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The_Raven's 1996 SLS


The_Raven

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Howyadoin,

I've officially lost my mind...

It should be noted that my life tends to be full of opposites; a software engineer who moonlights as the singer in a heavy metal band, a guy from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Boston who now lives in a very quiet neighborhood in the suburbs, etc.... So it probably shouldn't come as a big surprise that someone who enjoys the smooth, silent power of an SLS also hangs it out in the breeze.

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Meet "Maggie"...

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She's a 1994 Honda VF750C Magna with a little over 10,000 miles, mechanically very sound, smooth in its own way, and very powerful; 0-60 in 3.6 seconds, 1/4 mile in a shade over 12 seconds. 'Course that was with some 80-pound trained monkey atop the bike, not my, erm, "expansive" self. tongue.gif

Anyway, I bought the bike in September, and have barely had time to ride due to a lot of business travel and crappy weather. I've gotten to the point that I'm taking time off work whenever the weather's favorable to go riding. Speaking of which, I'm outta here! See ya on the road!

-Rav

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

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"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 1 month later...

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Howyadoin,

Whew! I was worried after the skriptkiddies came through that this journal was gone, but thank goodness for backups! I made a local backup today for posterity.

So I was leaving a bar the other night (that seems like such a common prelude to my stories, eh?) and heard a strange sound when backing up. I figured I'd run over a chunk of ice or something, left the parking lot and pulled up to the stoplight. There I realized that the car was still creeping with my usual amount of brake pedal pressure, so I pressed harder and noticed a squishiness in the pedal that I wasn't used to. Eventually it started going pretty much to the floor. I drove home with even more caution than I usually use at 2:00 AM on a Saturday morning, and made it without incident.

I parked the car for the weekend and on Monday drove it to Mark R.'s shop very carefully, with LOTS of downshifting. One thing I noticed which is rather annoying; when your brake fluid reads low, the control system prevents you from using 1st gear, which is the gear I wanted most of the time for engine braking. Mark found my front driver's side brake like chafed in 2 spots, one of which sprung a leak. He replaced the line, modifying the bend slightly to avoid the contact with the fender liner.

So I'm back on the road, brakes are good again. I'm always amazed when I drive the Caddy for the first time after driving my wife's Isuzu Rodeo for a couple days. What a difference! The Rodeo is a real "beat-me-kick-me" ride, with no legroom whatsoever. Great in the sloppy stuff, and super reliable and inexpensive to own, but a tough vehicle to live wirh on a day-to-day basis.

-Rav

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 3 months later...

Howyadoin,

We're a bit shy of 170,000 miles, and time for a bit of repair... The heater core has developed a leak, and will need to be replaced. It's surprisingly inexpensive, the OEM part is less than $100.00. The labor is a cinch too, just go through the glove box, it books for less than 2 hours per Alldata! I'll have to wait a week to get the job done, as Mark R. has other jobs going. Since the weather's getting warmer, it's a good excuse to take the Magna to work next week, so it'll be OK.

-Rav

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 5 months later...

Howyadoin,

Well, she's still rolling on... Definately into her dotage now at 10 years and 172K, but still managed to smoke a BMW X3 the other day. Speaking of smoke, an inadvertent fill of full synthetic oil (instead of the usual high-mileage conventional) seems to have greatly reduced my oil consumption and burning. The engine seems much quieter now, and gas mileage has improved (20.2 ATM) as well.

Had another coolant leak, had to repair the upper radiator hose, no big deal.

The car hasn't gotten a lot of use lately, whenever the weather and travel plans permit I've been taking the motorcycle. My daily commute, with 44 stopsigns and red lights each way, is putting a helluva beating on the bike, so I may cut back and drive more. The bike was a nice option to have when I had to wait to get the coolant leak fixed, a lot better than driving my wife's Rodeo.

Speaking of the bike, here's an updated pic...

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-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 1 month later...

Howyadoin,

Well, this might be it... The transmission is starting to fail at 174.4K miles. She's been throwing PC0741 intermittently for a couple of weeks, but there's been no effect on drivability. I was noticing a bit of a ticking sound in Drive at part throttle, which was concerning me.

I took the car to work today, and left the transmission in "3" until I got on the highway. I dropped the shifter into "D" and the transmission stayed in "3". I tried cycling back and forth, still no luck.

I'm gonna try some Lucas transmission conditioner, but I'm not terribly confident. Between the front end issues, the continued oil burning, and now this, I think it's time to start looking...

-Rav

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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Raven,

Sorry to hear about your SLS. A few years back (4-5 I believe...probably closer to 5-6) my 94STS started slipping between gears. At first it was slipping from 3rd to 4th gear. And at times I would lose 4th altogether from day to day. Then I noticed it in the lower gears. The fluid level was fine and no leaks. The reason I'm telling you all the symptoms i can recall is because I don't remember the codes and if I even knew how to access them at the time. Long story short, my neighbor (used to work on race cars in his youth) took a look and suggested that I try a bottle of Trans X. So I did. I displaced a quart of tranny fluid with it and ran around town like, like a madman, for 60 miles. Then drove directly over to the garage where my mechanic drained all the tranny fluid, dropped the pan, cleaned the screens, and put everything back together with fresh tranny fluid. It's been fine ever since that day. I wish I had the codes for you....sorry. Something to consider if nothing else.

"Burns" rubber

" I've never considered myself to be all that conservative, but it seems the more liberal some people get the more conservative I become. "

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Thanks for the tip Regis, I tried the Lucas Transmission Fix, to no avail. Next step is to replace the shift solenoids, they're a known problem in the 4T80-E. I had them fail in my '93 STS, and I'm hopeful that the problem is the same. The symptoms are certainly similar to what I experienced with the '93 except there's no codes being thrown on the '96.

The car will be down for the next week since Mark R., my ace mechanic, is buried with work. At that point I'm heading for California for a long weekend at Laguna Seca, so by the time I get back I hope he has this problem fixed. Getting through the winter with the '96 would be preferable, since I'd rather not go car hunting until spring.

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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Howyadoin,

I ordered the solenoid kit from RockAuto.com Friday morning, spending the extra 20 bucks for next business day shipping just in case Mark R., my ace mechanic, had an opening this week. Sure enough, he had a cancellation, so I brought the car to the shop Monday night. He removed the valve body and started cleaning things up, since the ATF was kinda discolored.

The solenoids came off without incident. The solenoids push on pistons in the valve body that are spring loaded. The first solenoid came off and the piston popped out gently, but the piston on the second one did not. After removing the piston, he found a small sliver of metal that may have prevented the piston from moving properly in the bore. The solenoids looked OK, but he replaced them to be safe, and installed the retaining clip on the little cylindrical screen thingy. He put it back together, put in about 5.5 quarts of fresh ATF (Dexron III w/Mercon), and I took her out for a road test.

The streets of Salem are narrow and slow, so I had to wait a few miles before I could even get over 40, but it was looking good. I took a quick trip up Rt. 128 and got her to 60 without incident, then jumped over to I-95 and gently got her up to 80. Whew! What a relief!

-Rav

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 10 months later...

Howyadoin,

Yep, she's still running... 188K and climbing.

Since my last update, I removed the power pulldown from the trunk, after another switch bit the dust. I've never liked the power trunk anyway, it's a pain.

I went for inspection a couple months ago and got rejected for bad left ball joint, so that got replaced.

Just had the fuel line recall done, after a leak developed on the line running to the cylinder at top right (not sure which number). In the process, it was found that my fuel filler neck has rusted, I was quoted a completely ridiculous price by the dealer to replace it, so I'm looking at other options.

Still getting the occasional P0741, but it clears and does not affect driveability. I'm not inclined to rip the transmission apart to fix it.

Still burning oil, and she's developed a bit of a leak as well. I'll be trying to track the leak down later this month. It's not serious, just the "marking its spot" kinda thing.

All in all, no serious complaints, although flunking that inspection was a first, and I've owned some real pieces of crap over the years... :)

Oh yeah, got pulled over the other day for the first time in I don't remember when, for blown plate lights... D'Oh!

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 7 months later...

Howyadoin,

Yep, still rolling, bless her heart... 195K, baby!

I replaced the alternator for the second time back in late 07, replaced the serpentine belt a few months later, and just the other day replaced the left side axle bearing assembly, the right sway bar link, plugs and wires. She's running MUCH better. I still have a rattle in the front end, my new ace mechanic Big D (my previous ace mechanic, Mark R. is out on disability) thinks it's a bad strut. I'll get around to it.

Things to fix for the 200K milestone:

radio antenna (replace with correct one).

replace stock crappy Delco AM/FM/cassette with decent head and speakers.

front end rattle

driver's seat heater

twilight sentinel

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 3 months later...

Raven,

I have really enjoyed reading your journal. Thanks for writing it.

Did you make the 200,000 mile mark?

If you are a TRUE GEEK ... you took a picture of the odometer. :D

I hope my DTS makes it that far without too much trouble.

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YEs, I've been following this for since it started and thanks for all the updates. Mine is still kicking around and I hope it gets to 200,000 before it rusts out. (222,000kms on it now)

Thanks Raven!

Ken

1994 STS Pearl White 260,000 KM (163,000 miles)

<img src="http://img45.photobucket.com/albums/v137/caesar/caddycaesar.jpg" border="0" class="linked-sig-image" />

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Howyadoin,

Thanks for the compliments, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

She's sitting on 198,500 at the moment, I've been traveling overseas quite a bit lately and riding my bikes when I can, so it'll be a bit longer until I hit the big 200. Rest assured, I'll have the camera ready for the big moment! :)

-Rav

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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Howyadoin,

Rest assured, I'll have the camera ready for the big moment! :)

-Rav

When you take the picture... there is another thread called... "Post Your Milestones"

Don't forget to post there also. :D

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  • 1 month later...

Taa-Daaaaaa!!!!

IMG_1106.JPG

Thanks to Bruce and all the members, without their advice and experience it wouldn't have happened!

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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  • 1 year later...

Howyadoin,

Well, I think it's time to put the old lady out to pasture. She's presently at 217K, and reliability has become a concern. I just started a new job on the other side of Boston, so I can't worry about the car blowing a gasket in the middle of the Big Dig.

Corrosion has caused me to blow power steering lines and brake lines, which I had to replace.

The radiator has been replaced.

Still to be done:

She's losing a tiny bit of coolant somewhere, and I'm seeing a tiny little wisp of coolant steam off the top of the engine toward the rear driver side.

The back O2 sensor (still) needs to be done.

The throttle position sensor needs to be replaced, it's causing an intermittent high idle.

The torque converter lockup solenoid will occasionally throw a code going uphill, but it doesn't affect anything.

The fuel filler neck still leaks.

So in my infinite wisdom, I decided to get a more reliable car... an '80 Coupe deVille!! Huh? Yeah! Wait, what?

Apologies for the crappy nighttime cell phone pic, BTW

cdv1.JPG

Hell, for all I know the SLS has another 100K in her, but I put her through enough rush hour hell last summer, and I think she'd be better suited to suburban cruising these days. So if anybody's interested, drop me a line at mbp2112 at that yahoo.com place ,dig? I'll be putting it up on Craigslist this week, but I'll give you all first crack.

-Mark P.

Salem, MA

IPB Image

"Refined Sugar" - '96 SLS, 175K

"...the Caddy is dedicated to relentlessly -- and comfortably -- converting time into distance." -J.J. Gertler

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How much do you want for it?, have you decided?

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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Does it still look as good as in your signature photo?

1989 FWD Fleetwood, Silver

1995 STS Crimson Pearl on Black leather

1997 STS Diamond White

1999 STS Crimson Pearl

2001 STS Silver

2003 STS, Crimson Pearl

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