Cadillac Owners Forum banner

96 SLS Head Gasket

1K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  zonie77 
#1 ·
Has anyone done a head gasket on a 96 SLS with the Northstar Engine. How difficult is it for the DIY person with some automotive experience

any help would be appreciated

Ron
 
#4 ·
The HG's on a Caddy aren't that bad but the easiest way it to drop the cradle. The good thing is you don't have to lean over the fender for the whole job. Once the cradle is out it's pretty easy to do the rest.

The second difference is you should timesert ALL 20 bolt holes, even if they don't look bad...it is the safe thing to do.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the responses, I hope to start the within a few days. I do a few more questions based upon your responses. Yes, I sure the head gasket is bad and it is the rear head. Why would I need to drop the cradle, Can I not disconnect the top mounts and roll the engine forward a little to access the rear earier. What is a timesert?

Thanks Ron
 
#8 ·
The engine was designed to be removed to do the HG's. Many things are hard to access in the car. You will waste more time than dropping the cradle.

Are you planning to timesert the block? It is very difficult to do that with the engine in the car. If you have bad HG's you probably have bad threads in the block on at least one hole.

I think you should reconsider trying to do it in the car.
 
#11 ·
Did you read the thread that boricuacaddy posted?

You can pull the engine out the top but it's harder that way too. There are some bolts that are very difficult to access and you have to seperate it from the trans.

As scary as it seems it's actually pretty easy to pull the cradle.

Read that post and get a factory service manual (FSM).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top