The_Raven's 1996 SLS

[The_Raven]

Hey, how much did you pay for a compressor.. is it OEM or aftermarket? Thanks

-Eric

Howyadoin,

Cost me $109.00 plus $25 for shipping. Aftermarket and remanufactured... I'm really cheap...

OEM would have run $325 or so, not including shipping, from the places I looked at.

I probably should have bought the OEM since my labor cost is pretty low, but I'm still looking to install a stereo, which requires me to fix a RFI problem related to the RSS system, and so on... So I've got to spread the budget kinda thin, eh?

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Hola amigos,

I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but I've been playing the Waiting Game....

I ordered the A/C compressor, it took a week for the frickin' PayPal payment to clear. Why the hell does it take so long? What a pain. So now the piece is getting shipped Ground from FL... Won't have it until Tuesday 4/6/04 at the earliest.

Still waiting since 3/29 for the PayPal payment to clear for the service manuals. Again, I'll have to wait for shipping. Arrggghhh.... So I'll probably have that Friday 4/9/04. So that whole week is blown.

I'm going to do some more work this weekend on the radio situation. Going to get the back seat out come hell or high water to get access to the RTD module, also going to look at the ground situation for the antenna. Probably swap the antenna out and see if that makes a difference.

In the meantime, the car's running great, no issues to report. It looks like there's a lot of interest in a Caddyfest! When I first mentioned it, there wasn't a whole lot of responses. Now that the weather is improving, people seem more inclined to get out and cruise. Check out this thread if you're interested.

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

While I'm waiting for my manuals to show up, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and give the car a once-over... I'm a frequent visitor to automatic car washes, but sometimes you just gotta do it by hand. The paint still needs work, but a good hand wash and a coat of Zymol spiffs up the lady pretty nicely.

Here's some snaps...

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Got the A/C compressor replaced tonight... Went quite easily, really, especially considering Mark R.(my ace mechanic) hadn't done this job on a Caddy before. I brought the service manuals I picked up the other day down to the garage and he did the job in about 1 1/4 hours of him wrenching and me reading. The rest of the time, about another 2 1/2 hours , was waiting for the evacuation, re-evacuation, leak testing, recharge etc...

So figure $109.00 for the part (rebuilt), $25.00 for shipping, no tax, and $80.00 for labor to install.. $214.00 total? How the heck do ya beat that? The OEM piece alone would have been $350 including tax! And that's before labor...

At the dealership, the job books at 3 hours, IIRC. So that's what, another 3 bills or so in labor, plus they'd probably tack on some BS refrigerant recycling environmental charge like they do with tires. Gack!

Speaking of big bills, Mark R. was telling me he has a customer with a '99 Deville with like 50K that has a head gasket leak. I started telling him about pulled threads, Timeserts and such, as his initial disinclination to do the job turned to outright agida. It's good money for him, but it would tie him up for too long to be worthwhile. I also mentioned that the leak doesn't appear to be catastrophic, there are plenty of people driving around with maintainable head gasket leaks thanks to regular application of our friend, Mr. Pellet.

So anyways, the lady's cooler than ever now... All the pre-existing mechanical conditions from when I bought the car are laid to rest, with the exception of that blasted AM radio problem. My electronics bud is in Greece for a month, so that'll have to wait 'til he gets back. At least I know from where the problem emanates now (the RTD module, in case you missed that episode of my little saga).

Now to get the body work done...

I'm doing some computer setup work for a friend who used to be a really good body and paint guy. He got tired of that business and got into alarms, which I used to do once upon a time. So I'm setting up a laptop so he can program his alarm systems, and we'll swing a little barter arrangement for some body work.... Did I mention that I'm cheap?

Nothing new on the drive-in meet front, Lake George, NY in June sounds like an awesome idea... I'll post again in that thread and see who wants to set a firm date on that, even if it's just a really low-key thing. Gotta break the inertia and get the ball rolling, eh?

-Rav

P.S. Whaddya youse all think of the new sig pic? Too big 'n flashy? Lemme know!

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Ah, the sin of pride... Just when I thought I was out of the woods and could just rack up some miles in comfort... PHWACK!!

Had a problem the day before getting the car started, it took a lot of cranking to get her going. Chalked it up to bad juju or something, all my other starts that day were fine. This morning, same deal, except maybe worse. I was thinking fuel pressure regulator, common failure item, right?

Guru to the rescue once again! He nailed the problem as one of fuel pump pressure. Sure enough, I was only getting 36 PSI at key on, engine warmed up but off, and the pressure dropped like 8 PSI after sitting for a couple of minutes. Leaky check valve in the pump maybe(?), especially considering the car sat for 10 months before I bought it. So we replaced the fuel pump and filter. The pump was $240 at Autozone, and I hooked up Mark R., my ace mechanic, to the tune of $120, and he by-God earned it. What a PITA job. He had to pull exhaust shielding and play teeter-totter with the lift to drop the tank, then spent about 20 minutes trying to get the cover that secures the pump in the tank threaded properly. Most mechanics would have probably just spun it on and called it macaroni, but Mark wanted it to seat flat against the surface of the tank, and that ain't easy, lemme tell ya. On top of that, I couldn't get to the garage until 7PM because of work and fetching the part, and we were there until 11. Short notice, long hours, what a guy...

Oh, and anyone out there that has '96 E/K service manuals, take a look for section 6C. You know, the section that has information on replacing the fuel pump? 'Taint in my book, dammit! There's no indication that the previous owner ripped the pages out or anything... it's just. Not. There.

The sad part is I was looking through Alldata online, and had the whole testing and installation procedure right on my computer screen at work earlier today. Did I have the brains to print it? Hell no! Me=Doofus!

Anyhoo, we'll see how she starts up in the AM, but I think we've got this one settled... oh, crap... Did I just jinx myself AGAIN?!?!? Told ya, Me=Doofus...

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

As you can probably infer from the recent lack of bitching and complaining in this journal, the fuel pump installation was a success.

Got to take my wife to one of her favorite spots over the weekend, Mohegan Sun Casino in CT. Had a very enjoyable ride, car ran flawlessly. This is more than I can say for the driver, got back on the Mass. Pike in the wrong direction...

I had her up to 90ish in some stretches, and you'd never have known it if you weren't looking at the speedo. It was a 300 mi. round trip, and even with a lot of walking around the casino, I was almost more refreshed when we got home than when we left CT. Man, it's like a time machine, or a horizontal elevator.

I mentioned to my wife Eileen the possibility of selling her Isuzu Rodeo, giving her the SLS, and getting another '93-97 STS. It'd be nice to have another Caddy in the family, as it were... She expressed some interest, she loves the comfort and smoothness and power. Of course, she does think I'm a geek for writing this journal, but that's a story for another time...

I'd feel better knowing she's in a safer vehicle. The Rodeo is OK mostly due to its size, but it's from the old "gussied-up truck" school of SUV design. Because it wasn't classified as as passenger vehicle, the manufacturer didn't have to comply with a lot of things. So there's no air bags, big-*smurf* windows that could allow ejection and of course the ever-present rollover thing. I don't like driving it on the highway, it's too tippy for my liking, but it's fine around town.

The other factor is the Rodeo's 4-wheel drive, it's a godsend sometimes. We live on a hill in a densely populated neighborhood with no place to put snow, so snow removal around here is terrible. We had a storm in Dec. 2003 that dropped three feet of snow, and it was a horror show trying to get anywhere. I left the Caddy (the previous '93) parked for a week waiting for the situation to improve.

So, the decision-making process is underway. I'll probably stick with the Rodeo for now, it's running fine and paid for, or get a Forester or something like that. There's a new hy-po version of the Forester that is pretty quick, steals some hardware from the WRX if memory serves. But we'll see...

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Oh, yeah... just so there's no confusion, I'd be getting the Forester for Eileen...

If I'm not driving a Cadillac, I'd really only consider something like an older S500 or a 928S4. I'd maybe look at an early 90's 750iL or XJS just for the 12-cylinder factor. But I'd rather not climb the learning curve or financial outlay of having to maintain an older foreign megabuck car. My mechanic is reasonably happy to work on my car, it's a GM at heart, so there's some familiarity there that he likes. If I pulled into the garage in a Jag or Porsche he'd probably beat my head into a bloody pulp with a ratchet

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Wanted to get the front end aligned... There's always been a slight pull to the left, although tire wear doesn't show any issue. I've also recently noticed a mild clunk from the right side when taking bumps. Brought it to a local independent shop that was recommended by Mark R., my ace mechanic, and they told me I had a left inner tie rod end that was too worn to allow proper alignment. Of course, this still didn't take the clunk on the right into consideration. D'oh!

They quoted me $170 to replace the tie rod part and $70 to do the alignment. I figured Mark R. would rather not mess with front end stuff, seeing as how he referred me to this place for the alignment. 'Course, he doesn't have equipment to do alignments, and he didn't know there were issues that needed to be addressed anyway... So I figured I'd give him the right of first refusal on the job, and to my surprise he accepted. Must be the bill for that new Rottie puppy he's picking up!

So I picked up the part ($30 bucks for a Moog part, coulda got the cheapo for $14, but when it comes to front end components, even I know enough not to skimp) and brought it down da garage. Mark diagnosed the clunk as a stabilizer link in need of replacement, so I had two brought over from the parts store. They were $120 list each, which Mark will get down to jobber rate for me, say half that.

While he was doing the front end work, I figured it would be a good time to do bead sealing and grind off the corrosion on the inside of the wheels. Chrome rims are bad for this. It's been causing pressure loss in the tires. I had Mark do one a while back and it fixed the problem, so he took care of the others. Gave me a chance to balance out the tire pressures and add those valve caps with the pressure indicator on them. They look kinda dopey, but I'll leave 'em on for a while so I can make sure the pressures are good without having to meter all the time. They trip yellow at 32, and red at 28, and I filled the tires to 34 cold all around, so I'll know within a week if I still have a problem.

Whole shebang took about 3 hours. So it ran me $80 for labor, and the parts were about $150. I can dig that .

If I had the tire place do the work they would have got me for $170 (3 hrs at $40 per and parts $50) for the tie rod end, $250 for the stabilizer links (parts alone, God-knows-what for labor, Alldata quotes 1 hour to replace stabilizer links on both sides ) and $70 to do the alignment. Alldata quotes less than an hour to do the tie rod end, these folks quoted 3 hours. They're a reputable place, and I don't begrudge anyone an honest profit, but this was a potential $700 (all work plus alignment) bill I really couldn't stomach right now.

One minor flaw in the plan, though. I've gone from kinda needing an alignment to really needing an alignment! Replacing the tie rod end seems to change the geometry a bit, eh? So now because of time pressure and distance between the office and the tire shop, I'm gonna have to turn the gorillas at NTB or Sears up the road from my office loose on that, rather than having a good shop do it. And I can sense that the Sears/NTB guys (both companies are owned by Sears BTW) are gonna do their usual job, ya know, great until you hit the first pothole, then it's magically returned to its previous misalignment. So I'm probably going to have the tire shop do it properly this weekend anyways, because I'm a freak... Paying twice for this at least partially negates my savings and ties me up for Saturday. Mmmmm.... karma

So I've progressed from the sin of pride (the fuel pump surprise of two weeks ago) to the sin of avarice, I guess? I filled up at $1.99 a gallon today, so I suppose I'm getting the sin of gluttony covered too, eh? Hell, maybe I'll collect the whole set!

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Quoth The_Raven:

And I can sense that the Sears/NTB guys... are gonna do their usual job...

BINGO!!!

Farkin' maroons... Had to get the alignment done this morning, so I called an NTB near where I work, and they scheduled me for lunchtime. So far so good, right?

They did the alignment, I drove off, all was good except the car was still pulling a bit to the left, which is what got me started on this horror-show in the first place. So I went back, and they suggested swapping the front tires side to side. I agreed, and they did this. I drove back to work, happy with the ride, figured I was all set... Alas, I had not foreseen the brain surgeons wouldn't tighten my frickin' valve caps!!!

Quoth The_Raven, furthermore...

those valve caps with the pressure indicator on them. They look kinda dopey, but I'll leave 'em on for a while so I can make sure the pressures are good without having to meter all the time. They trip yellow at 32, and red at 28, and I filled the tires to 34 cold all around, so I'll know within a week if I still have a problem.

These valve cap pressure monitors are great, but they have one fatal flaw. The cap has a pin that opens the valve in the stem so the mechanism can sense the tire pressure. If you're a numpty and don't properly tighten the cap, guess what happens?

So... I left work this evening to find two, count 'em, two flat tires, front and rear right! At this point I had no idea about the caps being loose. I called NTB looking for the manager, it being 6PM he was gone. The woman I spoke with offered to call a tow truck. "On whose dime?", I asked. I already have AAA coverage, I sure as hell wasn't going to try to get reimbursed after-the-fact from NTB for a tow from Methuen, MA to Salem, NH! She hemmed and hawed and finally I tired of her BS and told her I'd look more closely at the situation and call back. I found the problem with the valve caps, so I called back and told her to let her techs know to look for this in the future. Yeah, right, I know...

A couple years ago I had a flat tire in the '93, and dam near got stranded in CT because of the weak-*smurf* tools Cadillac supplies. The next day, I bought a floor jack, a real 4-way lug wrench and a 12-volt compressor and threw 'em all in the trunk. Thank God for that compressor, I'd have been screwed but good with two flat tires. Filled 'em up, put the caps on correctly, and I was on my way.

Just another tricky day...

-Rav

[JasonA]

...I can sense that the Sears/NTB guys (both companies are owned by Sears BTW)...

Actually, they used to be, but aren't anymore. I bought my current set of Michelins at an NTB one time, and had to have a flat repair fixed (under hazard protection) where I currently live, which has no NTB stores. I took it to Sears and they told me they aren't the same company anymore, and that I was out of luck.

I said when I bought these tires, they were the same company, and that Sears better take this tire in and fix it, because that was part of the deal in the beginning, that I could have these things serviced at ANY NTB or Sears across the country. They checked the date on my receipt, and sure enough, it was before the "magic date" when the companies separated and they took the car back.

Duh.

Did the Sears guys up in Mass tell you they were still the same? Maybe they are still affiliated in some parts of the country still?

[Bentham]

and NTB stands for.. ?

found it - National Tire and Battery. Don't think we have any of those stores around Buffalo.

-Eric

[The_Raven]

...I can sense that the Sears/NTB guys (both companies are owned by Sears BTW)...

Actually, they used to be, but aren't anymore.

Yep, you're right. I stand corrected!

September 22, 2003 - Sears To Sell National Tire & Battery to TBC Corporation in Cash Transaction Valued at $260 Million

I guess I missed that one... I still consider them kindred spirits though. I thought I saw a Sears "house brand" tire like a RoadHandler or WeatherHandler on display when I was in NTB, so I assumed they were still a Sears subsidiary. Nobody there mentioned it, although I don't imagine they'd make a point of emphasizing their relationship with Sears Auto anyway. Sears Auto dug themselves a big hole, getting bagged for defrauding customers. I always thought of NTB as their stealth operation. You know, for the person who's just savvy enough to avoid Sears but ends up going to NTB instead...Gotcha!

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Man, it's been a tough two weeks... First off, ever since the boys at NTB worked on my car, she had been riding terribly. Bump steer, steering effort was harder, and it STILL pulled to the left! So I brought it back and they swapped the rear tires, still thinking it was radial pull. No such luck. Finally I got a chance to get it checked out at the place I should have gone to in the first place... Lyons Tire in Peabody, MA. They put it up on their slightly less high-tech alignment rig and found the right wheel toe-in was way out, enough to maybe explain the pull. So they re-aligned the car, and it's riding like a champ!

... of course, it still pulls to the left....but not as much!

So after I get the alignment squared away (no pun intended), I'm driving to work about a week ago and start seeing oil smoke from the exhaust when I accelerated after sitting for a minute. It started getting worse by the day. I was so bummed out at the thought of having to sell the car, cause there's no way I'm spending $3000 on an engine or $2000 to have it gone through. I brought it to Mark R. (my ace mechanic) and he offered two suggestions; Try an additive or start shopping. I was not a happy guy. I drove away from the garage in a foul mood.

So I did some research in the archives (Bruce, you da man!) and was reminded of sticking oil rings. I had thought of them more in terms of increasing oil consumption than causing smoke shows like I was seeing. At this point I figured I had nothing to lose by doing the Guru-inizer on the engine. So I got her up on I-95, dropped into second and rolled on. I didn't want to just stab the pedal for fear of tranny damage, so I went from half-throttle to floored over the course of 2 seconds or so. Got her up to about 75, let the engine braking get me down to 50 or so. and repeat...repeat...repeat... a total of 10 rounds. So when I got to the offramp and stopped to turn onto the cross street, I waited, almost holding my breath, to see if I'd get the plume when I left the stop sign. No smoke....

[channel spirit of Homer Simpson]

WOOHOO!

[/channel spirit of Homer Simpson]

So I've been spending the last 3 days watching the rear-view mirror at every stoplight, stop sign, driveway, whatever... So far, so good. Once again, this board has kept me rolling.

[channel spirit of Tiny Tim]

God bless us all, everyone!

[/channel spirit of Tiny Tim...no not the ukulele dude, you know, from Dickens...don't you read, man?]

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Dammit all to hell... The smoke's back. Re-BBobyinized it, no luck.

Did an oil change with Valvoline Maxlife 10W30, dropped in a can of engine restore, so far so good... Might be taking an Indy run at the end of the month for the race, so if it's still NG I'll have to sell it before then. Hate to let it go, but I'm not interested in digging into the engine to mess with the rings... if indeed that is what the problem, um... is...

I've put a lot of effort into the '96 and a buncha new parts as you know from reading this screed. Fuel pump, A/C compressor, HVAC blower fan, fresh Dexcool and pellets, new front rotors and pads all around, wheels have been repaired to eliminate leaks, new stabilizer links and left inner tire rod end... you know the history of the car, it's all here in black and white. The car runs so beautifully, but I can't drive her if the ring problem persists.

I'd just as soon sell it to someone who would treat her right and has the facilities to fix the rings than drive her til she dies in a cloud of smoke. I can't leave her in the shop for 2 weeks and pay probably 2/3s of what I paid for the car to get the rings done. That's gotta be a fun gig though!

I'm taking it to a body shop Monday to get the paint fixed up so it will be easier to sell if it comes to that, if not I've got the paint fixed anyways. I'd love to repaint it, but the $3000 to do it right is a little steep. If I was going to drop that kinda cash I'd do the motor.

I got a lead on a white diamond '98 SLS in NH that's reportedly in great shape for short money. Two years newer, less mileage, new body style. If I decide to sell the '96 this might be my next move. If not, I'll let everybody know the info so if anyone's interested they can look into it themselves. Might be nice to experience the last generation of the Seville (I'm having a hard time seeing any Seville family resemblance in the '05 STS). Speaking of which, is it safe to assume there's not going to be a SLS model anymore? Is Caddy handing that market over to Buick? I keep hearing that Buick will be GM's response to Lexus. OK... If I were them I'd be more concerned with Infiniti. I get a feeling they're going to be gaining market share with the G35 and FX45 and that will translate into more people looking at Q and M45s.

One thing's for sure, if the '98 falls through, I'm not getting a Catera. I feel bad for the owners that are getting screwed on those. I read the Catera board on cadillacforums and there's some upset people on there. An Allante' might be nice, but I don't want an older car unless it's an STS.

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Got rid of that annoying brake click/grind crap... New rotors and pads in the rear quieted her down. Glad that's done, that was sooo ghetto, pulling up to a light with a freakin' backbeat rhythm of clicks.

On the oil front, replaced the PCV valve, the AC Delco that was on there appeared to be the wrong part perhaps. The new valve (Allied Signal, that's the parent company of Fram, right?) has a slightly smaller output aperture. We'll see how that goes. Gave her a shot of Marvel Mystery Oil in the gas along with injector cleaner and drygas. My fuel pump is new, I hope the windings will handle the solvents OK.

In other news... INDY IS GO! My buddy and I are taking our second pilgrimage to the 500, and we're thinking about stopping in Dayton, OH for a trip to the Wright-Patterson AFB to see the Air Force Museum. Talk about a technology-soaked weekend... Taking the SLS, which is about as high-tech as it gets, visiting the world's greatest collection of aircraft (let's put it this way, they have an SR-71, an XB-70, a B-58, the X-1... ) and topping it all off with the Indy 500! Oh, and did I mention the bitchin' road trip?

I'm so stoked it's not funny!

-Rav

[JasonA]

The museum at Wright-Patterson is excellent. I've been once before. I didn't know they had a Blackbird there. For you folks who live near DC, be sure to check out the new Smithsonian Air & Space museum out at Dulles Airport. They have a Concorde, an SR-71, and the space shuttle Enterprise. Good stuff there, too...although the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson is one of the best I've been to. Good luck on the road trip!

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Is there a more classically American endeavor than the road trip? Grab a friend, pack the car with enough junk food to make a preschooler hallucinate, aim in a general direction and let 'er rip! The only thing better than a road trip is the pilgrimage, which is like a road trip with a bit of structure... you know, like a destination and stuff...

In our case, the destination was Indianapolis, Indiana, making our return to the Indy 500. A couple friends and I made the trip in 2001 in my '93 STS, and I wanted to do the trip in my '96 SLS. A couple of phone calls and a bit of eBaying later, and my buddy Todd and I were ready to go. We took a different route than in '01, opting for the NY State Thruway as the primary westbound road instead of going across the PA Turnpike. Much easier trip, I highly recommend it.

The trip out Friday was an absolute pleasure. 970 miles, and I drove the whole way. 15 hours later, we were in Indianapolis, and we weren't even tired. Like it says in my signature, "..relentlessly, and comfortably, converting time into distance". We even had enough energy to get dinner and check out some of the downtown clubs. What a superb vehicle for this sort of thing. We averaged 27.1 MPG and 65 MPH for this first leg of the trip.

Only problem up to this point was the fact that I was having issues with heart palpitations and asthma... A nasty combination, lemme tell ya. This had started earlier in the week when I was in Richmond, VA for business. It was more of a nuisance than anything at this point, and I figured it would run its course. I've had mild asthma since a 1999 trip to Japan (have you ascertained that I don't travel well?) and the heart palpitations were just an occasional skipped beat, a problem I'd associated with caffeine intake, so I was making a point of avoiding caffeine, along with nicotine and alcohol. Right, like that was gonna work, eh?

Saturday we took a bit of a backtrack, to the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. If you're at all interested in aviation or military history, this is a must-see. Enormous hangars, beautifully arranged and displayed aircraft, an array of military aircraft from all eras of aviation that you cannot believe. Seeing a B1-B next to an SR-71 next to a B2, and so on and so on. The IMAX movie was phenomenal, everything was first-rate.

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of having some diet cola and a cigarette in the afternoon, and didn't feel any immediate effect. So I figured I was all clear to smoke again that night. Wrong... As we discovered about the time Todd was driving me to the hospital while I thought my heart was just going to seize like a bad water pump. We arrived at the hospital about 12:30 AM, and didn't get out until 5:30 AM. After waiting for bloodwork and general observation, I decided that I was feeling better, I knew the cause of the problem, and we were going to go to the race no matter what. So we went back to the hotel long enough to change clothes, no time for showering or sleep, and headed for the track.

We arrived at the track and found the crew frantically trying to dry the track. Eventually the race did start, but it was late. There was also a rain delay red flag for nearly 2 hours, at which time the track announced that there was "severe weather" in the area. A lot of people left the track at that point, but being the die-hards we are, we were in it for the duration. All we saw was a brief shower, which dried up. Racing resumed, and all was well. By the time it was getting down to the last 25 laps, we were wondering if the race might get called on account of darkness, but the rain soon returned and ended that discussion. Congrats to Buddy Japanese and Rahal/Letterman, BTW!

As we left the track to begin the long walk back to the car, it was raining. Just as we arrived at the car, it started pouring rain. The clouds were as black and ominous as any I've ever seen. Remembering that the previous night had brought 25 tornadoes to Nebraska, the prospect of heavy storms was on my mind.

As we headed back to the hotel through soaking rain and terrible traffic, we missed our turn to get onto the highway, which necessitated a little help from the *smurf*, our trusty Pharos GPS receiver. I turned on the radio to see what was going on with the traffic. A few moments later we heard a confirmed report of a tornado touchdown at the intersection of Harding and Thompson. My friend and I shared a slack-jawed gaze of horror and disbelief (and a few exclamations that wouldn't make it past the profanity filter) as we realized that that our hotel was at that very intersection!

We were about 6 miles from the offramp to Harding at that point, and as we continued on our way to the hotel through stop-and-go traffic we were hearing reports of tornado activity all over the Indianapolis area. We finally made it to the offramp that led to our hotel, but the police had closed it off because of power lines down across the road. So we continued onward to the next exit and found a Denny's to hunker down and plan our next move. Do I need to mention that my heart was pretty much doing a frickin' tango at this point?

The people at Denny's could not have been more friendly, helpful and accommodating. They basically offered to put us up for the night, in the restaurant! There were, however, several hotels across the road, so upon realizing that there was no way we were getting back to our hotel that night, we headed over to the Days Inn for our first sleep in nearly 48 hours. Meanwhile, the storm was raging over Indianapolis and all across Indiana. I heard a report that something like 80 tornadoes were spotted that night. I've seen some hurricanes in Boston, but this was pretty impressive stuff. The lightning was nearly non-stop, and thunder made a constant rumble with frequent crescendos. Didn't stop me from sleeping like a log though. Todd's snoring, on the other hand... <_>

So the next morning, we called our original hotel and confirmed that our room was intact. The hotel had taken some light damage, but the trucking facilities on the north and east corners of the intersection were opened up like sardine cans. We were so incredibly lucky. If the race had gone off on time, we would have been in the hotel at the time the tornado hit. If we hadn't gotten off-route on the way back from the race, we'd have been on the highway at the intersection when the tornado came through.

Thankfully, all our gear was intact, so after a badly-needed pair of showers we began the long journey home. One slight problem... the storms had moved off to the east, which was our route home. Nothing like 500 bloody miles of rain to make the drive more fun. We shared the driving back, and made remarkable time considering the conditions. We left Indianapolis at about 10:00 AM and I arrived back home in Salem at about 3:00 AM the next morning. Had a bit of a mishap when we missed a fuel stop and made it to the next one just as the range indicator went to "LOW", but that aside, we parted the seas of rain and motored on. Again, the car was beautiful, except for a recurring PC1406 code from the EGR valve that I'll get looked at this week along with my own valve, or ventricle, or whatever it is.

So all in all, approximately 2,430 miles of driving, final average MPG was 25.6, burned about 90 gallons of fuel and went through 3 quarts of oil. As weird as things got, this was a great trip, and we're looking forward to doing it again.

That's all for now....

-Rav

[yoeman]

Howyadoin,

Just picked up my '96 SLS yesterday for $3800, replacing my '93 STS which got totaled at 151K miles.

The specs:

Black/Black Leather

123K miles, original LD8 engine

Interior good:

Problem with ashtray stuck in the wrong way, can't get it out.

Standard cassette stereo, no CD option.

Missing right side of rear passenger HVAC outlet.

Needs a good detailing and leather treatment.

Exterior good:

Scratches on hood, perhaps from an animal.

Small rust spot lower leading edge driver side rear door.

Chrome good, paint needs buffing.

Mechanical good:

Engine very smooth at idle, much smoother than '93 L37

Transmission shifts well, noticed slight brown tinge to ATF, not too bad though.

A/C compressor needs replacement.

Replaced brake pads all around and both front rotors.

Michelin Symmetry 225/60SR16 tires, plenty of tread life.

Suspension seems fine, much more pillowy ride than '93

Road test:

The subtle cosmetic differences between the SLS and STS don't tell the whole story. After driving the blindingly quick, raucous and responsive STS, the SLS seems much more in the smooth, refined, "classic Caddy" mold.

Power steering is heavily boosted at low speeds and doesn't really firm up until 50MPH. The ride is cloud-like, which is nice, but understeer and body roll seem much more pronounced. The Michelin Symmetry OEM-style tires probably have an impact on the understeer, compared to the Dunlop Sport 5000's I was used to on the STS. Don't try to stuff this car into an apex unless you've got room on the exit.

Acceleration is still excellent, but doesn't give the "eyes pulled back in the sockets" feeling that the STS gave at launch.

Interestingly, the stand-up hood ornament makes the hood appear much longer, since you actually see the end of the hood as opposed to the curve dropping out of sight. This makes the SLS seem more like a "land-yacht".

Mileage so far has been 22.5 mpg.

More reports to follow...

Nice car.

Any ideas on my 97 STS rss fault 1736 and how or where I could look to fix it .The comp will not work in the car,fuse is ok and all wires seem fine

Just thought I would pick your brain

[cadillac_caddy_sts]

How did your 93 STS get totaled? Accident or did it quite on ya?

[The_Raven]

How did your 93 STS get totaled?  Accident or did it quite on ya?

Howyadoin,

Funny you should ask. I was just thinking about it the other day, where it's coming up on the anniversary...

It was almost a year ago, and the weather was a lot like it was tonight... Snowy, slushy, icy in patches. I was driving home on a sort of back road between Peabody and Salem, MA. I hit a patch of ice on a sweeping off-camber corner and took out a good hunka chainlink fence and one of the poles that the fence was on. The impact was around 30 MPH or so. Airbags didn't deploy, probably because the fence slowed my deceleration. The car got me home (she never failed me), but the front end was douched to the tune of about $2500. The insurance company didn't want to dump that kind of money on a 10 year old car with 150K on the clock, so they totaled it.

I was lucky to get an absolute steal on my '96. The total cost to buy the '96 and put it on the road was covered by the insurance payout from the '93. I've put a few bucks into the '96, but I was looking at putting around $1500 into things like a new tail light and struts on the '93 not long before the accident, so it's a wash anyway... As you can tell if you go through my ramblings in this thread, I miss the muscle of the '93 and would like to get another for the right price, but the '96 has treated me very well.

[yenko]

So how do you compare the 93 STS to the 96 SLS. $3800 that was a steal!

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Like I said in the opening of this thread, although they're basically the same car in a lot of ways, there's a big difference between the two.

The '93 STS was a frickin' animal... It pulled off the line like a pit bull chasing a sausage, and had a seriously scary exhaust note. It sounded like a Cup car at idle, probably because the baffles in the exhaust were wiped out. I sure wasn't complaining. Got a lot of attention at the stoplight, and I got a lot of races off those lights. Glad to say I won more than my share. When you punched the throttle, it sounded like God was coming, and He was not a happy camper! Cornering was really good for a 4D FWD car, the Dunlop SP5000s had a lot to do with that. Having said all that, I needed front struts, I had lost most of the LEDs in the CHMSL, the tires were due for replacement, etc etc etc... I was looking at a lotta cash to get her back in fighting trim. So when the accident happened, and I looked at the settlement and the '96 SLS I had lucked into on cars.com, I wasn't complaining. The guy who was selling the '96 had started at $6800 10 months prior, and had kept reducing the price until I stumbled upon it at $3800. I made a feeble attempt at knocking that number down, but he was having none of it. Hey, can't blame a guy for trying, right?

The '96 is a very different machine. Very much more quiet and refined. She still pulls off the line, but doesn't pull the eyes back into the skull like the '93 did. The Michelin Symmetrys that are on the car are quiet and give a good ride, but can't corner for squat. The softer suspension might be a factor too. The exhaust is more Caddy-esque, which generally means no challenges at the stoplights

When I bought the '96, it had sat for about 10 months, so I knew I had stuff to do. I put a new fuel pump, new A/C compressor, some front end parts, blower motor and controller, and brakes into it over the course of several months. Given what I paid for it, I sure wasn't complaining, especially since my mechanic was doing the work on the side for a fraction of what I'd pay the stealership. At this point, it's trouble-free transportation, Cadillac style! I've taken her to Indy and back, all over the Green Mountains of Vermont, up into Maine... All weather, all seasons, no problem. I'm very satisfied with the car, and (other than the "headlight aim in a blizzard" problem), she's never let me down.

Having said all that, if I had a good offer on a '93 STS in good shape, I'd probably take it. I like the OBD-I factor, I prefer the interior (other than the HVAC controls) on the 92-95 STS, and I really miss the exhaust note of the '93.

The '96 SLS doesn't have CV-RSS or PAS, so later year improvements are not applied here as compared to an earlier model STS. It doesn't have perforated leather, which is a factor in the summer. The AM radio is non-functional, since the RSS data lines are run parallel to the radio antenna line, which causes the AM to blow static when the car is moving.

So that's the answer to your question... I love my '96 for what it is; a very classy Cadillac sedan that doesn't require tugboats to maneuver, and acts like a time machine; you get in, cruise for a while, and reach your destination - unstressed and in perfect comfort and safety. That's why I call her "Refined Sugar".

But I miss the "Bad Caddy" that terrorized the roads of Boston's North Shore until she met her untimely demise...

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

The first full winter with the '96 has proven to be a *smurf*... Salem got 38 frickin inches of snow last week, which forced me to park my car in a snow emergency lot down by the harbor for a couple days. I was stoked when I saw that the gale force winds off the water kept the car free of snow, and I was able to drive away without any problems.

While I was on the way to work I was crawling through traffic and saw the oil pressure light start to flicker. I freaked out at that point and drove home, accompanied by the occasional STOP ENGINE LOW OIL PRESSURE warning. I later moved the car to another emergency lot closer to my house, without getting another oil pressure warning. I brought the car to my alternative mechanic Dave, whose shop is in Malden. We soon found that the lower radiator hose was full of ice, and the reason for the oil pressure warning was the fact that the oil was thinned out because of the heat in the engine. Needless to say, the coolant temp in the DIC never indicated an abnormal temperature.

So as usual, anytime I get excited about something positive (not having to dig my car out of a mountain of snow) I get the whammy (the snow would have likely kept the engine from freezing).

Arrgggh.... I'm gonna find out the verdict later today as to how bad the damage was.

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Well, after thawing the engine out and replacing the Dexcool and oil, the problem turned out to be a cracked, leaking oil pressure sending unit. I think Cadillac really cheaped out not providing an analog OP output, and instead relying on a go/no-go switch.

Everything's back to some semblance of normality, I kinda have a place to park again on my street, it got above freezing Sunday for the first time in weeks. I love Boston, and I miss it terribly when I'm away, but tell ya what, if it wasn't for family obligations, we'd be wintering down to Carolina or San An in a heartbeat...

-Rav

[The_Raven]

Howyadoin,

Geez, it's been a while, eh? My last post to this thread was back in February... In the meantime, there's been a few developments.

Had to replace the alternator back in June, not too hard or expensive. Around the same time, the twilight sentinel seems to have become marginally operative; it turns on the lights only when it's really dark, and light from streetlights is enough to trip it off. I'll have to pick up another sensor from the stealership.

My radio woes continue; I bought an aftermarket antenna after my first replacement (replaced in an effort to eliminate RF interference on AM reception) died... The mechanic didn't have the wiring information, so it's not connected at present; I'm going to locate another OEM antenna and have it installed, but I'm not in a big rush, I prefer listening to my engine over the crapola that's on the radio.

Still getting the occasional puff of smoke with an accompanying rattling sound (EGR valve?) when leaving a stoplight, can't determine the specific circumstances that cause it other than the following:

The engine is at operating temperature and

the car has been run under 2000 RPM for a while (4th gear cruising), and

sitting at idle for more than 30 seconds after stopping

When I begin acceleration, there's a rattling sound, then a plume of smoke. This doesn't always happen, which is the frustrating part. I can't find a way to replicate the problem. I've noticed that using Quaker State High-Mileage oil seems to reduce the incidence of the problem, as opposed to Valvoline MaxLife. Ultimately, it's not a really big deal; I've never had a problem passing emissions test, even the particularly stringent Massachusetts version with the chassis dyno and all the other junk, but it's an annoyance.

Mileage is now approx. 157K, including a wonderful trip to Niagara Falls by way of Vermont, a ferry trip across Lake Champlain, a backwoods trip through the Adirondacks and some blasting down the NY Thruway and over the border, then a straight I-90 shot home. Covered 1130 miles over the 4 days, averaged 27 MPG. Despite dire predictions after it was installed in 2004, the aftermarket "Four Seasons" A/C compressor is still going strong, thankfully. The weather throughout the trip was hot and humid, but we were cool and comfortable... and haulin' *smurf*!

Wow, looking back I see I've racked up 35,000 miles in 18 months! Add that to the 70,000 miles I accumulated on the '93 (from October 2000 - February 2004) and I've got over 100K in the driver's seat of a Caddy in less than 5 years... Ya gotta love it! Remarkable given that I live in the New England end of the Megalopolis, where things aren't separated by distance, but by time, seeing as how traffic congestion is an ever-present factor in travel planning..

That's all for now, hope you are all enjoying your rides as much as I enjoy mine!

-Rav