jgrice53 Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 i have the chance to buy a 2003 deville and i would like to know if there is a quick way or the best way to check for blown or leaking head gaskets. the car only has 120000 miles on it but the dealer is willing to sell it for $2000, which makes me suspicious. i don't know anything about the dealer and don't know if maybe the car has started over heating but hasn't gotten bad yet and he is trying to dump it on someone without telling them. i am familiar with looking for bubbles in the coolant recovery tank on other engines, but i know know if this will reveal problems on a northstar. any good mechanics out the have any ideas of what or how i should check the engine before buying? thanks a bunch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Jim Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 Go to autozone and rent the test kit for the coolant... Follow the directions closely. You only have to pay for the test fluid...8 or 10 bucks. The kit is on their "Loan A Tool" program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 thanks texas jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 2k for an 03, very suspicious. I suppose 3k into repair wouldnt be so bad to be a total of 5k. but only if the dealer is honest GM FAN FOREVER Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmike Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 jgrice53 you need to make sure the coolant hasn't just been topped off also. If it has, it can read a false negative. Since you have already stated you don't know about the dealer, a good long drive would be in order pre-test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 I just used the NAPA block tester this week and it worked perfect, showed a positive for combustion gases within 15 seconds.... You should also know how to extract the DTC codes from the on board computer, see my signiture here, you do not need a scanner, you will be able to retrieve info on all systems from the dash if you know how to, see my sig Post any codes here and we can determine their severity 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted August 15, 2012 Report Share Posted August 15, 2012 I sold my 2001...with 190,000+ miles....advertised as a car with a head gasket problem....for more than $2000. The tester seems to work very well. It should be noted the rate of the color change is likely directly related to how bad the head gasket is. My test fluid never really turned yellow...but rather it lost the blue tint. It took a good 5 minutes to get the fluid to change. I think mine was in the early stages. Used 2003 engines are a bargain. They are listed in yard-exchange catalogs as a 'one year' engine. Hence there is a glut of them...you can easily buy one for $1000 or less. I came very close to putting a 2003 engine in my 2001...but decided to sell the car instead. There is nothing wrong with test driving a car for several hours before purchase. Be sure to offer to buy the gas...but certainly take all the time you want. Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.logandieselusa.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 i want to thank everyone for all the great advice. i went to autozone and got the tester and the blue dye or chemical or whatever it is. then i went to check out the car. the first thing i noticed before i acutally pulled into the car lot was that there was a noticeable dent on the lower front of the passenger door, not like a two car wreck,,, just looked like it was pushed hard with someones hand... so this guy comes out talking about how great this car runs, he takes the key and cranks it, but there is an obvious miss or skip. he said it runs great, just got a liiiiiittle skip. i got in with in running and i starting scrolling through the info and one of the things that popped up was check coolent level. then i opened the hood and there was a loud vacuum leak around the area of the large hose that connects the air cleaner box to the throttle body, the sound was close to the trottle body and sounded like under there somewhere. as i was looking in that area, i noticed that the housing on the engine that the top radiator hose connects to only had one bolt. i never saw any seepage but i was certain there was supposed to be 2 bolts in that housing. i let the car run for about 15 minutes while i walked around checking it out. while i was looking the guy was constantly yapping about the car and how great it is....through all his ranting, most of which was total bable, he did say that 8 or 10 people had test drove thew car and no one said anythibng about over heating, but he added, he did fill it back up with water. to sum up my experience. evern though i had the test kit, i did not use it. at this point did not buy the car... i definately do not want to buy any car that has to have an engine redone or replaced. i will do some very hard thinking before i jump on that one even though it was hard to walk away from a 2003 deville with 123000 for only $2000. at this point all of your advice helped me make what i think was the correct decision. thanks again. p.s. if anyone has any more advice i would love to hear it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Good for you, glad we could help you make an informed decision. It does not sound like you actually retrieved the codes however, i would have been interested in seeing what codes were set Keep looking and come back for help when you find something. This is a great resource with knowledgable owners, we can help 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 no, i thought about pulling the codes, but because the vacuum leak was so pronounced, the "check coolant" indicator and his comment about filling it up with water, plus the overall appearance of the car...i knew that i wasn't going to buy it right now so i did not check the codes, or do the cooling system test. by overall appearance i am referring to the dent in the pass door, it was a very slight dent, standing next to the car you couldn't see it...you had to back away a few feet and look at an angle to see it... plus it was kinda pimped out with 24" s with 3 of the 4 center caps missing and tires that had sidewalls only about 2" high, a couple of small holes on the front seats, like cigarette burns, and chrome door handles. it was a 2003 and the odometer showed 123,000 but it just didn't look like it had been taken care of very well, not like just see from the typical caddy owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfangd Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Honestly if it was me I wouldnt think about it for another minute. He seems aweful pushy to sell it and multiple things sound suspicious. Very good eye and excellent attention to detail makes the smart decision GM FAN FOREVER Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 It may be the bargain-of-the-week. The large vacuum sound may be a ripped rubber plenum hose. It will run goofy with a leaking plenum hose. Common problem and $25 fix. Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.logandieselusa.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 Those 24" getto wheels would have killed it for me... along with cigarette burns in the seats. I second the ripped plenum boot - most likely, that was causing the vacuum leak and the rough running (if it was not burning coolant). One bolt on the water pump cover??? There are four if I remember correctly. Maybe that is where the coolant leak was coming from. If the headgaskets were good, the ridiculous wheels/tires could be replaced, the interior steam cleaned, headliner replaced (because you can never get rid of the cigarette stench from the headliner) it might have made an OK car but there's probably $1000 worth of work to do just to get the car into respectable condition. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 here is a link to the post for the car on craigslist. http://florencesc.cr...3189712136.html in the add he says no dents, but of course you can't see the pass side in the picture that he posted and there is definately a dent, as i said before, not a bad dent, looks kinda like a dent you would get from someone pushing on the lower portion of the door with their hand. standing next to it you could not see it, i had to run my hand over it to feel for it. in the picture that logan posted, the missing bolt was in the housing to the right of his red circle, the one above the two black brakets. i didn't mean to say they were cigarette burn holes only they were about the size of cigarette burn holes. the vacuum leak was in the area of his red circle but it had the cover installed so i couldn't see that plenum boot, i could only see the outer plenum boot. the guy trying to sell the car didn't know anything, that was evident as soon as he went from telling me how great it ran to saying that it has a skip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 The rubber plenum always fail at the bottom. Well out of sight...apparently from intake juices collecting in the folds and weakening the rubber. Plus it's under the engine cover so it is very difficult to even know it's there. There is no code for a leaking plenum...you will see lean bank codes 171 and 174. If you know about the rubber plenum...it's no big deal. If you don't know about the rubber plenum...it can be a reason to dump a car. They can't figure out what's wrong. The intake has to come off to replace it. Maybe a hour job to fix. No draining of the coolant involved. Wheels are easy to get for the Devilles. Maybe $1000 cash-in-hand you can steal this car. Logan Diagnostic LLC www.airbagcrash.com www.logandieselusa.com www.ledfix.com www.ledfix.com/yukontaillightrepair.html www.ledfix.com/ledreplacements.html www.ledfix.com/j42385toolrental.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 yeah i had thought about trying to steal it. he has it listed for $2500 and i offered him $2000, he said yes, but this was through text messages. i don't think it was the same guy that was at the car lot. but even if i could get it for $1000 i would not want it if it has blown head gaskets. i knew the vacuum leak was not a big deal and they probably had no idea what the problem was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 here is a link to the post for the car on craigslist. http://florencesc.cr...3189712136.html in the add he says no dents, but of course you can't see the pass side in the picture that he posted and there is definately a dent, as i said before, not a bad dent, looks kinda like a dent you would get from someone pushing on the lower portion of the door with their hand. standing next to it you could not see it, i had to run my hand over it to feel for it. in the picture that logan posted, the missing bolt was in the housing to the right of his red circle, the one above the two black brakets. i didn't mean to say they were cigarette burn holes only they were about the size of cigarette burn holes. the vacuum leak was in the area of his red circle but it had the cover installed so i couldn't see that plenum boot, i could only see the outer plenum boot. the guy trying to sell the car didn't know anything, that was evident as soon as he went from telling me how great it ran to saying that it has a skip. The Craigslist posting said it was flagged for removal? Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 hmmm....okay, i will try again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 http://florencesc.craigslist.org/ctd/3189712136.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 let me know if that link works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted August 16, 2012 Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 It still says the post was flagged for removal. Someone must have flagged it for some reason. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 2003 CADI. DEVILLE VERY NICE CLEAN CAR ENGINE RUNS VERY GOOD. TRANSMISSION SHIFTS GREAT. INTERIOR IS NICE. LEATHER IS NICE AND CLEAN COLD A/C MILES ARE 120,000 BODY IS NICE. NO DENTS. 22 INCH WHEELS. GOOD TIRES CLEAR TITLE PRICE $2500.00 CASH ONLY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 let me know if that worked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgrice53 Posted August 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 please feel free to comment on the car ad that i posted....i would like to know what everyone thinks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 Nice looking car, not crazy about the wheels. The description given is optimistic given your observation 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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