Oil Leaks 96 LT1 Engine

94

sounds like out of time to me.
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Distributor can only go in one way, there is a index slot that only lines up with the camshaft pin . But it it would be easy to switch the plug wires. I just marked mine from 1-4 . Another thing I noticed is the rotor has a really small index pin an you where changing just the rotor and cap I guess if if you were determined you could get the rotor on wrong. But I believe a whole distributor was installed so that could not be the problem. There is no timing mark. There is no adjustment for the timing, other factors come into play if the timing is off.
 

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thats the way it looked to me basically solid state device. the wonder is, if the unit replace was defective. but then a wire or two crossed would give it the no power. the 350 is free willing so nothing should have happened when in quit to give it a internal problem. if it ran ok before with that one cylinder down, it should again.

been down this road with a shop a time of two my self. I don't mind paying for my own education but I really hate paying for someone elses
 
Here's what I've found out

Went down to see how things are for myself. According to the compression test, cylinders 1,3,5,&7 have 195-200 lbs and 2,4,6,8 have 55,135,140,&140 respectively. The car idles but sounds like it's running a mild cam when under power it doesn't really stall, it just has no power. They're going to bore scope the cylinders on the right side Monday. I'll make the decision then. I need it to run as I'm stuck in Maine with a rental and some stuff that wouldn't fit in the storage building in the hearse.

Either way, I'll have a repair bill to pay.
 
now if I remember right thats a roller cam in them. loosen the rockers on that side and re set them. I would do that no matter what. very strange to have one bank with low compression. cracked head or blown gasket should have other evidence and only affect one or two. if it was running good before it quit you then something happened to the valve train on that side when it stalled.
 
94

I am with ED something Very funny here I would for sure check valve train. I would get it home and away from Cadillac. It should drive anywhere the way it is.
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Depending on how far you drive it with a engine miss, you might kill the catalytic converters. Causing more problems.
 
As much as I would like to stop dumping money into it, it's 180 miles away in Keene, NH and I am in a hotel until the end of February. Then I have to drive back to Kansas. I look at it like this, I can either pay the extra 1k bucks and get my car back or I can give that to a rental car agency and then still have to get a small moving van to get what's in the car here to Maine. Then I have to rent a storage locker for the stuff and then rent a van again. I'm kinda stuck on what needs to be done.
 
yes. not a good spot to be in and over and above. so no rental trailer that big truck maybe. rent a small car, ship the Hearse? then deal with the car later. I'm guessing if the valve trane gets fixed the tranny will go out next where it sits. :rolleyes:
 
The car I'm renting right now is 35 a day. If I were to hold on to it until the end of February, it will be 1200 bucks. A small storage locker is 125 bucks. Then I have the cost of shipping the car to Kansas. I will then have to rent a moving van to to get all my stuff back to CT just to meet up with the movers. Long story short, it's cheaper to fix it. I still have the original amount to pay to fix it even if I called off any more work.

The logistics of all this are really what is determine the car's fate.
 
I feel for you talk about the rock and hard place. Only alternate I can see would be check with area yards for a low miles LT-1 say from the old folks Roadmaster they wrecked put the engine in save the new parts from the bad one or put them on used engine. There should be some good ones around as they are not big sellers at this point. Its cheaper and perhaps better at this point than fooling with the mystery issue with the high miles original engine. You could spend big $$$ on the top of the original only to have it blow a rod down the road due to high miles and old age. The thing I find scarey is the engine you are about to spend big $$ on is high miles with an unknown problem. Most yards today start and run any used engine before they sell it and your chances of finding a lower miles engine than the one you have are good. I wish you good luck in any case. I think the LT-1 equipped cars are some of the best the General ever turned out. In 1999-2000 we had Police Departments paying us $10000.00 plus to remanufacture their Caprices just so they did not have to go to the Crown Vics many of those Caprices went over 300K in police patrol service.
 
That idea would work if I wasn't living in a hotel in Maine in the dead of winter. If I was at home in Kansas in my heated garage that would be an option. If it blows a rod later on down the road then I'll quality Cadillac and coach parts for sale. If you look at it, the car has just under 150k miles. Over 21 years, it was only driven on average 7,142 miles a year. It's not really high mileage by my definition.
 
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I see your point you are a captive customer at Cadillac. I would ask their thoughts on plan A fix existing engine or B find a low miles used engine (if available) and install same and cost estimate on either A or B. Again with all I have done with LT-1s over the years the issue you have is a first. That makes me wonder what Cadillac may find. If they in fact do find a definite issue or they start to guess. I hope you continue to keep us posted.
 
Alright, here's what's going on. The valves are fine, the cylinders are fine. It blew a head gasket at the number two cylinder which is why it leaked down. Getting the head cleaned up and pressure testing the valves. So not out of the woods yet but we're getting closer.
 
Peter Grave said:
That is good news only question is WHY did the head gasket blow? Did you overheat it with the water pump issue? If not I think I would have head magnafluxed to be sure no cracks. Too costly to do gasket twice.
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They're going to check the head thoroughly. Even though my temp light never came on, I believe the car ran hot due to the misfires and the water pump not being able to keep up. Almost done.
 
You have to wonder who comes up with things like this at GM. A Caprice 91 to 96 full dash cluster ,oil pressure,water temp,fuel,amps, Roadmaster,Fuel,and heat, Top OF the Line Cadillac,Stupid lights that tell you nothing until its too late and a Fuel gage. Then another great thing,Caprice and Roadmaster have storage bins in the bottom of both front doors,Cadillac NO! Seems like someone was sleeping for the top of the line.
 
Well it's back. It cost me more than I should have paid but it is what it is. It runs better than it did even before the ordeal. Reminds me of when I was driving them when they were new in '96. For those who were wondering what an Optispark replacement would cost it cost me 1,300. Then the rest of it.??
 
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