You are here:

Cadillac Repair/1989 cadillac sadan de vile

Advertisement

Expert: - 7/30/2010


Question
i just bought a 1989 cadillac saden de vile and my heating core is ''leaking water'' on my passenger side  and steaming threw my dash board. Can i still drive it with out causing serius or internal damge to my egein? Oh yea dis is my first cadi so i dnt know what to do.

Answer
Hello,

I just hope the previous owner did not overheat it. This is a bad design Cadillac has used for close to 30 years.it is an aluminum engine that if driven with the temp guage above 3/4, you are already doing serious damage and over that the engine will self-destruct, causing you repair damage up to 4 x more than the car is worth!

Go to a parts store and have them pick out a flushing "t" for the car.

Under the hood on the pass side are two heater hoses. Cut each one and clamp each hose to the "t."
make sure the screw on cap is tight on the "t."

your heater core is now bypassed until you can afford to get it fixed. Never add straight water especially in these engines! You add anti-feeze also known as coolant depending on region-same thing.

Next, you need to go to a car wash and vacuum all that sweet stuff from the floor. If you carry animals in your car, like a dog or cat, sucking this up will kill them. Also, the passenger's shoes could potentially damage carpeting walking into a house on the bottom of one's shies.

Cadillac Repair

All Answers

Answers by Expert:

Ask Experts

Volunteer

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.

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.