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2K views 33 replies 11 participants last post by  93DevilleUSMC 
#1 ·
I'm new to the site and to the Cadillac world...I have joined to meet and learn from fellow caddy owners and I hope to learn a lot about my Cadillac. Ill start off by telling you a little bit about myself.....My names Steven i live in Saginaw Michigan...i have one older sibling and 2 younger siblings there ages range from 25 to 8 I'm 21 myself and as far back as my mind can go iv been working on cars and playing matchbox cars lol. not that i play with them anymore. iv owned 166 cars since iv been 16 a lot of them have been rebuilt repaired and sold i average a new car about every 15 days ...now on to my Cadillac. I bought a dark forest green 92 Cadillac STS the car is in mint condition besides a blown motor...it has the 32v north* badging but has a 4.9l v8 was told it was not the original motor. I have a 97 north* motor that i wanted to know if i could swap that into my 92 if you know if its a direct fit please lmk thanks STEVE
 

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#8 ·
:welcome: Glad to see more young Cadillac Enthusiasts coming around every day. :cool2: Since your interested in engine work, I'll be more then glad to share with you what I know.


Since its a '92 the 4.9L is most certainly the original engine. Sounds like someone just slapped a N* logo on it. :thepan:

The Northstar and 4.9 are completely different animals, a swap between the two would take a ton of time and money (est. over $5,000 easy) to do, but if there's a will, there's a way.

Don't let the 200hp rating on the 4.9 fool you though, because it's torque is what will surprise you. It churns out 230lb-ft of torque at IDLE and 275lb-ft at 3600rpm, capable of pulling the '91 Deville Touring Sedan to 60mph in a spirited 7.5 seconds. Compare that to the 300hp 2008 DTS which runs the 0-60 in about 7.0 seconds, and you'll see the 4.9L is quite a capable little engine.

And if your not satisfied with that, there's a whole world of 4.9 mods/modders here, myself being one of them, who have 4.9's that can run side by side with even the likes of LT1 Camaros. In fact, it would be most likely cheaper to make the 4.9 more powerful then to put a Northstar in a '92.

Now that you've stumbled upon our enchanted kingdom here, you'll find libraries of information about any project you seek to undertake, and legions of knowledgeable individuals to help you.

Good luck and once again :welcome:!
 
#9 ·
Rodya and his unicorn "DTS"
:rolleyes:

i know a few LT1 Camaros running 383 Strokers that would eat your 4.9 alive lol, they wouldnt even waste the gas to run you let alone how bad theyd shame you
heck stock they are good for 14.5 all day, when I see a high 16 second 4.9 yank almost 2 secs off its 1/4 with a "CIA" ill prepare for the rest of the world to freeze over...
not to mention any LS1 will run you like your standing still lol

just messin
that aside welcome to the board
 
#13 ·
my brother has a '98 Firebird trans am with the WS6, (LS1 of course, none of that V6 non-sense.) one of the rarer purple ones. He can run a high 12 in the quarter, but on those night cruises from Champaign to Chicago, we can keep up with him till about 140mph when the Deville starts to run out of juice. So as a drag car, my Deville isn't impressive compared to a stock SBC, but she most certainly can stick with one. Not bad for a Cadillac.

Back to the topic, I never said a 4.9L, even modded, was faster then a N*. (which you've already proved is just as fast if not faster then a LT1.)
I did compare the 4.9L '91 touring sedan to a DTS, but the 08 DTS is rather sluggish compared to it's stablemates.

I did however, suggest that modding a 4.9L would be comparable as well as being less expensive then a Northstar swap. The less expensive part is undeniable fact.

The comparable part: A Northstar can run the 1/4 in the 13's. My 4.9 runs a low 14 on average. The are 4.9's in Fieros, with stock 4T60-E's, making 300hp or greater at the wheels, that can run a low 12.
 
#15 · (Edited)
wow guys i can truly say iv been a member of SEVERAL car forums and by far are you guys the greatest for welcomes....only reason i decided to go with the n* swap was cuz I all ready have a N* with 58k miles that i picked up for 150 dollars ....if someone has a modded 4.9l they would be interested in trading me im sure id be glad to trade .....Iv always wanted a Elderado but when i come across this STS for a 100 dollars....isn't that a fu$king steal so i had to pick the beast up
 
#24 ·
ok ok i understand now...the trunk is kinda jacked and shit but I'm sure it will be fixed by the time I'm done with it since i used to work for a body shop. so far just from this post iv already learned so much about this car ....now my next question is what should i look for on motor ..id like to upgrade to the n* would it work if i went and got a main wiring harness and an ECM...and if i do that is the transmission capable of holding the horsepower of the N*
 
#27 ·
You will need to change transmissions to a 4T80-E, as the 4.9L you have now uses a 4T60-E. Despite being very similar to a 4T80-E, the 4T60-E will not mate to a N* without custom modification.

Provided you find a ECM from a '93 STS, you shouldn't really have a problem with the ECM. The '93 STS had the road-sensing suspension, so the ECM may look for some sensory output from there. The '92 STS has the speed sensitive suspension system. Since the '97 N* your using is a OBD-II (OBD-II was made mandatory in '96) it may be looking for certain outputs from the ECM, and if you need a '97 ECM for engine compatibility, you may run into some problems with that.
 
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