anyone curious to see the inner workings of a northstar motor?

about a month ago i had this '06 DTS come in for a cyl head. the car was in a front end accident and cracked the head. instead of welding and repairing it (was a chunk off a corner) the insurance company opted for a new head. here are the pics!

old the old northy.

PxTx's dad said that they do a better job leaking oil than they do with everything else

but bump on the American muscle engine porno lol

i dunno, i alwasy heard this whole deal over how difficult they are. the cars are just designed poorly. i mean honestly, to repair the common oil pan leaks you need to pull the cradle to remove the trans to remove the exhaust to get to the other bolts!!!!

never had to do that, this wasnt so bad beside the watermanifold bolts. your supposed to pull the cradle to do the heads, but i didnt want to put this boat in the air.

I was amazed at how big and heavy the northstar engine was compared to the 4.2, and HP ratings were similar.

yep, pull the trans to pull the pans. Pretty much everything is a PITA on these things. One of the guys at work was replacing the alternator in one today. Needless to say I heard a few cuss words from that side of the shop!

I worked at Caddy for a while. I used to love getting a reseal job on them. 19 hours if it was warranty or 25 customer pay. it really only took about 6.

and people wonder why they are called STEALERSHIPS???

but, i am on the mechanics side with it..... flat rate work, or book work, is where the $$$ is at if you are good and busy, or have done a few and know the shortcuts/tips/tricks.

but the Northstar motor is still a pimp setup. seen the one in the MK2 golf?

they are only pimp because of price to power. Audi v8's are lighter, smaller for the same power

Northstar engine is just about good for nothing except leaking oil, plus the fact that GM thought putting a big V8 mounted transverse was a good idea Although greatly more servicable than Fords, GM still needs a good rethink on how to make their cars more servicable.

What, the Olds Torino wasn't a good idea?

Toronado?

i know! i love cars like these, too bad im not flat rate anymore, this shop is hourly.

My pop wokred flat rate at a Caddy dealer for the last 28 or so years. Early Northstars were leakers for sure, but I think they have gotten better. I think I recall something like 2002 and up Cads meeting my pop's approval.

You have to admit, the newer Northstars which are supercharged would be cool to own (whole car of just engine).

I liked what Shelby did with the series 1 and these motors (they were hybrids between olds Aurora and Northstars). I know the car was a flop, but I would still rock it out.

Flat rate cane be attractive, but it will take a toll on your body. Some of you guys probably heard first hand from my pop.

yea, i kinda miss flate rate tho. was exciting. my old shop, we used to have mini competitions. the new shop, eh. very small too! i should upload more of the work i do if you guys are interested?

upload if you want, I think its pretty cool.

Man hearing what it takes to work on these reminds me of saabs(900s). The tranny IS the oil pan. alternator a PITA because its against the firewall... The 9000 was just really tight packed and made a tight job of most things but really wasn't that bad.

Flat rate shops are the only ones I've worked at, nice when busy F'n horrible when not! How many of you techs work hourly?

Most shops charge flat rate. Weather the techs get paid hourly, flat or combo. I like combo the best.

Saab 900's that alt wasn't so bad, most people just don't know the tricks. Even Audi has "tricks" up their sleeves. That Northstar engine is actually not too bad to work on. Once you drop the sub frame everything else is a breeze. Shit try to do a tranny on a toureg, the engine has to come out with the front suspension and sub frame, before you can start to separate them.

Torino = Ford (v8 REAR wheel drive longitudal engine.)
Toronado = Olds (v8 FRONT wheel drive longitudal engine)
Caddy has been doing front wheel drive v8 transverse engines since the early 80's

is it true that the head bolts hit the firewall when removing?first gen. north star.

My pop says the starter on these is a real pistol to replace.

John (DOC) has two of these. A buddy of his who works/ed at a Cad dealership called to tell him they were being thrown out. Apparently, Cadillac had problems with the valve stem seals leaking and replaced whole engines under warranty. So, he has two free Northstars to play with.

Yea but what happen when the "trick" allen bolts round out? A bit ridiculous for a alt regardless

There were lots of development problems with early Northstars. Any of the ones on the road now are probably okay.

The started is under the intake manifold, so I guess it might seem tough, but check the book, to see how much time it pays. I suspect it isn't that bad.

Dropping the subframe makes it much easier. Having the dolley to drop it on is even easier!

yea, they are under the intake manifold, but not too bad as the whole manifold can be taking out at once. the hardest part would be the water manifold bolts.

on the lexus v8 they are also in the valley, however the manifold is two parts and not as robust as the composite intakes of the newer northstars. a former co-worker learned the "not so robust" part the hard way. but i couldnt say i didnt warn him.

Ah, "the book." It has lied to me on more than one occasion. Says about three hours, but that seems a bit light from those I have talked to who have done the job.

funny you mention the 900. just had one in for a trans service and other work.



there are two other techs, all of us hourly. the last shop we had 11 people in a 7 bay shop. one bay was an alignment rack. f'in sucked at times.