Who has a Noth Star?

[Amelio]

Does any one here have a northstar V8 or any exsperience with one?

My uncle has a 1998 caddy Deville with the NS V8 and it is using water, we have been trying to talk to people that have had these cars with head gasket issues. from what we hear it is a common problem and it is somewhat of a task to change the head gaskets.

I don't know for sure but I think the engine has to come out just to do the gaskets....this is not tooo much of a pain since he has a nixe shop with a lift, but I do not know what to exspect after that.

Does anybody have any exsperience with these engines?

Please post.

 

[garyk1970]

pressure test the cooling system first to make sure.i was a gm caddy tech for a small amount of time.hard cars to work on,but do(able) if you have all the right tools/lift.water pump housings are more common......pressure test and post up here.

 

[Amelio]

The leak is internal is internal and is is a head gasket for sure due to losing a cylinder and fouling a plug.

Do you by chance know what if any speacial tools are required for a head gasket job?

Also is there anything tricky to note when pulling the heads other than the obvious?

Thanks

 

[SIXBANGR]

Cadillac Forum

Very common on those. Go to the Cadillac Forum, lots of info.

 

[gunslinger]

If it overheated and you're determined to do the job yourself, find a good used engine and do a swap rather than the HGs. These engines are VERY well known for pulling all of the head bolt threads out of the aluminum blocks. There is a jig used for drilling and installing thread inserts back into the block, and there are some cam alignment tools required for the job.

Good luck!!