I have sent my 1998 Cadillac Deville to my mechanic because it has overheated. It has been an odd situation in the sense that I could drive 25-30miles(highway) to a place; stop. Then start to make the drive back home and the car overheat within 5 mins of starting the car back up. The thermostat was replaced and it still overheated. Once the car announces itself that it is overheating(pings and digital dash telling me) I pull over and have had the car towed. He took the car back and looked into the engine as much as he could and came to the conclusion that the is some kind of air pocket in the coolant system is not allowing everything to flow as it should. He told me the only way to have something like this fixed would be, take it to a GM dealer because there is some kind of tool that he doesn’t have that is needed to get into a Cadillac engine. He explained that the cost would be ridiculous in the fact that it could be a $4500-5000 because of the labor involved.
Is this really my only option or is there some way I could flush my system inturn allowing the air to remove itself from the engine.
Thanks
Wow, you need to find a real mechanic.
Been trying to be nice about the situation but really just ended up leaving my car in the driveway at home and holding my tounge. He hadn’t chegred me anything for holding the car and not really finding/fixing anything. Any suggestions?
Find a new mechanic. I have worked on plenty of these Northstars and really the only “special” tool I have had to buy is water pump socket. Othere than that if you have a head gasket blown, then yes it will get labor intensive but you still dont need the dealer. Find you someone who is comfortable with Caddys.
Thanks
You have any idea on what might be the cause of the overheating?
Some information is getting lost in the translation of what your mechanic told you and what is posted. An air bubble in the cooling system shouldn’t be all that hard to bleed out of the system. It seems you have a more significant problem in the opinion of your mechanic and he is telling you he can’t handle it.
You need to take your car to someone else. A Cadillac dealer could be more expensive than an independant shop, but at least you should get an accurate diagnosis from a dealer. If you have a another good mechanic you can take the car there too.
A multi thousand dollar repair sounds more like a blown head gasket or a whole new motor. You need to get someone else to look at your car and explain what the problem is and your options for a repair.
I had a similar problem with my Buick last summer. It was a bad electrical connection to the fan. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. My mechanic showed me a burnt electrical socket on the old fan motor. I think it was losing its connection at a certain temperature.
Take your car to a radiator shop. They will find the problem in a few minutes