Engine blew.
Power window motor quit.
Engine #2 - Had to replace leaking intake manifold gaskets.
Alternator.
Water Pump.
Engine blew again.
This Cadillac was one of the nicest looking cars to come out of the 80's next to the Buick Riviera. Looking being the operative word because the car couldn't pull your hat off in a wind storm. Who in their right mind would even consider putting a 252 ci, 125hp engine in a 3800+ pound car? I can't imagine why I couldn't keep engines in it.
As far as the ride quality and reliability of the gadgetry, this car was excellent, but mechanicly it seemed like everything else was some sort of afterthought. Even something so simple as the water pump - to change it everything between the grille and the engine block HAS to come off.
The first year of this style of Seville was 1980 and probably the best of the 7 years the car was built. It had a 390ci engine which would have been just perfect in this car. You would actually be able to drive it on the highway without fear of being run over by an old lady in a Firefly.
Hi, sorry to hear about your experiences. I think they stopped making the 6.0 V8 due to the appaling reputation it gained as the V8-6-4 motor, you know, the one that would run on however many cylinders it deemed appropriate (in theory, but didn't work properly) and the 4.1 was supposed to be a well proven reliable engine. a lot of it was to with corporate average fuel economy, they had to have at least one car in the range that woukld do 25mpg.
The 4.1 V8 was never intended to power the full size land yachts, it was originally designed for the downsized post 85 sevilles... however the 6.0 did gain a poor reputation after the V8-6-4 fiasco. I don't know why they bothered, just leave it running on all 8!
A sensible option would have been to simply stuff a 305 chevy small block in, all those impala/caprice buyers can't be wrong. being part of GM it seems unusual that cadillac should design an engine that only they would use, and an unreliable one to boot...
In my opinion I DOWNGRADED from my 1978 Lincoln to the Caddie. I love big cars with lots of power, but this poor old thing got passed by a Lada yesterday... sigh I got that dang 8 6 4 thing going on in mine. It doesn't know what to do on big hills so it just quits. I had to change an o-ring in it a while back and as with every other part on the car ya gotta pull off the whole front of the engine. The Module blew out, the computer is now kaput. So now I have to drive the wifes Elantra!!! Yes I'm thinking a boat anchor could be a good use for it.. maybe I'll plant flowers in it or something. One good thing is that theres not a speck of rust on it.. go figure.
To the poster above, the most common fix is to bypass the 8-6-4 arrangement and simply leave it running on all 8 cylinders. gas mileage will suffer, but at least it will keep going.
Does anyone know if it's possible to place an '80 Seville engine (not the 8-6-4) into an '84 Seville? How interchangeable might they be? Thanks.
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