VIN or other link to body stamped on block?

[submariner409]

Ricky........Good thing you added "same amount of time as a car engine"........Lots of people don't understand that a boat engine generally has about 2 speeds: Slow and Flat Out. It's the nature of the beast, and you're usually pushing 4 to 40 thousand pounds of fiberglass, wood, and stainless through an unforgiving medium: water. Couple that with the fact that boat engines operate with (usually) water wetted exhaust, lousy maintenance intervals and access, full blast starts from dead cold, full blast slowdowns from wide open, cheap old oil, and questionable marina gas/diesel and it's a wonder they last as well as they do. I build racing and cruising boat engines........here's one, a +060" Olds 455 for my boat. 1970 block +/- vintage.....built in '99 and currently at 1900 hours and still as new........click and scroll in........ all fun.

[turbojimmy]

Originally Posted by RickyHenry

oops, i didn't mean to add disorder to that... just genetic.

I think you were right the first time - it is a disorder. I can't stop myself from leaving a stoplight like it's the Christmas tree at the race track. I got stopped last week for doing it. Cop said "I heard you coming from a mile away (CORSA)....you don't see too many hot rod Caddies". Gave me a written warning for passing on the right (I did no such thing - no one was ahead of me leaving that light!).

I feel bad because my dad has loved his Caddies over the years but this '02 has been a nightmare since about the 90k-mile mark. He's really disillusioned over the whole thing. He's been a die-hard GM fan for 30 years but I'm afraid they may go Japanese this time around.

Jim

[submariner409]

After reading your take on the possibility of your Dad going to a Japanese car, my bet is that the Cadillac Division of GM lost quite a few old faithful to other (non-GM) makes because of the constant problems with the '96 - '04 FWD Northstar drivetrain.

Hard to get figures, but if you figure that maybe 2% of FWD Northstar owners come and go in the relevant Forums here, then the real world numbers of problems is proportionally more......and some of them might jump ship. Your wallet can only take so much.......

I'm 35 miles east of DC, there are a lot of commuters, and I now see a fair number of newer Devilles in various model packages. Maybe there's some hope left . CTS's here are either red or black and driven by crazy blonde women with a latte' in one hand and a cell phone in the other, OR, the ultimate: latte', talking on the OnStar and applying eyeliner at 75.

[turbojimmy]

Originally Posted by submariner409

After reading your take on the possibility of your Dad going to a Japanese car, my bet is that the Cadillac Division of GM lost quite a few old faithful to other (non-GM) makes because of the constant problems with the '96 - '04 FWD Northstar drivetrain.

Hard to get figures, but if you figure that maybe 2% of FWD Northstar owners come and go in the relevant Forums here, then the real world numbers of problems is proportionally more......and some of them might jump ship. Your wallet can only take so much.......

I'm 35 miles east of DC, there are a lot of commuters, and I now see a fair number of newer Devilles in various model packages. Maybe there's some hope left . CTS's here are either red or black and driven by crazy blonde women with a latte' in one hand and a cell phone in the other, OR, the ultimate: latte', talking on the OnStar and applying eyeliner at 75.

They may buy with their emotions rather than dollars and cents. My mom loves the car and wants another one. We'll see what happens.

It's been out of warranty for less than a month, but they've been fighting a mysterious LOW COOLANT message for over a year. The dealer tried lots of things but never really fixed it. My dad didn't think it was a big deal because it's a common problem on the F-bodies. He drives a '99 Camaro SS every day and constantly gets the low coolant light. It's a well known problem with the sensors on those cars. I think maybe they've had a head gasket problem for a long time but it didn't really 'blossom' until now.

They're going to try to appeal to GM given the low coolant history.

Jim