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New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems

32K views 255 replies 23 participants last post by  stoveguyy 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hey, everyone. First off, I'm glad this forum exists, and I'm very salty I didn't think to check here 3 days ago prior to buying an Eldorado.....off of craigslist.. Anyway!

I am absolutely new to cars, I don't really know much about how to fix them, or where to look for problems, or what situations to not get into after a quick look over, which all leaded me to finding a 95 Eldorado on Craigslist, it all seemed to run well on the parking lot test drive (first mistake), and so I got it instantly, not really checking out other cars first (second mistake).

After 20 minutes on the freeway, and noticing I passed my exit, I decided to cruise for a little bit, I pulled off and hit a backstreet to see what kind of MPG I am dealing with. I was pretty satisfied... Up until my nephew started freaking out and stated, "Uhm. There is something leaking into the car..." and almost as if on queue to those words, the car started steaming out of the vent, almost seemed like it had to be smoke as well.

I pulled off into a gas station, and tried calling the person for some information, but lets just say-- this individual is completely useless and is not wanting to talk so I can't really ask him for a refund, I guess I'm too easy going.

SO after 30 minutes of trying to figure out what I am going to do, because I am asking everyone at this gas station for help because I don't know what I am doing, I decide to take it to the nearest "mechanic", which was told to me that it is just down the road, so I head off in that direction and find an entire line of... Auto Body Repair Shops...

One guy finally takes a look at it, and tells me what the heating (core? cord?) was broken and that was the issue as to why it was spewing coolant into the car on the passenger side. I asked him what I can do about that and he said it would be $300 and 8 Hours of work, to which my jaw dropped. I asked if there was an alternative and he said they could "bypass" it. I asked what that would solve and he said it would stop spewing for sure, and I asked if it would stop overheating, he said definitely, they also replaced a clamp type item that connected the vacuum hose of the engine to another part of the engine, which previously had a hole in it. The car fired up and sounded great, I paid the man and took off down the road. That's when I am now experiencing low acceleration power, and I am like.... Huh ?

I end up going back to this guy about 5 times, he reassured me that after a good sit overnight the car would be absolutely fine and not to worry about anything, the overheating message, beeping and low acceleration are all because it hasn't sat long enough after the bypass. I tell him I feel like it might have been the plug he replaced, so he took it off and said it was ok to drive with it off. (third mistake? fourth?) At about the fifth time he told me my catalytic converter was bad, and I kept hearing it was "Cadillac Converter" "Catallic Converter", so none of what he was saying made sense, and I thought this would be the last thing I needed to make sure the car was good to go, so I asked him where I get that situated, and he directed me to a muffler shop. It was about 8 minutes away. I set up an appointment and got it replaced the next day.

(somewhere inbetween all this I picked up some oil and put more oil in the car, I randomly got power back but it kept dying out at random times)

After it got replaced, I thought all of my issues were going to be solved, so I took off down the road, happy as can be. I had power again! Now, I was happy with the v8 engine in this beast, I just roared it a couple 50-100 feet. Then the power dies out again, and I just get livid. I whip around to the shop and by this point, I'm not even mad I am just disappointed in my lack of car knowledge, and I tell him that it didn't work, we get another guy involved and discover that the car is indeed overheating. We let it all cool down, run some water in it and watch to see where it is going, and after about two minutes it just starts essentially throwing the water upwards. We let it cool down once more for about 30 minutes, the water was incredibly low afterwards, and he filled it up, told me to drive it to the house and not drive it anymore until I can figure out whats wrong with it.

At this point I had gotten in contact with the guy and he states he will bring his mechanic to the car to check it out, and replace whatever it is that is broken and get it back on the road. Just kidding. No show.

So the car is sitting here, and I realize that my neighbor has the same exact car, maybe a couple years newer, and very nice rims. I talk to him about what could be the issue, learned more about (after the mechanics and I had a long talk about why nobody likes to work on cadi engines - aluminum) how they warp when overheated and its all downhill from there.

So, I come to this forum looking for anyone who can just help me out here. I am willing to invest the time into fixing it. But I want to know what I should look for to see if it is too late to even want to try, what do you guys feel the issue might be?

I came to a realization last night that if maybe the heating (core? cord?) is replaced and the bypass was ... enabled again, that should clear up any issues, especially since the car hadn't overheated prior to the bypass. That and because the Catalytic Converter (which apparently you're supposed to be able to see all the way through, was meeeeeeesssed up) was replaced.

What do you guys think? I'm sure there are guides all over to find out how to do this, but I'd like to take it from some knowledgeable people on a realistic scale.

Thank you so much.
Rich
 
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#3 ·
:welcome:

You definitely have several things going on at once.

The first problem, the steam and coolant inside the car, is a ruptured heater core. The heater core is like a small radiator. It's part of the heating system. Hot coolant flows through it, the blower motor blows air past it, and through your vents as heat. Bypassing it just means connecting the hoses leading to and from it, to each other. This will take care of the leak, but you 'll have no heat. Replacing the core takes NOWHERE NEAR 8 hours. The rest of the problems are completely unrelated.

The car is not going to fix itself after sitting overnight.

First things first, you have to pull your Diagnostic Trouble Codes. Go to the top of the Eldorado/Seville page, and read the "sticky" thread on how to pull codes. List any codes you may find, AND THEIR DEFINITIONS, here (there's a link within the description with code definitions).

Don't listen to your neighbor or the "mechanic", these engines do not warp. get your advice here from now on.

Under what conditions is the car overheating?
 
#4 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

I will get right on the codes thing, I saw something about that vaguely and forgot to doubleback.

The car is just overheating during normal drive. After about 10 minutes, then it will somehow kick back out of it after some time, or if it sits with the engine off for a couple minutes, and I'll have power again.
 
#5 ·
Wait several hours until the engine is completely cool, then check the coolant level in the surge tank (the tank under the hood with coolant in it). It should be filled to the FULL COLD line, about half way up, where the tank halves meet. If it's low, full it with a 50%/50% mix of coolant and distilled water (or premixed coolant).
 
#6 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

WOW - where to start -

MoistCabbage covered the blown heater core -

for the overheating - check the PURGE LINE -

the PURGE LINE is the only way of expelling air from the Northstar cooling system -

it is a 3/8 diameter hose that goes from a hollow bolt in the thermostat/waterpump housing area of the engine - and plugs onto a nipple on the side of the SERGE TANK -

with the engine running - there should be a gentle - constant flow of coolant - from the engine - to the serge tank -

if there is no flow - the most likely cause is a blockage in the hollow bolt -

follow the hose towards the engine - with the engine OFF - remove the hose - use a straightened metal coat hanger - or something similar - and poke it into the hollow bolt -

the coat hanger should go in about 2 1/2 inches -

once the hollow bolt is cleared - you can briefly start the engine to verify coolant flow - be sure to use some sort of container to catch the coolant so you don't make a mess -

check the hose and serge tank for blockage -
 
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#9 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

I appreciate the community here, thank you so much. I'm going to get on these few things here after I settle some stuff around the house. I'm looking forward to working on this like crazy now that there are a group of passionate people who dedicate their time to help.
 
#10 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

We're all here to help keep these beautiful cars on the road...This place has been a lifesaver for me over the years with my current and past Cadillac's...Happy to return the favor to another fellow Cadillac owner :thumbsup:
 
#11 · (Edited)
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

So, I feel a little silly. But... It states to depress the "off" and "warmer" buttons, but I can't... seem to find the button labeled warmer, or is it the red button. And depress means to hold down both, right? yikes.

Silly questions, I got it. :p Time to figure out how to find the codes I am looking for
 
#13 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

So, I feel a little silly. But... It states to depress the "off" and "warmer" buttons, but I can't... seem to find the button labeled warmer, or is it the red button. And depress means to hold down both, right? yikes.

Silly questions, I got it. :p Time to figure out how to find the codes I am looking for
---------------------
Time to figure out how to find the codes I am looking for
here ya go -

http://z-cut.de/US/dtcobd1.html
 
#14 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

Codes that toggled by with history:

P016: Voltage Out of Range (ALL SOL)
P095: Engine Stall Detected
S036: Electronic Level Control Compressor Short to Ground/Open
S038: Electronic Level Control Exhaust Valve Short to Ground/Open
S044: Lift or Dive Signal Fault
S076: Left Rear Accelerometer Overcurrent

The rest said "no codes" in the subjects, and went straight to PCM? afterwards.

I found this: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/supermechanic/2010-04-02_201017_codes.gif and it is quite nifty to look at, but should I run tests on everything or are the ones in the history what I should be looking for?
 
#15 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

Auto part Engine Horse harness


Now, this may seem silly, but I really don't have any idea what I'm looking for when it comes to the purge line. Is this relatively close to what I should be looking for or could anyone eyeball it from this angle and tell me how far down or back I should be looking?
 
#17 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:



Awesome. So I'm not sure what a hollow bolt is, I think that might be where the confusion is comign from. So I have to try to follow it through the engine?

Also, the guy at the muffler shop who did the catalytic converter change, said that blue connector was used for a speaker system, an amp connector.

Edit: Did you mean the blue arrow end?
Auto part Engine Horse harness Automotive engine part
 
#20 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

the hollow bolt you are searching for is on the other side of the motor -

go look on the drivers side -

find a small drive belt - that is the water pump drive belt -

locate the big radiator hose - going from the radiator to the motor -

close to where the big radiator attaches to the motor -
is where you will find the PURGE LINE -
and at the end of the PURGE LINE is the hollow bolt -
 
#22 ·
@vincentM I'm not too sure, it doesn't physically look old, but I am not really positive to its age. The salesman didn't really talk about it.
It being a 95, and bought used. My sayng is, when in doubt yank it out. And replace it or at the least have it tested, any autoparts store can do so for free
 
#25 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

Here is the purge line at the surge tank.

The U shaped hose is the other end connected to the hollow bolt at the crossover manifold.
Thank you very much. That is incredibly helpful. :) I need to be certain before I go messing something up, haha. Red, Blue or Green?

Auto part Engine Automotive fuel system Vehicle Car
 
#29 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

:yeah: If the purge line doesn't flow coolant, that is most likely where you'll find the clog and it will be clogged with cooling system supplement aka sealant tab residue. DO NOT use it when changing your coolant.
 
#33 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:



MoistCabbage, you're quite awesome.
So what should I get to capture the coolant that comes out of there? What can I take off to make it easier to access this pipe? And most specifically, what tools do I need to make this process easy?
 
#34 ·
Re: New to Cars in General, have a 95 Eldorado, plethora of problems, help?! D:

leaky heater core and stop leak sometimes are connected. the purge line on the northstar lets trapped air in cooling system escape with no work required by owner. most cars have a air bleed screw on cooling system where tech is required to open vent to let air out. some cars will vent on their own over time but also may show odd overheating indications on temp gauge while doing it. there is a reason some cars actually have a cooling system warning sticker under the hood telling people damage may occur if you do it wrong.
 
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