[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I have a '92 sedan deVille, 112k miles, last summer, it sprayed coolant once out of a microscopic hole on the passengers side of the motor. ( the front end?) To fix this, I put in a bottle of alumaseal in the radiator, and it never did that again. Just last night, it leaked out a ton of coolant again probably from the same spot, this worries me greatly. I dont know what to do because if i put in another can of alumaseal, I will probably clog up my heater core, and I can't weld another piece of aluminum over the trouble area because aluminum doesn't weld. What should I do? Should I sell it quickly, and get something else? (BROUGHAM!)

 

[adalla]

Is it a hole on the engine block or a pipe? Do you actually see the hole?
I would not use any alumaseal. Bars leaks only. Can you take a picture?

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

engine block, no I can't actually see the hole. It's too small for the eye, but I can see where it pools up. I'll take a pic tomorrow.

Why Bars Leaks v. Alumaseal?

 

[Leeb]

According to the manual....

If you have a leak of that sort, it is caused by the aluminum casting being very porous, which is why Cadillac demands use of the pellets...
It also states that such a leak can be repaired by
using a light-weight ball-peen hammer and 'crushing' the pore by tapping the leaking area to seal it.

Just make sure you don't overdo it and end up tapping the inside too....

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

interesting....

Yeah I put those pellets in my radiator right after I bought the car 11 months ago. And they didn't do the job, So I threw a can of Alumaseal and that held until about 5 days ago.

 

[peteski]

Then I would say that the pinhole is probably too large to be saled by any type of a sealer. That would be a tough fix. Maybe it can be sealed with Epoxy. But I think the coolant would have to be drained and the area to be sealed would have to be clean and dry.

Or maybe it can be welded. But I think that is very difficult to do.

Peteski

 

[caddeville]

If the hole is in aluminum, you can weld it because aluminum DOES weld!!! My dad has a bodyshop and we weld some broken external ALUMINUM engine/tranny brackets blah blah blah... It won't be expensive should be under 30$. A completley different welder and wire is used to weld aluminum. Take a picture so we can take a look.

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

hmmm, dont you have to use a spot welder or something for aluminum? I remember my dad who is a diesel mechanic telling me that It would be very hard to weld in this spot

I'll take a pic tomorrow, but it's very hard to see.

 

[caddeville]

Man, just do whatever it takes to fix it! I tried welding aluminum myself, its not as easy as steel. Professionals use TIG welders, not MIG (what your talking about). They have MIG for aluminum too but, it doesn't weld as strong as TIG. TIG actually heats up the metal way more than MIG and pretty much melts it together, mig just welds over top while the internals aren't joined. In your case you could use MIG welder, would be easier in a tight area. You will see in OCC (orange county choppers) they use MIG for tacking, and TIG for welding.

 

[ewill3rd]

If it's anything like the '92 Sevillie I worked on a couple of months ago, start shopping for an engine.

My Shop Foreman wanted me to clean the block up and put epoxy on the outside, but as soon as the wire brush hit it, the hole opened up like a sinkhole. Holes in the side of the block are usually due to corrosion on the inside of the block casting. Corrosion won't attack one microscopic spot, it affects a large surface area inside the water jacket.
Odds are you could push a screwdriver right through the side of the engine.
Welding may not do you much good as it requires the existence of metal, you may not have much left and the welder just might open up a bigger hole also.

The Seville got a used engine and seems to be running just fine.

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Man, just do whatever it takes to fix it! I tried welding aluminum myself, its not as easy as steel. Professionals use TIG welders, not MIG (what your talking about). They have MIG for aluminum too but, it doesn't weld as strong as TIG. TIG actually heats up the metal way more than MIG and pretty much melts it together, mig just welds over top while the internals aren't joined. In your case you could use MIG welder, would be easier in a tight area. You will see in OCC (orange county choppers) they use MIG for tacking, and TIG for welding.

Ah well thanks for the advice! It was a TIG welder that my dad was talking about.

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

If it's anything like the '92 Sevillie I worked on a couple of months ago, start shopping for an engine.

My Shop Foreman wanted me to clean the block up and put epoxy on the outside, but as soon as the wire brush hit it, the hole opened up like a sinkhole. Holes in the side of the block are usually due to corrosion on the inside of the block casting. Corrosion won't attack one microscopic spot, it affects a large surface area inside the water jacket.
Odds are you could push a screwdriver right through the side of the engine.
Welding may not do you much good as it requires the existence of metal, you may not have much left and the welder just might open up a bigger hole also.

The Seville got a used engine and seems to be running just fine.

If this is the case, which I hope to god it isn't I'll have to sell the car ASAP. Because I can't afford a new engine because all of my money is going towards college, and I dont think my dad would want to hold onto this car if it needs a new motor!

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I'm going to hold onto it
I would trade it in, but it's worthless :crying:
The Kelley Blue Book says a '92 Sedan deville, in good condition, with 112k miles is worth $1500 :helpless:

I can't buy anything for $1500 :ill:

I'll just drive it, and add coolant, and hope that this never goes out otherwise I'm shit out of luck. It looks like the only way to get any decent money is to get in an accident, but I like my car too much to do that.

 

[ewill3rd]

I didn't mean to squash your hopes, just didn't want to see you build them up and get tied up in a major deal.
What I was trying to get accross is that it could be alot worse on the inside than it is on the outside. When I had mine I heard a few other horror stories in the shop about leaky blocks.
I kind of feel bad now....

A used or reman engine is worth it if you like the car. Just because it costs more than the car is worth doesn't mean it's a waste. Plus it is still cheaper than a new car!

 

[adalla]

I didn't mean to squash your hopes, just didn't want to see you build them up and get tied up in a major deal.
What I was trying to get accross is that it could be alot worse on the inside than it is on the outside. When I had mine I heard a few other horror stories in the shop about leaky blocks.
I kind of feel bad now....
A used or reman engine is worth it if you like the car. Just because it costs more than the car is worth doesn't mean it's a waste. Plus it is still cheaper than a new car!

Yes, a couple of corroded 4.9 blocks with coolant leaking out were reported.

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

I didn't mean to squash your hopes, just didn't want to see you build them up and get tied up in a major deal.
What I was trying to get accross is that it could be alot worse on the inside than it is on the outside. When I had mine I heard a few other horror stories in the shop about leaky blocks.
I kind of feel bad now....

A used or reman engine is worth it if you like the car. Just because it costs more than the car is worth doesn't mean it's a waste. Plus it is still cheaper than a new car!

ah no I understood what you were saying It may be a lotr worse inside than it is outside. But I would never install a used/ reman engine. I dont like the car THAT much, and the 4.9 has been a bad motor for me.

 

[adalla]

4.9's have had pretty solid reputation. One out of a thousand can fail like that but it is just like that - an exclusion to the rule.

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

Yeah, from what I've heard, the 4.9's have some of the lowest amounts of recalls of all the Cadillac exclusive motors, but I just got unlucky.

 

[ewill3rd]

They are a pretty solid motor, but when they do go, it's usually not in a quiet fashion.

Good luck with your car.

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

but when they do go, it's usually not in a quiet fashion.

What do you mean?