1992 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special

[92sixtyspecial]

Great to be a member on this site! I am 40 and with the help of my 'pops' was able to purchase a well cared for 1992 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special (sapphire blue firemist with dark navy 22-way leather seats).

10-15 years ago I had a 1989 Cadillac Fleetwood sedan (antelope firemist with antelope leather) and it had almost 285,000 miles before I sold it to a younger guy in high school. That 4.5 served me well (will regular maintenance). I always wanted more horsepower due to luggage and having 4 adults weighing down the car. One day I said to myself that I would like to have a newer Cadillac with the same roominess, style and perhaps more power.

My neighbor mentioned that Cadillac did make a car styled like my previous 89 model with a bigger engine. He and his wife drove a used 93 sedan de ville with the 4.9 and later purchased a 2006 Seville SLS with the northstar (which has power-but much different in delivery and obviously style).

So my quest began to search for a Cadillac sedan with the 4.9 and low and behold my 1992 Sixty Special...

...I normally wouldn't buy on line but....I've been unemployed for 13 months and dad and I agreed 'NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS-HAPPENS'! Pops took a loan out to buy a 1992 Cadillac Fleetwood I saw on the internet. I didn't want a new car payment and new car insurance (full coverage).

Pops was able to find 2 airline tickets for $258 each and we met with the son and father dealership in Charlotte North Carolina. The caddy needed some work and hesitated when we test drove (for a 20 year old car it still started up) and besides the airline last minute tickets were more expensive coming back.

The dealer sold me the car for $2,900 and bought me new tires and also gave me a deposit for a new engine. The car had 146,000 miles and he had the original window sticker (MSRP with options totaled close to $44,000 new). The dealer also gave me the paperwork including the original owner and 2nd owner who were very, very kind to me through correspondence by mail.

Our journey home was 3 days (1.5 of rain, rain, rain and the car surging and jerking 15 mph up hill-hazards on) and then flipped attitude and ran normal. We traveled 1,700 approx miles, used 100 gallons of gas, 4 quarts of oil (leaks around oil pan, valve covers and intake manifold), 4 gallons of coolant and 4 gallons of water (leaking from water pump and 2 small hoses coming from near firewall) and finally 2 pints of power steering fluid (bad pump that made a whining noise the entire trip).

Pops and I were able to see a lot while driving and there were times I found myself (going downhill of course) 100 mph. That's something I would NOT do period. My 89 Fleetwood speedometer would start flashing 85 over and over until you slowed down. That's one of the first things I noticed when we got the car-QUICK peppy starts and STRONG smooth cruise control operation. Mileage was crappy and the car needed a lot of tender lovin care. This is a 20 year old car and not all parts (NEW or OLD) are meant to stay new on any car in or out of storage. We got home safely and the car basically struggled the last 50 miles (I'll explain later the discoveries I made).

I was able to get the car registered after the State Police and DMV inspected an out of state vehicle and I started taking the car apart in sections (thanks to the dealer service manual).

Currently, I have carefully removed the two front door panels to access the delco bose gold cd music system and removed the rear carpet shelf to repair the bose amps as well (ANY RELIABLE REPAIR SHOP RECOMMENDATIONS APPRECIATED). I received current communication from the original owners and they basically just changed the oil and had the 'computer command ride' system changed out about 6 months ago to a standard strut/air strut set up (which I learned can be VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE to replace).

I noticed the battery cables were severely corroded within the plastic sleeves and cleaned them with a DREMEL, started to remove the tensioner, alternator, power steering pump and FINALLY the water pump....WHAT A CHORE!

I said earlier that this is a 20 year old car so I am willing to take out a loan to replace many items in the engine bay and other areas. THIS IS WHERE I COULD USE HONEST HELP and RECOMMENDATIONS concerning 'my' CADILLAC.

I would like to have the BOSE GOLD series radio and amps replaced or serviced;

Find all the OEM gold package emblems with the ones on the sail panel that light up;

a different set of rims (the lace aluminum wheels are rough on the knuckles when cleaning them and they take forever to remove the brake dust);

replace interior and driver's side automatic dimming mirrors (these have lines and liquid bubbles);

replace the overhead courtesy lamps in blue with the sunroof switch;

replace power antenna;

replace drivers door armrest and possibly the window and seat switches with dual memory settings;

replace grille with one that has the small handle below the plastic grid (89 design much user friendly and durable);

replace sunroof weatherseal;

find a newer looking drivers seat with the 22-way feature (mine are nice but the air hoses are brittle and have broken in different places -orange line, white line, black line and blue line);

replace front signal lens in pairs;

replace rear taillights in pairs;

all the engine vacuum lines, wiring connectors, heater core, the molded "T" for the heater core hose and any UPDATED HEAVY DUTY radiator/accessories;

power steering pump and lines;

oil cooler lines and last but not least to know OTHER SIXTY SPECIAL owners!!!

Thank you for your time and I AM SO HAPPY TO BE A MEMBER!!

[hjb981]

I drive a '97 DeVille now, and I used to have an '88. You really have some plans for your Cadillac, and I wish you good luck! Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable members can give you some tips for your renovations.

[KHE]

Hold the throttle plate wide open and rod out the two 9/16" tubes that are in the intake manifold. They are the EGR tubes and should not be carboned up. If they are choked up with carbon, the car will hesitate upon acceleration.

The other thing to do would be to verify the fuel pressure while driving - when the car bucks/surges, does the fuel pressure drop? If so, the in-tank fuel pump will need to be replaced.

Sometimes there is corrosion on the cam sensor on the distributor - common for a 20 year old car. Clean the connections as well as the ground connections. I believe there is a ground near the starter that should be disconnected, cleaned and reconnected. It wouldn't hurt to use a little dielectric grease on the connection.

Not sure why the dealer gave you a deposit for a new engine???

The injectors on the 4.9 can go bad - they develop internal shorts and the result is the injector will work intermittently causing a rough idle/misfire condition.

The 1989 grille most likely will not fit on your car - the hood profile is different.

The seats can be fixed by installing new hoses. The 22-way seats were a very rare option. I doubt you will find any in the used market that are in decent condition.

[Dan Henke]

I had a 1989 Fleetwood sixty special that I turned into Brad's Auto Wrecking in Redmond, OR a couple years ago. Car was driveable and in essentially good shape except for a crunched front bumper. If anyone is looking for parts for that car it might be a good place to start as the car was missing essentially nothing and driveable. Car had fully functioning 22way power seats and glass moonroof as well as just about every other option available. Car was navy on navy.