Cadillac Repair/97 seville

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Expert: - 3/26/2010


Question
Rob, I have a 97 seville just exchanged the engine around 800 miles ago because original engine had head gasket problems. In the 800 miles I Have never had a heating problems. Today I had driven 45 miles and I noticed my instrument panel said the ac had turned off to save the engine(I was doing about 60mph). I knew to look at the heat gauge which was in the red. I put some water in it and it got me back home 45 miles without running hot. The instrument panel said I had 0 oil life left. I checked and was a little over a quart low. When I left home it said I had 74% oil life left. Could this car have ccran hot because the oil was low.

Answer
Hello,

Well, the reason the head gaskets in the old engine were bad is from overheating. Very common on these aluminum engines.

You better get the car looked at by a service garage now!

Oil being a quart low will not cause to over heat. Using water is not good because your boiling point is 212 instead of 220.

I hope you did not do engine damage with the gauge pegged.

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Rob Painter

Expertise

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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