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you know wat man that was real, i like that but i didn't mean it like that. i mean check this crap out i was lookin at my motor last year and i looked behind where the valve covers are and there was oil there,i had no idea that was there,a leak came out of nowhere,4.9's are great engines and all don't get me wrong.ive had allot problems with my car in the past people told me to get rid of it,but i just didn't have the heart to get rid of pearl, for pearl to have 180k on her she runs excellent.

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A poll I have initiated some time ago shows less than 10% of Caddies which belong to our members have more than 175.000 miles. Can one use this number as life expectancy indication? The answer is probably YES, but it should be taken into account that cars go to the scrap yard for a variety of reasons. I personally believe 4.9 motor has not been the reason in most cases. A very good, reliable engine. Good job GM.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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At 180,000 miles and 13 model years you might need valve cover gaskets or a couple of o-rings, I'd say you are doing pretty good. I think you should find a new mechanic. That is a great engine period.

Might it need some work, oh course. Cronic Problems, Nope! Hey isolate what the problem is and fix it, if its valve cover gaskets, oil filter adapter o-rings, oil cooler lines, just get it fixed... Realize this, a $0.10 O-RING on the oil cooler line at the oil filter adaptor can leak oil like mad...... The engine is great period and at 180,000 miles it owes you nothing.

PLEASE itemize the FLAWS you are talking about that you noticed..... I am curious. I had my 91 Seville 4.9 till 130,000 miles and it ran perfect, with proper maintenance..

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Actually, the 4.9L is considered a very reliable engine and many of them are still running with over 100,000 miles according to my mechanic.

They are known for having the oil send switch problem which causes an oil leak. It's an inexpensive part to replace.

If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans.

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does anyone know what the average life expectincy of the 4.9's are.cause ive noticed they do have alot of flaws

180K on a 92 4.9 and you think that they have "a lot of flaws...."....???? LOL LOL

Hope your car didn't hear you say that.

Flaws, Did some one mention flaws? As to the life expectancy, it's a crap shoot. Consider this, the venerable cadillac northstar engine is non-rebuildable. It's a throw-away engine. Cadillac has a cure for that though, they will sell you a brand new northstar engine complete with manufacterer defects for approx. 7 grand and install it for you for another 2 . Sweet deal huh?

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James, just drop it! The guy already have 180,000 miles on his car. Everybody should be happy to go with any car that long. It is like being 110 and complaining about the back pain. Grow up.

1960 Sedan De Ville (sold)

1970 Coupe De Ville (sold)

1987 Mazda RX-7 (sold)

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[

Hope your car didn't hear you say that.

Flaws, Did some one mention flaws? As to the life expectancy, it's a crap shoot. Consider this, the venerable cadillac northstar engine is non-rebuildable. It's a throw-away engine. Cadillac has a cure for that though, they will sell you a brand new northstar engine complete with manufacterer defects for approx. 7 grand and install it for you for another 2 . Sweet deal huh?

Please don't anyone dignify this guy with a repsonse to his drivel...

'93 STS.. opened, dropped, wide...fast.

user posted image

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Please don't anyone dignify this guy with a repsonse to his drivel...

Bob D,

Frankly, I felt a little bit sorry for the guy who had a bad luck with his car... But his recent behavior is a real annoyance. You are right, ignoring him is the way to go.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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Please don't anyone dignify this guy with a repsonse to his drivel...

Bob D,

Frankly, I felt a little bit sorry for the guy who had a bad luck with his car... But his recent behavior is a real annoyance. You are right, ignoring him is the way to go.

The operative word here being........FELT

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The oil pressure sender is on the oil filter adaptor if that is what you are asking adallak, 

Mike, there is no "oil pressure sender" on the oil filter adapter. The part you are probably have in mind is called "oil pressure switch". Looks like Marika (or her mechanic) calls it "oil sender switch". Whatever, I thought the adapter leaks are rather gasket related and had nothing to do with the switch operation...

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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The oil pressure sender is on the oil filter adaptor if that is what you are asking adallak, 

Mike, there is no "oil pressure sender" on the oil filter adapter. The part you are probably have in mind is called "oil pressure switch". Looks like Marika (or her mechanic) calls it "oil sender switch". Whatever, I thought the adapter leaks are rather gasket related and had nothing to do with the switch operation...

Oil Pressure sender or oil pressure switch who cares what you call it, its on the oil filter adaptor... All kinds of leaks take place in that area. There are two o-rings behind the adaptor that need replacing, I replaced mine, and there are two oil cooler lines with tiny o-rings that need replacing, I replaced mine.. That area leaked until I replaced those 4 O-RINGS, Mike

And yes the SENDER/SWITCH can leak and leak badly. You will have to excuse me, in the REALLY old days these DODADS were called SENDERS... :lol:

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There actually is a distinction between a "sender" (or "sensor") and a "switch".

A sender is a potentiometer, used when an oil pressure gauge is used, to show analog oil pressure. For instance, you have exactly 32 psi of oil pressure.

A switch is simply a digital "on/off" switch, used with a low oil pressure light for instance. For instance, you either have sufficient oil pressure or you don't.

I can think of a great example of this. Older Cutlasses used to come with two gauge packages. One was the standard package, with the long "sweep" speedometer, and oil pressure idiot light. The other was the "Rallye Pac", which included a round speedometer and tachometer, and oil pressure gauge (0-60 psi). A common project was to convert your car to a Rallye Pac from the standard gauges. One part of that conversion included removing the oil pressure SWITCH from the engine and replacing it with an oil pressure SENDING UNIT (or sender, sensor, etc). The SWITCH just turned on/off the oil pressure idiot light, but couldn't run an analog gauge, because it was just an on/off switch. The SENDING UNIT was required to provide an analog signal (volts I think) to the Rallye Pac which signified the amount of oil pressure.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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My mechanic, who I just got off the phone with says, it's called an "oil send switch" and it's located near the oil filter housing and they are notorious for leaking on the 4.9L engine.

Take it from there guys....

If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans.

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While I know there is a difference in the way they work, its on the oil filter adaptor. I would use a sender for a guage and the switch is on about say 6 psi and off below it.... in my old syanpses switch/sendor means more or less the same thing... :lol::lol::lol:

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Well... the manual calls it :oil pressure switch" so das ACDelco, but Advance Autoparts calls the same part "Oil pressure switch/sender" :D Whatever, I'll take care of it. Ihave had leaks in the adaptor area, but never checked the the switch itself. Thanks guys.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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We got 165k on my wifes 94 Deville 4.9 before we sold it. No problems at all with the engine. It's still going strong. I check up on her for old times sake.

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My mechanic, who I just got off the phone with says, it's called an "oil send switch" and it's located near the oil filter housing and they are notorious for leaking on the 4.9L engine.

Take it from there guys....

Ok, I'll take it...My '92 4.9 went for 10 years and 120,000 miles with nary a drop of oil.

That car was far from babied too. Drove the hell out ot it.

'93 STS.. opened, dropped, wide...fast.

user posted image

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If you have to trust the reliability of a 180,000 mile luxury car, you simply can't afford one in the first place! Go drive a 180,000 mile Honda/Acura, and then compare the price of an alternator, PS pump, water pump, you name it, with my Caddy, and THEN we will see who is talking! Come to think of it, I wish I had TWO Japanese burners. One to crap on, the other to cover it up! Enough said!

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My '91 Eldo. 4.9 just turned over 163K miles with no major problems. Oil pan gasket at 96K, A starter at @ 130K( actually I've changed two starters, but I don't count the one from AutoZone), Cam sensor at 161K. Otherwise I keep the fluids filled, keep the oil changed and don't tinker with it.

A few weeks ago while at my local Cadillac store, Parts dept.of course, a customer came in looking for a power window sw. for a '97 Buick. The parts man turned around to look up the part, then turned back and said"joe" just went over 500K in his Buick. Fred said,son-of-a-gun, I thought I would beat him. Turns out that these two guys were both medical equipment salesmen, compitetors, and both of them drove Buicks with the 3.8 eng's. I asked "Fred" if he had ever had any engine problems and he said,"nah," "I just put Mobile 1 in all of them the first time I changed oil after I bought them(he has a '93,'95' and'97), change oil every 5-7K miles and drive the heck out of them." His '93 has 485K and his '97has only 215K Miles. I think that is remarkable.

I've driven Oldsmobiles with the 3.8 engine and it is probably one of the best and most reliable engines GM has ever produced. On the other hand unless you live in a flat area you will go crazy from the constant shifting in and out of overdrive every time you go up a slight incline. I prefer to drive the V8 powered Cadillac. I believe that most engines will routinely go over 200K miles with proper care and routine maintenance.

I had a '71 Torino, 302 that was still going strong at 270K.

On the other had I had a neice who bought a new Nissan and drove it over 48K miles before she found out that you are supposed to "CHANGE" the oil. :blink:

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