[atay]

I am so sick of owning our catera. :want: We have had nothing but problems since we bought it. Right now, it is leaking coolant...and has since we got it 2 years ago. (by the way its a 2000 sport). It also leaks oil. The rear window shade rarely works. You have to push the button atleast 12 times for it to come up. The sun roof opens on its own whenever. Some times when we're trying to get into the car, the alarm goes off..and won't turn off..till we pull the battery. The brake lights haven't worked in months..there is wiring loose somewhere, but we have no idea where to look, the spark plugs are all AOK and the light bulbs themselves are just fine. The hinge on the drivers door broke some how. It no longer props open. PHEW!
I think thats all...
We would love to sell it...though we owe about 4,100 on it.
Do you think we could get that much out of it? Are these things above easy enough to fix on our own?
and where the heck can i find an affordable maintenance manual for this car!

 

[Warez]

What really did you expect from a 7-year old car that was infamous for reliability issues?

Most of the problems that you listed have been extensively discussed on this board and are quite simple to fix; obviously you're unwilling or unable to work on the car yourself, so that is something that you should have taken into consideration before even getting this car:bigroll:

Also getting a loan on a 7-year old used luxury car that you probably paid ~$8000 for was a very, very bad financial decision. You could have easily bought a vehicle for half the price and one that would have been more reliable.

 

[rinverso]

What really did you expect from a 7-year old car that was infamous for reliability issues?

Most of the problems that you listed have been extensively discussed on this board and are quite simple to fix; obviously you're unwilling or unable to work on the car yourself, so that is something that you should have taken into consideration before even getting this car:bigroll:

Also getting a loan on a 7-year old used luxury car that you probably paid ~$8000 for was a very, very bad financial decision. You could have easily bought a vehicle for half the price and one that would have been more reliable.

wow warez,
how politically uncorrect.:tisk: ....but completely right on!! the truth of the matter sometimes hurts, but no one wants to hear it. good job:thumbsup:
i'll vote for you in 2008
thanks, robert
btw...i love my 01 cat:bouncy:

 

[atay]

OK, well thanks for all your positive 'helpful' feedback.
And to set the record straight. the car was purchased 2 YEARS AGO, like i said. so at that time it was 5 years old. and when we looked at it at the dealership and test drove it, it was AOK. Everything checked out fine. EVERYTHING was working fine when we got it. and being a cadillac, we figured it would be a great, reliable car to own. BOY were we wrong!
SO yes i WAS complaining in the first thread....BUT I was also looking for anyone that knows how to fix these things.

obviously you're unwilling or unable to work on the car yourself, so that is something that you should have taken into consideration before even getting this car

this sounded kinda rude to me..
where did you get that i was 'unwilling' to work on the car myself?
because if you read what i wrote i said

Are these things above easy enough to fix on our own?

and i also asked:

and where the heck can i find an affordable maintenance manual for this car!

because i have been unable to find one! no local car shops in our area carry them, and the one place that told me i was buying the correct book, ended up sending the wrong one, and didnt actually have one i needed..
I am sure that there are OTHER threads containing information about these things i need to fix, so maybe you all could help me with where they are. send me some links or something.

sorry to sound so aggrivated but you pissed me off dude.:rant2:

 

[electnixon]

You can get service manuals on E-Bay. There are also a few places in the forums that refer to professional publication companies.

I don't use one (just haven't gotten around to getting one). I get most of the info I need from this site and from the 'other' Catera owners site. You can find fixes for most of your problems here, for ex., the coolant leak is likely a HCV or an oil cooler cover. The oil leak is probably valve cover gaskets. I would recommend searching for each of your problems in the forums and if you have one that isn't listed yet, go ahead and start a new thread.

The Catera may never live up to your expectations as a reliable car, but it's still a great car and fun to drive. You might actually enjoy it more once you've worked on it and taken care of these minor problems. If you pay to get it fixed each time, you'll likely end up disappointed.

 

[atay]

electnixon,
thanks for your help..:thumbsup:
i'll try that..

 

[Po Pimp]

This might help you with the brake lights. Pretty common for these switches to wear out on these cars.

Brake switch replacement

The door is a different story. The sheet metal likes to rip. This acts like a stop for the notches in the arms different resting points. Someone else can probably fill you in a little better on this subject. It will involve welding to fix and maybe something someone else has to do in order for it to be fixed.

As for the alarm there are a couple different possible problems. How are you unlocking the door? The remote, key? If the alarm goes off again hit the lock button on the inside of the car, shut the door and then unlock it with the key, this should stop it.

To find the coolant and oil leak you will most likely have to clean the crap out of the engine. Cover all the electronic components, get some engine cleaner and follow the directions on the can. Remember that air runs all over the engine a leak can look like it is coming from any where after some driving. Also I save the plastic bags I get when I buy my groceries for this exact reason. You can rip them up to size and tie them around connection, or use the whole bag for some stuff. Drive short distances and keep checking to pinpoint the points of origin. Parking in a clean spot will help to so you know where to start sometimes.

 

[electnixon]

I'm working my way through the door check-link issue. If you look where the check-link (the bar that goes from the car into the front end of the door) you can clearly see if the door sheet metal is torn. This occurs from the door being forced closed after the check-link has gotten in a bind. If your door isn't torn, I'd disconnect the link, gently work it into the door (or take apart the door & remove the c-l assembly), and order a new assembly. (part # 90564478 I paid $63.32 after shipping).

I didn't want to weld on the door, so cut out the torn sheet metal & fabricated a bracket out of a piece of angle & screwed it to the door. I'll post pictures once I have it all worked out. I tested it with the old check-link and it looked like it worked OK. The new one arrives today, so I'll find out if my alignment is within range.

 

[FusionCT]

I'm working my way through the door check-link issue. If you look where the check-link (the bar that goes from the car into the front end of the door) you can clearly see if the door sheet metal is torn. This occurs from the door being forced closed after the check-link has gotten in a bind. If your door isn't torn, I'd disconnect the link, gently work it into the door (or take apart the door & remove the c-l assembly), and order a new assembly. (part # 90564478 I paid $63.32 after shipping).

I didn't want to weld on the door, so cut out the torn sheet metal & fabricated a bracket out of a piece of angle & screwed it to the door. I'll post pictures once I have it all worked out. I tested it with the old check-link and it looked like it worked OK. The new one arrives today, so I'll find out if my alignment is within range.

I just got whacked with the same problem. Clicking started about a week ago and within a few days (despite my best efforts to baby it and get it help) the assembly tore away from the door - not the best door manufacturing, thank you GM. Not to mention that the piece was very thin, twice as thin as the brackets holding the springs. Anyway, I'm wondering if this is what you encountered and if so, what steps you took to remedy it. You mentioned screwing a fabricated plate into the door (I'm assuming, this replaces the flange that was originally manufactured with the door and tore away) rather than welding a bracket back on. I'm curious if you would please share how you did this, what you ordered, from where, dimensions, etc!? It would be very useful! Thanks!