1981 Cadillac Fleetwood from North America - Comments

When I bought the car, the original engine ran very rich due to a defective electronic fuel injection unit. This engine model was also notoriously unreliable due to its variable displacement feature. GM called this the V8-6-4 engine. It was cheaper to replace the engine with another, more conventional unit. I installed an Oldsmobile 455, with a carburetor, an easy bolt in swap with much more power.

I also had to replace the front suspension ball joints and drag link.

The car is very comfortable and has superior handling to Lincoln and Chrysler products from the early 1980's.

Parts and service is inexpensive and easy to find.

The power door locks and factory alarm system have never worked properly. All other electrics seem to be reliable.

The rear springs for the car are too soft, even when new. The rear of the car sags, unless the factory air shocks are inflated. However, even they are inadequate with a full load of passengers and luggage. I installed rear springs from a GM full size station wagon to give it a better load carrying capacity.

I have not been able to resolve the hesitation problems when driving up steep hills. I suspect the barometric sensor may be faulty. It's a great car, but mechanics are afraid of it. Any pointers?

I never understood why Cadillac developed and placed such anemic engines in these beautiful cars. Sure they had gobs of torque, but anything under 180 horses (being conservative) under the hood of these land barges simply does not make sense.

Another thing that baffled me was the weird accelerator. It was a huge piece of metal, welded on the bottom to the floor of the car. Did the elderly back then actually think this was comfortable. I know I used to drive my bosses Fleetwood, loved it, but found the lack f power and the awkward accelerator disconcerting.

Anemic engines were a result of doing pollution control on the cheap.

I understand that pollution controls sapped the engines of their power. I still believe, however, that the engineers could have done something in their powers to tweak at least a modest 150 h. p out of the 4.1 or the other engines. That would not have made them lightning quick, but at least people would not be scared of merging onto a busy highway. But then again I'm no mechanic so who knows.

Well, engineering takes time and money, neither of which the American car manufacturers had when the new pollution controls came into effect during the 1970's. So they took the easiest and cheapest route. Also remember that this was the beginning of the Roger Smith era, which set GM on its course to failure that is still happening today.

General comment to all 1981 Cadillac owners:

The V8-6-4 engine is a rarity, and a lot of mechanics aren't familiar with it (unless you take it to a GM garage with older mechanics). Go to ebay and search on 1981 Cadillac. Odds are you'll find the original GM Service/Repair manual - there seem to be lots out there. I purchased mine for less than $20.00 US! Tons of valuable information on this engine and how to keep it running, plus easy to follow trouble shooting trees.

To give an example, when I bought my car, the battery was dying every time the car was parked. The dealer I bought it from tried everything to find the problem and couldn't. GM found it in 20 minutes - it was one of the variable displacement solenoids. The solution was to simply unplug it and leave the car running as an 8 cyl. I may replace the solenoid on my own time, but it's running fine as an 8.