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1999 Deville, Seville, Eldorado, Aurora - RECALL - Campaign #99086


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To all 1999 Cadillac owners that are having leaking cylinder head gasket issues, Cadillac has a campaign for certain engines that could have had the cylinder head bolt holes drilled too deeply into the engine block, resulting in the cylinder head bolts loosening, losing clamping force, with the result being the cylinder head gaskets failing.

The campaign # is 99086, dated March 19, 2002. I went through this with my own Cadillac and it doesn't matter if you are the original owner or not, as the campaign is for the car, not the original owner.

The potentially affected vehicles are listed below -

1999 Cadillac Seville - from VIN # - XU938976 - XU940640

1999 Cadillac Deville - from VIN # - XU791675 - XU802142

1999 Cadillac Eldorado - from VIN # - XU613134 - YX614972

I discovered this campaign using AllData.com auto repair software that you can purchase for about $30.00 from AllData.Com, or AutoZone. It has been extremely useful and I can highly recommend it.

For anyone with a 1999 Cadillac listed above, call Cadillac at the below phone number -

1-800-458-8006

Your car will need to be brought in to a Cadillac dealer where they will test the engine to see if it is one of the affected engines. If it is, the campaign says the engine will be replaced at no charge and a loaner car provided while the repairs are being made.

I hope this is of help to anyone having this problem with their 1999 Cadillac. Now if Cadillac would only stand behind all the Northstar engines with blown cylinder head gaskets. I personally don't think threading steel cylinder head bolts into an aluminum block, (with the bolts eventually pulling out of the block), is a very good design, in my opinion. Steel is a harder metal than aluminum and I personally don't think it should have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that the steel cylinder head bolts would eventually pull out of the softer, aluminum metal, in my opinion. It just seems like common sense to me. In my opinion, the Northstar engine is earning a well deserved reputation for blowing cylinder head gaskets and with a Cadillac, General Motor's best, most luxurious car with very high prices for those cars, I personally don't think having cylinder head gaskets blowing in these engines is acceptable. I have met many people who wont buy a Cadillac because of all the reports of blown cylinder head gaskets with the Northstar engines. We aren't talking about an entry level economy car here, like a Cavalier, but a Cadillac for crying out loud. I have owned GM cars all my life and all of them have been great cars, but I am very disappointed with the Northstar engine in this regard. I'm afraid to drive the car out of town for fear of the cylinder head gaskets blowing. I think it's pretty sad that someone with an entry level economy car can have more enjoyment and less stress owning that car than someone with a supposed top of the line Cadillac, due to the cylinder head gasket issues. I wish Cadillac would ge their act together, build engines that don't blow cylinder head gaskets and take care of their customers who do have cylinder head gasket failures. mad.gif

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To made in america-I really think you are calling a $5,000 car a top of the line car. I, like all on here hate to think my sts is going to leave me stranded. It may have been a top of the line $50,000 car ten or so years ago, but it is a USED car now. I bought a 96 eldorado in florida 4 years ago and drove it back to kansas-believe me i understand the STRESS! My daughter just drove it back to florida, yes I called her many times checking on her. I dont make $100,000 dollars per year and work on my own vehicles (which is what led me to this site) and have to wonder if I will spend the money to repair a blown head gasket on either car. But I still love these cars. No car can run forever, and every manufacturer has/had their flaws. The more expensive the car the more expensive to repair. use a bicycle-motorcycle analogy if you wish.

My daughter and I had this conversation a week ago. If they made this car brand new today we would both buy it if we could afford it.

I would like this to be a help forum rather then a *smurf* forum. Having said that thank you very much for the link for the headbolt problem. I also approve of your right to say anything you wish here in AMERICA. I personally hate-politicaly correct-just prefer a help forum here. No offense meant either.

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To made in america-I really think you are calling a $5,000 car a top of the line car. I, like all on here hate to think my sts is going to leave me stranded. It may have been a top of the line $50,000 car ten or so years ago, but it is a USED car now. I bought a 96 eldorado in florida 4 years ago and drove it back to kansas-believe me i understand the STRESS! My daughter just drove it back to florida, yes I called her many times checking on her. I dont make $100,000 dollars per year and work on my own vehicles (which is what led me to this site) and have to wonder if I will spend the money to repair a blown head gasket on either car. But I still love these cars. No car can run forever, and every manufacturer has/had their flaws. The more expensive the car the more expensive to repair. use a bicycle-motorcycle analogy if you wish.

My daughter and I had this conversation a week ago. If they made this car brand new today we would both buy it if we could afford it.

I would like this to be a help forum rather then a *smurf* forum. Having said that thank you very much for the link for the headbolt problem. I also approve of your right to say anything you wish here in AMERICA. I personally hate-politicaly correct-just prefer a help forum here. No offense meant either.

Good points and welcome. You sound like you understand what it means/feels like to drive a Cadillac. To me, its not about status, its about how safe and in control you feel behind the wheel. At no time does my car feel unsafe at highway speeds. I can not say that about any car I have owned other that my Cadillacs. Having owned or my parents having owned Cadillac's from 1955, 1959, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1968, 1974, 1991 and 1996, todays Cadillacs have that secure powerful feeling I so learned as a child.

Our 1955 threw a rod through the side of the engine at 105,000 miles

I spun a rod bearing in a 1966 at 115,000 miles

The biggest problem back then were the transmissions and rust, something that is no longer an issue.

I have been day dreaming what it would be like to totally rebuild my engine, main bearings, rod bearings, seals, replace any lifters, CAMs and pistons that show wear outside of spec, have the heads done by a machine shop, oil pump, etc. The main problem for me is to avoid inflating the price, I am apt to replace everything while I am there.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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My Uncle just replaced his 1999 Deville engine due to head gasket failure. I am wondering if they will reimburse him for the engine replacement?

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My Uncle just replaced his 1999 Deville engine due to head gasket failure. I am wondering if they will reimburse him for the engine replacement?

I would pursue that for sure, if it has the correct VIN number

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Mine isn't on the recall list. I don't know if that is good or bad. If it was I could have gotten a new motor. Now if it blows a gasket I'm stuck paying for it myself.

Today is the day you were worried about yesterday!

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Mine isn't on the recall list. I don't know if that is good or bad. If it was I could have gotten a new motor. Now if it blows a gasket I'm stuck paying for it myself.

The operative word is IF. IF my mom had balls she'd be my DAD :lol:

This was a manufacturing defect in this campaign. Keep changing your coolant on schedule, keep your fingers crossed, upgrade to a 2000 or 2003 when you can and drive the hell out of it

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Any engine with aluminum components should have its coolant watched carefully. I wouldn't trust the five year DexCool statement too literally. Any guarantee like that is going to carry some fine print like "car is not stored under salt water in the Gulf of Mexico" or some such. My policy is to keep a year or two buffer on the time, and a test of the coolant isn't too big an investment for peace of mind. How much does a coolant change cost? Perhaps $35, plus more $$$ for the mechanic if you have it done.

I once knew of a 1970's Chrysler with a 440 cid engine that had an aluminum thermostat cover and radiator hose connector that had a hole corrode through the top. The owner was out-of-town on an extended business trip and I was his wife's POC for emergency car maintenance while he was gone. I didn't believer her on the phone but, I changed it myself so I saw it. No word on his coolant maintenance history, but the car was generally pretty reliable as I recall.

One poster here keeps asserting that HG failures are a manufacturing defect that should be backed by GM, warranty or no warranty. Everyone is welcome to their opinion. The last time I saw a poll on HG failures here, the rate was about 15% for 10-year-old cars with all-aluminum engines, with none less than 7 years old. That's not a manufacturing defect, although I'm sure we all would like to see a lower number on that one. How about some rants on sludge problems in Toyota four-cylinder engines for the last 10+ years? You better run synthetic oil in those. If I had one, I would use synthetic oil and not complain; I have a Northstar and I watch the coolant, and I don't complain; I would do the same in any car I drove.

I find a 355 pound engine with 300 hp is a nice thing; it gives me very good handling and lots of power in a 3800 lb car that very consistently gets 23 mpg on the highway. The VIN Y people report significantly better gas mileage.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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To made in america-I really think you are calling a $5,000 car a top of the line car. I, like all on here hate to think my sts is going to leave me stranded. It may have been a top of the line $50,000 car ten or so years ago, but it is a USED car now. I bought a 96 eldorado in florida 4 years ago and drove it back to kansas-believe me i understand the STRESS! My daughter just drove it back to florida, yes I called her many times checking on her. I dont make $100,000 dollars per year and work on my own vehicles (which is what led me to this site) and have to wonder if I will spend the money to repair a blown head gasket on either car. But I still love these cars. No car can run forever, and every manufacturer has/had their flaws. The more expensive the car the more expensive to repair. use a bicycle-motorcycle analogy if you wish.

My daughter and I had this conversation a week ago. If they made this car brand new today we would both buy it if we could afford it.

I would like this to be a help forum rather then a *smurf* forum. Having said that thank you very much for the link for the headbolt problem. I also approve of your right to say anything you wish here in AMERICA. I personally hate-politicaly correct-just prefer a help forum here. No offense meant either.

A new $50,000 car shouldn't have a serious engine failure like this at any time, in my 25 years in the automotive repair business opinion.

Regardless, this is a campaign issue, it's not acceptable. It's a manufacturing defect that is being covered under warranty. Defect. Not acceptable.

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My Uncle just replaced his 1999 Deville engine due to head gasket failure. I am wondering if they will reimburse him for the engine replacement?

I would pursue that for sure, if it has the correct VIN number

My Uncle took the car to a local Dealership and was told this campaign did not exist. When he insisted that it did they said they would check on it and call him back. He is not holding his breath waiting for a call so he is taking it to another dealership. I will let you know what happens.

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  • 4 months later...

Does this campaign expire?

Could I buy a 1999 with head gasket issues, with a VIN in the recall range, and get a new engine put in for free?

WARNING: I'm a total car newbie, don't be surprised if I ask a stupid question! Just trying to learn.

Cheers!

5% discount code at RockAuto.com - click here for your discount!

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My Uncle took the car to a local Dealership and was told this campaign did not exist. When he insisted that it did they said they would check on it and call him back. He is not holding his breath waiting for a call so he is taking it to another dealership. I will let you know what happens.

My Uncle never heard back from the dealership so he gave up.

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Service managers don't know everything, particularly about old campaigns. What you need is a listing or printout of the service bulletin, with the GM number, date, etc. If the dealer doesn't respond to that, call GM Customer Relations with your VIN number and the service bulletin handy and see what they say; they will call someone to the phone who knows what is what, or they will call you back.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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Here some experience from Sweden and 1993 to 2000 Northstars -all vin 9 engines.

1. 94 STS 170000 mile engine (junk engine because of 2 spun rod bearings) but only

1 destroyed bolt thread in block.

2. Replaced this engine with a 100000 mile one where I did the time sert 2 years ago just preventive - no problems yet.

3. Time serted my 93 50000 mile Eldorado also preventive 1,5 years ago. No problems yet.

4. Time serted waterleaking 2000 STS: no destroyed threads but eaten up head gasket.

5. Time serted waterleaking 2000 STS: no destroyed threads but also here eaten up gaskets.

6. Have a 95-99 engine which was helicoiled earlier on 7 of 20 head bolt holes -has started to leak on one cylinder after helicoils. I have not done any work on this engine yet as it has to be big-serted but got the helicoils out after making a special tool.

Except for this I have some experience with Ford 5.0 where the 10 head bolts after some extra horsepowers

lifted the block up a little around each bolt which caused the gasket to leak. For this engine there are more expensive

and hopefully better gaskets - haven't tried those yet. Of course the block has to be grinded smooth.

As the Northstar just like the 5.0 Ford just has 10 head bolts compared to Chevrolet 350's 17 there should be

some real good high quality head gaskets available -so far I have only used the FelPro brand for the Northstar.

Are there any such available? Does anybody know?

/Jan L

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Jan, were the spun bearings caused by main bearings bolts that pulled?, Thanks, Mike

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Jan, where the spun bearings caused by main bearings bolts that pulled?, Thanks, Mike

The car was owned by a lady in Switzerland and I could only guess that it

was because of lack of oil and that all the debris that was caused by the destroyed bearings went all the way up

into the cam bearings in the heads. The main bearings were still fixed to the block as they should be. I bought this car

in Sweden as I wanted a challenge to fix the engine up but the engine was beyond repair. The Swedish guy who owned it before me said that it was a terrible sound from the engine -two rods rested directly on the crank -even the steel in

the connecting rod bearings was gone. That's why those rods had turned blue by heat.....

/Jan L.

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Here some experience from Sweden and 1993 to 2000 Northstars -all vin 9 engines.

1. 94 STS 170000 mile engine (junk engine because of 2 spun rod bearings) but only

1 destroyed bolt thread in block.

2. Replaced this engine with a 100000 mile one where I did the time sert 2 years ago just preventive - no problems yet.

3. Time serted my 93 50000 mile Eldorado also preventive 1,5 years ago. No problems yet.

4. Time serted waterleaking 2000 STS: no destroyed threads but eaten up head gasket.

5. Time serted waterleaking 2000 STS: no destroyed threads but also here eaten up gaskets.

If I am reading this accurately, here is a qualified / experienced engine builder reporting that he found one (ONE) damaged bolt hole out of 100 (5 engines times 20 bolt holes). That is a failure rate of 1%!

Does that put to rest the urban legend (based on less than scientific analysis) about Northstars and "pulled head bolts"? And I might even bet serious money the one damaged bolt hole Jan found was caused by the gasket failing in such a way as to allow coolant to contact the bolt.

Jim

Drive your car.

Use your cell phone.

CHOOSE ONE !

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  • 2 weeks later...

IMHO there are several things that contribute to the frequent head gasket failures on the Northstar engines. I have an eerie feeling I may be facing the issue myself with mine...but that's for another post. For one thing, it's a high compression motor. 10:1 if I'm not mistaken and I do believe that there is a problem with the head bolts. I think that they are too finely threaded to be used on such a high compression motor with an aluminum block and heads. They should have at least timeserted the block to begin with, or used bolts with bigger threading on them. Sure it wouldn't have eliminated the problem entirely, but I'm sure we would see a dramatic decrease in the number of these engines with this issue. The owner isn't always to blame, but proper care and maintenance go a long way in saving costly repairs. I don't think GM should be held accountable for ALL blown head gaskets on these engines. I do however believe that they should have looked further into the issue sooner than later and saved a lot of people a lot of money in repairs.

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I had a blown head gasket myself. The car was nine years old and had 116,500 miles on it. Never has it occurred to me that GM or Cadillac should be held responsible for the repair.

A car comes with a written warranty and an implied warranty. If my car did have a 10-year powertrain warranty I would certainly have looked at the fine print. But, it came with a 50,000 mile powertrain warranty. Once the car passed 80,000 miles and the last warranty went away, I realized that the car was mine.

Eventually the transmission will fail. I've kept it serviced every 30,000 miles, but I don't expect the transmission to make 200,000 miles even though at 145,000 miles it seems like new. When it goes, it will be because of some design limitation, known or unknown to GM when the transmission was manufactured. Hey, should I get all ready to go after them? If that would work, then, why am I having the transmission serviced anymore?

As a personal policy, I never argue in writing or online. But, I have a really hard time with people saying that GM should be liable for far-out-of-warranty repairs on old cars. High-energy flames like "they will all do it!!" when Caddyinfo survey shows 15%, and calm assertions that one "knows" that this is caused by a "design defect" and all notwithstanding, and armchair metallurgists and mechanical engineers second-guessing state-of-the-art teams and facilities, the fact is that once the car is over 50,000 miles then nobody owes you a dime, legally -- and after it's over 100,000 miles nobody owes you a second look, period.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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The campaign # is 99086, dated March 19, 2002. I went through this with my own Cadillac and it doesn't matter if you are the original owner or not, as the campaign is for the car, not the original owner.

The potentially affected vehicles are listed below -

1999 Cadillac Seville - from VIN # - XU938976 - XU940640

1999 Cadillac Deville - from VIN # - XU791675 - XU802142

1999 Cadillac Eldorado - from VIN # - XU613134 - YX614972

Seems like the upper limit VIN for the Eldorado should be XU614972 instead of the YX614972 listed?

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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But, it does look like GM and Cadillac do care when there is a genuine problem, as with a few 1999 model year engines, no matter what the age, mileage, whatever. Under the terms of any remotely reasonable warranty, they don't have to even have campaign no. 99086, much less continue it into the mists of time.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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IMHO there are several things that contribute to the frequent head gasket failures on the Northstar engines. I have an eerie feeling I may be facing the issue myself with mine...but that's for another post. For one thing, it's a high compression motor. 10:1 if I'm not mistaken and I do believe that there is a problem with the head bolts. I think that they are too finely threaded to be used on such a high compression motor with an aluminum block and heads. They should have at least timeserted the block to begin with, or used bolts with bigger threading on them. Sure it wouldn't have eliminated the problem entirely, but I'm sure we would see a dramatic decrease in the number of these engines with this issue. The owner isn't always to blame, but proper care and maintenance go a long way in saving costly repairs. I don't think GM should be held accountable for ALL blown head gaskets on these engines. I do however believe that they should have looked further into the issue sooner than later and saved a lot of people a lot of money in repairs.

The bolts were changed in 2000 and then 2004, I believe that from 93 to 99, they were of the belief that improper coolant changes were creating the problem, and Dexcool was introduced in 96.

We had a Northstar Powertrain Engineer here for quite some time that firmly believed that improper maintenance was the cause. So GM either truely believed that or they mistakenly believed that, that is a question we will never know, but I dont believe that GM intentionally ever covered up a problem, testing on these engines was extensive

One test they did was to run the engine at FULL THROTTLE for 300 hours straight, that is over 12 days straight

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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IMHO there are several things that contribute to the frequent head gasket failures on the Northstar engines. I have an eerie feeling I may be facing the issue myself with mine...but that's for another post. For one thing, it's a high compression motor. 10:1 if I'm not mistaken and I do believe that there is a problem with the head bolts. I think that they are too finely threaded to be used on such a high compression motor with an aluminum block and heads. They should have at least timeserted the block to begin with, or used bolts with bigger threading on them. Sure it wouldn't have eliminated the problem entirely, but I'm sure we would see a dramatic decrease in the number of these engines with this issue. The owner isn't always to blame, but proper care and maintenance go a long way in saving costly repairs. I don't think GM should be held accountable for ALL blown head gaskets on these engines. I do however believe that they should have looked further into the issue sooner than later and saved a lot of people a lot of money in repairs.

The bolts were changed in 2000 and then 2004, I believe that from 93 to 99, they were of the belief that improper coolant changes were creating the problem, and Dexcool was introduced in 96.

We had a Northstar Powertrain Engineer here for quite some time that firmly believed that improper maintenance was the cause. So GM either truely believed that or they mistakenly believed that, that is a question we will never know, but I dont believe that GM intentionally ever covered up a problem, testing on these engines was extensive

One test they did was to run the engine at FULL THROTTLE for 300 hours straight, that is over 12 days straight

That's exactly why I said I don't think GM can be held accountable for all head gasket failures on these engines. I am sure there were mistakes made in the production process of some of these motors that caused the problem, but the same goes for ANY motor in any car. Nothing is fool proof or bullet proof. Despite the fact that the original head bolts weren't the best choice for the engine, there are still a considerable number of them running perfectly fine with no head gasket issues at all. So to say that is the ONLY thing that caused the problems can't be right or almost every one of them manufactured with those head bolts would have failed by now. Like I said, proper care and maintenance goes a long way, and those Northstar engines whose head gaskets/ head bolts have failed were very likely due to improper care. Just because it's a powerhouse doesn't mean beat the crap out of it and neglect it, and it'll be ok....though testing it by running it at full throttle for 300 hours straight shows that it can surely take some mild abuse...still doesn't mean you should do it. I may not know a whole lot about this engine, but I know enough to learn how to take care of mine the right way before I screw something up. I just hope the previous owner was smart enough to do the same.

I guess all in all though, GM couldn't really have done much about it though... I am sure by the time the head bolt issue had been noticed by anyone else, GM had already started working on it. At least they changed it.

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