Northstar Headgasket/Bolt Failure? Please let us know

[jmanley]

97 TCP with 82k, Dealer said it was a cracked block. I find this hard to believe, more so after reading this forum. I will be doing a leak test before deciding on my next action.

[98Eldoradovl]

I have a 1998 Cadillac Eldorado with a cracked head gasket according to the Orlando Cadillac Service/Repair. About 3 months prior to this situation/diagnosis, we had the radiator flushed and new radiator coolant with tablets put in also done by the same service center. We didn't have a problem prior to the flushing of the radiator. Now the car loses coolant and at high speeds overheats. Too expensive to replace with new engine and from a Northstar mechanic expert what happens is the aluminum engine warps. It will happen again. Sounds to me like we should have a class action lawsuit for defective engines. My Eldorado has 66,000 miles on it. Beautiful Pearl finish, beautiful car. Useless engine.

[Boombotz]

Originally Posted by Ur7x

Very interesting results... well over 1/3 are 1997... and well over 1/2 are 97/98's

And why does JonCR96Z keep buying these cars? If the poll is right he has had one go bad each and every year!

We removed his votes

[JonCR96Z]

Originally Posted by Ur7x

Very interesting results... well over 1/3 are 1997... and well over 1/2 are 97/98's

And why does JonCR96Z keep buying these cars? If the poll is right he has had one go bad each and every year!

I just have really bad luck. Sorry guys.

[Ranger]

Are you seriously saying that you have owned every year and everyone had head gasket problems?

[JonCR96Z]

No, just trying to make fun of any trouble I caused. Again sorry guys, and I'm not trying to take this thread off course. If there's any more questions about this you can just PM me.

[Jesda]

What the hell happened after 1995?

[Ur7x]

Originally Posted by Jesda

What the hell happened after 1995?

Not sure I understand this question.... Lots of stuff happened after 1995, Clinton got re-elected, then George W... 911 the whole Afghanistan/Iraq thing, lately we have had the sub prime collapse and the devaluation of the US dollar.. etc etc... Fox News and CNN are a great place to start...


If you are referring to head gaskets... Keep in mind that these aren't cheap to fix... so if your 1994 car is worth $3000 you probably aren't going to spend $3500-$4000 on a head gasket job... You sell the car and probably aren't on this forum to vote...

A better question to consider is what the heck happened in 1997? (head-gasket wise that is)

[xeper]

Originally Posted by Jesda

What the hell happened after 1995?

Hmmmm, this COULD have something to do with it:

GM's use of Dex-Cool, a coolant it first introduced in its vehicles in 1995 and sold in more than 35 million cars and trucks between 1995 and 2004. According to GM, 14 federal and state lawsuits seeking class-action status have been filed against GM over a variety of engine problems linked to Dex-Cool.

Customers have complained of problems ranging from small coolant leaks to complete radiator and engine failure. Court documents show that GM has received tens of thousands of repair requests related to Dex-Cool and engine gaskets in the affected models and considered recalls for some models.

The company has issued several technical bulletins to its dealers about cooling-related problems in the engines, but says it prefers to handle customer complaints on a case-by-case basis.

When GM introduced the orange-colored Dex-Cool, it said in owners manuals that Dex-Cool could last up to five years or 100,000 miles without being replaced, and later extended Dex-Cool's life to 150,000 miles. Dex-Cool uses a different set of chemicals to protect engine parts than traditional green-colored coolant, which requires more frequent replacement, and GM was the first U.S. automaker to use it.

If this led to some sort of recall or class-action suit in my area, what could someone like me, who's already paid to repair the issue, do?

All from this posting: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/dir.../.ee9e77d/2335


I also have a few quick and stupid questions from someone who knows no better:

Can this car be changed to use something other than Dex-Cool if it IS a hazard to the engine?

Why exactly do I NEED to use premium unleaded as opposed to 85/87?

[Ur7x]

1) If you want YET another debate about premium fuel start a different thread... One thing I think we can all agree on... Fuel quality has nothing to do with Head gaskets.

2) Regarding DexCool... Maybe... Except
Why the spike in 1997 not 1995 when it was first introduced? Zero 1995 failures so far an yet these engines have been soaking in Dex the longest.
Why are some engines like LS1s (and lots of others!) that run Dex and yet seem to be immune to this problem?
Why the dip in numbers after 1998?
Why aren't other aluminum parts failing too?

[xeper]

Not trying to spark a debate about premium causing issues, I'm just generally curious.

[Ranger]

You CAN use 87 octane. Do a search.

Don't hold your breath waiting for a recall. Recalls are generally safety related.

[clarkz71]

Originally Posted by Ur7x

2) Regarding DexCool... Maybe... Except
Why the spike in 1997 not 1995 when it was first introduced? Zero 1995 failures so far an yet these engines have been soaking in Dex the longest.

While GM may have started using dex-cool in "some" models in 95,
Cadillac wasn't one of them. 96 was the first year for dex in our cars.
The decal on the radiator support on my 95 states "use coolant designed for aluminum engine protection".
96 and up cars state "use dex-cool only"

[clarkz71]

Check this out. Here's a taste:

Dex-Cool is now used in almost 40 million vehicles sold by GM since 1996.
On its website, GM claims Dex-Cool will last 5 years or 150,000 miles but
a steady stream of consumers insist the product is defective and has damaged their vehicles.


http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...m_dexcool.html

[N0DIH]

A friend of mine's 99 Seville just popped one... Crap...

So, easier to fix the engine with all the work or just drop in a LS4 out of Impala SS/Grand Prix GXP?

Has the swap been looked at? The PCM doesn't have to know there is a LS4 there instead of a N*....