If its bad it would cost $150. Then if you can describe what the car is doing, it might well be the Crank Sensor an $65 part. The AC should be rather easy to see if you either have a leak, electrical issues, and or a bad compressor at worse. The window is an easy fix. Grab it from both sides, inside and outside and shut it. Those back windows are prone to having the cable snap or getting off the track. Its not worth fixing or using. I disagree that the car needs or has seals leaking. Doesn't have enough miles to have these issues. You can fix it yourself or get taken/had by the dealership. I have a 3001 and it has 90,000 miles and its a fine car, if you repair it yourself.
  • dallasdude1dallasdude1 Member Posts: 1,151
    My brother in law is a Mr Good wrench and fortunately he was trained to work on this type of euro car. My father in law owned the dealership. Most dealers failed to train or limited training on Catera's. Its real simplistic and most of the problems are common on 2000 and 2001 Catera's. However, I'm amazed at the needless work done by those who are untrained and or unqualified to work on these cars. Yeah, there are lots of false codes as with most cars these days. But the majority of the stuff is cheap to fix, until you get to the major PM which is the timing belt at 100,000 and its expensive in that lots of stuff is replaced then. This Opel twin/Opel Omega is considered a very reliable car in Europe, but then we are an entirely different society. The engineering and quality of supplier parts is first class. From the Recaro seats, Bose sound, and quality of the interior/exterior beats most manufacturers in the 2000's. Currently they were putting a 4/6 cylinder and a VETT eight in these Opel Omega's.
  • dallasdude1dallasdude1 Member Posts: 1,151
    If you have a power sun roof, make sure its in the shut position. The early models were prone to having that drain the battery. If you used it reciently, you may want to disable its fuse if its positioning is the issue.
  • orlynorlyn Member Posts: 4
    Okay, I've got it figured out. The turn signal is bad. It is an LED unit (made in Spain) which will, from what I can ascertain, require replacement of the entire taillight assembly as I see no way to take the one piece assembly apart without a lot of breakage occuring. There is a small circuit board inside the thing that cannot be readily accessed & I wouldn't know what to do to it if I did gain access to it. So junk yard look out I'm on my way.
  • bm4ebm4e Member Posts: 8
    Thanx for your help the abs control module is the same thing as the EBTCM. What year of a catera is that book for? The tps/throttle position sensor is located on the front of the throttle body where the intake ducts you unplugg it & there are two screws, tps also has a big factor in your tc & tramsmision. I have just described to alldata online instead of buying books. you did help me figure out how I was going to get to the EBTCM thanx for the help. These cars are a bxxxh to work on
  • country2country2 Member Posts: 26
    alldata is really good, much better than my books which are for a 2000. i know how it is to need information and no where to get it. glad to help a little. i am just a shade tree mechanic but after all these years it is a pretty big tree. I started to work on my car and found out what a mess they are but I have more in it then it is worth and I like it so I will keep it and do the work.
  • calicagocalicago Member Posts: 53
    Do anyone know where the relay board is located :cry:
  • bm4ebm4e Member Posts: 8
    i feel the same way i like it alot but, whats next? I think i will just start replaceing piece by piece. Seems like every day there is something else wrong now my windows dont go up or down automaticaly im thinking it is my pcm or ecm. Have u changed your timeing belt if so how did u hold your cams in place?
  • country2country2 Member Posts: 26
    i wouldn't think it was you pcm for just the windows. did aldata give you that ideal. if it is just your windows i would check fuses and the window switches. no i haven't had any problem with my timeing belt and yes i am over 70,000 miles and that is suppose to be when you change them but i looked at mine and it looks ok and the other thing was that the belt tensioner goes bad and breaks the belt. it also looks ok. that is about all i know about that problem but i have replaced my intake gaskets to stop the oil leak without any problem and had a fuse go bad that made my radio only work when the car was off. i fixed my brake warning light and my low coolant light by just bypassing them. i can check my coolant and brakes myself with out some light. if aldata doesn't tell you about the belt i can try to look it up.
  • alexmartialexmarti Member Posts: 2
    Started my 2001 deville this morning fine, noticed my A/C clutch was not kicking in and getting to cool air. I then started checking for blown fuses and all checked okay. I then went to start the car and the car would not start, my headlights would not go on and my instrument panel would not light up. Power windows, seats, and radio were fine, all I would hear is a slight clicking from the fuse box under my rear seat. I then decided to disconnect my battery and connect it again, I turned the key to on position my headlights came on my instrument panel came back on but was indicated no level on fuel gage, no level on temp gage and some dashes in various areas, and my gear position in (D), car still now starting. Any advice?
    Thanks :confuse:
  • country2country2 Member Posts: 26
    if there are no problems with the way the car is running. if it is not missing or running bad and the light is on then it is an emission problem and it just means that you car is putting off bad emissions. if the car is running ok then don't panic. you can drive it while your thinking this out or you get money to work on it. the light might go out itself. it might have been bad gas or the feul cap. if the car runs ok, then don't worry about the light right now.
  • orlynorlyn Member Posts: 4
    Its right under the steering column. Take the piece your knees hit against out, there are two bigged headed slot screws at the bottom edge, pull out the bottom a bit and pull it down about 1/2 inch to release the top edge from two pins which fit in slots. The relays for lights, horn, etc., are on the right, fuses on the left. Display of whats - what is on back of piece you removed.
  • country2country2 Member Posts: 26
    i don't think there is a fuse box under your back seat. if you heard a clicking it might have been your sun screen for the back glass or your rear window defroster. both are in a habit of staying on and causing trouble and draining your battery while your are not in the car. maybe your ac wasn't coming on because there wasn't enough freon in it to let the compressor start. leaked off during winter, might not work below 60 degrees. i would start off by checking to see if i had power to the starter and if the battery was fully chargered. did you check the fuses under the hood and under the driver side dash. i would take the fuse that runs the sun screen and back defroster out if i could. your temp gauge wouldn't move unless the car was warm.maybe your gear sensor is out not letting your car start. put the car in neutral and try it if it won't start in park. did the start try to turn or no starter operation at all. you could set the parking brake and block the wheels and then with a screw driver jump the small and large post on the starter and see if it starts.
    if it does then i would suppect the gear sensor. hope i said something that helps.
  • calicagocalicago Member Posts: 53
    Whew thanks man I thought that maybe it was the one under the Bonnet (Hood) Cost is like 140.00 I guest :confuse: ? anyway thanks brother ;)
  • calicagocalicago Member Posts: 53
    We all need to admit it we bought it used NOT NEW the re calls and other issue are not going away we complain BUT WE LOVE THE DAMNED CAR so we might as well start the Fix up process and Quit bull$$$ting We love the car :P Accept the unending saga of the Catera And to all you guys that drive Civics.........YOU GO GIRL
  • caddy_oldscaddy_olds Member Posts: 4
    hey i have a 1997 catera and the brake and radiator lights come on for about 10 minutes then go out and my temp gauge dosnt work at all but the car runs fine and i check all the fluids everyday. does anybody have this problem with dash board lights? :confuse:
  • calicagocalicago Member Posts: 53
    IN regards to your radiator light coming on more than likely it is the resivor sensor thats bad. As far as your temp gauge it's real tuff to get to but if you have the time it the temp sensor should be located on the left side of the engine heads at the rear check for disconnection and broken wires thats pretty much all I can tell you for now good luck and to all you guys that drive civics ...........YOU GO GIRL ;)
  • country2country2 Member Posts: 26
    That is what I think is wrong too and the brake light your are talking about, is it the circle with lines on both sides. If it is, that just tells you your brake pads need replaceing and if your brake pads are good then you must have a bad wire or sensor. Since they come on then go off, it must be a wire or sensor.
  • bm4ebm4e Member Posts: 8
    There is a vacum on the hose that goes from the smogg pump to the manifold can anyone tell what the name of it is so i can get a new one. It is located on driver side by the radiator & battery.
  • jak6jak6 Member Posts: 3
    bad miss have chase it down to I cyc no spark .could you get me started on how to change spark plug wires is there a cap ? do I have to pull the top of engine to get to it
    Thank for any help you can give me Jak62
  • caddy_oldscaddy_olds Member Posts: 4
    hey thanks alot i think that solved the problem.
  • caddy_oldscaddy_olds Member Posts: 4
    Do anybody out there know if the air shocks on the back of a 97 catera can be changed with normal gas charged ones?
  • jasonshug1jasonshug1 Member Posts: 4
    This is what my 2000 Catera is doing, and i've talked to alot of Cadillac specialists and they say it's the Transmission Control Module. Reason being, is because my transmission won't kick in to a higher gear while these lights are one... It shifts just fine, but for instance if you floor it, it won't kick up, it strips... Mechanic and Cadilla dealer say because of that, it's the TCM...

    Anyone else experiencing the tranny shift problem while these lights are on?

    Jason
  • bm4ebm4e Member Posts: 8
    jak6 there is no cap, there is a coil behind the engine on drivers side. you do not have to pull the top of the motor. on the drivers side there is case that holds vacum lines & wires unbolt that & you can get to the spark plugs on that side. pull your wires & start removeing plugs. you need to know the fireing order on motor & coil. Sence i have a 98 catera i know it. on the motor driver side starting from the front is 2,4,6 passenger side is 1,3,5. Now on the coil starting the front row from drivers side to passenger side is 4,6,2 the back row is 1,3,5. What cylinder is not fireing i just had the same prob with mine & it was cylinders 2,& 6. If you have any other ? I can help.
  • franco55franco55 Member Posts: 1
    Can anybody tell me the location of the coil and distributor in my 1997 catera?
  • ssklsskl Member Posts: 45
    Coil is buried between firewall and center of back of engine. Distribution of firing plugs sequence is computer controlled, no distributor like older model cars..
    Dave
  • jak6jak6 Member Posts: 3
    Could the computer be missed programed to not fire on one plug or is coil bad thank for any help
  • ssklsskl Member Posts: 45
    I've got the same problem, I've done a spark test on that cyl. and it's firing. Note: two plugs fire at the same time on every stroke according to the factory manual.
    I had a service station check fuel injectors which were OK, A mistake to take everything off to take it in to the station for a check. I now have no compression on #4 cyl. Which tells me I've either got a burnt valve, stuck lifter, or stuck valve which would hit the piston being stuck open.
    Best to pay the $90+ for analyzation by a pro. These cars are setup so analyzing tells it all. You could check wires and plug yourself first.
    Dave
  • jak6jak6 Member Posts: 3
    Thanks Dave I have No fire one plug Will try to check plug wire but cant get to end behind engine just had it in a shop they check computer say it was bad (ecm) I bought one (130.00) than they said it was now good so I now have a second ECM it was running fine just got worst ( money pit ) if i get it going I will Post thanks for any help
  • ssklsskl Member Posts: 45
    There are some really sharp mechanics on this forum. If you go thru the previous discussions you might find more clues. You can search for (ECM) for instance.
    It seems that I saw something before about the ECM shutting off a cyl and also if some other sensor is defective it will gradually affect runability. For instance the crank and cam sensors are known to go bad, especially crank. So you could search for (crank sensor) and it will tell you how to change it. These are Opel engines and most mechanics don't know their quirks. They are a superb car once you iron out the bugs. Some were used as police cars in Germany.
    Dave
  • luggie34luggie34 Member Posts: 1
    I own a 2000 Cadillac Catera and my rear brake lights will not shut off when I turn off the car. It's drains my battery dead.
  • ssklsskl Member Posts: 45
    Search forums for expert advice.
    I would think it's a pressure switch in brake system, older cars had this prob. occasionally and either it would be air in the line causing pressure or the pedal switch under the dash not releasing switch button by being out of adjustment.
    But with this highly sophisticated brake system I wouldn't bet on those issues being the answer.
    Dave
  • rboldingrbolding Member Posts: 1
    MY 1999 CATERA WILL START, BUT WILL NOT ACCELERRATE. The car acts as if the gas pedal cable is not connected, however, I understand there is none. My mechanic said that I either need a new main computer or an accelerator sensor, but he is not sure. he said it would cost to much for him to just guess and the cadillac dealer is not any help, beause they say they don't know what is wrong even when he gives them the codes. They obviously want him to have to send the car to them.

    at any rate, i was just wondering if anyone can help. Maybe it is the main computer, but I would like to know before I buy one. The car starts fine but just doesn't move, as if it is not getting any gas. I don't hear any indication that the engine is getting gas no matter how far I press the gas pedal.
  • gngurugnguru Member Posts: 108
    If you have any of the codes I can tell you what they mean. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be an easy fix... :)
  • calicagocalicago Member Posts: 53
    Hi guys On an 1999 catera sport how do you adjust the rear piston I can't use my regular tool to adjust them the tool will not fit and I cant compress them what do I do :confuse: :confuse: :confuse:
  • calicagocalicago Member Posts: 53
    Nevermind Frozen Piston :(
  • cadipimping412cadipimping412 Member Posts: 2
    i bought a pair at the local autozone for $30 bucks
  • cadipimping412cadipimping412 Member Posts: 2
    i have a 99 cadillac catera and the water pump won't come off removed all the bolts any suggestions
  • phil2400phil2400 Member Posts: 29
    Try popping the end of it with the HANDLE of a hammer or other softer object to break the gasket seal.
  • txshldmtxshldm Member Posts: 8
    I PURCHASED A 1997 CATERA IN 2004. IT HAD 36, 000. AT ABOUT 52,000 THE SEAT HEATER WENT OUT. THEN AIR CONDITIONER WENT OUT. NOW I HAVE A COOLANT LEAK BUT I CAN'T FIND IT BECAUSE IT IS BEHIND THE ENGINE NEAR THE FIREWALL. EVEN MY DOME LIGHT STOP WORKING. I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT SOMETIMES MY HEATER WOULD STICK.
  • jasonshug1jasonshug1 Member Posts: 4
  • txshldmtxshldm Member Posts: 8
    I HAVE 1997 CATERA. IT STARTED WITH THE HEATER STICKING AND STAYING ON. NOW THE SEAT HEATER FUSE WILL BLOW WHEN REPLACED. THE DOME LIGHT WORKS WHEN IT WANTS TO. THE AC IS OUT AND I'M LEAKING COOLANT IT'S COMING FROM BEHIND THE ENGINE BUT I SEE WHERE FROM. I'M THINKING IT MIGHT BE A FREEZE PLUG OR HEATER CORE OR MAYBE EVEN THE BLOCK IS CRACKED. I JUST DON'T KNOW. CAN ANYONE HELP?
  • jasonshug1jasonshug1 Member Posts: 4
    I had the coolant leak behind my engine too turned out to be the heater control valve... 55.00 part and about and hour to replace with minimal tools ;-) if you want more info then contact me... Athomeprojasons@aol.com
  • jasonshug1jasonshug1 Member Posts: 4
    Check my post just now... Had the same problem
  • acurryacurry Member Posts: 27
    not sure about all your problems but the coolant leak is either the water control vavle or you heater hose i have changed my water control vavle three times since ive had the car and the heater hose once, they are just bad parts and good luck on the other parts
  • az_hvyaz_hvy Member Posts: 30
    I have a 98 Catera, last week it started to run a little hotter then normal, usually temp gauge runs at 1/2 mark now it will go up to 5/8 before fans kick on then cool back down to 1/2. C.E.L. just came on yesterday code is PO115 = Coolant Temperature Sensor. Surprisingly the part is less then 25$ and available in 1 day. My question is where is it. I have looked everywhere that is viable and cannot find it. Checkers Auto parts is no help
  • sandballsandball Member Posts: 3
    Ok I’ve had this catera since 03 and have made some major repairs. I started blowing fumes from the air vents. So it sat for 6 months or so. When I took it to the dealership for repair I noticed a slight miss which wasn't there before parking. After having a dealership replace the water pump and heater core the car at to the tune of $1800 I was told that it had a miss on cylinder 4. Which of course for $350 more they would diagnose. The car began starting hard right there at the dealership and then wouldn't start at all after I got it home. It had started easily before. I purchased a service Manuel, scanner and started with the obvious fix. I changed spark plugs and it still doesn't start. My problem is now without the engine being run you can't get a reading from the scanner. I've invested over $6000 in this car since I've had it replacing any number of things. I really would hate to sell it because if someone fixes it they shouldn't have any major problems cause of all my repairs. So If someone could give me a suggestion what to try next I'd love it. If there isn't any inexpensive suggestions what would be a good selling price. This baby is as sweet as it came from the showroom floor. Help!
Sign In or Register to comment.

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles