2000 sts, engines done at 50,000 miles

The valve tick was probably carbon deposits from being under-used. Burning over a quart of oil every 1000 miles IS too much oil -- that should have been corrected earlier in the car's life. Is your father the original owner? Most Northstar engines will use a quart of oil every 1000-4000 miles, depending on how deep the hone pattern is on that particular engine. My '97 SLS used a quart every 4000-5000 miles...not much. My '01 STS seems to use a quart every 2000 miles or so (but I haven't owned it long enough to know). My '01 actually had a new engine installed by the original owner because of oil consumption issues. It probably wasn't driven hard enough and the rings gummed up.

My '97 had almost 160,000 miles on the original head gaskets when I sold it. And it's still going strong in Arizona (my brother owns the car). My '01 only has about 25,000 miles on the new engine, so way too early to tell about head gaskets. Head gasket failures on the 2000+ engines are pretty rare. Nothing's impossible, but it's certainly not as "common" as it is with the earlier engines.

Edit: it's also odd to see coolant in the engine oil, even with a head gasket failure, on these engines. Sounds like a situation that is out of the ordinary.

I think it helps that we are long time cadillac customers at this dealer, i think at this point my parents are 6 deep.

Wouldn't it be wiser for them to just get a Junk Yard engine? I can't imagine them rebuilding an engine that's had the bearings and rings washed out.

BTW, i got the full scoop on the cars problems in the past:
3 times for alignment/tire eating
2 times for the water pump
3 times for leaking trunk
2 times for fuel pump

And now this mess.

for an adult driven, well maintained car, this thing really is a POS, i've beaten cars badly and not come up with any of these problems.

I'm guessing from some of your guys posts the HG's are a weak point, which is horrible since there is no boost running through this thing.

jcar302 said:

3 times for alignment/tire eating
2 times for the water pump
3 times for leaking trunk
2 times for fuel pump

And now this mess.

Click to expand...

Oh, geez, that's nothin'. My father-in-law's Toyota Tacoma has gone through three starters, BOTH rear leaf springs failed/broke, exhaust leaks, and various interior trims falling apart. (That truck is why they don't drive Toyotas anymore). Cars have problems. That's just a fact of life. Jumping ship because of one vehicle isn't the answer. My father-in-law's truck was probably out-of-the-ordinary bad. Your parents' STS might be the same way.

Again, are they the original owners? If not, you can't judge the car -- you have no idea how it was driven or maintained in the past. I don't blame the alignment problems on the car -- that's an alignment guy who can't get it right. Same thing with the leaking trunk. It should have been fixed once. Going back for 3 repeat visits speaks of shoddy labor to me. 2 water pumps and 2 fuel pumps, that's weird. Those are not normally failure points on these cars. Fuel pump replacements are almost unheard of.

If they can promise a repair for $500, and they know about the internal damage to the engine, that sounds like a deal to me. If not, I would look for a used engine, yes. It'll cost him a few grand to purchase the engine and install it. But the car is likely paid for at this point, and a few grand for a replacement engine is nothing, financially, compared with trying to buy something else. Your dad apparently knows that he likes his 2000 STS, and I don't blame him a bit for wanting to fix it. He knows he wouldn't get anything near that nice for the small amount of money it'll take to get it back on the road.

It sucks that the engine needs to be replaced, but that's water under the bridge now. It's time to move forward with a decision. I like his, to want to repair it and get on with life.