1997 Cadillac DeVille from North America - Comments

Blown head gasket.

I own three Cadillacs, a 96 Deville, a 93 Eldorado, and most recently a 97 Deville. The 96 and 93 have been extremely good to me until two weeks ago when the blower motor started on fire and did a lot of damage. That's another story.

My questions and concerns have to do with the 97 I just bought. I bought it at a county auction and I should have known better, but I bought a car with a blown head gasket. I had to have it towed on my way home with it the first night. I have noticed inserts on ebay and a lot of posts about the head gaskets needing to be replaced in the Northstar. This 97 is beautiful, but I don't know if it's worth it for me to pay to have a head gasket put in a car I know nothing about. As far as I know, there could be other problems, but I have no idea on how much to expect to have the head gasket changed, if I should really get these inserts put into with the gasket change, etc. If it costs too much I guess the best thing for me to do is to part it out and hope I can get some of my money back, but if someone reading this can share with me what I can expect to spend I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

Rich

610-248-6700.

Expect problems!

I recently had an overheating issue with my 97 Deville. A shop said blown head gaskets, costly to repair, not worth replacing the gasket, just get new engine... Took it apart myself after researching online and it just needed a water pump.

My local dealership said the 97 Northstar motor was the one. They ran the head bolts all the way thru so no problems with the headbolts stripping out, no need for inserts.

Check the Cadillac Forum for more info.

I repaired mine for less than $200.00.

Good luck.

Had the exact same thing happen to me Rich. Bought the car, and 3 miles down the road the gasket blew. Problem with the gasket is that you have to lift the engine to get to it; overall looking at a 20 hour job, so at least 1500 bucks. If I can get rid of it for parts, I surely will.