carl425 Posted July 28, 2005 Report Share Posted July 28, 2005 Okay, hopefully one of the ever-knowledgable engineers on here here help out with this one. My '99 STS is a great car but it has been an unbelievable lemon from day one. I have dealt with it for the past 4 years (thanks a LOT in part to the original warranty) but I sure can't understand the number of problems I've had with it. It has 95k on it and I have had to replace the power steering pump twice, the water pump, a valve cover gasket, a fuel pressure regulator, the rotors 4 times (though I finally got some cross-drilled Brembo's and some EBC GreenStop pads, works great now), seat heaters, instrument panel cluster, a valve cover gasket, both CV shafts (twice), the block half gasket, the motor mounts and last, but most certainly not the least, the transmission (of course 10k after the warranty ran out...). I just moved to Germany and I went a picked my car up the other day after having it shipped over here. It feels like there's slack in the drivetrain when I take off now. It's very much like when the motor mounts went bad last time. I've been told they are fluid filled and it doesn't take much for them to leak and when they do, they're shot. How likely is it that they are bad again? I know you are probably all thinking I must abuse this vehicle but I can assure you that I do not. I have always LOVED Caddys ever since my first car, a '77 Coupe de Ville. Now that car, I will admit, I punished on a daily basis (c'mon, I was 16...) and it NEVER, not even one time, gave me any problems in two years time of this extreme abuse. So I know Cadillac knows, or at least did know, how to build a car. On a another note we bought my wife an '03 745i BMW before we left the states. After driving it here in Germany my STS feels like an 1975 Galaxy in comparison. I'm not converting but you gotta give props where they're due. Those Bavarians have their act together... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CadiKing Posted July 28, 2005 Report Share Posted July 28, 2005 cari, I just put a motor mount on my '99 STS last December, and it feels as though it is shot again. I have heard they make solid mounts. Mine includes may WOT's by both myself and my son, so I cannot complain. Have your sweety get out of her Beemer and into your Cadillac. Have her place left foot on the brake, and crowd the gas with her right foot. With the hood open, you will see the motor rise, 2"+ if the mount is shot! The replacement is not too difficult, but it is time consuming. Let us know how it turns out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob D Posted July 28, 2005 Report Share Posted July 28, 2005 Nope. Honestly, my '93 is what 12 years old, 75+k miles and a LOT of spirited driving. No probelms whatsoever. I can say the same thing about a '92 (120,000), and 2000 (45,000) STS that I had. '93 STS.. opened, dropped, wide...fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 Sounds like its time to sell it.. I am sure the Bavarian vehicles are cheap over there, good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95SLS Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 I'm bumping 150K with both my cars, Eldo and SLS and really only regular run of the mill maint and problems. I'd buy a Caddy any time. Mike C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95SLS Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 "Have your sweety get out of her Beemer and into your Cadillac. Have her place left foot on the brake, and crowd the gas with her right foot. With the hood open, you will see the motor rise, 2"+ if the mount is shot!" Stand to the side, not the front. Mike C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 Sounds like its time to sell it.. I am sure the Bavarian vehicles are cheap over there, good luck Allow me to elaborate. You had this work done: "I have had to replace the power steering pump twice, the water pump, a valve cover gasket, a fuel pressure regulator, the rotors 4 times (though I finally got some cross-drilled Brembo's and some EBC GreenStop pads, works great now), seat heaters, instrument panel cluster, a valve cover gasket, both CV shafts (twice), the block half gasket, the motor mounts and last, but most certainly not the least, the transmission (of course 10k after the warranty ran out...). And now you need engine mounts again? Could someone tell me if the engine mounts are filled with fluid? Where did your mechanic get this? I have never heard that, NOR have I heard them needing to be replaced often, it sounds like you may have a misalignment somewhere... with the problems you are having.. I am sure its hard to find a mechanic to service your Caddy, hell its hard to find a good mechanic here. A power steering pump TWICE? ROTORS 4 TIMES? CV Joints TWICE? and your TRANNY? ENGINE MOUNTS AGAIN? You either have your FOOT TO the FLOOR 100% of time OR you have a lousy mechanic that is taking you for a RIDE... It also sounds like the maintenance is sub-par.....maybe the wrong fluids are being utilized... This is NOT criticism, but your experience is not typical... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaddyChris Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 lets see... I have a 94 with 250k on it. You can definately tell from the inside and the ride that it has the many miles on it. I didn't say from the outside...but its getting there. the clear on the bottom panels is gone...needs to be sanded and sprayed. My driver seat is worn through and ripped. The driver door panel is starting to tear at the seam by the arm wrest. The center armwrest has a big elbow indentation. The center console needs a new clip. The shifter black tape is coming up and shows bare metal. The piece of plastic that gm jammed around the radio doesn't stay there partially because the center console(wooden part) needs a new clip up there. it won't stay clipped. Lets see...I need struts, probably springs up front, definately a new cv joint on one side...don't know which. Work that has been done since I acquired the car at 232k: "New Engine" used...and refreshed. The other engine was fine with 232k, just the head gasket went. LF brake hose. New balljoints and bearings. Normal maintenance. Thats about it. I'm not saying this car is a lemon by all means....considering how many miles are on it I think its fine. Obviously some of this stuff needs to be fixed ASAP, particularily struts and cv joints. Time and money prevent me from doing such. Obviously some of you could never stand to have half of the stuff wrong with the interior that is wrong. The person that had this car before me simply drove it. They drove it and drove it and drove it and did nothing to it. For this simple reason I think it has held up pretty darn well. The rest of the interior is fine. It's simply all wear and tear items from having a driver drive it 250k...simple as that. Chris Christopher Petro 94 sts 67 coupe de Ville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 Most of you guys are too young to remember when cars lasted JUST about 100,000 miles and then they were crap... or near crap... I have to LOL everytime I see someone act indignant when their tranny needs work at 95,000 miles, in the OLD DAYZ you JUNKED it.... OR, how many people did you know that NEVER got their AC compressor fixed and just CUT the belt off! We have come a long way folks. Lest us not forget that you MUST maintain these cars, they are BIG, HEAVY, FAST, and POWERFUL.....and OMG, things wear out! PROPER AND OFTEN MAINTENANCE IS PARAMOUNT.... I am off to a 500 mile weekend, have a safe and happy weekend, Relax and Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaddyChris Posted July 29, 2005 Report Share Posted July 29, 2005 Most of you guys are too young to remember when cars lasted JUST about 100,000 miles and then they were crap... or near crap...I have to LOL everytime I see someone act indignant when their tranny needs work at 95,000 miles, in the OLD DAYZ you JUNKED it.... We have come a long way folks. Lest us not forget that you MUST maintain these cars, they are BIG, HEAVY, FAST, and POWERFUL.....and OMG, things wear out! yeah , i'm saying...250k is definately alot of miles. I think the tranny has held up that long but i'm not sure. I am definately not old enough to remember that...although I do have the 67...what a different animal in itself to drive. Thank god i put those disc brakes on the front...4 wheel drums are accidents waiting to happen. Hey i started writing this before you were finished. I'm with ya...of course something is going to need maintenance...i mean these trannys get abused. I don't know how they hold up as long as they do. Chris Christopher Petro 94 sts 67 coupe de Ville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl425 Posted July 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 "Have your sweety get out of her Beemer and into your Cadillac. Have her place left foot on the brake, and crowd the gas with her right foot. With the hood open, you will see the motor rise, 2"+ if the mount is shot!" You mean the front mount, correct? "You either have your FOOT TO the FLOOR 100% of time OR you have a lousy mechanic that is taking you for a RIDE... It also sounds like the maintenance is sub-par.....maybe the wrong fluids are being utilized... This is NOT criticism, but your experience is not typical..." Sorry, neither in this case. Now a LOT of the mentioned maintenance was done at a dealer where I didn't know the people doing it, you just have to trust them. I wasn't about to go somewhere else and pay out of my pocket, especially for what some of that would have cost, for repairs to a 2-year-old $50k+ vehicle with 40K on it... The guy who did the work post-warranty is VERY knowledgable on Caddy's and has been good so far. But he was in FL, and I'm not anymore... There was another post on the board about high-effort/hard steering? Anyone see that? How common is it for the rack to go out? The pumps been done twice and I still have this problem. How do you check the rack? Also, someone else mentioned checking the engine/tranny alignment, how can this be done? Thanks for the help so far. CRP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike5514 Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 This post is leading in the direction of the dealers honesty in doing warranty work. I have enough knowledge in this subject to be dangerous. In the 60s I worked for (I thought) a good cadillac dealer. Every one hated warranty work mechanics.service manager and the owner the reason is that no one made money doing it. The factory boys would come down and have a meeting with the service manager and throw out a no. of claims, eddie was not a happy guy at these meetings. In 85 I bought my first new gmc pick up and shortly I noticed the oil pressure needle sweeping the dial very fast back and forth. I was going out of town so the wife took it in, well they told her it needed a new engine would not let her take the truck home told her it was not her truck anymore It was raining she had to call for a ride or walk in the rain they would not give her a ride home. When I returned to pick up the truck the old guy behind the counter threw a brg. on the counter and said this is the brg. out of your bad engine, it looked like it had a 100000 miles on it. I did not say any thing, I hate it when people think Im stupid and in those days I would often get out of control so I kept my mouth shut signed the paper work and went and got the truck. I have to admit that it seemed to me that the engine was not changed. GMC did not loose a customer that day but the dealer did and possably more, the wife would tell everyone. My question is do the dealers make money on warranty work and are willing to lose customers by saying things need to be replaced when in fact they dont. The half case problem is it likely they did not even replace it? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adallak Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 There was another post on the board about high-effort/hard steering? Anyone see that? How common is it for the rack to go out? The pumps been done twice and I still have this problem. How do you check the rack? How's your steering wheel's returnability? There is a tensioner (spring preloded) which regulates the tension in steering rack and pinion junction. If you turn that tensioner just another 60 degrees or so it will be very hard to turn the wheel and the returnability will be bad as well. You could just try to loosen that part a little bit and see if it helps. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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