[Lazy In AZ]

Yeah, that got your attention, didn't it? Same thing I said when I saw it for the first time. What the hell is an Arabian Edition?

My buddy bought the car up in Salt Lake City last year, then moved down here to Mesa, AZ where I first saw it. I instantly fell in love with her and told him that if he EVER sold it that I wanted to be the first to buy it. Low and behold he found interest in a pick up truck and sold me the STS just about a month ago.

She does need some TLC on the inside, but cosmetically she is acceptable (could use a paint job). The stereo was removed and a crap deck installed, but not wired properly so the antenna doesn't function and the front speakers are removed and in the trunk. The driver seat is weathered and torn, and the weather stripping could use replacement. The luggage rack was removed and tackily filled in with silicone (ugliest part of the car).

When I got her, the pulleys were making a horrendous noise and he knew there were other issues that needed to be taken care of, so he sold it to me for half of what he paid for it, which happened to be KBB price, so I was ok with it. I replaced the water pump (source of the noise) and she started running hot (250+) so I checked the thermostat only to find that there wasn't one. I installed one and she still ran hot, but only when the A/C wasn't running, and then when the coolant level reduced it would overheat on idle. She sprung a leak in the upper hose, so I replaced that and also the radiator cap. Mind you, I am using DexCool during all of this at 50/50 mix. Still, she heats up into the 215-230 range and occasionally will blast into the 250's. No idea what is causing this, but it is affecting the heater tremendously. Rear heater will not blow more than warm air, and the front heat isn't much better. On a 90 deg setting it is a tollerable warmth.

Aside from the coolant issue, she needs new plugs and wires cause she idles like shit and is only getting about 13-15 mpg even though the fuel mileage tracker on the dash quotes 18 avg and on highway runs it shows a steady 33 mpg on that instant indicator.

The struts also seem to be an issue, as she has a vibration above 50 mph in the front end. Tires are wearing well and show no signs of imbalance. Steering holds straight as any other car I've ever driven.

I pulled the DTC's and came up with these:

P034
P048
P052
P085
I039
I052
No ACP Codes
R033
R034
R061

As of right now the check engine light is off, and only comes on with the low coolant level. It was on steady ever since I bought it until I replaced the radiator cap and upper hose.

Other issue is an exhaust leak coming from what sounds like right under the pedals. Sounds bad ass if your running along a concrete wall, but at a stop light the fumes come right up into the cabin... and then it just sucks! LOL

So, that's my baby. Anyone know anything about the "Arabian Edition" of the '92 STS? I looked online and can't find anything. It's not an overseas vehicle, was made in Detroit in 9/91 and according to CompNine.com is the only vehicle of it's type in the database.

I like having "special" cars

 

[RippyPartsDept]

check the purge line... if it's not clogged you've got a high chance of head gasket repair in your future

you may have a custom '1-off' on your hands... i'm pretty sure that's not a factory package

 

[N*Caddy]

The Arabian cars suppose to be available with manual transmission (so I read somewhere). Never saw one though, not even in pictures, not even in some FSM.

 

[00 Deville]

Someone over at caddyinfo had a 92 STS Arabian Edition... they described it as "Arabian Edition written on both front doors, along with gold Arabian horses, gold leaf pin strips and factory wild plum paint. The wheels are Cadillac with five flat spokes, and the body has a ground effects package, along with a gold package... and a gold luggage rack."

You should run the VIN thru the RPO converter... a sticky at the top of the Seville page.

 

[ben.gators]

Hello Lazy In AZ... There is another lazy in Arizona named Ben! If you see a Shale Metallic Cadillac STS 99, wave your hand, it is me!
I live around you too and I am sure I will see your Arabian Horse in the street someday...

 

[johnny kannapo]

Is there an RPO listing for this option?

Would you run your vin in the RPO converter & share by enlightening us.

Up in the sticky at the page.

 

[Lazy In AZ]

I did run it through the decoder, that's the CompNine.com thing I was talking about. This is what I came up with:

Vin: 1G6KY53B8NU802164 (so you can see for yourself cause it's too much info to put in here)

1,808 have the RPO code of 88U which is the paint code for Dark Plum Metallic & Dark Grey Metallic, but nothing on how many of the STS line have the Dark Plum Metallic paint, which pretty much describes the color of mine.

The creepy thing is that it states:
"There are 1 1992 SEVILLE vehicles (0.002%) matching your exact options list. There are 1 (0.002%) with at least as many options."

So mine is the only one of it's kind according to the decoder... yet 00 Deville's description of the guy at Caddyinfo's "Arabian Edition" is an exact match of mine (minus the gold colored luggage rack... which I now wish was still on the trunk!). So, I know that there must be more of them out there, but I wish I knew how many there were run off with this package.

Rippy --> I'll check the purge line and let you know. The next step I was going to head in was looking at the heater core itself and checking for blockage. I ran today without any air or heat and it kept the temps between 192 - 207 during the short drive from my place to my buddies (15 minutes with some time spent at 2 lights).

The good thing is that the engine light is staying off for now. My brake light is still shining bright though, no idea why. Which brings me to another question... anyone know the meaning of the DTC codes that got thrown at me. I haven't searched any of them yet, and not sure what any of them mean. I'm sure some of them were coolant related, and probably some lean codes cause the throttle body was pretty dirty when I got her. Ran some SeaFoam in the tank with 8 gals high test, and sprayed some carb cleaner down the butterfly while revving her up. She liked that a lot!

Thanks for the input, guys. I wasn't sure how active this forum was. I'm a member of VFRWorld ('86 VFR750 Interceptor in the garage, too) and this one seems to be on level with it. Fast responses and good info. Much appreciated.

Ben --> Will be keeping an eye out for you. I'm in the area of Ellsworth & Broadway.

 

[ben.gators]

anyone know the meaning of the DTC codes that got thrown at me. I haven't searched any of them yet, and not sure what any of them mean.

Here it is neighbor:
http://myweb.accessus.net/~090/dtcobd1.html
I live in McKellips Rd....

 

[Lazy In AZ]

Thanks Ben, yeah looks like my MAP sensor is bad and an issue with the EGR system is causing the bad fuel mileage. Of course when I researched it a little bit I found someone with a similar code combo and their heater core was steaming out and caused some harness damage in the wiring... so maybe that's my problem? The idle throttle being high may be caused by the idler pulley going out (it's starting to make noise when it's cold and is a bit wobbly).

I went over to CaddyInfo.com and found that post about the Arabian Edition. It was posted back in '05, so it's totally possible that I may be the owner of that same car and it's the only one of it's kind... which is pretty cool! I messaged him and emailed him directly to see if he knows the background of the car.

Would be really cool if I could find someone with a Carfax account that could look up the history for me. Can't afford to pay for it... and I'm probably too cheap to pay for it if I could!

According to the owner over at CaddyInfo, he believed it to be a "one off" made for the Arabian Breeders Association. Why anyone would sell a car that was the only one of its kind is beyond me, let alone the fact that it was sold for rock bottom, regardless of it's current condition.

I want that damn gold luggage rack, now! LOL

 

[johnny-cash]

that thing is cool i would fix it up and make it a show car if its really that rare. good find bro keep us up to date on whats going on with it and pm me if you need any help.

 

[RippyPartsDept]

I put some custom badges on my deville... now it's a one-off

it's worth twice as much now, right?

 

[ThumperPup]

I put some custom badges on my deville... now it's a one-off

it's worth twice as much now, right?

Rippy only if you put the CadillacOwners.Com badge on there is it worht double without that then it might go p 5 percent lol

 

[N*Caddy]

I replaced all my badges (STS,32Valve,Cadillac Motor Division and Cadillac crest) with identical but gold plated. I know for sure the car worth now an extra $220.

 

[ThumperPup]

i am thinking of doing a emblem delete job on my caddy i think that will make it worth an extra 300 dollars to the drug dealer on the corner that don't want any emblems on there car lol

 

[Lazy In AZ]

well... unfortunately I got reply e-mails from both the Arabian Breeders Assoc in Colorado and the Arabian Horse Assoc here in AZ and both of them denied having anything to do with Cadillac in any form. I guess I'll just have to contact Caddilac directly and see what they have to say about it.

On a positive note, the cars DTC's have cleared to the point that the CEL isn't staying on anymore, but the brake light is still steady and the Check Brake System and Check Ride Control news flash continues to haunt my dash. The car will stay steady between 192 - 210 while riding with the climate control off, but in stop and go traffic - even with the CC on - the temp will go up into the 220's and once to the 232 mark. It hasn't overheated to the 250 mark in about a week, and I have noticed that it's holding coolant a bit better than it was (only dropping down about 3" in the radiator over a 2 day period -- 150 to 200 miles).

 

[maeng9981]

Sweet find! I like those special editions whether it was from factory or not. I have one 99 Deville 50-year Golden Anniversary edition (factory) and a 2000 Seville with a quite common cloth top with gold trims all around (dealer).

Also about your overheating issue, have you checked the fans for proper operation? On Northstar cars it should run with A/C operation or when the temp hits ~224F. I am almost sure that the fan operation is the same for '92 4.9L.

 

[RippyPartsDept]

also another troubleshooting technique for the overheating/headgaskets is to give it a couple wide open throttle runs and see if starts to overheat

 

[ThumperPup]

also another troubleshooting technique for the overheating/headgaskets is to give it a couple wide open throttle runs and see if starts to overheat

On my way to Chicago ones i was close enough to have AAA tow me without paying incase i broke down on the way when i went to have my HG's doen
i did a few good WOTS did not over heat ones i think i did about 4 or 5 of them


then when the engine block was cracked jsut because i took it in for the rebuild in December
i did a few WOTS on the way there no over heat
so not sure if this would for sure do it or not

 

[RippyPartsDept]

if it's early stages of HG problem then it will probably not overheat ... but in later stages of blown HGs you will overheat when driving it hard since that's when it will pull the most exhaust into the coolant thus causing 'air/exhaust' pockets in your coolant and then as that hotter pocket crosses the coolant temp sensor it will 'overheat'

 

[ThumperPup]

if it's early stages of HG problem then it will probably not overheat ... but in later stages of blown HGs you will overheat when driving it hard since that's when it will pull the most exhaust into the coolant thus causing 'air/exhaust' pockets in your coolant and then as that hotter pocket crosses the coolant temp sensor it will 'overheat'

On my way to Chicago i probably was in the last stages possible it would over heat sometimes just idling sometimes just cruising around 60 being easy on the gas
sometimes when i go to pass somone slowly but there was never a way for me to guarentee it woudl over heat but i think it was in the last stages considering
i could not start most morning because it was acting like flooded at times
when it did start it had clouds as thick as pillows of white smoke that lasted for about the first 10 or 15 minutes of driving

would overheat when least exspecting but couldnt get it to over heat if i tried
i know my caddy is demonized that way