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V8 Northstar 2005+ models


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I have read through many of the threads, and I have not seen many issues. I was wondering if the V8 Northstar engine 2005 and up models has the same issues as the earlier model V8 Northstar engines? Far as having the overheating, heads separating from the block from bad threads on mounting bolts. Are the 2005+ model Northstar engines more reliable than the earlier models? I plan on purchasing a 2005+ model STS, and I wanted to know if these models have known problems before I buy one. If anyone could relay any info, I would appreciate your help.

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Excessive luxury, and frequent intended acceleration, which can be addictive. Generally they are very reliable cars and will give great service.

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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  • 9 months later...

Excessive luxury, and frequent intended acceleration, which can be addictive. Generally they are very reliable cars and will give great service.

Im starting to see "Starting Problems" post. Is this something that is creeping up on the radar for the 2005+ Northstar engines?

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Excessive luxury, and frequent intended acceleration, which can be addictive. Generally they are very reliable cars and will give great service.

Im starting to see "Starting Problems" post. Is this something that is creeping up on the radar for the 2005+ Northstar engines?

I will soon have 110,000 on my 2006...

Never have had a glitch on starting and it has never had a code show up.

Well... except for when I left it parked for about 10 days with the Radar Detector on and the cell phone charger plugged in and they ran the battery down... LOL

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Excessive luxury, and frequent intended acceleration, which can be addictive. Generally they are very reliable cars and will give great service.

Im starting to see "Starting Problems" post. Is this something that is creeping up on the radar for the 2005+ Northstar engines?

I will soon have 110,000 on my 2006...

Never have had a glitch on starting and it has never had a code show up.

Well... except for when I left it parked for about 10 days with the Radar Detector on and the cell phone charger plugged in and they ran the battery down... LOL

So have you seen any issues with your vehicle, that may be categorized as chronic issues? Or any issues that my be manufacturer related?

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I will soon have 110,000 on my 2006...

Never have had a glitch on starting and it has never had a code show up.

Well... except for when I left it parked for about 10 days with the Radar Detector on and the cell phone charger plugged in and they ran the battery down... LOL

So have you seen any issues with your vehicle, that may be categorized as chronic issues? Or any issues that my be manufacturer related?

I have had a couple of things that I took it back to the dealer for...

The trunk mounted brake light was cracked slightly from being tightened too much from the factory.

The A/C drivers seat stopped cooling.

The NAV system was replaced... it would occasionally reboot itself when you were driving down the road.

One of the HID headlights had to have a ballast replaced.

The half case seal and the rear valve cover had a real tiny oil seep.

Everything was fixed under warranty.

I have had NOTHING that I would categorize as "CHRONIC" except possibly the half case seal.

I keep it clean and serviced properly.

Oil changes... tire rotations... check things under the hood like belts and hoses every once in a while.

Other than that, I just drive it.

It probably gets driven a good bit harder than the average Cadillac DTS... but driving it hard has never caused a problem.

At least not yet.

I have an 9000+ mile trip planned for late next spring/early summer.

Unless something drastic happens to it... it will be the automobile I will be going in.

I am in Texas and I wouldn't hesitate to go get in it right now and go to either coast...

It has been rock solid dependable.

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  • 2 years later...

at 60,000 miles the differential got loose and started thumping on hard acceleration and downshifts when slowing down, when checked the fluid looked like neversieze and there were fingernail sized chunks of gear in the fluid, upon investigation the diff seals were replaced by Cadillac on recall at 15,000 miles, yet they refused to do anything about it even though it was obviously a factory defect. differentials don't go out twice in 60,000 miles. my research has shown that it is somewhat common on the sts, due to out of spec diff seals from the factory.I threatened to never buy another Cadillac to Cadillac, but I was totally lying I still love the car and would love to have a new cts v sport

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  • 2 years later...

I have a 2007 STS We do not have a Cadillac dealer local, I bought the car used and it was great or the first year since I changed the tires I constantly have a service tire monitor message, I have replace 3 of them that had low batteries I have taken the car back to the tire place several times they check the tires the message goes away and after 20 miles it comes back on. In the last month I hear this little ripple sound when I take off, after a week of it I started getting a message that says traction activated. It only happens when taking off once I start driving it doesn't happen again. The road conditions are good not wet. I just wanted to know if this has been an issue, should I be ready to trade it in? I have taken it to an auto electric and they can not get it to throw a code, but he does hear the sound and feel it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have almost 300K on my '05 and it runs real good. However, there are issues as follows:

1. Oil leaks;

2. Power steering pump is susceptible to failure (A pain to replace but a home mechanic can do the job);

3. Rear differential bushing will eventually fail causing clunking sound, which means it must be replaced.

4. This particular design can eat batteries due to too much heat since it is placed at the rear near at the passenger side firewall.  I finally insulated the battery after going through 3 of them in about 4 years.

5. If you have different size front and rear tires this means no rotating of tires.  Accordingly, rear tires tend to wear more quickly than front;

6. Watch out for rust at the front of the frame rails. The side walls of the rail may look good but are rusting.

7. Intake manifold bolts are susceptible to loosening causing vacuum leaks and trouble code(s);

8. Shift linkage is eventually going to fail;

9. 17-inch OEM aluminum wheels are weak and susceptible to pothole damage in comparison to the 18-inch wheels.

10.  Every time brakes are replaced check all metal parts for rusting and coat them with paint because though the '05 STS has good rust resistance, suspension parts will eventually rust.  Don't ignore rust!

 

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Thank you for the information, I drove over to Redding to a Cadillac dealer they told me they could never get the traction to engage which was crazy because I took it to two other mechanics that heard and felt it, but were not Cadillac mechanic's. They found a motor mount that had separated and thought that might have caused the problem. I had that fixed they got the service tire monitors to go off ( it came back on 50 miles into my trip and has since gone back off and not come back) I had the 50,000mile service done on it as I'm at 60,000. So far so good traction does not engage for no reason since the mount was fixed. The car still has a slight vibration when driving between 75 and 80.

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Traction control is very sensitive--actually, too sensitive, in my opinion.  It can be downright dangerous on roads that are not smooth because hitting a rough patch during acceleration will cause traction control to engage causing brakes to engage.  Many times I have been annoyed by traction control.  I would not be surprised if a bad mount would cause traction control to engage since engine hop would likely effect suspension and trick the computer to think something was going on traction-wise.

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