bruticus122 Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 supposedly $1,500 gets you a head-gasket rebuild? just curious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 What is Cadillac Doctor using for inserts? What parts are replaced during the process, etc.? Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruticus122 Posted October 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 check out their website, they explain the whole process in detail on what is replaced. apparently all they work on is Northstar engines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 The site didn't say what type of inserts they were using. A lot of their website was hype in my opinion - "Most customers notice an increase in horsepower and torque". Really? Maybe if the engine was running so poorly due to injesting coolant but compared to the original engine that did not have bad headgaskets, I don't see how any performance gain would be achieved. They "Torque the headbolts with a special angle meter and then recheck with a torque wrench" Not sure why they would need to "re-check" the bolts with a torque wrench as the torque-angle method is far more accurate than a torque wrench alone. That's why torque-angle is the design specification. They could be using a torque wrench set to some value between the second and third pass in order to verify they torqued all the bolts. I use a paint pen to mark each bolt when I torque the heads down so I keep track. Also, the exhaust manifolds don't have to come off the heads for this repair. "They "use a special machine to remove air from the cooling system." The purge line on the engine does that... They do offer a 1 year warranty which is good. A lot of dealerships won't warranty their work and charge three times as much. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjb981 Posted October 24, 2012 Report Share Posted October 24, 2012 "We then drill out every head bolt hole ... We then tap each hole using precision taps" I interpret that as that they do not use inserts. I may be wrong, but as it is written I would assume that they tap the bored-up holes and then thread the new head bolts there. Since the new holes will have to be larger than the old ones, it would make sense to me that they would also be more durable. On the other hand there should be a reason why this is not the standard way of doing it, and why the timesert kit should be used. I am sure someone more knowledgeable could explain why. It also said on their web page that they now offer studs. As far as I know, using studs is also considered a good repair (feel free to object if I got that wrong). I think that it looks like a serious company looking at the website, but it is impossible to judge that from the website alone. If I had the intention of using their services, I would talk to them first, and also check their rating on the Better Business Bureau. I just got curious enough to check with the BBB, and I could not find them. Maybe they opened recently, and therefore there is no record yet. I think that it is good that shops are specializing on those jobs, since they do cost a lot of money if they need to be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airmike Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 "We then drill out every head bolt hole ... We then tap each hole using precision taps" I interpret that as that they do not use inserts. I may be wrong, but as it is written I would assume that they tap the bored-up holes and then thread the new head bolts there. Since the new holes will have to be larger than the old ones, it would make sense to me that they would also be more durable. On the other hand there should be a reason why this is not the standard way of doing it, and why the timesert kit should be used. I am sure someone more knowledgeable could explain why. It also said on their web page that they now offer studs. As far as I know, using studs is also considered a good repair (feel free to object if I got that wrong). I think that it looks like a serious company looking at the website, but it is impossible to judge that from the website alone. If I had the intention of using their services, I would talk to them first, and also check their rating on the Better Business Bureau. I just got curious enough to check with the BBB, and I could not find them. Maybe they opened recently, and therefore there is no record yet. I think that it is good that shops are specializing on those jobs, since they do cost a lot of money if they need to be done. You can't just bore the holes and retap them to use larger diameter bolts, (if that is what you are saying) because the holes in the head would have to be drilled accordingly. Assuming you could get the bolts through the head, there has to be enough movement to align the "dowels?" , if the bolts were snug in the head that couldn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjb981 Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 Could the description be for studs then? It should be possible to make studs with larger diameter in the part that is screwed into the block, and then have the thinner OE diameter on the parts that go through the heads, since the studs are screwed into the block before the heads are put on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted October 25, 2012 Report Share Posted October 25, 2012 There are studs that have a larger diamter portion that threads into a larger threaded hole in the block. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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