newbold1 Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Hi Everyone, I used to frequent the board often back when I had a Sea Mist Green 1996 Cadillac SLS. I traded that car on a 2004 CTS and then traded that one on a 2005 BMW 330ci convertible. With no Cadillacs remaining in the household I stopped having a good reason to visit the site as often. Well, my teenage daughter is getting her first car and guess what she wanted... a Cadillac DeVille. So, we went car shopping and I finally found this White Diamond 1996 Cadillac DeVille. The exterior is so perfect that it seems impossible for this car to be older than about 2-3 years let alone 12+ years! The interior is also in very good condition. The only thing that gives away the age is that the leather seats do look older and a bit worn but they aren't damaged (no holes, tears, etc.). The driver's seat seems to be a bit flattened out / sinking in a little nearest the driver's door. The car has high miles at 174K but seems to be running just fine. There are no current DTCs showing up. There is a slight hum coming from the front end and I think it could be a wheel bearing? It can't be the tires because I just put brand new Michelin Symmetry's on the car but the hum is still there. It's not too bad of a sound and really can only be just barely heard when driving at about 40-50 miles per hour but it is noticeable. The A/C blows more cool than cold even though it has a full charge. And, the oil pressure indicator light occassionaly flickers at idle but I think an easy fix for that would be to switch from 10w30 (last owner's oil change info) to maybe 10w40 or 15w40. I think that these are pretty minor issues considering that I only paid $4,000 for this car. Everyone who has seen it first assumes that I spent closer to $10K (most people think it is a lot newer than a 1996). I hope that the car will last to at least 225K which with the miles my daughter will likely drive would give her a good 3-4 years owning this car. Now that we have another Cadillac in the family I'll probably be frequenting the board more often again. I am so glad that I held onto those 1996 Cadillac shop manuals that I had bought back when I had the SLS. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BodybyFisher Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Hey, Welcome Back, I remember your member name well, I also have a 96, Mike (Scotty) At highway speed do some left right S's and see if you can make the HUM/MOAN come and go or whether it gets worse I get the oil light flicker also at idle and have been using 15W40 (Rotelle) and it is not longer coming up. I changed my oil pressure switch and it made no difference, you might start there. 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...
newbold1 Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 I remember you as well. I'll give that a try tomorrow and post what happens when I do it. I just need to figure out where I can go and safely drive S's at highway speed. Probably won't want to do that in Interstate traffic as I drive to work. I think I'll try the 15W40 oil to see if that fixes the oil light. I've read posts on here before where people have done that on higher mileage cars and it corrected the issue. My daughter doesn't know it yet but I think I'll be driving her car as much as she will be driving it. It's kind of nostalgic to me to have another 1996 Cadillac again. I love my BMW but I often miss my SLS. I wish I had the money and parking space to keep both cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winterset Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Change the radiator fluid. Clean the leather with a leather cleaner, and condition it. It'll bring new life to the interior. For me, the most important considerations for leather conditioner is the smell, sometimes the conditioner smell is overpowering for several days. I found that applying leather conditioner on hot seats that have been sitting in the sun on a hot day absorbs the conditioner better, and gives better long term results. Perform this every month in the summer, and you'll notice those minor leather wrinkles disappear!! WELCOME BACK. Like Scotty, I have a '96 Deville too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbold1 Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 The leather has worn pretty thin in places on the driver's seat. Also, where the wrinkle lines appear they are dark, almost blackened, which looks dirty in contrast to the beige color of the leather. I have tried using a leather cleaner (Meguire's) but this first try didn't do much to improve the appearance. I am scared to use anything that might bleach out the color of the leather and I don't want to rub anything too hard for fear that I'll rub a hole into the seat. There are some places where that seems to have nearly happened on the driver's seat. My SLS had about 130K or so when I traded it and the leather in that car still looked brand new with only an ever so slight fade on the driver's seat bolster from getting in and out of the car. I wish this car's leather was as good as my SLS had in it. But, again, for $4,000 I cannot complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeb Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 you need a/c pressures to diagnose the systems performance. if your charge is good than i would bet on a failing compressor. my 96 did the same thing. replacing the compressor is hard since you need to evacuate the system and most folks do not have a/c equipment. but cold a/c is nice so its worth fixing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abad95 Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Welcome back! I also remember you,because I told you you will be missing the Caddy ,and I also remember you not really liking the CTS. Florin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbold1 Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Welcome back! I also remember you,because I told you you will be missing the Caddy ,and I also remember you not really liking the CTS. Florin I definately miss the 1996 SLS. The CTS... not so much. I really had wished that I had kept the SLS and not traded it on the CTS. I thought I would be happier with the new Caddy. But, its the older one that I miss. My 1996 was spotless inside and out and I really think I should have just held onto it. For fun, since I was buying my daughter this 1996 DeVille I thought I would go ahead and pull a CarFax on my old car just to see. YIKES Whoever bought it destroyed it 1 year later. It was wrecked and now has a salvage title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 welcome back. I also remember you. The oil pressure light is most likely a failing pressure switch on the oil filter adapter. Simple and cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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