97 Deville Service

[waterzap]

My 97 Deville runs great.

Engine makes a lovely note when opened up. Car loves to be driven.

Took it to the shop today to do some of the fluids. Transmission, ps, brake. I usually do oil and coolant myself. Rotella 10W30 and Dexcool.

Fluids are such a pain and mess to deal with, have shop do that. They will also look over the car to let me know about anything else it might need.

I have already replaced the belts on both sides. both tensioners, and idler pulley. Did the coolant, but will do the hoses soon, at least the two big ones. Also thinking of changing the thermostat.

Anything else I should look at? Except for the head gasket (wont go there), what else are weak points in this car? Especially stuff thats cheap and not too difficult to replace.

All my cars are old, and I prefer to replace cheap, easy to get to items before they fail. Keeps me busy, I like doing it and minimises (not eliminates) the chance that I will have to call the tow truck.

Water pump can probably wait till it leaks.

Read somewhere the sway bar links are also known to not last too long. That true?

The car has just around 44,000 miles, even though its a 97.

[rockfangd]

Welcome to caddyinfo.

I have owned several 96-97 Caddys.

Here are my best tips.

Change coolant every 2 years.

DO not flush the transmission.

Check the rear knuckle bushings with car sitting normal and grabbing the top of the rear tires and pushing in and out. clunking and play means bushings are bad. not bad to do but are common.

if waterpump isnt leaking or seized its good.

I like to clean the exhaust port on the air ride compressor at least every few years. they get corroded and plug shut causing issues. I have had no issues but the first time I did them they were

almost completely plugged. I can enlighten if need be.

I clean the antenna mast twice a year using mineral spirits. Again never had any problems with them.

I also pull the fluid from the PS reservoir and refill twice a year.

Brake fluid I do once every 2 years.

Front hub assemblies are pretty common, usually noticed by a humming or howling while driving.

Sway bar links if they are not noisy and dont have play, I wouldnt change them

And best of all, drive it , love it, and dont worry.

My 96 Deville has 200000 miles and is very original. still runs and drives great. My 97 Seville is like new and is strictly seasonal. I use it for state hopping and road trips

[waterzap]

Thanks. This car just loves to run.

Where is the air pump? Sounds like underneath the driver side somewhere? How do you clean the exhaust port? On all my other cars the air pump is in the engine compartment. All basically same place from 76 up to my 87. Probably more crud getting into the pump underneath the car. I changed the fuel filter a while ago. Should have probably looked around for the pump while I was under the car.

Funniest thing happened. I tried to pull down the shade in front of the diver position, and it just came down in my hands. I guess the tabs broke, and the previous owner just put it back in there. I looked a bit online, but cannot find the part. Not sure if you have to buy the plastic alone, or if there are any mounting brackets with it? Are new ones still available?

Ill go to the junkyard later on too, see what available.

Also, when I fill the car with gasoline, the automatic shut off in the handle comes on all the time. Seems like the car isn’t venting properly. Any idea?

[rockfangd]

The air compressor is located above the rear suspension and is very close to the center.

you will see 3 hoses, 1 t and a filter through the body panel. the hoses are usually dry cracked. I remove the old hoses and filter, Then I take a small drill bit 1/8 I believe and run it in and out(by hand) of the port where the hoses were hooked up. Little by little it pulls all of the stuff out and cleans the port. I then replace the hoses and filter. I have not had a major problem yet. My 96 still has the original compressor and it works perfect.

[waterzap]

Strangest thing happened yesterday. Maybe someone can help solve the mystery.

The throttle was a bit sticky. No big deal. Take off the MAF, clean out the MAF with MAF cleaner, throttle plate and part of the TB with TB cleaner. I was very careful to use the correct cleaner for each part. Plate was quite dirty, but managed to clean it up quite a bit. Left the plate open for a while so everything could evaporate. Put everything back.

Then BOOM. Big backfire, and car runs terribly. Shut it off quickly. Though, oh no, what did I break!!.

Start back up, and for a split second the one muffler sounds like a free flow. Just a split second, and then the regular sound returns. Car also starts to run better. Shut down, start back up. Again, slight noise from the muffler, but all back to normal in a second. Took car on highway, no weird noises, runs good, throttle response is perfect, car winds up nicely, but suddenly I am getting 29, 30 mpg. Of course when I open up the engine mpg drops as expected. But driving around 60 or so, can get 29 – 30. Even bit over 30. ????? Going from 26 - 27 to 29 - 30??????

After running up and down the highway, shut car down. Started back up, runs fine, no weird sound from muffler. No codes. This morning when car was cold, started right back up again. No sound from muffler.

Any ideas what happened? Why the big increase in mpg and the funny sound for a split second on start up from the muffler?

[rockfangd]

I would say everything sounds normal. Your TB was probably gummed up. You probably got cleaner into the intake and it had to burn it off. Your throttle plate may have been sticking and causing your IAC to compensate