'97 Cadillac Catera issues...go figure...bad caddy model I found out after I bought it...?

Question

I have a '97 Cadillac Catera that I bought last September. I had the battery replaced in February but the terminals were smaller so sometimes the cables were not connected. Now when I drive if the fan runs to cool my car or I run the defrost/air/heat and turn my lights on after dark my voltmeter goes down to the bar just before the red. Is that normal? Need to charge the battery? Also the car has been running warm to the point where the fan kicks in to pull heat from the engine and it's only been 65-75 out the past week or so. Another issue I have is last time a friend changed my oil he noticed white milky gooey stuff in the top where oil is put in....definitely not normal...didn't find the white stuff actually in the oil though... Once in a while also my car doesn't want to shift when I first start it and go somewhere- it winds up but doesn't shift. After a few minutes of driving slow and winding it up a bit it will finally shift. Any ideas what's going on and the cost to fi

Answer 1

1. Who ever installed the battery should have noticed that. It should be easy to fix.

2. Outside temp doesn't make a difference if the engine gets warm the fan will come on and go off when it needs to. If it's overheating then there's a problem. Maybe a bad thermostat or something else.

3. White milky stuff on top of the engine? I don't know what that is. The real question is was the oil milky? That usually means you have a blown head gasket or cracked block or some other problem that is allowing coolant to leak into the oil.

Bottom line: Take it to a mechanic.

Answer 2

one is battery terminals r a problem two the white milky stuff is mosture no problem there .it is from engine running alttle warm and mosture gets caught there,,.... three the tranny needs to be serviced in which the fluid and filter changed..before changinfg the tranny check to see what fluid is used for gm and caddy changed from dexron 3 to dexron and morcon4 or 5