Cadillac Eldorado TC 1992-93?

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I *think* I'm on the market for a luxury barge but not too big ie. Fleetwood size. I have been eyeballing the 4.9 litre Eldorado Touring Coupes for a while and I really like it's looks.

I have been reading some stuff on the 4.9 litre engine and it seems to divide people's opinions. I understand that it is not the nightmare a Northstar is but what is it like to own?

Another candidate is a Jaguar XJ40 or X300 with a straight 6. Their biggest probem seems to be rust. Somehow I always come back to look at the Caddies, though.
 
Those year Cadillacs are known to have problems with the electronic dash and AC controls.

The block is Aluminum and the heads are cast iron so if you get one hot you warp the block before the heads. Basically need an engine.They like to leak oil from everywhere and have coolant hoses in inaccessible places.

The castings are so poor that GM requires stop leak be used in the cooling system in a feeble attempt to keep coolant in them.

These cars are definatly in my top 5 most hated. Your Jag is only slightly worse.
 
+1

I've worked on some Cadillacs that leak and leak in some of the hardest areas to get to. Leaky head gaskets, casting porosity; the problems go on and on. The head tech at the shop I worked at put stop leak in every Cadillac whenever we touched any component in the cooling system. 80's-90's Caddys are cooling system nightmares.
 
I had a 90 deville with a 4.5 & PFI which is very similar to the 4.9. I had that car for many years and drove the [censored] out of it. Overall, it was pretty good, but did leave me stuck once with a loose battery cable. Fuel economy was 18 to 26 MPG depending on usage. The problems I experienced were:

-The AIR diverter valve failed causing the SES light to come on. There was no need to replace it as it only took a few about 45 minutes to repair the old one with a little RTV and it lasted for many years after.

-Four of the spark plugs aren't the easiest to reach but not all that bad compared to many newer cars.

-Oil seeped everywhere. It was maybe half a quart between oil changes so I ignored it and called it cheap rust preventative.

-When replacing the water pump as PM, I learned that it has one bolt that's a bit tricky.

-The catalytic converter needed to be replaced once to pass inspection.

And these probably won't be relevant to the Eldo because the car is different:

-Broken motor mounts. I would rip a motor mount every few months.

-The positive battery cable was not properly tightened and eventually loosened causing the car to die on the road.

-The left rear strut developed an air leak.

-The A/C leaked enough that I needed to add half a pound of refrigerant once, but only once.
 
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I had a 93 Deville with the 4.9L. Rated 200hp I think but it ran like a scalded dog. Not a lick of trouble and I sold it at 105k miles and STILL ran like new and looked like new. Miss that car.
 
That's why I kept breaking motor mounts. It had entirely too much low end torque for those mounts, especially considering that there wasn't really any issue with fuel economy.
 
Thanks for the replies.

That does not sound very encouraging with leaking and all.
frown.gif
And that then relates to Deville too with the same engine.

It would mean that with Cadillac I would nee dto "trade" up for LT-1 engined fullsize barge - which makes it a bit too big.

Hmm...perhaps a -97 XJR in British Racing Green.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Finn
Thanks for the replies.

That does not sound very encouraging with leaking and all.
frown.gif
And that then relates to Deville too with the same engine.

It would mean that with Cadillac I would nee dto "trade" up for LT-1 engined fullsize barge - which makes it a bit too big.

Hmm...perhaps a -97 XJR in British Racing Green.
smile.gif




I think A few posters were referring to the Northstar 4.6L engine and didn't see where you were NOT considering that motor, but instead the earlier 4.9L.

Those 4.9L's are stout and strong engines.
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Those 4.9L's are stout and strong engines.

I'm so gutted of the above comments about the Cadillac 4.9 engine that I need to ask if your comment was serious and not sarcastic joke?
 
Originally Posted By: Finn
Originally Posted By: GMBoy
Those 4.9L's are stout and strong engines.

I'm so gutted of the above comments about the Cadillac 4.9 engine that I need to ask if your comment was serious and not sarcastic joke?


No, I am serious. I had excellent service out of one and so have many others I know.
 
A fellow I know at work has one of the Eldos, with a cream roof and interior, and the darkest bottle-green paint I've ever seen. It looks almost black until sunlight hits it -- and then it sparkles. He calls it, logically enough, "The Green Hornet"!
 
I owned two Northstar Cadillacs and they were excellent. I wouldn't hesitate a bit to buy a 4.9L Eldorado. Most folks who talk down on them haven't owned one. I helped moderate a Cadillac internet message board. They have their own quirks, but no worse than any other car of that time.
 
^^^Exactly. There were a TON of those lil northstars sold and the quirks were amplified by the Internet as usual.

Tons of folks had a good time with them, and they remain a great bargain even if they are wrong wheel drive.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I owned two Northstar Cadillacs and they were excellent. I wouldn't hesitate a bit to buy a 4.9L Eldorado. Most folks who talk down on them haven't owned one. I helped moderate a Cadillac internet message board. They have their own quirks, but no worse than any other car of that time.



Well said!


Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
^^^Exactly. There were a TON of those lil northstars sold and the quirks were amplified by the Internet as usual.

Tons of folks had a good time with them, and they remain a great bargain even if they are wrong wheel drive.


Actually they were not Northstars. The 4.5/4.9's were just regular pushrod motors with tons of torque. I compare them to the 3.8V6/3800 but with more power and MPG not much less. The Northstar engines were 4.6L and DOHC with 2 HP ratings 275 and 300 until the last few years when tuning changed power to 291-ish if I recall. The "baby Northstar" was the 3.5V6 in the Intrigue.

But good points none the less.
 
They really are a solid engine. With the exception of the problem of slight oil seepage (typical of GM in general back then) everything that should have been a problem had already been addressed back in the days of the HT 4100. The later three engines were very mature and quite solid.

If you do get one, there are only four things I can say you need to do to be confident it won't break down:
-Check the battery connections for tightness.
-Make sure it hasn't got an ancient, worn out distributor cap on it. Of course, if normal maintenance is kept up this will never be a problem.
-Check that the connectors on the little harness between the distributor pickup and the HEI module haven't fallen apart due to age. If they have, it's an inexpensive part and very easy to replace.
-If the car has an oil cooler in the radiator, make sure those hoses are not leaking at the crimp clamps. This is the one oil leak that must not be allowed to go on should it happen. It won't be just a little seepage, it will leave drips and could eventually blow off completely.

Also, if you ever get a Service Engine Soon or Service Vehicle Soon light, these Caddys were well set up for the do-it-yourselfer to deal with as pre-OBD II cars go. The climate control can display and clear PCM and BCM codes and even display some data in real-time.
 
If it has the full air suspension...I would run. Those are heart-stoppingly expensive to fix.

The digital dash can be great, or a nightmare. (And there is rarely any middle ground.)

Two words: RUN AWAY.
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
If it has the full air suspension...I would run. Those are heart-stoppingly expensive to fix.


They're really not. Not at all.

First, none of these came with "full air suspension". If they have "air suspension", they're simply air shocks in the back, filled with an electric on-board air compressor. They're not like many Fords which used air springs. These are simply air shocks.

Second, what you're probably thinking of is the electronically-controlled dampers, and many of these DID come with those. And they ARE expensive to replace, if you put new electronically-controlled dampers back on. But there are aftermarket solutions that have been long proven effective by Cadillac owners globally.

Arnott Industries is one such aftermarket supplier. For 500 bucks, you can get two front struts and two rear air shocks. That's in line (or in many cases, far cheaper) than replacement dampers for other luxury cars.

https://www.arnottindustries.com/part_CADILLAC_yid6_pid64.html

There is a ton of misinformation about these cars on the internet, and unfortunately, this thread is an example of that.
 
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