MrsLottaBallsCamaro

My mom is thinking about buying a 93 Cadillac Deville. It has a 4.9L and I don't know a damn thing about that engine. I need any opinions I can get, not just about the engine, but if you know anything about that car, I would appreciate opinions on that too. Thanks!

Engineboy

A few of the problems I see with them are,

Water pumps
intake gaskets
air ride leveling fails
oil cooler lines leak

Now keep in mind that these are things that happen to almost every car out there in time.

As far as I'm concerned, they are a ton better than the 4.1s, make more power, and last longer.

Nice cars overall.

Whats the mileage?

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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R
and 2 POS commuters...

R.I.P. #3
"He can see air"

[This message has been edited by Engineboy (edited September 30, 2001).]

MrsLottaBallsCamaro

It has 59,000 miles on it. The interior looks great, and so does the paint. We should be going to test drive it today or tomorrow.

RB83L69

I have one... my wife's car is a 91 SDV with that motor. It's by far our newest vehicle; it only has about 180,000 miles on it.

Engineboy's comments agree perfectly with our experience. The water pump is an unbelievable hassle. The timing cover leaked when we got it, which was even worse of a hassle, fortunately (!) it needed a water pump at the same time as when I was fixing the MASSIVE oil leak and coolant leak at the front cover. The oil cooler lines are leaking now. The air levelling feature works fine as far as levelling, but the car IMHO drives terrible; it absolutely wallows along the road. If I could put some kind of regular shocks & struts & springs on it, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Another thing that went wrong with ours was that about 2 or 3 injectors went bad. Rather than put in more of the same Multec garbage, I put a set of used stock Mustang ones in it. That made the car feel like it had about 50 more HP. I paid $30 for the injectors and $80 to Cruzin Performance to work them over, I feel it was worth every penny and then some.

My wife really likes the car. It's roomy, comfortable, and quiet. It gets OK gas mileage most of the time, about 17 or 18 around town and 23-25 on the highway.

I've heard from several GM techs that they go through main bearings. In fact, one of my brothers who used to be the service advisor at a Buick dealer told me that one of his techs who owned one would just bring it in and put it on the lift about every 60,000 miles and swap the main bearings out. It's easy to do in those, probably 3 hours tops without a lift and less than 1½ with a lift.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

AaronIROCZ

iTrader: (5)

I used to work at a Cadillac dealership Bett's Cadillac. I gotta tell you there a pain in the a_s to change the oil filter after the coustomer is in the middle of a 1000 mile trip and it is scorching hot. Other that they sure can get up and go!!

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89 Iroc 350 TPI,
Forged pistions
Comp roller Cam .510 lift 230dur
Flowmaster exhaust
Dart Iron Eagle heads 200cc runners 64cc chambers
MINI RAM SOON!!!!!
stock TPI for now 24# inj
87 Trans Am GTA 350 TPI
had engine fire
SHE NOW RUNS!!!! GREAT!!
Flowmaster exhaust
LT1 Injectors

LottaBallsCamaro

Hey baby!

MrsLottaBallsCamaro

Okay, I drove the car today. It's nice inside. It had a lot more pick up than I thought it would have since it's such a big car. I squeeked the tires a few times . The only bad thing is that it brakes kind of slow. Or maybe I'm just so used to driving the Camaro that I expect everything to brake good........but either way, it still seems like a good car. And it's not like my mom will be accelerating fast or anything.

RB83L69

If you're looking for a land barge like my wife always is, it's hard to beat. Those are really pretty nice cars. If you can get it for less than about $8000 or so it's probably a fair deal. Any car you get is going to have some quirks like that, but this car isn't any worse than average, and a whole lot better than some. OBTW - the brakes are kind of petite, look at the rears, and you'll understand, especially if it's drums... just don't follow people real close or anything, and make sure you keep a good set of pads on the front, and they'll be OK.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."
ICON Motorsports

Vader

Hey, Baby!?

Be careful there, LBC. Her main man may get jealous...

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Mrs. LBC,

Perhaps you could talk her into a Buick Roadmaster or Chevy Caprice of the same age. They both have the L99 or LT1, which is a much more durable engine. If you're really lucky, you might be able to find one of those "black Caprice" cars with the shiny wheels. Those are a pretty solid car and have a decent reliability record. If she tires of it, you could always take it off her hands and show Mr. LBC how to be a little more respectful.



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Later,
Vader
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Justice and Freedom will Prevail
Adobe Acrobat Reader

MrsLottaBallsCamaro

Well, I know what LBC and I are getting for our family car - a 95 Impala SS. Ooohhhh yeah...... There is no way I'm driving a minivan, or anything else that doesn't have a V8. But back the Deville. It seems like a pretty solid car except for the crappy braking. But my mom nevers follows closer than 1/2 a mile behind somebody, so that shouldn't be a problem. The sticker price is 8500, but I think we can get it for under 8000.

LottaBallsCamaro

This car was definatly a little old ladies sunday to church only car. It had to be garaged to be in such nice condition.

SSC

As far as they go ive worked on a few and they are nice cars but if you ever have to change motor mounts they are a real !!!!!1PITA!!!!! worse than a fuel pump in the tank!
SSC