I got porked...Blown N*.

[Odin8]

Alright guys, I'd first like to say you all do a great job here, and I very much appreciate the information that's here from you people. I've done research here for about the past 4 months in order to buy a caddy.

I purchased a 97 Seville STS 2 days ago, with 91k miles. Wonderful condition, everything checked out, saw it was dealer maintained through carfax records and dealer records, it seemed perfect. I bought it from the 2nd owner, who bought it from the dealer where it was traded in. He had it for about 4 months, told me he didn't have the money and needed to get rid of a car. I looked the thing over front to back, looked at all the stuff to check for headgasket failure among other things. Change oil alert was on, 0% life left...checked the oil, it wasn't low, was a bit dirty though, it just needed to be changed. Car checked out fine. Great mechanical condition.

Drove it home 25 miles, ran beautiful. It seemed a bit more sluggish then some of the other STS I've driven, but I chalked it up to him running regular gas, which he admited to doing. Heat gauge was fine, no warning lights, no engine sounds, nothing. I was stoked.

Got home, decided to run to Dunkin Donuts to celebrate my new pimp ride with some glazed donuts. It's about 2 miles away. I got about halfway there, and it started to develop a little slap from the engine. I figured it was because of carbon buildup, and the fact it was running on regular. It consistantly got worst. I drove about another 1/2 mile before I found it unaccpetable. It was a slapping/knocking now, real loud, and I just plain didn't like it. I had been babying it from when it started, and I turned her around and started heading home.

I pulled a U-turn in the road, and got on it to get back up to speed. Had it around 4k RPM, knocking was horrible, I was about to let off, then BAMN. Something let go, I felt/heard it, and it made a horrible noise that made me cringe. Engine died right away. I swore. A lot.

Towed it home, engine will still try to turn over, so it's not seized( I tried briefly out of curiousity, didn't want to hurt it more though ), won't start though. There is no external physical damage, and no fluid leaks. From what I'm thinking, I threw a rod, broke the timing chain, ****ed some valves up...something along those lines, I don't really know though. I'm tear ass, I'd never expect ANYTHING along these lines to happen to a Northstar, nevermind one with 91k miles on it that had a regular serivce report at a dealer.

Before I get this looked at by a garage, and before I show up at this guys house with some of my buddies looking for money, I figured I'd ask for some input from you folks...Long story short, WTF happened to my seemingly perfect cadillac, what do you think needs to be fixed, and how much am I going to have hurt this guy for? Other then this, this car is showroom condition...I want to try and fix whatever's wrong and hold on to it.

I'd appreciate any help or input on this,
Jon

[Tommy Deville]

buyer beware

[El Dobro]

First thing, do a compression check.

[Ranger]

People come here when they have problems, so this is a good place to find out which ones are common. I have only heard of two that ever threw a rod. Never heard of a timing chain letting loose. Does the history show any lower end work being done? Any major engine repairs?

[CadillacSTS2003]

My dads 93 ETC (which he traded in for his 98 STS) threw a rod BAD, huge engine noise however it still started and ran fine but an AWFUL knocking noise came from it even at idle. So Ranger now you know of 3 ha ha.

[zonie77]

Was the oil changed? Who did it?

I'm kind of mixed on this. You drove it 25miles without a problem, then engine starts knocking. Could be horrible coincidence...or a masked problem. A lot of STP in the oil, change to regular oil lets you hear the knock?

[Odin8]

The service history I got from the dealership didn't indicate any engine repairs at all. Besides just the routine maintenence, they replaced some of front end suspension...bushings, etc. They did the fuel rail recall. And that's about it.

I'm going to go do some poking around on it in a little while, going to try to find a compression tester too. Gonna see if there any engine codes on now, and do some more basic stuff...see if my oil is white, etc. Thanks so far guys.

[Odin8]

The oil hadn't been changed yet. To be honest, after my celebratory donut run, I was going to head to the local auto place to grab some oil and a filter. =\

[turbojimmy]

Originally Posted by zonie77

Was the oil changed? Who did it?
I'm kind of mixed on this. You drove it 25miles without a problem, then engine starts knocking. Could be horrible coincidence...or a masked problem. A lot of STP in the oil, change to regular oil lets you hear the knock?

It does sound like a horrible coinicidence. Additives will only do so much to mask a knock. They certainly don't make a car run that doesn't run.

There's not much you can do about anything that may have been wrong with it now so you'll have to focus on how to repair it. Horrible noises accompanied by the engine stopping probably means you're looking at a replacement engine. Used ones can be found relatively inexpensively (compared to a new one) but you have to be careful of the source.

I agree with the compression check. If you have compression in all 8 cylinders then you know the valves are opening and closing and the pistons are in tact. If that all checks out then you have a shot at repairing it rather than replacing it.

Jim

[zonie77]

Any strange noises when it cranks over? Normal cranking speed?

[Odin8]

Double checked my oil...nothing has been mixed in, and I looked underneath, I'm not leaking anything. I couldn't get my hands on a compression tester today. As for trying to crank it over...last time I tried briefly it seemed to crank at a normal speed, and there wasn't any kind of real bad noise that I noted. I don't really wanna go ahead and try it again to see what I hear, I don't want to make it any worse if there is a chance of rebuilding it.

If the top ends needs to be rebuild/repaired, or something along those lines, how much would you expect that to cost? And what's the sticker price on a used and new Northstars?

[dkozloski]

Take the oil filter cartridge off, cut it apart, and see if it has metal in it. If you don't know somebody with a filter cutter you can use a fine tooth hacksaw. If it has thrown a rod you'll find bearing metal galore.

[Odin8]

As of right now, I'm going to let it just sit and not touch it at all until I talk to an attorney and figure out the lemon laws and what not, and get in touch with this guy that sold me it. Hopefully that'll happen Tuesday.

One note though, when I double checked my oil, I did notice it was maxed out, even a little over. Dunno if that means anything. When I originally checked I just glanced to make sure that it wasn't at the refill point, but when I think back, it was pretty high to begin with.

[eldorado1]

Throwing rods seems to be getting more common on the northstars. It appears as though the bolts lose their torque and just let go. I saw this on a 2000 a couple years ago.

If you wanted to crank it over without it starting, you can disconnect the fuel injector harness.

[Playdrv4me]

Originally Posted by eldorado1

Throwing rods seems to be getting more common on the northstars. It appears as though the bolts lose their torque and just let go. I saw this on a 2000 a couple years ago.

If you wanted to crank it over without it starting, you can disconnect the fuel injector harness.

Oh terrific... something else to look forward too