Resurrecting the 1994 Caddy STS

[Monaco500]

Hello everyone,

Well it has been a while since I have been on the list... My 1994 STS has been in dry but not climate controlled storage for the past 3 years when I moved overseas. Now my brother is in need of a more reliable car, and I have offered him mine.

I was having some problems with the car in the 18 months before I moved; it has a new (within the last 5000 miles) starter, fuel pump, A and B shift solenoids, throttle position sensor, PCM, plugs, O2 sensors, brakes and a few other bits and pieces. It was running fine when parked.

The car has not been started in 2 years and since I am still out of the country, I have asked a car guy friend (Honda guy, unfortunately not a caddy guy) to get the car ready for my brother to start.

Being an aluminum block, I think I should be having them remove the plugs and put a bit of oil in each cylinder, turn the motor over by hand, top up the fuel tank with new gas and maybe a few other preventative measures. Any recommendations for how I should go about preparing the car to start it and what they should be careful of? I would hate to cause irreparable damage to the car by recklessly trying to start it.

I will also need to have him replace the pigtails for the taillights as they no longer work; any recommendations for where I can get them for a good price?

Any recommendations are welcome. Thanks!

Cheers,

Eric

[Cadillac Jim]

The Northstar has steel sleeves so there is no special reason that the rings would be stuck. The fuel system is sealed and pressurized so the gas should still be usable, assuming that the FPR didn't leak. I would try putting a fresh battery in it and turning it over.

I'm a bit concerned that the taillights don't work and you believe that the wires are corroded. This makes it sound like there is more to the history of this car than the usual 1994 STS. Is there something else that would be helpful here?

[Monaco500]

Hi Jim,

That would explain why it fired right up when I started it 2 years ago (only 1 year after I moved to Australia). Good to know about the steel sleeves; so I would probably run the risk of more trouble pulling the plugs and getting dust/dirt in the cylinders than just letting it go. I suppose I should add some fresh gas to the tank to dilute the old gas still in the tank (I think around 1/4 tank or so).

The car has had a tough life, which explains why I got such a good price for it when it was only 7 years old ($6600). It has a bit of a suspect past with the mileage rolled back 24k in '97 (per carfax report) and had some minor body work done. The car doesn't have excessive mileage though, at about 140k including the rolled back mileage. With respect to the taillights, I started having trouble with them a few years after I bought it. The flasher was good, bulbs replaced but the signals worked intermittently or not at all. After reviewing some threads on this forum, some suggested that corrosion in the pigtails was the culprit and the '94 STS's were not immune from this problem. Is this likely the case or may there be another pesky issue?

Any other suggestions we should consider for starting the car? I want my brother to have a reliable car (and he isn't the car guy type), so after starting it up (and getting registration/insurance of course) I was going to have him take it to a mechanic for a full check up. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks again,

Eric

The Northstar has steel sleeves so there is no special reason that the rings would be stuck. The fuel system is sealed and pressurized so the gas should still be usable, assuming that the FPR didn't leak. I would try putting a fresh battery in it and turning it over.

I'm a bit concerned that the taillights don't work and you believe that the wires are corroded. This makes it sound like there is more to the history of this car than the usual 1994 STS. Is there something else that would be helpful here?

[winterset]

I would consider:

changing out the coolant, brake, oil & power steering fluids. (DO NOT FLUSH the radiator. and remember to add the required 2 tubes of bars leak powder to the coolant)

running a WOT procedure to exercise those rings.

ALSO:

check the ignition wires in the dark that they are not arching. Make sure they are not pressed against the HVAC motor.

inspect the fuses & relays for obvious corrosion

Eyeball the engine & inspect hoses for rub wear

check the brake lines underneath for corosion

check the fuel filler tube for corrosion

separate and check the + battery terminal

Verify the recall replacing the black plastic fuel rail with stainless steel was performed

show your brother how to check for codes.

remember this is a 16 year old car that had an unknown & corrupt history.

[KHE]

Two years is a long time for an engine to sit.

If the car has not been started for two years, the fuel is probably sour. I would siphon some out and check it - you'll know if it is sour. If it is, get as much of the sour gas out of the tank and fill it with fresh gas.

I would be inclined to remove the plugs and squirt a small amount some oil down the cylinders and turn the engine over with a wrench on the balancer bolt, then install the plugs. Disable the ignition module and crank the engine for 30 seconds to prime the oil system. Then plug in the ICM and start the car.