I need the help of all experienced Cadillac owners out there.

I am the recent owner of a 1989 Cadillac Eldorado. This is my first Cadillac, the car is a great find, just over 104,000 miles but runs like a car with half its mileage.

When I purchased the car and drove it there was about 5 gallons of gas in it. [/i]I filled up one time and drove with myself and 1 passenger for about 100 miles with no problems. Then I drove it about 120 miles with four people in the car, 2 up front and 2 in back without any problems. I filled up and drove another 35-45 miles. Then while going over a “speed bump” sized hump the car bottomed out, this happened twice on two different bumps. The first time it happened, a passenger and I were in the front seats and my teenage son was in the back seat. The second time, there were 4 people total in the car, two in front and two in back.

I am suspecting the struts are in need of replacement based on the fact that this only occurred when the car was full of gas. I am guessing with 3 or more people plus the full tank weight the back end was pulled down, and the car bottomed out since the struts were not doing their job. The one curious thing to me is that when I push down on each side of the rear wheels the car quickly returns to its normal position and doesn’t bounce afterward at all. Am I on the right track in condemning the struts or should I be looking elsewhere?

A couple of follow up questions, if the struts are bad, which ones are the best to go with? I see both air and nitrogen from several different makers. Also, is this something the do-it-yourself auto mechanic can tackle? Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Hey Dave: From what I can gather from my manual the Eldorado has an air ajustable strut. Can you find a connection any where for an air hose???Make sure the mounts are good on your tranverse leaf spring. Also you have the ELC ( Electronic Level Control) on the left strut, check that it is doing it's job to keep you car at height. It does look like the job can be tackled by a car guy without too much hastle. Hope this helps..............

 

Brougham,
Since our discussion the car has not bottomed outlike before.?? But, I will check out those items you mentioned and keep you posted on what happens.

Thanks for the advice!