I bought a 97' Cadillac Catera and seems like i have a heating problem. i took it to a mechanic and they told me it could be the Head gasket. I look for some signs of bad head gasket and I think i saw some white smoke out of exhaust but only for couple secs..
2007-09-01 00:24:12 · 5 answers · asked by wuzz up.. 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ GMC
check the oil and see if there are bubbles on the dipstick.
2007-09-03 14:05:48 · answer #1 · answered by chevy9757 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check your oil, is it milky? If so change it out. Drive it for awhile after changing it, if its milky again (big difference in clean and milky oil), your head gasket(s) are bad. I recenctly traded in a 97 Catera and I had only a few problems with mine, but this car isknown to be basically a lemon. It isnt worth much because it never caught on in the states, and i say in the states because it isnt even a Cadillac. It is a rebadged Opel Omega, from GM's european line. Look it up. Parts are pricey, repair times (hourly charges a mechanic will charge) are high because this is a difficult motor to work on and most parts are dealer only type parts, not stocked at autozone/pepboys type parts stores. Good luck.
2007-09-01 07:35:43 · answer #2 · answered by Vincent 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
More info please are you missing coolant? 11 year old cars especally OPEL made for Cadillac can have head gasket problems. You have kept up the maintence never overheated it and there is a new radatior and thermostat? or not? old hoses slightly clogged radatior dont forget to look at the transmission oil dip stick. I did a car the other day that ran warm enough and it was forcing coolant into the transmission. Leaky trans oil cooler and the car ran 233 degrees just enough to turn off the a/c compressor. IT came in for A/C not cooling properly left with a new transmission and radatior.
2007-09-01 07:36:36 · answer #3 · answered by John Paul 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
White smoke from exhaust could indicate a head gasket leak. Does the antifreeze have traces of oil? Does the oil have traces of antifreeze? Have a presure test done in each cylinder at 150 psi, it is done through the spark plug port with a spark plug type adapter. Leave the antifreeze overflow cap off. If you see bubbles one of your cylinders is leaking and either the head gasket is leaking or the engine block has a crack in it.
2007-09-03 08:49:40 · answer #4 · answered by jetblack94 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your head gasket would be blown out you would see a lot of white smoke .The first thing you might want to try is to change your thermostat.
2007-09-01 07:43:36 · answer #5 · answered by Heike P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋