Expert: Rob Painter - 5/14/2011

Question
I'm trying to remove the harmonic and I'm thinking i need to lower the motor to remove so i can replace gaskets for water leak i put a new pump and gasket but it was still leaking what do you recommend.

Answer
Hello,

Included are a couple other answers germane to your current problem and the news is not good. There is a lot of information here, but it puts into cntext as to how dire your engine condition may be.

I recommend going very cautiously. This aluminum engine once over heated can be instant junk! If you look at my archives for overheating, you will find that if you have a minimum of what appears to be a head gasket(s) problem (affect and never the cause) and until you get the heads off and checked, you could very well have a cracked block. Junk yard engines are just that-junk and almost all have engine damage from overheating!
Commonly the only recourse is to either install a brand new GM crate engine at $4K or junk the car.

I try constantly to warn people that because this engine is aluminum, once the temp gauge is to hot, it is already too late, the engine is melting away!! If the temp gauge hits 3/4 in one of these cars, the engine needs to be shut down! By the time the hot light comes on, its far too late to save it!

As I have said hundreds of times, this is not the cast iron engine out of a old Chevy! Made since 1982, Cadillac made billions on parts and engines! Many engines were equipped with a switch that would shut off the fuel if the oil pressure got too low, but not one of these aluminum engines shut down getting to warm.

I have said it before and I am going to do it. I am going to have a quick video of an aluminum can placed on a heated surface, showing that it melts in seconds. THAT IS THE CADILLAC ALUMINUM ENGINE!!!

Not real sure on yours because you did not give year and model, but commonly, one can pull the right wheel and maybe you can get in there to remove the balancer. Not sure as to why you are removing the balancer.

These Cadillac overheating issues are pandora's box and have so many different reasons for overheating. Something as small as RTV gasket material remains will cause the engine to overheat and as I said, head gaskets are not the cause, but the effect.


I have more info if you want it, but you now have a money pit.


here are some answers I saved from these kind of uestions. Hope they help----


Cadillac should have put a big orange sticker on the dash of these cars "Warning, this engine can never be run over 220 degrees f. with coolant and 212 f with straight water, or catastrophic damage will occur to this aluminum engine!"

Of course with this label they would have not sold cars, but instead they have made billions on new engines and parts! In fact, this had all the makings of a class action, but GM went bankrupt so good luck on that!

I think I am going to make a video of a fire. Then I will throw an aluminum can in it to demonstrate what happens to aluminum with heat applied. It takes seconds for the can to melt and that is what happens to these fine Cadillac aluminum engines. The problem is so rampant, that if you go to a junk yard to get an engine that has not been destroyed by overheating, it would be a miracle and then you better play the lottery because you have a better chance of winning that before you find a good engine!

Look in my archives, you will see plenty about these engines and their destruction by over heating. By the time the hot light comes on in the cluster, it is already to late!

Its very common for people to drive this aluminum engine hot until they get the car to a "safe" location and all that time, the engine and components are melting down!

My last answer a couple days ago reflects the poor engineering in the aluminum Cadillac engine that premered in 1982. Even AMC and Renault made a better engine in the 80's. It too was aluminum, but pistion liner kits could be installed making it so at least the engine was not destroyed. The Renault Alliance and Encore engines were engineered better, however it is my opinion Cadillac just wanted to steal billions from the drivers of their fine cars. Cadillac made the money on new engine, parts and replacement cars.

You have a better chance of winning the lottery than you do finding a good engine in the junk yard. 99% of junk yard engines are just that--junk!

A 1992 with the 4.9 also gives you very few options because the 1990 had a 4.5 and I believe the 1991 did as well and in 1993 the 4.6 North star was introduced.

Now, to your question and to what else could be leaking. If not a hose, could be a problem with a freeze plug or more likely a blown head gasket which is never the cause, but the effect of overheating. These engines are so problematic. What you need is for a service center (not a dealer because Cadillac already ripped you off indirectly by making this engine with its lack of prevention to keep the engine from overheating) and have a cooling system pressure test to find the leak. As I said, I am leaning towards a head gasket, cracked head or even a cracked engine block. Hopefully it is not as serious.

There are 2 problems changing a head gasket. You don't know what caused the over heating in the first place unless you know for a fact that the water pump was bad. Maybe you did not need a water pump but a head gasket instead. In that case, you need to fix the reason for overheating before you go driving off or a half hour later you will need another head gasket or two!

The other problem is that after the head gasket is changed if that was the problem, you don't know what other engine damage there is. This has the potential to turn into a money funnel real quickly.

Look at my archives on this site for overheating damage to the aluminum engine in a Cadillac.

I really wish you nothing but the best here. It would have been nice like Cadillac and others did with oil pressure. If oil pressure got to low, the engine would stall. They should have done that for overheating as well!

Here is another--think you have a co


http://www.autotheftexpert.com


I cannot tell you al the specifics as to what it takes to remove the heads in this specific engine in your specific car and even if I could give you a general idea, a general idea will possibly cause you to remove parts you didn’t have to.

To even attempt such a feat, even for a professional that works on engines on a daily basis, it would be fool-hardy without specific information on that make and model. You must have a factory service manual, and you are going to run into real troubles if you don’t have this information for reinstalling the heads, because critical information such as how tight the bolts are to be torqued when reinstalling the heads and manifold. It will cost you $30 saving you hundreds of dollars to obtain a downloaded version for a year at http://www.alldata.com

Here is what the manual doesn’t tell you and this information is shared with you by a guy that has owned over 20 Cadillacs and has serviced thousands in over 30 years of being a technician.

Your engine most likely is not worth attempting to change two head gaskets because if the engine got hot enough to blow both gaskets, there is most likely more than head gasket problems with this aluminum engine.

What people don’t understand and I have explained this often here, is although this engine is great for performance and mileage, it Achilles’ heel is heat. People are so used to (evidently) over heating engines and continue driving them until it is convenient for them to shut them off. Yes, one can get away with this with at the very most a blown head gasket in an iron blocked, iron head engine. You do it on one of these Cadillac aluminum engines, first introduced in 1982, the results can be fatal for the engine and I suspect that may be the tale of the engine you want to remove the heads from.

I answer an average of these over heating issues on Cadillacs once a week and yet these questions continue the pop up over the last 10 years.

As I stated in my last overheated aluminum engine question, the next time I have a bon fire going, I am going to video an aluminum can being thrown into it and melting in seconds. Picture this as being your engine above 212 degrees f. with water or 220.degrees w/coolant. By the time the hot light comes on, there is already severe engine damage and you don’t even know the extent of the damage until you remove the head. If you need two head gaskets, you might need new heads, possibly an engine block and that is just figuring for the effect damage and not the original cause for over heating!

Well, you figure; “alright, I will just get a new (junk yard) engine.” I have never seen a junk yard Cadillac engine that wasn’t over heated and damaged.


How about new? If some dealer still has a new crate motor, you are looking at $4k minimum just for the engine without labor and fluids (and you still do not know if you fixed the over heating issue that caused the head gaskets to blow)

Cadillac engineers ripped the consumer off here in my opinion. Either that or their engineers that designed the engine were inferior to those with Renault/AMC and the Alliance and Encore.

If the aluminum engines in their cars were over heated (all the time) and destroyed by the drivers, at least one could still have a good engine block at least, because a piston liner kit was available. The cylinder head may have been warped, cracked or junk, but the block would not be because the pistons and cylinders could be replaced.

I have said it before-trial attorneys really dropped the ball here. They go after anyone they could, but they left GM alone on this issue where 9 out of 10 of these Cadillac engines had over heating issues costing the owner substantial cash. GM made billions and billions on either replacement engine parts, or engines.

One person asked if they should have the head gasket replaced from the dealer. My answer was GM already ripped offed countless people and then you would give them more money to repair their inferior product?

Think about this—talk about a guaranteed cash flow—they made this aluminum engine varying in cubic centimeters, but the concept was the same since 1982!

Good luck on those heads!


















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