Hey Everyone!

I love my 'new' car. My first car was a GM (88 Bonneville) when I was 15/16 and I loved it. It drove for forever despite my maltreatment! (it was a garbage can/mailbox killer!)
The second I could, I bought a caddy, 87 Brougham.. pewter... so sweet! Wrecked it... NOT my fault I tell you!
Then I got stuck with a freaking Honda *gag* what a nightmare. I just love driving down the road in my matchbox car! *sarcasm*

So, for about 6 weeks now I've been on cloud nine driving my very own 1999 SLS. I got a great deal on it, it's got low miles, very few blemishes, etc etc!
HOWEVER! The thing is already begging for my money! I put 400 dollars in it for a freaking tune-up (plugs and wires and a carbon treatment... all of which I could have probably done myself, but I am too lazy!)

The tune up made the 'engine misfire' code go away (thank goodness!) however, the engine will still rock back and forth for a good bit when I start it in the morning! That can't be good... I don't think it's a motor mount, I had one go out in the Bonneville a while back, so I know what that looks/feels like. The engine also doesn't jerk back when I open up the throttle.

Along with the rocking back and forth, sometimes the stupid thing will act like it doesn't want to turn over! If I go beeboppin around town and make a few stops, after the third or fourth she just doesn't want to turn over. Is that my fuel pump going out on me? Or is an electrical (battery) thing?

I'm off work on Friday and want to go into the shop (need oil change) and look like I know what I'm talking about when I run down the list of things the car is doing. If ya'll could give me some tips on trouble shooting this, that'd be awesome!

Take it easy!
-deadgirl

 

Engine R&R? Off the bat sounds like the engine is chocking, too much fuel - not sure.
How is the exhaust in the morning start? smoke, smells?

IF the engine is not turning over you most likely got:
battery issue, starter overheating, or the engine is getting a bit too hot and tight.

Nothing you said leads me to the fuel pump.

Great deals usually have a back door. NOT including tires, I always expect to put in about $1,000 into a new acquisition that is about 5 years old, regardless of the make of car - assuming no serious problems. Yours, most likely wont be any different.

IF your battery is older than a couple of years, I would start there. You cant go wrong with that, as you are going to need one soon, regardless of any current issues.

IF your coolant is two years old, change it out, but dont let them flush! Read our FAQ section.

Also, did any of these problems start AFTER the carbon treatment? Why did it get the treatment?
check out this thread: https://www.cadillacforum.com/m_9792/tm.htm

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i agree with stealth why did they do a carbon treatment? usually that is an upsell. I also have a 99 seville sls. the engine does have a little rock to it. it is a northstar v8..bought mine same condition as you for $9000. nomajor problems but they are expensive to work on. the one time I brought my car to cadillacfor the car stalling with no codes. they forgot tohook uptwo of my wires and it almost blew my engine. never again did i go to caddy...the tune up only cost maybe $50-$75(8 plugs x $2.00, $29.00 for new wires, $20 for oil andfilter, $7 for a plug in fuel filter) cheap to do self. \\

anyways find out what they did make sure everything is is connected, check pvc valve that is cheap and easy to do,any codes,check engine light.. if you havent read my last post beg it is not the starter

 

i hope it's not the starter either!!

the carbon treatment = total upsell, and i told them i was savvy to it... i just couldn't help giving in, though. all in all, my MPG increased significantly from what i can tell.

as for the rocking, it was doing it when i test drove it and just assumed it was an engine misfire. a couple days later my light came on and i ran the code and it was a misfire. so i take it to the dealer and those jerks tell me that magically (they wouldn't tell me how they figured this out...) they came to the conclusion that i was leaking coolant into my engine and thats whats causing the misfire. then they told me i could trade my car in and they would try to give me a good deal on acertified cadillac... i told them to shove it up thier ***.

so ANYWAYi change the plugs and wires and get the stupid carbon treatment and there's no more code, but the rocking persisted.

i know things like a rocking engine and a car that doesn't want to start sometimes it hard to diagnose and could be a gammit of things. i'm going to take the list of problems ya'll gave me and talk it out with the mechanics tomorrow. (i especially like the one about making sure they connected everything properly!)

 

Stealth,

thanks for the reply. as for the exhaust, there is the typical white smoke (kind cold here, even though it's FL) and it smells like a ozone-hole-makin' caddy.

as for the engine getting hot and tight, you might be on to something there b/c a few days ago (after driving 100mph from new orleans to tallahassee on I-10 for five hours) my low eninge coolant light came on. so what do i do cuz im broke and in a hurry? -- put water in it... so now when i run it, even though the gauge doesnt read hot it feels like a lot of heat is coming through the vents into the car. i'm going to fix all that tomorrow. but, hopefully that's why it wasn't turning over.

i still can't figure out why it is rocking so harshly in the morn, though

oh, and you know what else? sometimes (more often than not) when i accelerate in low RPMs i can distinctively hear water bubbling under my dash! it increases and decreases with my acceleration ... how weird is that? any idea on what that could be?

 

I have an update on the rocking engine problem. Turns out I do have an internal coolant leak via a blown head gasket. So I bought some Bar's Leak Radiator Stop Leak to plug up the problem and it worked. No more steam and no more harsh rocking in the morning. I plan on trading the car in for a certified used caddy with a good warranty, but for now the Bar's seems to be working as a quick fix. My car gets a little hot when I sit at a red light for too long, though.