Yeah I guess I will check the battery I mean it was like 42 degrees here today and I had the same damn problem again... anyhow Now I'm getting low oil is that **** normal?

 

Well 42 isn't that cold but once it starts to die it's best to just get a new one.

Low Oil, unfortunately oil usage in Northstars is common, but so common not to be a big concern. One of the best things about a Cadillac is it tells you about problems. Imagine driving around with low oil and not knowing it. Is it time for an oil change? Might be a good time to do a piston ring cleaning.

Here is what I know about this. You need to get the rings cleaned. This is a job for a mechanic and probably best left to the dealer. Cadillac says to use cleaner kit PN 12378545 and you need a Kent-Moore J-45076 induction/evacuation tool. Cleaner is added to the cylinders through the spark plug holes and allowed to soak for 2 hours. Next vac*** out the crude and excess cleaner then do an oil change. Also clean the throttle body and EGR valve at the same time.

After that make sure you check underhood every month or whatever interval you like but not more than one month, when you stop forgas fill up. This way you will be on top of all fluid levels that are critical for good performance.

 

Yeah well I'm getting tired of the car... I am spending too much money on stuff... but I guess thats just a Cadillac... I want to get rid of it.

 

What you are experiencing is regular maintenace on a 7 year old car. You have to decided what is best for you but you have a premium automobile that imo will last you another 7 years. Yes you have to mainatain it, just like any car. Some people want new cars but iIhave always taken care of my autos and recieved many years good service from them. My 34 year old hobby car runs better than many people's 2004 because I take care of it. It's you money but these starting issues you just told us don't warrant getting rid of a classy ride like the 00 STS. I don't even consider your car old.

PS. I just noticed that you have posts all over this board on things from stability errors to non start conditions, to car just turning off. Have you owned this car from new?

 

Nope havent owned it since new...
I guess it is normal maintence... I need to get the sensor to fix the stability issue... the car has never shut off again... it happened one time on a real ice cold night... that could be part of the battery as well...

 

Ya, for sure your battery is the culprit once I put those two posts together. Bad connections+cold +low battery = no start. You never know how a previous owner cared for the car so you have to do some catch up before it settles down.

Ride out the storm, you have to lay down $30,000 here in Canada just to get a basic Camry, so why get into something like that? You have a Cadillac, and nothing else can announce your arrival like that.

 

Katzmans is absolutley right, a Northstar engine burns approximatley one quart of oil every thousand miles. The Northstar engine is a very high reving motor, not to mention it has deep oil groves throughout thecylinders for better oil retention and flow.

The reason the Northstar hold roughly 7 1/2quarts of oil, is due to the oil breaking down and evaporating. The larger amount of oil, protects you're engine life.Like any cars; Cadillacs have their share of problems, but with proper maintenance they'll run forever.

Unfortunatly you never know whatproblems your going to have, when a car is purchased used.

Good luck.
Tony

 

Try the procedure as posted below. It's a great exercise for your motor.








" I swear these are great for cars, make sure to do it on a HOT engine (not when your coolant gauge reaches the middle, that just means the coolant is hot, not the oil) make sure its been running 15+minutes, you can down shift too to keep the revs up (pull the tranny down to the gear you want before it shifts to a higher one, downshifting an auto isnt the best thing to do) and run it hard for a few minutes, obviously if your car is falling apart i wouldnt reccomend this, so be careful, but it can have great results.
Heres what the cadillac forums guys reccomend for N* owners, but it works on any engine:

"There are many advantages to occasional full throttle accelerations with a Northstar and any engine.

It keeps the carbon cleaned out of the combustion chamber. This is maybe a little more important with the Northstar than some other engines due to the tight squish volumes between the piston and the cylinder head. It's designed this way to promote good in-cylinder mixture motion (good combustion) but it has the down side of providing a ready place for carbon build-up to touch the piston - causing noise. Ever heard of the Northstar "cold carbon rap" problem?? Simply put you'll hear a rythmic, piston slap-like noise when the engine is cold. Very prominent and very annoying. Cause: excessive carbon build up causing the the piston to contact the carbon on the head - causing it to rock in the bore and "slap" Much more evident when the engine is cold and the pistons haven't expanded to full diameter yet. Simplest and easiest "fix" for this: A few good WOT (wide open throttle) accelerations to clear the carbon out. That is all it takes to eliminate the problem and prevent it from re-occurring.

Occasional WOT accelerations also help seat the rings to the ring lands and exercise the rings and keep them mobile and from becoming stuck in carbon in the ring lands. At high RPM and WOT the rings move around on the piston - they actually rotate on the piston and will polish away any carbon and seat themselves to the sides of the ring grooves. This is especially important on the 2000 and later Northstars which had hard anodized top ring lands on the pistons. Very hard and wear resistant - also harder to break-in and seat the rings to the sides of the ring-lands to promote the best possible seal. Many oil consumption complaints on the 2000 and later engines are related, to some extent, with the rings never seating to the sides of the ring-grooves due to lack of load as the engine was babied around forever. Even engines with rings stuck in the ring-grooves due to carbon build up can eventually be freed up with enough high RPM operation.

WOTs warm up the engine thoroughly and clean out the exhaust due to temperature in the exhaust and high flow rates blasting particles, rust and such out of the system.

Frequent WOT operation will not hurt the engine or the transmission. They're designed for that. The healthiest engines that I have seen at high miles are always the ones that are run the hardest. Rings are free on the pistons and sealing; no carbon buildup.

The exercise that I think works best for many things is to select manual 2nd gear on an isolated stretch of expressway. This takes the transmission shifting out of the question if you are worried about hurting it. Start at 55 MPH or so and go to WOT in 2nd gear and hold it until the RPM reaches near the normal shift point - i.e. 6500 for an L37 and 6000 for an LD8. Hold the throttle wide open until the engine reaches, say, 6200 for an STS and then just let completely off the throttle. Leave the transmission in 2nd so that the engine brakes the car and creates some pretty heavy over-run conditions at high vacuum levels. Let it slow until it is about 55 or so and then go to WOT again and repeat. This exercise really loads the rings, allows variable RPM operation at WOT for several seconds continuously, creates heavy over-run which tends to unload the rings and make them move and thus exercise them in the ring grooves and it will blow-out carbon and the exhaust - all without creating a spectical of yourself and attracting the attention of cops. You can do it on most any freeway and stay within the 70-75 MPH range allowable. Once a week like this will keep the engine cleaned out and healthy and is DEFINITELY recommended for the Northstar in particular.

The Northstar engine was designed/developed/validated to be run hard. It was expected that people would use the performance of the engine - which few people seem to do. The biggest single problem that many issues stem from is lack of use at full throttle by the owners. It just doesn't like to be babied around. The rings are low-tension by design for good high RPM operating characteristics and low friction/good power. They work best if "used" and kept free.

In every conversation with owners I have had, once the owner started doing the WOTs and using the power of the engine they report no more carbon rap, better oil economy, no "smoke" when they do light it up (keep the exhaust cleaned out. If you notice a "cloud" at WOT then you are not doing enough WOTs...) etc... A bit of judicious use of the other end of the throttle travel is a GOOD thing..."




as reposted by kc

 

Yeah I been doing wide open throttles.... the car moves... I just dont get a chance to drive it like that too often...

 

I have one damn good question?
You guys say it could be the battery... but in the Caddy message center it says that the battery volts are fine? Do you still think it could be the battery if so wouldnt the volts let me know?