I purchased a 99 cadillac seville sls last week. I had noticed that the temperature gauge was running at 3/4 after driving. I had a friends brother whom is a mechanic look at it, and he tried burping the system. After working on it for an hour, the temperature gauge ran at 1/2 and blow hot air. 4 hours later, the heat was blowing out cold air. I immediately called a garage and drove it over to them and everything drove fine. The mechanic called and said I needed a new thermostat, then 3 hours later called and said I need a new water pump and serpentine belt, which I approved. The mechanic kept telling me that the car would be done the following day, so I sent my daughter down to pay for it , so it could be picked up after they had closed. I also had him put new tires on it, and do a front end wheel alignment. Over $1100.00 for everything. The mechanic kept telling me it would be done last night, we kept calling and stopping by. Well today he called and said my car was done. I went down to pick it up and he was closed. He left a note on my seat saying low on gas, and he has now came to the conclusion that a head gasket was blown, or a cracked head. Now I Know for a fact that was not true because they was no white smoke, no antifreeze in the oil, no antifreeze leaking, and the antifreeze stayed at its level. When I went to start the car it wont even start, was completely out of gas, and battery was dead. I went and got gas, tried jumping the car with my other cadillac, and it wont even start, and now it is reading that steering needs serviced, and suspension system problem. I never had any of this prior to taking this car to this mechanic. He now has my money and also my car, because it wont start. I really need the help of any type of information. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Wow, what a story. Have you used this guy before? I'd just get him to get the car started first thing Monday and get the H out of there. Clearly he screwed the steering job but get away from him.

 

wow what a horror story!!! dang......
it sure sounded like a thermostat in the beginning, however knowing the n*s, well i guess wishful thinking. i guess i'd like to know if this is a dealer (caddy) working this for you or a private owned shop you do business with, and how well versed is he with Cadillac?
how many miles on the car? and prior to buying did you know any history?

as Katz said get the car out of there SOON,get a second opinion first. as i looked thru the history of my '99 sts it too had same things going on w/ temp gague. water pump, and thermostat was the fix there. so.... This guy sounds like a "milk job" to me.
goodluck, and keep us posted.
hey, welcome to the Forum!!
rickyd

 

Katzman & Rickyd:

Thank you in advance for your responses. The mechanic was not a cadillac dealer, I was actually recommended to him by 2 other people. When I spoke to him,he specifically said he was very familiar with cadillacs and has done alot of work on them. What is strange, the only time he would call me is when he needed to sell me something. Like I said in my beginning post, I had a certified mechanic look at that car, and confirmed no blown head gasket, and no cracked head. The car drove like a dream prior to taking it into him. I pre-paid the bill, because he called and said I found your problem, the water pump, after flushing and filling the system. The only way he could accomplish this is by the car running. I am so afraid he has totally messed this motor up. I have now hired an attorney, filed a complaint with the BBB, and also Attorney General Office for the State of Ohio. While talking with other people in this town, he has done the same thing to them. While I was there on Thursday, he asked me if I worked for a previous Chevrolet dealership in finance and I had said yes, but now I am a Loan Officer for a Mortgage company. Also while there , his landlord was present stating he wanted the business financed and off of land contract. The prior day, his wife talked to my daughter stating the fact she just lost her job, and my daughter was kind enough to give her some job leads. Sorry to ramble, I feel the mechanic done this on purpose. He was also upset, because I also own another cadillac that is in showroom condition when I pulled up?All I am looking for is advice. I really don't think he can even get the car started, that is my opinion. I was not trying to cut costs, just trying to support a small town business.

 

good..... please let the Forum know the out come. i'm real curious.
good luck
rickyd

 

Wanted to give everyone an update on this situation. I called the mechanic/owner/ after not receiving a phone call, and he spoke very nervously to me today, to say that my fuel pump regulator needed replaced. I asked him why my car was sitting there with a note, with no gas and a dead battery, and his comment was " did you try cranking on the motor" my response, "how do you start a car with a dead battery"? He then proceeded to tell me how he drove it down to put gas into it, so I asked so you have it running, he said no. He also said that he checked the pressure coming through the fill tank of the radiator and it was reading between 17-19lbs and should only be 13-14lbs. I immediately asked him, then why did you not check this in the beginning when I explained the problem, no answer, then I proceeded to ask, well then you are telling me, I did not need a new thermostat , nor a water pump, and he would not answer that either.He did however, say he talked to a general motors service manager that said that a recall was issued for this year on head bolts. Problem is , my vin is notlisted in these numbers. He said when the delivered the regulator, that it was wrong, and he would have a new one in the morning. The good thing is, he is calling me at work where our conversations are being recorded. I did file the complaint through the attorney general of the state of ohio, and I don't think I should move this car? Any advice would greatly be appreciated.

 

The problem is that in a 99 car these are things that typically go so I think it would be hard to prove negligence. It is a horror story for sure but could be coincidental on the fuel regulator. I don't think I would permit him to work on th ecar any longer. I think I would have had it towed to another shop.

My mechanic of 15 years recently retired so I had to find another one. I tested a couple with small insignifciant jobs and one guy failed terribly so good bye. The other guy went to high school with my BIL so he is not about to screw me over BUT it just shows how important finding a trusted mechanic is.

 

Finally today we picked upthe car after all this work was done, and now it is worse than before. If you drive the car for 2 miles, the engine temperature goes all the way into the red, and will not come back down, and heater is not blowing any type of hot air at all. The information center is reading engine hot, ac/off-steering wheel service. The mechanic replaced the thermostat, flush and filled twice, and replaced the water pump, and serpentine belt. $1100.00 later the car is worse than what it was before, and I won't drive the car because of this problem. I did complain to the Attorney Generals office, and we were to have a conference call at 4:00 yesterday, but the attorney generals office never called me back, after they set up the appointment. Any advice?

 

Wow, just bought a 99STS for a song (less then 1/3d of private party value by KBB) and I was terrified of the dreaded Head gasket problem. Mine has been perfect so far (except for some very minior things). Unfortantly it really does (from your description) look like you do have a head gasket problem. Unless he did something very wrong with the replacement parts... thermostat upside down, bad waterpump ( i actully had one of those many years ago, brand new, but no good, wasnt fun to figure out, as with new parts you just assume they work). And no matter how bungling the mechanic was I dont think he can make a head gasket fail.

i think about all you could get out of this is maybe the price of the new parts and labor as your car didnt need them. the actual problem (head gasket, if that is what it is) was just not diagnosed correctly.

I have run into somewaht hte same problems before (air conditioner pump replaced, they didnt put in o-rings.. clearly the shops fault, after many hours and phone calls, (to attorneys and so on) i ate half the cost just to get it done) Nowdays I talk with the shop/mechanic, state that no trouble lights, codes are showing, and that i have ran into problems like yours so want them to start it and confirm that all is well (besides actual problem i take it in for). I know one should probebly take it even further, some paperwork signed.. but I doubt you could get that.

You just have to decide how much effort/time its worth, or just chalk it up to "live and learn"... I hate to hear stories like yours as I know all to well the feeling and talking to those people, "geez, to bad, pay me" burns you up .. but sometimes you gotta fight the battles you can win ( and keep your sanity and life and just eat it on some so you dont waste hours and more money on it).

GOOD LUCK!

 

Unfortunately I have had the same overheat issue. I did a maintenence coolant change and the
car started puking coolant. An intermediate hose(?) went. However the real problem was indeed
the head gasket. I had both replaced and she ran fine after that. It sounds like a head gasket
to me.