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Cadillac Repair/87 sedan Deville Tension Pulley

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Expert: - 1/1/2010


Question
Hello and thanks for your time,I Have a 87 Sedan Deville,the tension pulley gave out.Ive tired to repair but its come down the fact that its now in half and the housing is cast aluminum.ive tried my local junkyards to find most don't carry cars older then 99.So my question is Are there any other cars with this part that I could search for.Also I've looked for a new part the ones I've seen look nothing like the one I pulled out.Do they still make parts for my engine?Any ideas you could throw my way would be appreciated,thanks again.

Answer
Hello,

You can thank the great government program supported by tax payer's dollars "Cash for clunkers", which has dried up the market for engine parts. Your 87 is a 4.1 in which 89 was the last year Cadillac used that engine. For the sake of stYingvexactly the same as what you have you only have 87, 88, 89 deville, Seville, eldo and Allante.

This gives you a very small chance of finding exactly what you need.

The bigger cities still have smaller yards that may have the older Cadillacs.  This may be a challenge, doing things the old fashioned way by going through the yellow pages and newspapers.

I know of plenty of these yards in the Milwaukee area that are not linked to the big yards, but many times even at pick and pulls, they don't know what is in their inventory.  In situations like yours, I have spent a day or two looking for one part and most of the time have found it.

You may also try eBay or craigs list with a wanted ad.

I really hope my thoughts might help you. This car may be great, but you are starting to see why you may want to replace it in the future. This is why I have a 99 chevy suburban. Almost everything is the same 92 up.


Good luck!

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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