1997 Cadillac Seville STS from North America - Comments

The Northstar needs to be driven hard occasionally. Believe it or not, on my 97 Seville, once I started flooring it at least twice a week on the on-ramp, my oil consumption went down. Just hold it to the floor, it will shift on its own, don't worry about hurting the motor, they were designed to be driven hard.

To the guy who is worried about his temp getting to 220. That is completely normal. The cooling fans do not even kick on until the temp gets to 224, so don't worry about it.

I had a problem with the motor not starting once. A car dealer ship in SC said they replaced the fuel pump, when it happened again I took it to Firestone. They figured it out in 15 minutes. The starter fuse will blow, and to figure this out, switch the AC fuse with the starter fuse. This should solve it and buy another fuse. My 97 STS does burn the oil as stated by others, but it's one fine car. I now can smell antifreeze in the cab every now and then, it could be the hose? Has any one had this problem?

Bought my '97 STS in Nov. '96. Has now surpassed 455,000 KMs. with only normal maint. and repairs. Uses oil, more in the summer heat, but I'm OK with that. What really ticks me off is the rust showing up on the fuel door! I've noticed this same problem on many other STS's and wonder if GM has a remedy, like supplying a new fuel door. Other than that, I love my STS.

Former Jaguar owner.

Well I just had to bite the bullet and pay $4,000 to have my N* fixed in my 1998 STS. Same stinking head bolt and gasket problem as has been well documented ad infinitum. I can't believe there isn't a lawsuit going on over this! The reaction between different metals is hardly a new issue - for GM to not plan for it and prevent it is shameful.

The galling thing is that my car was new when purchased, has only 57,000 miles and I took great care of it including changing the oil every 3-4 K miles.

My wife had another head problem on her Oldsmobile at 75,000 miles 15 years ago, so I see a GM pattern here.

I will not be buying a GM (nor American) ever again.

I have 97 N* 125,000 miles, oil light went on at stop lights, low idle. I use Mobile 1 since 70,000. use qt of Rislone, 500 miles before oil changes. On last oil change, 400 miles ago, I added 1 qt of BAR'S LEAK rear main seal repair. Now in 95 deg + weather no low oil light, at low idle. Fix? I don't know. But I will see.

September 2006, I bought a '97 STS from a 72 year old lady with 81k miles. The car looks like it came off the showroom floor. In the past year I've put 20k miles on it and I love it. The only issues I've had are the "Check Oil Level" message showing up. With all the reviews of the N* engine I was shocked to see this message. I changed the oil the first week I got the car, using synthetic oil and a 70k or higher oil filter. This message came on about six weeks later. After reading in the manual this message was to come on when the car was approximately 1 quart low, I have to add 3 quarts to get the level to the normal level. I've changed the oil twice since that time, not using synthetic being I got the same life with non-synthetic. I was very relieved (after reading these comments) to see this was a normal problem with N* engine in the '97 STS.

I've never had the "Service Engine" light come on or any other type of oil indicator while idling. The only other thing that has happened to me in the year I've had the car is;

Twice I've gotten a message pertaining to the stabilization and the speed had been reduced to 85 MPH.

I have noticed the car will miss from time to time. When I first bought the car I changed the spark plugs (platinum) and wires. Once of the plugs (2) I could not get out. I was afraid I was going to break the plug; therefore, I left it in. After visiting my mechanic he advised me to get the engine hot, spray some WD-40 on the plug and work it back and forth. The whole time I was doing this I was worried I was stripping the threads in the engine. This worked, the threads stripped on the spark plug, not the engine. I have often wondered if the missing I'm getting is because this plug is not screwed all the way down due to messing up the threads... not sure.

Recently I've noticed the A/C doesn't blow as cool while stopped at a signal light/idling. I had freon added and it seemed to make it worse. Over the last week the A/C doesn't seem to work at all; although, the compressor seems to be on. You can hear it come on when you turn the A/C. It seems to work normally; it doesn't cycle off/on often.

I did have the window controls go out in the driver's door. I was out of town, rolled down the window at McDonald's and it wouldn't go up. I was 800 miles from home during the winter. I went to Wal-Mart, bought some speaker wire, removed the door panel, had a friend hold the wires to the window motor while I touched the other end to the battery (under the hood) and the window went up. This proved to me it wasn't the motor it was the control. I replaced the controls ($100) and all windows work well.

The only other thing I've noticed with my STS is; I recently had the windows tented. I had the visor strip across the front, they cut around the automatic windshield wiper sensor; however, it has effected the sensorship of the sensor.

Reading these comments has taught me a few things I didn't know. I'll try these things and see if they make a difference.

Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations on the A/C?

I am so surprise here to see some many people got the exact problem as I met. I own a STS 97 with 98k on it, and recently, the 'oil light' is on when rpm is low. I just changed oil type from '10w30' to '20w50'. Does not work.

I have a 96 STS - got if for a great price from a neighboring friend whose father in-law was the second owner moving into a nursing home. I loved it from the beginning, lots of power and had only 94000K when I got it in 2005. But since - I've hammered it hard and now burns lots of oil - smokes blue smoke sometimes and black smoke when I gun it, nock on cold starts in the winters until it heats up and now I've started noticing the higher temperatures on idling and bumper to bumper traffic. Last year after doing my taxes I discovered that I had spent over $5000 on service from 2 new mufflers - $1000, brakes all around, 1 rear caliper, alternator, body control module, some front end parts and more. Previous to this year - fuel rail, busted headlight, tires and more. Costly to repair. I hind-sight I think it was foolish to pile all the repairs into it that I did and maybe I should have gotten ride of it earlier. Overall probably slightly less than leasing a new car. After reading all the above postings I'm thinking it's time to unload it to some high school guy who wants to pay $3500 for 300 horse and styling like no other. Would I buy another? I must say they look great and the power is great - I like the Northstar but wonder if the newer ones still have the same old problems? With todays gas prices – it’s hard not to think about a v6 or smaller – maybe Audi A4, Acura TSX.

John Caswell.