CRC2362 Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Hi Everyone, I'm hoping I can get some information about head gaskets... I have a 99 Deville with 59,650 miles. I have maintained and serviced her very well, oil every 3,000, transmission fluid change-never been hooked up to one of those machines, throttle body service, cooling system flush oh and never anything but 93 octane fuel. My question is what can I do to help and hopefully prevent head gasket problems. Is it something that is inevitable with the Northstars or is it from driver neglect? Does anyone know what the percentages are, is this a common thing to happen or just a small percentage? Thanks for any feedback in advance. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCat83 Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 Just change the Dexcool in your cooling system every three years or sooner. I once read that 20%-30% of early Northstars had the problem. Changed the Dexcool in my son's '03 STS last night; 70,000 miles and 4 years and it was beginning to smell... Factory says it's supposed to be good for 5 years and 100,000 miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 I had the problem after letting my coolant go for seven years, thinking 150,000 miles but not remembering the 5-year limit. I had a head bolt pulled out. I looked into the problem at that time, and found that most of them happened to people who let their coolant go for 5 years or longer, and that the traces of coolant that always are present in the head gasket settled in the head bolt wells; corrosive coolant there will support galvanic corrosion and eventually cause the head bolts to pull out, one by one. Most head gasket problems occur in cars that are 6 or 7 years old and never had their coolant changed. The five years will happen first, and most people, like me, don't drive 30,000 miles a year and don't remember the 5 year limit. I've never heard of a dealer warning someone to change their coolant at 5 years. When I saw that I had a head bolt pulled out and my mechanic that was switching engines (Jasper remanufactured, see my blog and supporter forum) told me that the 5-year-limit issue was probably the problem, I immediatly brought in my wife's 1999 Pontial Grand Am GT with its 3.4 l V6 HO that had been using coolant for a couple of years. Yes, overage coolant had corroded the intake manifold gasket, and yes, it would eventually have put water in the oil pan through the lifter valley and brought down the engine. All modern engines have major aluminum components, and keeping the coolant fresh is necessary to prevent expensive repairs in all of them. -- 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenJ Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 I once read that 20%-30% of early Northstars had the problem. Nah, never happened. You probably read that on a Lincoln forum. Stop going there! While Northstars might be somewhat more susceptible to head gasket failure, there are still piles of them out there running fine at a quarter of a million miles. Keep in mind, we only hear the BAD stories here; the success stories mostly go unnoticed. Where the two coolant types are concerned something needs to be mentioned: once the "green" stuff has been put in an "orange" engine you can never go back to the five year "orange" cycle on that engine. Contaminants from the "green" stuff will forever prevent the "orange" stuff from enjoying its five year lifetime. Unless you have owned your Cadillac since day one, and can be certain the "green" stuff has never crossed your thermostat, you shouldn't feel the "orange" stuff is protecting you for five years. Like many of us you're probably the second or third owner of your Cadillac and you simply don't know if the "green" stuff was ever in there. To be safe, use the "green" stuff and change it every two years. Safety first. Regards, Warren There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 I once read that 20%-30% of early Northstars had the problem. Use the "green" stuff and change it every two years. Safety first. Regards, Warren If the concern is not knowing if green coolant was ever in the engine, use the orange DexCool and change it every 2 years. The DexCool is much easier on water pump seals because it contains no abrasive silicates. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenJ Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 If the concern is not knowing if green coolant was ever in the engine, use the orange DexCool and change it every 2 years. The DexCool is much easier on water pump seals because it contains no abrasive silicates. A point better taken. Thanks Kevin! There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. - Ludwig von Mises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted October 12, 2007 Report Share Posted October 12, 2007 We had a poll on Timesert jobs on this site about two years ago and I think the percentage was 15%. On this site, we have lots of long-time Caddy owners but the majority of the visitors are computer-literate people who bought their car used and come here because they have a problem that may be too expensive for the local dealer, or they otherwise have a problem with going to the dealer -- no relationship because they bought the car used as their first Cadillac, for example. That is going to give a high number. I think it's probably under 10% out there in the whole population of Cadillacs. The Northstar engine has been very successful for Cadillac and GM since Day 1 in late 1992 when it first appeared in 295 hp form in the 1993 Allante. Since, it has replaced all other V8s in the Cadillac line (except the CTS-V, a "four-door Corvette Z06") and has become a top-of-the-line option in Oldsmobile, Buick, and Pontiac. The obvious performance, emissions, and economy potential of the Northstar system has been copied by just about every significant auto maker in the world since. For a few years, it was campaigned in Indy cars as a "Chevrolet" 4.0 l V8. It's a strong influence in the design and configuration of the amazing GM 3.6 l V6, now available in several cars with direct injection and 304 hp. It's the principal basis for next-generation premium engines from GM. Just keep your coolant fresh. In Any Car. -- 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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