97 Deville - Common Problems?

13799 Views 28 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Richardalex, May 18, 2007

YoudLse

Discussion Starter · May 15, 2007

Hello,

I'm thinking of buying a 1997 Cadillac Deville with about 85,000 miles on it. I'm going to take it to a mechanic today to find out if there are any major problems.

Do you have any suggestions on specific items that I should have him look at?

Thanks.

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

pnj2108

· #2 · May 15, 2007

Well i bought mine with 75k and i haven't had any serious problems besides the fact that my a/c compressor refuses to turn on so i'm trying to get to the bottom of the problem because it has refrigerant so i have thinking it might be the sensor. But anyways you should check the history of the car because the one thing that i did see on my cars history is that there was a fuel rail recall on my 97 deville so i would look out for that. But other than that i cant tell you much more besides the fact that they are great cars they run pretty hot so dont freak out mine usually stays around 190-196 degrees and that the highest i have seen it has been 212-228 but never any hotter and it only gets that high on very hot days in florida and when i'm sitting in traffic. I also have seen people in the past complain about the fact that they burn too much oil i have had any problems there but just as a heads up you will need 8 qts of oil for your oil changes. Just keep the fluids topped off in other words just check them from time to time my coolant gets a little low about once a year but not enough to trigger a low coolant level warning mine currently has 97k and is running like if it was new.

So i wish you the best of luck on your purchase.

See less See more

z06bigbird

· #3 · May 15, 2007

Try all windows from all switches.
Look at bottom of radiator for leaks.
Check all options, like seats, radio, etc.

Do a search on site for Northstar overheating and stripped head bolts.

Keep in mind that starter brushes should be worn down. Starter is under intake manifold. Several hours labor.

Check small fan belt that control water pump. Smell engine for anti freeze leaks. Water pump needs special tool to replace.

2000 model SDV is a car with many improvements, especially with overheading and head bolt problems. Same situation with starter.

misfit6794

· #4 · May 15, 2007

Be sure to look at your checking and savings account to make sure they are high enough to maintain the car. Headgaskets are a major issue with northstars, you will probably have to deal with them at some point. If you get past that, then you need to worry about the a/c compressor (about 1000 dollar job). Then the starter, which is under the intake manifold. And if you finally make it past all these, you can start to deal with the suspension, which is a whole new ball game. If you decide to keep the active suspension, the sensors for each shock are around $400 a piece. The shocks themselves are $1000 a piece (no joke). If your control arm bushings go, which mine did, you have to replace the entire control arm, another $1000. I don't care what anyone says, its expensive to keep going. As soon as you fix one thing, another will break. Even normal things like oil changes are more expensive, it takes 8 quarts of oil, and will burn off one about every 1000 miles. If you can cover the costs, its an awesome car.

See less See more

Ranger

· #5 · May 15, 2007

Sold my '97 Deville with 107K on it and never had a problem with it. Make sure that the cooling system has been maintained.

my coolant gets a little low about once a year but not enough to trigger a low coolant level warning

You have a very minor leak somewhere.

JimHare

· #6 · May 16, 2007

misfit6794 said:
Be sure to look at your checking and savings account to make sure they are high enough to maintain the car. Headgaskets are a major issue with northstars, you will probably have to deal with them at some point.

Once again I am forced to restrain your youthful enthusiasm, butterfly....

I have to take issue with your use of the term "probably", which infers a near-certain eventuality. There are millons of Northstars on the road, fourteen years worth, and I have yet to have anybody show me figures which prove a large fraction of them undergo head gasket failures.

You simply can NOT take this forum, or any anecdotal evidence, as fact. I've seen so many posts with phrases like "my mechanic says all Northstars have bad headgaskets" or "I know a guy who's cousin is a service writer and he says that they do xxx Northstars a month" or something like that. This may well be true, but you can't judge the entire production by the small percentage that have problems.

While your mechanic was working on that Northstar HG, over an eight hour period, perhaps a hundred Caddy's drove right by his shop without stopping. He doesn't count them. He only counts the one's he sees.

Yeah, if a dealer does half a dozen HGs a month, it might seem like a lot - but how many Caddys does he SELL a month? 100? 200? More?

There is a HUGE population of N* powered Caddys out there with no problems - but because they make no noise, people assume they don't exist. There are lot of Caddys round where I live, and whenever I see a 90s vintage owner, I make a point of saying hello and shooting the bull for a few minutes, and I ALWAYS ask, "Had any major problems with yours?".. I have YET to have anyone say, "Hell, yeah, my gaskets went..." and I'll bet I've talked to at least 50 owners over the last year or so.

You just can't go by this forum. People with a problem come here. That's to be expected. But their problem does NOT represent the preponderance of the population.

That said, coolant maintenance is PARAMOUNT with the Northstar. Make sure its has been changed every couple of years or so - if you can't verify the last time it's been done, have a long-term cylinder leakdown test done, and then if it passes, change it out immediately.

Good luck.

See less See more

Ranger

· #7 · May 17, 2007

Well put Jim.

hueterm

· #8 · May 17, 2007

I have a '95 Concours -- bought a few months ago w/48K miles.

$1400 A/C Compressor
$750 Instrument Cluster (that had to be replaced about 6 times due to the miserable remanufacturer)
$600 other misc stuff (water pump, etc.)

BUT I love the car and would buy one again.

Mike

z06bigbird

· #9 · May 17, 2007

I recommend that you buy AC Delco parts, not from the local Auto Z, Advance, etc. I am convinced that those local shops sell seconds. I have had several defective new parts right out of the box. A/C and alt on Northstar are a little tough to get to (labor $$). Buy A/C Delco parts. Fewer headaches. If you can get a commercial discount, you will do ok on pricing.

G

· #10 · May 17, 2007

JimHare said:
Once again I am forced to restrain your youthful enthusiasm, butterfly....

I have to take issue with your use of the term "probably", which infers a near-certain eventuality. There are millons of Northstars on the road, fourteen years worth, and I have yet to have anybody show me figures which prove a large fraction of them undergo head gasket failures.

You simply can NOT take this forum, or any anecdotal evidence, as fact. I've seen so many posts with phrases like "my mechanic says all Northstars have bad headgaskets" or "I know a guy who's cousin is a service writer and he says that they do xxx Northstars a month" or something like that. This may well be true, but you can't judge the entire production by the small percentage that have problems.

While your mechanic was working on that Northstar HG, over an eight hour period, perhaps a hundred Caddy's drove right by his shop without stopping. He doesn't count them. He only counts the one's he sees.

Yeah, if a dealer does half a dozen HGs a month, it might seem like a lot - but how many Caddys does he SELL a month? 100? 200? More?

There is a HUGE population of N* powered Caddys out there with no problems - but because they make no noise, people assume they don't exist. There are lot of Caddys round where I live, and whenever I see a 90s vintage owner, I make a point of saying hello and shooting the bull for a few minutes, and I ALWAYS ask, "Had any major problems with yours?".. I have YET to have anyone say, "Hell, yeah, my gaskets went..." and I'll bet I've talked to at least 50 owners over the last year or so.

You just can't go by this forum. People with a problem come here. That's to be expected. But their problem does NOT represent the preponderance of the population.

That said, coolant maintenance is PARAMOUNT with the Northstar. Make sure its has been changed every couple of years or so - if you can't verify the last time it's been done, have a long-term cylinder leakdown test done, and then if it passes, change it out immediately.

Good luck.

Do you think every Northstar owner is on this board?. No. Most are owned by greyheads that dont know how to use a computer. But the ones that ARE here all at some point have coolant/headgasket issues. Look at the post counts man, not everyone here just signed up to bitch about their Caddies. I'm on Mercedes forums, Mustang forums, Camaro forums and Lincoln forums as well as the Fleetwood RWD forum here and nowhere does anybody complain about head gaskets like the do right here. There is a definate inherent problem with Northstars and ignoring it is, well.......ignorant.

As far as the guy wanting to buy a '97, IMHO, dont. I speak from experience and the experience from others, the Deville is a problematic car and you CAN buy a much better car for the money. My buddy has an '01 with 54k miles and his head gaskets just went too. Mine was a '98 which blew the gaskets as well and had an A/C leak. take a look at all the posts of actual Northstar owners and check out the ones on carsurvey.org. Jim's and his friends experience with Northstars in NOT the norm.

See less See more

lenny lincoln

· #11 · May 17, 2007

Take it from a car guy. I have been around cars for 36 yrs. Buying and selling and turning wrenches on everything That I've owned. I am not cheap but I am realistic. Caddies are a first owner car. Buying second hand Caddies without any knowledge of turning wrenches or willing to learn will more likely cost you more to own than any other American produced luxury car. I too visit many different automotive forums to learn of the repairs of the cars that I have owned and by far I read nothing but expensive parts and repair despair from the Caddie forums. Run away from that car and go look at a Lincoln Towncar or fully loaded Crown Vic for a driver with that many miles.:thumbsup:

misfit6794

· #12 · May 17, 2007

I agree, definetly would be better if you were the original owner. Most caddy owners (seniors) tend to not do preventative maintenance, hence most second hand caddys have issues. On another note, while I was at my mechanic's shop, not one, but two caddys pulled in, with coolant pushing out the overflow, headgaskets failed. All you have to do is look on ebay, about a third of 94-2000 caddies on there are "mechanics specials" with overheating problems.

JimHare

· #13 · May 17, 2007

misfit6794 said:
All you have to do is look on ebay, about a third of 94-2000 caddies on there are "mechanics specials" with overheating problems.

You guys are missing the point. Repeatedly.

There is no relationship between the percentage of cars for sale on Ebay that are "mechanics specials" and the overall population, for any car.

In fact, there's no relation between cars for sale on eBay and anything, for cryin' out loud.

Would you look at eBay, see 30 Fords for sale, find that 10 of them are Mustangs, and think, "Gee, 30% of all Fords for sale are Mustangs, therefore 30% of all Ford MANUFACTURED must be Mustangs."

I can't believe you'd seriously point out a venue like eBay as a statistically valid sample of ANYTHING, much less the real world.

But the ones that ARE here all at some point have coolant/headgasket issues.

ALL is a rather encompassing term, isn't it? It means EVERYONE.

And that's my point. NOT everyone has HG issues. Not even close.

They complain about H/Gs here because of two main characteristics:
1) They're f***ing expensive.
2) They're hard to do.

H/Gs in many other cars do NOT have both of those characteristics. Therefore, the reason to complain about them is not as strong.

If the design of the Northstar was so flawed from the getgo, as some of the board's members have posited, there would be a much larger percentage of failures. And how could one explain the tens of thousands of Northstar engines with over 200K miles on them?

A flawed design is expected to affect ALL of the engines built using it, not just 1 out of 30 or 1 out of 100.

See less See more

JimHare

· #14 · May 17, 2007

misfit6794 said:
On another note, while I was at my mechanic's shop, not one, but two caddys pulled in, with coolant pushing out the overflow, headgaskets failed.

While you were there, how many drove by without stopping?

misfit6794

· #15 · May 17, 2007

Everyone's entitled to their opinions. I am just glad that I don't have to deal with the DeVille's issue anymore. Ebay has sold millions of cars, and has alot of influence on the market.

lenny lincoln

· #16 · May 17, 2007

There is the point of terrrible resale values of Devilles in comparision to same year lincolns. I wonder why that is? Such great cars should demand higher resale values. Do a comparison of 8 yr old Devilles and lincolns to there Original sticker prices . I cruise the web, Ebay and craigslist and find constantly 97-99 devilles with 100k being sold with headgasket blown. I have yet found a lincoln of the same years being sold with any major malfunctions besides wrecked.

G

· #17 · May 17, 2007

JimHare said:
While you were there, how many drove by without stopping?

WTH does that mean?. So what you are saying is that there are Devilles driving around and that is a sign that they are reliable and will not have H/G issues?. The ones passing by maybe were fixed, or are in limp mode till the next gas station or maybe the owners got lucky and have one that will not give them any troubles?. Who knows?. But your logic is confusing to say the least.

G

· #18 · May 17, 2007

JimHare said:
They complain about H/Gs here because of two main characteristics:
1) They're f***ing expensive.
2) They're hard to do.

Add to that the fact that they are quite common.

JimHare said:
H/Gs in many other cars do NOT have both of those characteristics. Therefore, the reason to complain about them is not as strong.

Yes there are other cars with known head gasket issues. Off hand I can think of the 3.8 Ford found in Mustangs and other cars. Lets take the V6 Mustang for example. 6 hours and new gaskets and the car is fixed, no time serts required, easy access to both heads and in all maybe $600 repair. I freigin paid $830 just for a water pump change on the Deville!. Yes we can complain because a head gasket issue should not cost $2500-$3500 no matter what. It all comes down to money Jim and not many take solice saying "Oh well, geeee, its not the Northstars fault, its just the way it was put in the car". Because of the way everything was packaged in the N* powered cars it makes them difficult to work on which in turn makes them very expensive to have fixed which, in the end, makes them disposable and a bad choice for a used car.

JimHare

· #19 · May 17, 2007

Destroyer said:
WTH does that mean?. So what you are saying is that there are Devilles driving around and that is a sign that they are reliable and will not have H/G issues?. The ones passing by maybe were fixed, or are in limp mode till the next gas station or maybe the owners got lucky and have one that will not give them any troubles?. Who knows?. But your logic is confusing to say the least.

No more confusing than the logic that said "two Caddys came in the shop both with coolant issues" , with the inference that ALL Caddys thus have coolant issues.

While I was in the local Munro getting brakes the other day, two Camry's came in, both needing rotors and pads. Does that mean that Camry's eat rotors and pads? No. That's my point.

Until you look at a SIGNIFICANT portion of a population, you can't draw meaningful conclusions. I don't care what you're looking at, whether it's Caddys or Creamsicles. And by significant I mean at least 15 to 20% of the population.

I'm sitting in an optometrists office. While I sit there, three blondes come in, all needing glasses. No brunettes come in.

It is logically incorrect to infer from that sample that ALL blondes need glasses, and brunettes don't.

I have never said that NS gaskets don't go. I've simply said that it is INCORRECT to say that ALL NS gaskets either will blow, or have blown. That's all.

And I agree - they crammed that mutha in there so tight that ANY expensive repair is usually not worth it, unless you do the labor yourself. But hell, even the guy that fixes your damn VCR charges 80 bucks an hour. I'm not sure what the correlation is between high labor and parts costs and depreciation - if it was a direct correlation, then Rolls'es and Ferraris would depreciate just as badly, but they don't.

In the end, most of us can only speak from personal experience. For some people, it seems that every Caddy they touch blows its head gasket. For others, they drive 300,000 miles or more and never have a problem. Based on those two premises, it's probably incorrect to draw ANY conclusion.

See less See more

misfit6794

· #20 · May 17, 2007

Does that mean that Camry's eat rotors and pads

Actually if they were 02's thru 07's yea, they actually do. Mine 02 goes thru brakes every 15-20,000 miles. (granted im very hard on them) Toyota made the brake package a little too small on that generation, I know from experience. Its not so much that caddys have more problems than any other 10 year an older car, its just how much repairs and parts costs. Its more complex compared to other used cars. The shear amount of electronics on board is more than most cars. I mean a 1000 dollar shock? 700 dollar starter replacement? 1000 dollar a/c compressor replacement? These are common problems with every used car, but the prices are insane. I loved my caddy, but the day I bought it I saw a smile on my mechanics face when he told me "They're expensive to keep on the road"

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.