I bought a 88 Cadillac Deville on May 25, 2007. Engine size is 4.5 and has 94,784 miles on it. Two days ago it overheated on me. My son looked at it and said the radiator was real low. He filled it with mixed antifreeze. Yesterday it overheated again. My son looked at it and said the radiator was about 1/2 gallon low. He couldn't see that it was leaking anywhere. First thing he decided to do was flush the radiator because it looked real dirty. He couldn't get it to drain. He said there was sand, metal flakes or possibly radiator sealant in the bottom of it. THEN he looked at the oil and it was greenish brown. He said it was antifreeze in the oil. THEN he took off the valve cover and there was white thick stuff gooped up under it. I plan on taking it to a mechanic on Monday. I've got my fingers crossed but I think someone was trying to pull a fast one on me! Can anyone help me diagnose the problem? And does anyone know how Lemon Laws work? I would greatly appreciate any information!
2007-06-02 12:52:15 · 11 answers · asked by lovebug 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Blown head gasket or cracked cylinder heads.
You did get it checked by a mechanic BEFORE you bought it didn't you?
2007-06-02 12:58:57 · answer #1 · answered by DialM4Speed 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A blown head gasket or cracked block, but likely it is a blown head gasket. This can be a major repair depending on the car. The sooner you get it fixed the better. If you bought the car "as is" I doubt there is anything you can do to get the dealer/person to pay for the repair, but some states do have some laws that might help. I'm not an expert so hopefully someone will reply regarding what laws might be helpful, but they will likely need to know what state you bought the car in.
2007-06-02 12:58:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
lemon laws don't apply to cars that old. or from a private person. most likely a cracked head gasket.if that engine has aluminum heads it may also have a cracked head. anyway it is probably more expensive to fix than the car is worth.
flushing the oil with diesel and replacing the head is the minimum needed.any good auto shop will give you an estimate fore free. get more than one,possibly 3 or 4.
make sure you know the mechanic because they can be very unscrupulous.
2007-06-02 13:21:21 · answer #3 · answered by jamesd 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lemon laws do not apply to 88 Cadillac DeVilles. You've got a blown head gasket for sure, possible cracked head or block. Not to mention whatever was leaking in the first place to cause the initial overheating condition. Don't want to sound like a jerk, but you bought a pile of crap and now you're stuck with it.
2007-06-02 13:00:52 · answer #4 · answered by toolboxvoodoo 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A blown head gasket is the most likely source of antifreeze in the oil, and the oil should now look sort of creamy in color. Usually, this happens due to a failure of the cooling system and the engine overheats and causes the head gasket to get brittle, crack and leak antifreeze in to the oil. A cracked block can also cause this. Hopefully, it is the head gasket and you can save the engine.
2007-06-02 12:58:44 · answer #5 · answered by sailinguy 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
depends a bit on the engine whether or not a faulty head gasket can let oil into the radiator. Many engines have the oil feed line for the valve gear passing up through the head gasket & a failure of the gasket between this & the water jacket can let oil into the cooling system. Having said this a leaky transmission oil cooler is at least as likely , easier to check for & cheaper to fix.
2016-04-01 12:19:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably a cracked block. Did you check the oil before you bought it? If it was very clean, like it was just changed, it might indicate that the person you bought it from was trying to conceal the fact that it had a cracked block. Never buy a used car if the oil is "too clean".
2007-06-02 13:05:03 · answer #7 · answered by jsardi56 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'll go out on a limb here and say "head gasket." I know, breaking away from the pack like this is bad. And good luck finding one. Has been discontinued from Cadillac. As far as lemon law goes--nope.
2007-06-02 13:38:30 · answer #8 · answered by rat396 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your head gasket or intake gasket probably failed those Caddilacs are notorious. The gritty stuff sounds like someone had a problem that you are going to have to fix...Don't know about the lemmon laws,but if you bought it AS-IS my guess it you are stuck with it.If you are going to do something legal better do it quickly......good luck
2007-06-02 13:00:00 · answer #9 · answered by h.a x 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most likely a head gasket or a cracked head
2007-06-02 13:00:18 · answer #10 · answered by gary d 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋