How similar would the Northstar Caddy engine be to that in an Olds Aurora? My b in l is a mechanic and he told a horror story of a failed oilpan gasket in an Aurora. They had to pull the engine and tranny and separate the two in order to change the gasket because the exhaust loops through it somehow such that you cannot get the pan off without doing so. I don't recall all of the details but I do recall him saying they used $3K in labour to change an inexpensive gasket. While they had it apart they had a look at bearings etc and he said all else looked good but they wondered how long the new gasket would last. I think the issue is heat from the exhaust cooks the gasket.
Randy -----Original Message----- From: mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com]on Behalf Of Donald Snook Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 7:57 AM To: 'Mercedes@okiebenz.com' Subject: [MBZ] Snook's Caddy was Re: One down and one to go Kaleb wrote: "that Northstar is a total piece of crap isnt it?" That is what I used to think. I always heard "don't buy the first generation Northstar." They were great technology and lots of power. AND in general, that is probably a safe bet to avoid them because they have head gasket problems and the "midcase" gasket leaks oil. HOWEVER, mine has already been fixed. My Indy bought this car for his son to drive to college. I remember when he got it in - it was a bought a year ago. It was a one owner car and the previous was very picky about the car. But, he got hurt pretty bad at one of the local aviation places and parked for the 3 years while he was rehabbing. When my Indy got the car, it was totally filthy-covered in muck and mud. The tires were all flat, and it would barely run. He yanked out the engine (which is the only way to fix the midcase gasket) and fixed the head gasket including all new head bolts, fixed the midcase gasket, new plugs, coils, water pump, and of course all the fluids. He really fixed it up for his son to drive. But, his son is a car guy too, and found a Audi TT convertible. So, the Cadillac came back for sale. The only problem with it is that a CD is stuck in cd player. It doesn't play. So, if you hit eject, it tries to eject and says "err." After that, the radio comes on and everything works fine except the CD. Donald H. Snook _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
