mattd Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 OK..first of all let me say I'm not here to complain about the car...but this really sucks. About 2 weeks ago I put in a post about starter problem on my 97 Aurora...well here is an update for anyone who cares. To make a long story short my starter died, my mechanic put in a rebuild AC Delco starter...problem, the security light came on and stayed on. Few days later my car would refuse to start only to restart a few minutes later...this continued on for just over a week, untill the second starter craped out...he replaced it for free but told me there has to be a reason why my starters are literally getting fried. He looked for 2 days and couldn't find anything. He suggested I take it to GM...so I did, it turned out to be a Theft Detterent Decoder Modual (whatever the heck that is...) happends to be under the dash. Grand total so far $520 for a new starter, and this little thing would run another $680...oh yeah and this gets better they also found that my tensioner pulley bearing is really going bad and will need to be replaced...that's really bad eh? Well it gets better, when I picked up my car my heater wasn't working, very nice considering I live in freakin CANADA! Figured was just a connection, but brought it back the next day and they confirmed that it is the connection but the reason why it's not connecting is because it is so rediculosly corroded, and there is nothing they can do but to replace all the parts plus wiring harness...this little plug is about $140, plus the wiring harness is another $100+ and about 2hrs labour at $95 per hour...but since this was done with a discount because I work at another dealership I got it done for measly $320 bucks...so to recap thats: - $520 Starter - $90 tow back after the starter failed - $680 TDD Modual - $320 fix the blower motor For a grand total of....$1610, plus I still have to replace the pulley bearing...this sucks... so when you're car is rattling or something just think It could be worse...oh well happy holidays HO HO HO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyG Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Well, that DOES suck. But look at the bright side, the idler pulley is only $19.95 (US) installed! Just kidding, more like $100.00. Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CadiKing Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 mattd, Sorry to hear about your luck... Keep up the faith... Look at it this way... These things will not go wrong again....LOL {What did you say the warrenty was on all this work???} LOL Good luck and Keep Smiling... Happy Holidays!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CANADIANCADDY Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Hey there Mattd It's a lot of money but significantly lower than the tax here in Canada on a Neon! Let's hope you go a few more years without another major repair bill and perhaps the amortization of this expense over the same time frame will ease the pain. I see you are a Canuck ------- if you are near Toronto I have some leads on where to get problems on Caddies attended to eh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattd Posted December 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Thanks for the input guys...I just want to say I'm not saying that the car is crap or anything like that...I would much rather drive an older STS or even my good old Aurora than a brand spankin new Neon...since we've started bashing that beast lol...the thing about this is that I excpect things to break on a 8 year old car with 120K miles on it but I would never excpect so many things to break at once...I've never had anything like this happen before...mind you I have only been driving for about 6 years hehehe, It'll definitely take a while before I forget this...Anyways I've been meaning to get a Caddy anyways, this just gives me an excuse...lol On the serious note though this TDD module could be the reason why alot of the guys on here are having intermitten problems starting the car...I searched in the archives and I saw alot of posts from people who just kind of learned to live with it, I didn't find any posts on this Theft Detterent Decoder Module, unless the caddys simply don't have one, and it's an Oldsmobile thing, but I seriously doubt that...anyways just a thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 You can replace the tensioner bearing yourself. Press the old bearing out and go to an industrial bearing supply house and buy a replacement. In Michigan, there is a supply house called Applied Detroit Ball Bearing. They are located in most major cities and can get any bearing. The tensioner bearing is a standard bearing that is usually less than $5.00. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Nunnally Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Sometimes when you take an older car in to the Dealer, they discover that it's not a brand new car. In my experience, right after I had a big bill on the STS I would get two or three more just to make sure my wallet was empty. You MAY have gotten all three in your one visit though. Bruce 2023 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing Follow me on: Twitter Instagram Youtube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldgamer Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 I beleive that starter wasn't a cause at first place. And it didn't fry. The Theft Detterent Decoder Modual was a cause and nothing else. And of course a dealler gonna find a lot of things on your car. Your car didn't start just because of one thing, not ten. And because of sloppy work, dealler possible broke something else. The heater worked fine before the dealler, right? Hope everything gonna be all right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dasher Posted December 12, 2004 Report Share Posted December 12, 2004 That certainly does suck! Reminds me of a time that everything was going wrong for me and I was feeling down until a friend said, "Cheer up, things could be worse!" I took new heart and cheered up and, sure enough, things got worse! Here are some other things my "friends" say to me when I've had similar runs of bad luck: It's only money. You've still got your health. It's only a car. You've still got a roof over your head. And on and on. Now don't you feel better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHE Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 It's only money. Whenever someone says that to me, I usually reply, "I suppose you'd tell a drowning guy that it's only water..." That usually gets some laughs. Kevin '93 Fleetwood Brougham '05 Deville '04 Deville 2013 Silverado Z71 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norton1 Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 Oh geezz louise - you don't really want to start a horror thread do you? I've read, and lived, some pretty wild tales of Caddys and repair bills. In the end - you do still have your health, your family, and a really cool car to drive. The "only money" thing is just a low blow - Be well Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 If the tensioner bearings are not damaged you should be able to re-pack them with grease. I re-packed both the tensioner and idle pulley bearings and they both work fine. bbobynski wrote: Both the idle pulley and the pulley on the tensioner have "sealed" ball bearings. You can unbolt the pulley to access the bearing and gently pry the seal out of the bearing with a very small, dulled, screwdriver blade. Repack the bearing with good, hi-temp, water resistant grease and replace the seal by pressing it into place with your finger tips. Use a toothpick to make sure the seal lip is correctly in place. See the link below: http://caddyinfo.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1848&hl= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronniels Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 The theft deterrant is on several GM vehicles. I had one go out on a 1990 GTA and had to replace the starter and ignition switch with it all due to a shorted out wire on the ignition switch that reads the ignition key. Ronnie 97 Deville 95 Town Car 93 Cutlass Conv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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