For my Review I will write about the 1994 Sedan Deville.
As some of you know the Deville was redesigned in 1994. For this year we gained one new model and bid farewell for another. The Coupe DeVille did not make it to the 1994 Model year. The new model to the DeVille Stable was the executive’s racecar known as Deville Concourse. Styling was kept inline with the new for 1993 Rear Drive Fleetwood.
Power train
These cars were powered by the reliable pushrod PFI 4.9 v8. Making 200 hp and 275 lb feet of torque. These are not racecars by any means whatsoever. For a transmission the cars featured the 4t60e Transaxle. 4t60e standing for 4 speed “T”ransverse mounted 60 series “E”lectronicly controlled. All of this was in charge of moving the cars 3900lbs to 60mph in around 7-8 seconds and giving great passing power. The combo yields impressive fuel economy for a luxury car. With a light foot you can pry over 25 mpg on the highway. Expect 13-17 in town, stoplights turn this car into a gas sucking beast. The DeVille REQUIRES 20 gallons of PREMIUM fuel.
Suspension
The 1994 Deville got the Speed Sensing Suspension system. This system adjusted the dampening rate over 3 levels as your speed changes, full firm mode coming in at highway speeds, while the full soft mode came into play on city streets. Out back also features the automatic leveling system. A stiffer body this year made the Deville much quieter over the outgoing 1993 DeVille. This was the beginning of GM attempting to create very high torsionally rigid bodies. By the 1995 Aurora they would lead the world in this area. Handling is good for such a big car, but attempt to run it to hard and it will under steer. When grip is found the car will darn near lay on the door handles in a turn. Like I said this isn’t a racecar.
Interior
The Sedan Deville’s interior is tame and comfortable. All Sedans had a column mounted shifter, bench seat and tons of room for 6. Trimmed in zebrano wood the interior is quite handsome. The typical mafia spec trunk measures 20 cubic feet. Small when compared the Lincoln Town Cars more useable 23 cubic feet. Then there is all the power goodies to make your trip comfortable. The Instrument cluster displays “oil life”, “timer”,”avg speed”,”avg mpg”, among a host of other messages and displays. There is a separate area to let you know how you’re doing as far a fuel mileage goes, showing average mpg and miles to empty, along with instant mpg. Instant mpg makes a handy tool to see how well the car is running. The stock stereo system has to be one of the best offered in 1994. Of coarse the Cadillac automatic parking brake relese is back ! Your first drive with one will have you looking for the relese , only to find as soon as the transmission is put into "reverse" it automaticaly pops back up. Manual relese is found underneath the dashboard in the event of vaccum failure.
Safety
This is the first year of the Cadillac “AirBank System”. Cadillac claims that this system yields airbag protection or all THREE front passengers. This was accomplished with an enlarged passenger side airbag. This airbag type is also one of the safest in the early 90s, instead of the passenger bag coming straight at you it actually goes up into the windshield and out, defecting some of the force into the windshield instead of your neck. ABS and child proof rear doors came standard along with a host of other safety feature outside traction control, which would arrive on the 95 Sedan Deville.
Trouble Spots:
First is a key when your looking at just about any Cadillac, push “off” and “warmer”, this will yield any trouble codes for the car, if your looking at a Deville, write any codes down and come back and see us.
Codes you can expect to see on higher mileage 1994 DeVilles:
I039: Speed sensitive suspension issue, were all working on this one
P039: This shows the torque converter isn’t locking up to the computers satisfaction , the car will run like this for thousands more miles.
Other Trouble Spots:
Most Deville’s will end up with a lazy door lock on one door; you’ll have to unlock it manually at times. What goes wrong is a little rubber cup that actuates the door lock rod off the solenoid. If you have the problem feel free to contact me and I will show you how to fix it, it’ll only cost you a tube of superglue and a little of your time.
Another Trouble Spot is a clunk coming out of the front end going down the road. Most of the time this is the sway bar end links, they have gone sour. Replacements will cost around 80 bucks.
Transmissions: These are hit and miss, best advice here is the change the tranny filter out and replace the fluid when your supposed to. NEVER HAVE THE UNIT FLUSHED!
Cooling system. Coolant is to be replaced every year with fresh coolant, distilled water, and the GM coolant suppliment pellets. Failure to do so will cause engine damage in the form of leaky head gaskets.
Front Main “Thump”. When the engine is hot and in gear at parking lot speeds you’ll hear a “thump thump thump” in tune with engine RPM. Don’t worry too much about this; perfectly normal and it’ll go another 100k like this. If it bugs you enough go to your Cadillac dealer and order up a new main bearing, there is an upgraded thicker bearing out ask for it only!!!
EGR: If you experience a “ping” on acceleration and your using premium fuel you may be suffering from the EGR tubes being plugged up. Have a helper hold the throttle plates wide open with the engine off. Get a wire coat hangar stretch it out and rod the 2 tubes out till there clean. Get a small wire brush and clean up the throttle plates while you’re in there.
Water pump: we will all go blow a water pump on the 4.9, only use new GM units …nuff said.
Some of you may note hearing 4.9s having a growl to them. If yours growls, check out the power steering pump and ac compressor. Its pretty normal to replace everything the belt touches at around 130k
Idler Pulley: more than a few of us here have had the idler pulley seize on us on the highway shredding the belt and leaving us stranded looking for parts. Spend the 14 bucks and get a new one on it.
Rocker Arm Pivot Bolts (added 1/18/2004) : There have been a few cases reported here on 4100 , 4.5 and 4.9 cars . 2 of which occured on the 1994 4.9 cars on our board. The cause is unknown and we are not sure if it is a pattern or just poor quailty work when a mechanic worked on the valvetrain over the cars life. While troubleshooting a missfire and all other normal causes have been covered with no remedy it may be nessesary to pull the valve covers to inspect the valvetrain's operation. Apperently the bolts fracture allowing the intake and exaust valve to stay closed. If this happens to you do a search on "Rocker Arm Supports" you will find a host of posts on how to remedy the problem by our resiedent expert Bbob.
Re: 1994 Cadillac Sedan DeVille 
