adallak Posted July 9, 2007 Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 This is what Chevelle said about rotella/delvac re: northstars... I would recommend the Rotella/Delvac/Delo oils for the 93-99 Northstars, personally. The latest ILSAC fuel economy oils are getting very low in ZDP concentration. Fine with the newest engines on the road but not so fine for a 93 Northstar. You can get the Rotella/Delvac/Delo oils in 10W30 for your engine but they are much harder to find. Check a truck stop or large equipment supplier. If all you can find is the 15W40 version of the Rotella/Delvac/Delo that is fine in the 93 Northstar. The oil is not that much thicker to hurt anything unless you live in the far north and need to cold start at -40. This is the whole thread link. Took me forever to find it... http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/north...api-grades.html Thanks for the link. Looks like Chevelle now recommends the oil recommended for 4.* engines for early Northstars as well as they got older... The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted July 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 Well I just got back from my week away to Pennsylvania and Virginia. All I can say is OH MY GOD! My 96 Deville is running better than it ever did, I CAN NOT get over it.. Here are the statistics: 1,050 miles 465 miles today alone in 97 to 101 degree heat in bumper to bumper traffic 3 times for about 20 miles each time Averaged 55 mph today even with the bumper to bumper traffic as the traffic went from bumper to bumper to 70 to 75 I averaged 23 miles per gallon today for the entire 465 miles with those episodes of traffic I used 1/4 quart of oil. I changed the oil before I left and used Mobil Delo 400 15W40 in my flat tappet 96. It is possible that I was loosing oil from the oil level sensor that I replaced also. But my engine really seems to like the 15W40 a lot, it sounds great, has plenty of power, WOTs are quiet (I used to hear a rattle possibly a lifter rattle). Now, raw WOT power with no noise. No codes except 1) P0741 on the way down, that did not appear to cause any trouble, I cleared it and I never saw it again, maybe this was related to my tranny work and fluid change who knows. I tried to make it come back by heavily laboring the engine up long inclines and it never came back. My tranny pan is dry as a bone, it had been leaking like a sieve. My AC actuator stopped working and all I got was warm air out of the AC ducts, I bought the actuator but it was too difficult to install in 100 degree heat with my daughter in the hotel pool. I need to take off the dash top cover as the screws face up and I can't see the screws, especially the rear one. I will start a thread on this job and do it next weekend. Instead of replacing the actuator, I disconnected the actuator rod and jammed the door on full cool... It was freezing in the car yesterday and today. The evacuate and recharge I did in Pennsylvania did the trick.. Changing the strut rod bushings to thermoplastic helped a lot. I took some exit ramps at high speed today and the car's directional stability is incredible. The Belt Parkway/Southern State Parkway is a narrow, windy, high speed parkway and I was very confident and in command on it the entire time today, it stays in its lane, and I have tremendous ability to control the cars direction in turns and it holds a line incredibly. The only potential drawback, is that I THINK that on noisy roads that I might be radiating more road noise now. On smooth roads, its smooth and quiet, on grooved, concrete or textured roads the noise is obvious, i thought I blew the hub bearings I changed last year, And the BEST is my cooling system. Today it was 97 to 101 most of the trip, the road conditions varied from bumper to bumper crawling, to bumper to bumper at 10 to 30 mph, to 68 to 80. With the AC on the entire time, my temps ranged from 215 to 226 for the most part with the predominant temp being 221. I did see 233 once but it was 101 out and I just slowed down from 75 to a bumper to a bumper crawl. Everytime i made a P stop, I lifted the hood to say hi. The engine was not overly hot, there was NO coolant smell at all, and the engine just seemed to by happy and chillin out.. The work that I did to my car, over the last few weeks, not to mention that I replaced the radiator and water pump a couple of months ago, caused my engine to be easily able to handle the heat of summer without a second thought. There were times I looked down and I was doing 80 and it felt like I was stopped. It was not as if I was speeding, at times the flow of traffic was at 80 (65 speed limit). The engine is so smooth and powerful now. I need to change my ignition wires however. I really believe the my tranny mount and dog bones were allowing vibration to flow through the car, I never felt my car so smooth. Maybe my control arm bushings were bad too. This is the problem with doing so much work at one time, I am not sure what fixed what, maybe all of the parts that were defective/bad each contributed in its own way to the problems i was having.. It was a great week, and I grew more confident each day after doing such a big job. I hope this thread has been fun to read if not informative. It was fun for me, BBF/Scotty 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...
ted tcb Posted July 9, 2007 Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 Nice recap, Mike. How about estimating the amount of labour and cost of parts involved? It will make a nice summary to a job well done. BTW, you once mentioned a bit of leeriness with Northstar motors that have exceeded 100k. Do you have more confidence in your powerplant's longevity? It seems to pulling like a runaway train ... not bad for an 11 yr old car! 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted July 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2007 Nice recap, Mike. How about estimating the amount of labour and cost of parts involved? It will make a nice summary to a job well done. BTW, you once mentioned a bit of leeriness with Northstar motors that have exceeded 100k. Do you have more confidence in your powerplant's longevity? It seems to pulling like a runaway train ... not bad for an 11 yr old car! I think I kept all of the receipts, I will put something together, good idea.. You know, I had felt that we were seeing a lot of head gasket problems at about 100,000 miles. I do believe that the cooling system work that I did, has helped in a few ways 1) the engine sees lower average temps and lower peak temps, 2) the oil is cooler, so it thins out less. Because the cooling system is able to dissapate heat so well the engine benefits (less knock, oil is cooler, cooling system pressure is high causing cooling to boil at a higher temperature). I definately try not to WOT when the temp is 100 degrees and the engine 220+. Hey I don't want to spit into the wind, my head gaskets could pop next week. But I will say this, when I did this job, I was stunned how clean my cooling system passages were, that has to help. I am about to work on my wifes 2002 Monte Carlo and I am sure that cooling system is a mess. 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...
sall Posted October 15, 2010 Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 Posted 23 May 2007 - 04:16 PMYou are probably already are aware of this link in the 'How To' section, but in case you aren't: P0717 -- Vehicle Speed Sensor Replacement This entire thread has been very helpful. Is there a current working link for this write-up mentioned on page one? Much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted October 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 Posted 23 May 2007 - 04:16 PMYou are probably already are aware of this link in the 'How To' section, but in case you aren't: P0717 -- Vehicle Speed Sensor Replacement This entire thread has been very helpful. Is there a current working link for this write-up mentioned on page one? Much appreciated! Glad to help, here is the link http://www.caddyinfo.com/pc0717.htm The member gave a terrific written description, he dropped the entire carriage, if done correctly, you can simply TILT the carriage, but be careful to do it correctly 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...
Baaddwrench Posted April 29, 2012 Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 Hello and thank you for all the information I've received about performing this operation! Working at home doesn't provide all the benefits of a hoist which I've been accustomed to using however the 4 stud trick is the best way I've ever seen and used to maintain the alignment of an engine cradle in and out! It came down fast; easy and under full control ensuring that all the hoses and wires which needed to be disconnected don't get ripped out if overlooked SO even if I had to do this again on a lift; I'm breaking out the box of threaded rods! I couldn't procure the metric rod so I bought some 1/2"; ground the ends down a tad on the bench grinder then tapped them to the correct metric size & screwed the ends in and used the 1/2" nuts, spun by fingers up & down since floor jack did the actual up & down labor. I dreaded this job but it wasn't too bad actually, found out many things don't need to be unplugged since its only coming down about a foot. When it was down I supported trans with jacks & 2x4 to make space for pan to clear the subframe Unbolted the pump Then the pump & valve body comes off All to replace this temperamental sensor: I replaced temp sensor & tcc solenoid as well since its apart... Don't need a comeback! Now I've noticed initially it wouldn't start out in 1st gear again so I went into functional test of my snap on brick (scanner)and manually started out in 1st gear which seems to "stick" now; however it did revert once after clearing out engine's trouble codes to 2nd gear starts (has a bad o2 sensor). Now after reprogramming the shifts again it seems to perform as it should. Customer wants to replace the o2 sensor himself he's gonna save $$ even tho I had everything out in the open while doing trans work LOL!! The dealer was most helpful in obtaining the gaskets and pointers from a tech regarding pump seal and bushing which had problems in the 4t80e - mine were fine thankfully since I hadn't quoted an additional $100 in parts! Again thank you all for your pictures and advice throughout this post regarding R & R this beast! :yupi3ti: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Nunnally Posted April 29, 2012 Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 Glad the repair went well, and thanks for posting nicely detailed pics of the repair in progress. Yes, I wish every home garage came with a lift. Bruce 2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Follow me on: Twitter Instagram Youtube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Hey glad this thread was helpful to you, I myself am impressed with your job!, nice photos and congrats on this job, very impressive! 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...
Baaddwrench Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Thank you! Now since its a Cadillac the wonderful climate controls are the next issue particularly the air condidioning. I've sucked it down and refilled it prior to doing the work, even replaced that bleeping hi side pressure tube which was corroded through under the master cyl while engine assy was dropped. Now the compressor won't kick for me to charge on its own, so in functional test in my old brick scanner I manually toggled compressor long enough to get something in it, well at least until the hi side buried guage and I shut down (can't toggle compressor and fan at same time) There's a warning on dashboard regarding ac system inop The car's odometer reads 109k while the scanner picks up the milage being around 40k I thought these things sync'ed?! Never seen anything like this, but mr customer wanted trans and ac working when quoted job - now this... Any ideas - I haven't researched forum for a/c compressor diagnosis issues yet. Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Jim Posted May 20, 2012 Report Share Posted May 20, 2012 Clear the codes from the dash and the AC compressor should turn on long enough for you to put freon in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rckjaws10 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 I just recently completed this repair over the weekend. Along with replacing the crossover seals, and valve cover gaskets which were leaking and many other small items along the way. I started Thursday night for a few hours, Friday night for a few hours and both Saturday and Sunday ALL day and had to drive to work Monday. Job was not "easy" but went rather smoothly, just lots of work. I'd like to thank BodybyFisher and any other members who lent advice and info on this repair, couldn't have done it without everyone's help. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted October 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 HEY!, great job! I am thrilled my original thread along with the other terrific postings continues to be helpful! Its quite a fun job, and its very rewarding. We need to acknowledge Logan for the "bolt method" for dropping and tilting the carriage. By the way, I was at MSC the other day in Melville, NY, they are terrific, you can order the threaded rods from them at www.mscdirect.com They gave me one of their monster catalogs, its about 6 inches thick! Again, good job 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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