Eldorado doing a WOT with Dynomax Super Turbos

[JohnQuincyAdams1]

Have the steel cylinder head bolts pulled out of the aluminum block yet and then the head gaskets blow? It's a $4,500 repair! Just, "Great"! NOT!

[mtflight]

@JohnQuincyAdams1 Happened to my Eldo. FIngers crossed on the DHS. There is a stud kit (as on a race car) for the Northstar made by Northstar Performance (Jake at Cadillac owners forum), that will prevent it from ever happening again. Some dealers indeed charge that much but others it's around $1.5-$2K. No car will last forever but I agree this is a painful repair

[JohnQuincyAdams1]

@mtflight - In my opinion, a problem like this, (which in my opinion is a defect in design, especially with Cadillac cancelling further Northstar production), is not acceptable with a vehicle of this class. Period. This is not an economy car that is designed and sold on low price. This is a $50,000+, "premium", vehicle that is *supposed to be* GM's flagship car. I wont be fooled again and neither should anyone else!

[mtflight]

@JohnQuincyAdams1 I agree that it is an unfortunate defect. Perhaps it's the open block design with the water passages in direct contact with the head gasket. But there are other premium cars with expensive repairs. Allegedly cooling system maintenance helps prevent the headgasket failiure which then breaches into the bolt holes.

Here is a friend of mine's car, undergoing said repair (using studs instead of TimeSerts). His engine will be bullet proof after that.

[JohnQuincyAdams1]

@mtflight - Expensive repairs that any car can suffer and in my opinion a defective design that the government should be forcing Cadillac to warranty, are two different issues entirely. Thousands of people all across the country are being hit hard by this problem with these engines. A lot of people, (especially in this economy), don't have thousands of dollars sitting around to spend on major engine repairs that shouldn't have been needed in the first place, leaving these people *stranded....

[JohnQuincyAdams1]

@mtflight ...and without a vehicle*.  For many people, not having a vehicle isn't an option as they live outside of the bus routes, or cab fares would be punitively expensive, or riding a bicycle in the snow wouldn't be very practical, or walking 15 miles + wouldn't be practical either. GM/Cadillac is really hurting their corporate, "quality", image by not stepping up to the plate and repairing an engine problem that is again in my opinion a defective design! Will I buy GM ever again? NO!

[BIGGBAGA]

@mtflight lol I just went through that , and I got it fixed at northstarpreformance , Jake is an awesome guy. I had my car for 6 months before I had to do this. And next is the suspension :( , but I love this car so to me its worth it

[mommy2be09212011]

u can put a bunch of mods on an eldorado, u jus have to look. i found turbo kits wit everything u need, if u twirk it right u can get 600 xtra hp

[mtflight]

check out northstarperformance. Jake has created a repair kit that involves using studs, that apparently bullet proofs the engine, you can also ship it to him. Prices are some of the most reasonable and he has a really good reputation at cadillacforums. Offers a DIY kit for about 550 or 1000 if you ship the engine or 2100 if you take him the car. Good luck with that!

[thbplayboy]

yeah i own one i have a 93 but i hate the motors in them if anyone knows how to replace the heads could you do a video or something for me before i get rid of my baby or post advice because its 2700 bucks to replace and im not trying to do so gm told me its like 4 thousand to replace the motor i would really hate to get rid of the car fits me so well

[Z28Racer]

There is a site you can search called Cadillac Hot Rod Fabricators and they do nothing but after market stuff for these engines. They have even built an engine with a 671 blower on it and it dynoed almost 1400 HP & 997 lb ft of torque. To see it type CHRFab Dyno on youtube search.

[leonardgoodwin25]

@Shintsu2 THNX FOR INFO!!!CADDYS ARE AWESOME!!!

[thbplayboy]

but why do all this to a caddy

[EL345150]

@thbplayboy If you drove one, you would understand. This is not your gramps old boaty Cadi. My '96 ETC (Eldorado Touring Coupe) is a beast bone stock. All the luxury of a Cadi w/ a sporty Corvette like suspension (not too stiff, still a nice smooth ride) with gobs of power anytime you ask for it. Handles like a dream in turns. (Pulls just under 1 G at high speeds). Wether it's off the line. Or top end passing power. It's a sleeper beast. Ricer's get pissed when I smoke them w/ 3 passengers! xD

[jerseypaul2007]

That is flat out cool! Nothing wrong with that! A blower is just a pain in the ass on a car! I like that Eldo as she is!

[1l1k3m3l0ns]

Eldorado is spanish for the golden one

[leonardgoodwin25]

cadillac shud build a hi class muscle car!!!

[Shintsu2]

@leonardgoodwin25 They did - the new CTS-V has a 556 HP Supercharged LSA motor in it based of the LS9 put in the ZR1 Corvette! Essentially a Corvette motor dropped into a gorgeous luxury sedan - muscle and class all in one. Can't get any better than that!

[jackmitchell123]

@leonardgoodwin25 They do, its called the CTS-V

[hotrat62]

@leonardgoodwin25 CTS-V fucking idiot...556hp supercharged luxury mobile

[billcavazos]

Needs headers to sound right.

[dale1966gto]

The Eldorado was always Cadillac's premium personal luxury car. Its last rendition was the epitome of style and performance. The styling was just unbeatable and unmistakedly Cadillac.

[thepft]

I assume you still have the 02 censor in it?

[Echeque5]

Great, a classy car like a Cadillac that sounds like a red neck truck! :(

[hardh1tta]

that exhaust sounds real good

[Echeque5]

The stock exhaust sounds fine. No need to make a Cadillac sound like a red neck mobile.

[DonteIsDaMan]

Hey man nice Eldo. I have a 97 Eldo ETC and Im looking for some basic mods but cant find anything. Where did you get your super turbos from?

[mtflight]

That one is not my eldo. But I shopped around and I believe it was Summitracing that had them for the best deal at the time.

Note that the 14.5" muffler is a lot shorter than the stock 20" muffler, so you'll need to add pipe. The pipe after the "Y" is 2" outside diameter (OD).

[marino4551]

is that all stop except for the exhausts ?

[mtflight]

I believe the car was stock. There are no true available modifications off the shelf for these cars. The 300 ponies are unbrideled and pretty close to maxed out.

[marino4551]

still room for improvement, could throw in a supercharger to boost it to 600 HP

[doctah]

superchargers and turbochargers will throw codes. I was thinking about a remotely installed turbo on my car, but its very costly. Probably the best upgrade apart from exhaust is a high stall converter, which i plan on purchasing in the future. These converters also run over 3x the price of a quality high stall converter for a performance car.

[phoenixsac]

Even if you could get the ECU to stop throwing codes, the car would be in all likelihood undrivable. The most powerful FWD cars were the V8 powered GM W-bodies, at 303 hp. And GM had to fit larger tires on the front to keep the torque steer manageable. There's a reason why cars with over 300 hp are either RWD or AWD.

[KHearse87]

Actually, the most powerful FWD car I can think of is the 1970 Cadillac Eldorado. 500 cubic inch big block, 400 hp and 550 lb-ft.

[Echeque5]

marino4551 - There is no room for a supercharger and even if there was, it would blow the engine to smitherines.