93-96 Fleetwood owners opinion

[rnunez76]

I am looking at a 94 Fleetwood that really caught my eye. It has under 65k miles and the asking price is reasonable. My question is are there problem areas that are specific to these cars that i should look at when i go check out the car on Friday? What has been your experience with your car overall? I have owned 4 Cadillacs so far (67 eldog, 76 coupe deville, 97 deville, 2k deville). I love Cadillacs. My family says I'm bias when looking for a car, but hey I love these cars, why look anywhere else? But i do want to be educated before getting it. Any input (good or bad) will help me out

[96Fleetwood]

These cars as reliable as far as drivetrain goes.

Was this car garage? Maintenance records?

After owning 13+ LT1 cars, all of them needed at least the following:

oil cooler lines, front end suspension rebuild, exhaust manifold bolts, and window rollers.

Check the rear air suspension out, make sure all the electronics work.

Best of luck!

[thefleetwoodguy]

heater issues, fuel pump wires are known to melt, also not a big deal,
my opinion, the 94 had the most reliable transmissions,
i have a 94 that has 182000, and doesnt burn/keak oil
runs like new
If I could find another one with that low milage Id jump on it

[dirt_cheap_fleetwood]

I am not sure on this but I know that on the DeVilles of this era the heated seats took a dump at an early age.

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Originally Posted by dirt_cheap_fleetwood

I am not sure on this but I know that on the DeVilles of this era the heated seats took a dump at an early age.

You may be onto something there. On Brian's '94, neither heated seat worked, and on my '95 Roadmaster, only the driver's heated seat worked, and it was intermittent. Also, neither rear power window worked on my Roadmaster...power window motors are common on the B/D bodies, especially the rears.

[Aron9000]

Originally Posted by 96Fleetwood

These cars as reliable as far as drivetrain goes.

Was this car garage? Maintenance records?

After owning 13+ LT1 cars, all of them needed at least the following:

oil cooler lines, front end suspension rebuild, exhaust manifold bolts, and window rollers.

Check the rear air suspension out, make sure all the electronics work.

Best of luck!

^ I think the exhaust manifold bolts are a rust belt deal. They get rusty and break.

Factory radios tend to tear up. Look for inoperable CD players, blown speakers, and messed up power antennas.

Also look for dry rotted tires, could be an issue if they are old and the car wasn't driven much.

The optispark on LT1 cars can go bad. Generally the car will develop a miss, hesitation, crappy idle, and just plain runs like poo.

[96Fleetwood]

The exhaust manifold bolt issue is common on any LT1 powered B/D body. It is usually the last bolt on the driver's side manifold that snaps in half and has to be drilled out. My '96 was a Florida car and it had that issue, nothing a set of headers didn't fix though

Power window motors are usually strong, it is the window rollers that break first.

All three Broughams ('95, '96, '96) I owned had working power seats! The 68K mile '93 Brougham I am looking to buy currently only has the passenger heated seat working.

[Aron9000]

Originally Posted by 96Fleetwood

The exhaust manifold bolt issue is common on any LT1 powered B/D body. It is usually the last bolt on the driver's side manifold that snaps in half and has to be drilled out. My '96 was a Florida car and it had that issue, nothing a set of headers didn't fix though

Must be different for LT1 fbodies, never heard of any of them having that problem.

[v90hamm77]

[quote=96Fleetwood;1735699]The exhaust manifold bolt issue is common on any LT1 powered B/D body. It is usually the last bolt on the driver's side manifold that snaps in half and has to be drilled out. My '96 was a Florida car and it had that issue, nothing a set of headers didn't fix though

Are there any headers that you can put on a 96 FWB without reprogramming the computer?

[96Fleetwood]

Yes, check out Clear Image Automotive.

http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/

You can order any of their headers with airpump and egr fittings so you do not have to reprogram your pcm.

[hueterm]

The tranny in my '93 Roadmaster went out at like 100000 miles. I've always heard that the tranny was weak on these in comparison to the engine -- however, mine wasn't the LT1.

Overall very reliable. I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[ShadowLvr400]

Common issues, the plastic sliders/rollers on the windows. ($8 parts, but a pain to fix because you have to remove the door panel.) Opti spark at 100k, gonna happen, prepare for it. The LT1's, as has been stated, the last bolt on the exhaust header, driver side especially, goes. Headers are a nice way to fix it though. I ran the budget headers from Clear Image with no issues. Also common, though there is variation on timing, the tranny seems to give usually around 125k. The Impala boys comment on it a lot, but that's also influenced by driving style and we can assume they push kinda hard. Oh, on your water pump, it's a great piece, BUT, if it does give while you own the car, it will usually take your opti with it. When redoing the water pump, do NOT go with a chinese made piece, hunt down the US made version. This isn't a pride thing, it's a simple better fitment, and less likely to chew the teeth that drive the pump. Or you can go electric replacement set.

Beyond that stuff listed, problems are pretty minor and uncommon. And, even with these problems, my car has never left me stranded. Even when my tranny went, it held onto first and second gear, and it drove home 30 miles with just those.

[rnunez76]

Thanks fellas for all your comments. I bought the Caddy after taking it for a drive. I've owned it a week now and really love it. Only problem i am now running into is that there seems to be a leak somewhere in the front of the engine. I saw a puddle forming when I started my car and let it warm up this morning. Haven't had time to take a good look at it though. I hope it isnt a big deal though. Again, thanks for all your heads up. It helped me feel more comfortable when i went to look at it.

[96Fleetwood]

Congrats! Post some pics of the new Fleetwood!

Any idea what type of fluid is dripping?

[pompste]

Originally Posted by rnunez76

Thanks fellas for all your comments. I bought the Caddy after taking it for a drive. I've owned it a week now and really love it. Only problem i am now running into is that there seems to be a leak somewhere in the front of the engine. I saw a puddle forming when I started my car and let it warm up this morning. Haven't had time to take a good look at it though. I hope it isnt a big deal though. Again, thanks for all your heads up. It helped me feel more comfortable when i went to look at it.

Congrats on your "last true Caddy land yaght"! Check color of leaking fluid---brown= oil, green/yellow= coolant, red= tranny fluid.
If i may ask,did you buy your Fleetwood local to you or did you have travel some distance?
Post some pics if you can.