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Sedans Cadillac DeVille Cadillac Deville - Vacuum leak
17 messages, Last post on Aug 28, 2009 at 4:15 PM
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I recently acquired a Cadillac from a friend. It’s a nice car, but the catch is it will run but it barely idles. If you step on the gas the engine dies. He gave up on it after a guy he knew “fixed” it for cheap. They had a sharp dispute and parted company on bad terms. My friend shelled out several hundred dollars for a car that was useless to him. This supposedly knowledgeable car person, who isn’t part of any auto repair outfit, offered to put new intake manifold gaskets on to fix a coolant leak. That doesn’t quite make sense to me. What does the intake manifold have to do with the cooling system? This is my first Cadillac, so maybe there’s something I don’t know yet. Also my friend said the car ran perfectly before this guy got his hands on it. I checked and re-checked all the vacuum connections around the throttle body and followed the lines to their connections. Everything was fine. I hooked up a vacuum gauge and fuel pressure gauge. The fuel pressure was fine, but the vacuum gauge barely registered any vacuum while idling. I made sure the gauge was working by hooking it up to another automobile, and it was. So it seems to me that the guy must have messed something up putting the manifold back on. My question is if there is any way of isolating the vacuum leak, or do I just have to take the intake manifold off and replace the gaskets again? And am I right to assume it’s a leak somewhere around the manifold? Or is there any other area I should check? The guy also was supposed to put valve cover gaskets on and change spark plugs. I found three new gaskets in the trunk. By looking at a parts supplier online I see that two of them would be from the intake manifold gasket kit. One is squareish, about 3” by 3” with three bolt holes. The other is round with a projection, and has nine bolt holes. The last gasket looks like it comes from a valve cover gasket kit. It has eight circular holes, and four bolt holes. I’m not sure what these gaskets are for until I start taking things apart. I’m not sure why he didn’t put these in. Anyway, any suggestions about if I’m on the right track would be appreciated. I don’t want to tear things apart unless absolutely necessary.
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Replying to: babelfish69 (May 29, 2007 6:50 pm) Spray starter fluid or carb cleaner around the edges of the intake, or any other hose or area thought to have a vacumn leak. If the idle changes, increases, there is a leak there.
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Replying to: bolivar (May 29, 2007 7:25 pm)
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Replying to: babelfish69 (May 30, 2007 4:40 pm) This motor has a complicated 'idle speed motor' and maybe another idle controller. And they are hard to 'set up', per what I have read. I don't think there is a timing problem (save your money on a timing light), I think most timing is controlled by the computer by 1993. You need a service manual. A Haynes or other cheep one might have the needed steps to set this up, and then maybe not. |
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I've got a 99 cadillac Deville that I've been told has a vacuum leak from the intake manifold. I was also told it has a coolant leak. I am currently blowing white smoke out of the tail pipe on start up. Once the engine warms up to 104 degrees, it quits smoking from the tail pipe as well as when I go down the road. This problem is a nightmare to me. This motor is a used motor, 4.6 liter, that I had put in that had on ly 56k miles on it. Since putting the motor in, I have battled with external coolant leaks coming from poorly placed hoses and clamps. Finally it was determind that i had a bad thermostat housing assembly. The same mechanics that put the engine in replaced the the thermostat housing assembly. One week later, the check engine light came on and so did the low coolant alarm. Enormously frustrated , I took the car back down to the same mechanics, and they said I had a vacuum leak in the intake manifold. I felt like I was being taken for a money ride so I had another place take a look at it. They told me I did not have a vacuum leak. in fact, the mechanic said he saw coolant on the nr.1 spark plug, and the computer indicated a possible head gasket problem. My car is currently driveable, has power and does not sputter like an old time pressure loss around a head gasket. However my question is: Is it possible that a vacuum leak from the intake manifold could cause a coolant leak into the cylinders, and if so how. How can I be absolutely sure it is not the head gasket?
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Replying to: jlewis6 (May 02, 2009 4:19 pm)
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Replying to: oldschoolgm (May 09, 2009 3:54 am)
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Replying to: jlewis6 (May 13, 2009 4:04 pm) The price for a head gasket job on a Northstar is very expensive. The motor must be pulled to get to ther rear head. The heads removed, the bolt holes bored out and then re-threaded and steel inserts screwed in. The head, with new gaskets are then reinstalled, with the new head bolts screwing into the inserts. This usually stops any future head gasket problems. The cost for all of this is probably $3,000, more or less. |
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If my coolant leak is in fact loose bolts connected to the head gaskets or head gaskets, how long can I continue to drive this car in it's present condition? I still haven't overheated, but have been keeping a check on the overflow tank because it was discovered that I have some coolant getting into the nr.1 cyclinder.
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Replying to: jlewis6 (May 20, 2009 3:47 pm) Have you just been driving 'easy'? Slow accelerations and not been driving very fast? This might keep it from overheating, especially on short trips. Take the car out and accelerate it hard a few times. Find the steepest hill and run it up the hill, fast. It will probably overheat. If the car overheats and is not then totally abused by continuing to drive it, the Northstar motor is usually not hurt by a head gasket failure. Pull the car over and let it cool and refill the fluid to get the car home, slowly. It it overheats almost instantly, the car probably should be towed. The heads usually are fine, and the block does not warp. You just have the huge expense of having the bolt holes fixed up. That and new gaskets, other misc parts, and the motors are usually fine. It's just when you need $3,000 or so to fix a $6,000 car (or less), it just is not worth it. |
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