Leroy59 Posted June 17, 2015 Report Share Posted June 17, 2015 I am new to this forum but I have been reading and learning about Cadillacs for some time here. I finally purchased the car of my dreams I hope. I purchased a 1999 deville with 34K . Body is clean and rust free and the cur runs and drives like a dream. I am worried about head gasket failure or any of the other issues I have read about. I want to enjoy my car and not stress about problems every time I take it out. My concern at this time is at start up after sitting overnight the engine seems to idle roughly for a minute or so but smooths out and then runs fine. Could this be a sign of any problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Congratulations on your new-to-you 1999 Cadillac Deville. We would love to see photos of your new car. The first thing I would do with a used car is to change the fluids, and check the belts and hoses, and check the battery. There are two tensioners to check, one on the serpentine belt and one on the water pump belt. You may want to think about new spark plugs if driving the car every day for awhile doesn't clear things up. Before I changed the coolant, I would have it checked for combustion by-products. This is quick, inexpensive, and rules out head gasket leakage (or, detects head gasket leakage even in its earliest stages). Changing the coolant regularly is your best insurance against future head gasket leakage. One thing that you can do RIGHT NOW for free is to run the OBD codes right from the driver's seat with no equipment. Check the link in my signature block for a Caddyinfo page on how to do that. Get a pencil and paper handy and write them down and post them here. This will tell us if the car's computers have anything to say about the wake-up cobwebs. Your car will burn regular gas but it will do better with premium gas. A quick fix for the morning stumbles is a bottle of Techroline, the one gas additive approved by GM, and available at your GM parts counter and most auto parts stores. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barczy01 Posted June 18, 2015 Report Share Posted June 18, 2015 Congrats on the car. If the head gasket issue does happen, take it to someone who will fix it properly and do a nice job. Check the fuel pressure regulator for a leak on top of the intake manifold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadillac Jim Posted June 19, 2015 Report Share Posted June 19, 2015 At this point there is no reason to focus on head leakage, other than to eliminate it as a possibility. I wouldn't have mentioned it at all except that this car is new to the owner and the coolant test is simple, quick and inexpensive, and as such is part of the checklist for a used car. The only complaint is early-morning stumble, which is probably just old gas or some such. -- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data -- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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