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Engine Swap 97 cadillac SLS


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I am interested in buying a 97 or 98 cadillac sls with an overheating problem,it has the v-8 northstar engine,the car and transmission are great condition,interior and paint is great,newish tires,tags are 2 years out now,whats the value of this car with an engine that only drives 10 miles before overheating? If i did buy this car what types of engines are compatible with it? I dont mind looking towards a camaro engine,Is there any way of making this car rear wheel drive? I want to make this cadillac a beast :)

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For RWD and mod-ability check the 96 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, which was similar to the Impala SS of that year. LT1 V8 engine making 260hp, RWD.

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

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If the cause of the overheating is the head gaskets and not a plugged purge line, the car is worth $1500 - $1800. Converting the car to RWD could be done with enough time and money but it isn't worth it. As Bruce said, look for a '94-'96 Fleetwood Brougham. They were only 1/2 second slower than the STS in the 0-60 time and I think the 260 HP was under-rated - I will bet that engine made more HP than what was published.

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

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I wanted to buy a 97 Cadillac SLS with a blown head gasket,bad overheating problem,its out of warranty buy looks great inside and outside,the tags are bad,whats the car worth? AND what kind of engine would i be able to mount in the engine compartment? I want to buy a chevy 350 or something like that,can it be made rear wheel drive? I want the ride of a caddy and the muscle of chevy

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i will have to check the engine condition,it has been sitting for about a year now,even just buying it and fixing the stock motor wouldnt be bad,i like the look of the car

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The standard motor for the 1997 or 1998 Deville is the 275 hp Northstar for the Deville and D'Elegance, while the 300 hp Northstar was used in the Concours. You can check the 8th digit of the VIN to find the engine type, Y for 275 hp and 9 for 300 hp. If it's a Concours you probably will be happy with the performance, and I doubt that you will be disappointed with the performance of the Deville or D'Elegance.

The only mechanical difference between the engines is the intake cams. I think that you could use a 300 hp engine in a VIN Y car and the PCM would compensate (no guarantees, though!), but if you try that be sure and leave the transmission for a VIN Y car in the VIN Y car because they have a different final drive ration and the PCM is programmed to check for transmission slippage and such, and has a DTC for incorrect gear ratio:

P0730 Incorrect Gear Ratio

If it doesn't work out you can change the intake cams.

There was a body change for 1998 with the Deville and Seville. Some mounting or other external changes in the engine were made. I don't know what issues you would have with a 1998-1999 engine but I do know that they have different part numbers at the long block level. The engines for 1995 through 1997 were interchangeable, within the VIN Y and VIN 9 types.

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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I wanted to buy a 97 Cadillac SLS with a blown head gasket,bad overheating problem,its out of warranty buy looks great inside and outside,the tags are bad,whats the car worth? AND what kind of engine would i be able to mount in the engine compartment? I want to buy a chevy 350 or something like that,can it be made rear wheel drive? I want the ride of a caddy and the muscle of chevy

If You change the engine and change to rear wheel drive You will no longer have "the ride of a caddy" or the "muscle of chevy". You will end up sending it to it´s grave!

The job will also take more money (a lot more) and more work (much more) than a regular engine swap or fix!

So DON`T!!!!!

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I missed that part. The FWD Cadillacs from 1993 use a transverse Northstar engine with the 4T80E transmission. There is no transmission hump.

If you want a Cadillac with Chevy muscle, get a Fleetwood with RWD and the LT1 (Chevy!) engine. You can mod or swap the engine and transmission, upgrade the brakes and shocks, and there you are and there you are.

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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I like the input, i knew it would be time consuming and take some money to modify this car like this,but the main question is what is the car worth the way it is? interior exterior is very nice,tags are almost 2 years bad now,it has been sitting in the shop parking lot so what is a reasonable offer? If i purchase this car i will just make it run for now,later when i get into my career choice i may do some modifications :)

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For a 97, at best you are looking at a $1500 repair to a car with a value of $2K in excellent shape without problems. So if you got it for free to $500, repaired it properly, you could sell it for what it costs to repair.

Bruce

2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

Follow me on: Twitter Instagram Youtube

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