[Night Wolf]

ok, with all the recent talk between these 2 engines, and the N* in general.... lets compare these two engines....they are completly differnt designs, but shared may of the same car ('92 SeVille and Eldo, '94-'95 DeVille) even the smaller brother to the 4.9, the 4.5 and the N* shared the Allante....... so lets hear it..... which is the better overall engine? N* has some aftermarket, 4.9 has none at all, N* has more power while the 4.9 seems to be alot more reliable etc...... lets go for it and compare these two power plants.

 

[elwesso]

I really liked the IDEA of the northstar (IE the running with no coolant, reverse flow, etc, etc.......), but in reality I think the engine is ASS!! It is a well designed engine (kinda) but they didnt build it right...... it should be the best engine around, but it isnt...... I wish my car had the OBD that the cadillacs do (I have to pull my ECU and turn a screw and read a blinking light to read my codes ).......

The northstar doesnt really have that much of an aftermarket, where it will actually make a difference.......

The 4.9 is a good engine, IMO, maybe a little underpowered for my tastes, and its size (although it is a single cam).......

 

[Katshot]

There's really NOT much difference in power. Horse power yes, but torque no. And when you consider the cost of ownership between the two, and the huge difference in reliability, I think the 4.9 is a slam-dunk.

 

[kcnewell]

Yes and no...The 4.9 is a good solid reliable engine and has plenty of power to move the car rather quickly. The Northstar is also a solid dependable engine and has a couple of small issues that show up in relativley few engines....( What you read on these boards notwithstanding.) The main reasons we hear so many complaints about the N/S engine is that MANY PEOPLE ON THESE FORUM BUY OLD CARS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN PROPERLY MAINTAINED. One of the other reasons is that we have a lot of guys here with NO practical experience with the engine that will repeat what they hear or read as if they really know! ( WES! ) They usually don't even have a Cadillac ( WES! ) and know nothing about the engine! I like the N/S and the 4.9 They're BOTH exellent engines! Remember...For every engine that you read about on the boards that may have a problem there are THOUSANDS out there running fine with NO PROBLEMS! The ones that run with no problems get no attention paid to them....( And that's most of them ) There really isn't a HUGE difference in reliability but there are some fairly minor and for the most part rare problems. To read these forums You'd think that every N/S on the road was about to have a catastrophic failure...They're not! We need to put it in perspective. There is a broader picture out there in the real world that some of us are not seeing clearly! In other words, They're both good engines!

 

[ljklaiber]

Thanks KC,
You tell it like it is. Buyers choice still works for me.

 

[BeelzeBob]

My '95 ETC had 110,000+ when I sold it and the engine was like brand new. The only engine problem I ever had was "the big leak". Otherwise, it was maintained meticulously and showed it... I don't think the Northstar has many issues itself. The things around it kinda did - but that's the be expected after 110,000 miles...