[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by JimHare

Frankie, first off, you really can't base overall statistics with what you read on this forum (or any i-net forum, for that matter). It's like going to a hospital and thinking, "My god, everyone in this city is sick..." - the hundreds of thousands of Caddy owners who've never had a HG problem tend not to search out forums and complain that their cars never need service, if you get my drift.

That said, cooling system maintenance is a little more important on these cars, or any cars with all aluminum engines, due to the greater stress placed on connections by the thermal cycling. Aluminum expands and contracts to a greater degree than does the old fashioned cast iron, so it's very important the the mating surfaces between parts of the engine, such as gaskets, do not lose their integrity. HGs loose their integrity when the coolant system has lost the ability to keep corrosion at bay, and the coolant system loses the ability to keep corrosion at bay when it gets old and depleted.

Thus, a fresh filling of Dexcool every 3 years is probably about the best advice - it can go longer, but for about $20 a change, why risk it?

The Bars Leak tablets are for "nuisance" leaks - around hose connections, tiny porosity leaks, etc etc. They were recommended by GM up until around 2003 or so, but a tube of the stuff popped into the radiator hose when you change probably won't do any harm.

Be sure you don't add the stuff to the expansion tank - it will simply clog up the line. The expansion tank doesn't have enough action of coolant coming in and out to work right. Has to go in the hose.

Keep an eye on it, and enjoy it. Don't obsess over what you read here - unfortunate souls who have a HG problem will seek out forums like this, and I'm not trying to minimize their woes - but you can't read that as the norm.

I dont know Jim. I'm on a few different car forums, most recently one for Lincoln Mark VIII's and yes people come to talk about their cars and repairs they need help with but there is no 1 general consistent problem (especially Head gaskets) that almost everyone on the forum is having problems with. Hek, I'm also on the RWD section here for my '91 Brougham and the posts are usually on how to modify the car or replacing simple parts, not the chaos that goes on in this section. The Northstar has a great reputation for being a strong, powerful motor but at the other end it also DOES indeed have a reputation of blowing head gaskets and being extremely hard to work on. Every mechanic I went to hates working on them and they are ALL familiar with the H/G issue.