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Cadillac Repair/firing order for 1981 deville 6.0

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Expert: - 9/18/2009


Question
I have a 1981 cadillac deville on the fan cover it says it comes with a 4.1 but it is not the original motor in it the guy that i got it from said it might be a 6.0 .  How can i tell if its a 6.0 and if you would happen to know the firing order for the 6.0?

Answer
Hello,

Makes me wonder if this was one of those diesel to gas conversions. The common engine for 81 was the 4-6-8- 368 c.i.. If so, should be noted on outside of car. Some, rarely used a 307 olds and my memory is not good enough to tell you if they even used the 4.1 in 81'.

To figure out what you have from the factory can be decoded from the VIN and you should be able to get this information from the dealer. I remember the "N" used for diesel. If it does not have the factory engine in it, you will need to find the engine number and the problem with that is that there are different locations on the blocks for different engines.

Take a pic of the engine and possibly I can tell you what it is by looking at the pic.

It was common for the 4.1 to have chrome valve covers where the 368 I remember as being blue or green. The 368 also had goofy valve covers if I remember right for the 4-6-8. The 368 was a real good engine if you had it run at all times 8 cyl which was just a matter of disconnecting one wire.

The 4.1 (I still don't think it was available that year) was either good or bad. Many came from the factory with a knock.

The olds engine was easy to identify because it had the oil filler tube in the front of the engine.

Hope all this helps. I am really straining my memory here.

Rob

Cadillac Repair

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Rob Painter

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Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?

Experience

Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.

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