Hello folks:

New member with a serious problem, bought a 2002 eldorado ETC 44000 miles, beautiful car, ran like a champ for 120 miles as I drove back from Ohio to SC when it started to over heat....quickly make a long story short, got to a caddy dealership they did a test for combustion gases in the coolant and it turned from blue to yellow, said it probably blew a head gasket. what is your take on this situation... could the block also be cracked
motor ran beautiful even after overheating... don't know what to do please give me your opinion
thanks

 

nothing we can do ...

going by the diagnosis, it is a engine teardown to determine problem.
hope it is the headgasket and not a crack.

 

Not always, but usually the heads.

 

Thanks for the information, if the heads were pulled would a qualified mechanic be able to spot a crack. My problem is I am a former NIASE mechanic who did many engines, I had my own machine shop,but not these newer motors... so I am kind of kicking myself for not doing a combustion analysis before buying the car... the beauty got me. If I was to replace the enginewould you go with a remanufactured from a rep. company like JAsper or a GM crate engine.

Thanks for the help

 

Crate motor will be big $$$

I have done many Northstar cylinder head removals and never have i found a bad one.
The head bolt holes will most likely need to be drilled out and rethreaded (timeserts installed)
I suggest a Caddy dealer or someone with Northstar rebuild experience.

 

I agree most likely the head blots pulled. Who ever does the repair make sure they are qualified, that they offer a warranty that covers labor and materials 100% and that they provide you with a copy of their insurance policy that covers the type of work they will perform. If you proceed with the repair and the head bolts did pull have inserts installed in every hole on both sides. Do your research before you spend your money! Timesert my have a Bigsert for this engine or search ebay for (Northstar engine head bolt thread insert kit M!! x 1,5)

 

Also note that the Timeserts do not always hold. And if they do hold. they usually dont hold forever. Just from my experience. I have not seen a cracked head , though i have seen cracked blocks that leak coolant externally.

 

holy macro ..

look at them all guys
on this thread. what are the chances of that on other sites?

the only one i see missing is the Katz Tech ...





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Stomper

You're not kidding. I really enjoy reading what these guys post. This site seems to have gotten better since I joined, as far as answering questions. I thinks I'll be hangin 'round here a while.