I done gone brokeded my car I think

OMFG! LOL! You guys are tards! DO NOT PUT ANYTHING IN WITH THAT DAMN COOLANT!

Your electric fans are going to ONLY run in the city since you are going too slow. When you drive on the freeway or highway, whatever the air passing through the radiator at such a speed is what force cools it. Hence why your cadillac is'nt having a heating problem at high speeds. Cause it is being cooled by air forced through the radiator fins and not by the fans.

I would like to know what type of cadillac this is and what engine it has specifically. I had to work on a cadillac STS with the 32v northstar engine. The guy got in a wreck and passed out with his foot on the throttle until he came too. He had rediculous amounts of leaks for the coolant passages that took me a good month to trial fix.

I might be able to help you some, but need more info. When you smell coolant through the vents and all it could be because of the engine burning the coolant and the vents just suck the vapor in. As for the exhaust thats a diff. story.

I myself if I were you, would just go pick up a chiltons book for it and get new headgaskets and replace them. If thats the case!

BUT, you can get a dye kit at an auto store and find the leak too. Just need to have a good eye. I would strip most of what you can before you do it though so its easier to look around.

Cadillac uses aluminum parts for their engines and these engines require a special additive to their coolant IF you do not use the GM approved dex cool. Or in most cases if you use the ORANGE coolant. It is a silicon tablet that you can get from the dealer to add to the coolant which helps with the aluminum parts. If you don't use the tablet or GM approved coolant, you WILL get a coolant problem. In which case, I'm pretty sure something will end up leaking... You are supposed to add a tablet everytime you do a coolant flush, and I bet at an interval too. Like I said, get that chiltons book!

AND ONCE AGAIN, do not add anymore friggin' STOP LEAK, or PEPPER, or an EGG!

The coolant overflow if I'm not mistaken as well should be the resevoir wher the radiator cap is. On the one I worked on, thats all it was... Your only suppose to fill it to a certain point to allow for fluctuation of the coolant level in the resevoir. BTW, coolant level at operating temp is boiling point. It is normal for it to steam and bubble when you get done just driving.

I would suggest getting rid of the mechanic you got there and take it to a REAL cadillac dealership that KNOWS the INS and OUTS of these cars. These cadillacs are luxury vehicles and the things on them are very different from other cars I have fixed. If they can tell you its your head gasket, just DIY!

C'mon kermit, you gotta be some sort of handyman, lol...

Hey the egg trick saved me once in my old 4runner, plus you can make some manifold bacon to go with the scrambled egg

Forgot about the dex cool crap, if it has been on regular coolant could that be what is eating up the head gaskets?

I recall working on a couple of cateras that had a coolant leak about the right rear of the engine bay, just under the cowl. Turns out the heater control/bypass valve leaked on both cars and it was a pain in the ass to get to.

Haha! An egg is just like a band-aid. Which may work for an extremely temp. situation if you were on the side of the road with a car full of groceries and happened to have bought eggs. Never in my life would I ever recommend doing anything like that though.

Anyhoo, I would'nt say eating the head gaskets, per se. Actually is just a problem with the aluminum and how difficult it is to seal it.

Why you need the pellets. And I don't get car companies, one day all this crap is gonna gunk up and clog the coolant passages, eh. Or maybe I'm stupid...

I think mikey needs to also get on to a cadillac forum and ask some people too, cause they for sure will have a GREATER idea of understanding with these engines than we will...

i totally agree with hexorz! and the heater control would make sense to because that would keep the fans from turning on, correct?

I believe that the Catera was made in Germany and only carries the Caddy logo as it was made for GM.I also believe that the drivetrain is Opel in origin.They are notorious for eating engines usually in the manner that this one is doing-coolant leaks leading to engine failure secondary to overheating.Check with a caddy dealership-there was a class action lawsuit regarding these cars and an extended engine warranrty resulted.The car may still be under warranty.BJ

put some gum in it that will stop it

Yup. In Europe it is an Opel Omega or Vauxhall Omega in UK. It's a 3.0L V6 with RWD. It's actually a fantastic setup and the car is very sporty...this car was marketed against the BMW 3 series and Audi A4,and it shows in it's sport luxury appeal. I found the original bill of sale for my car and it was $51 000 in 1998.

I dont think I'd be under the warranty,the car is 10 years old and over 100 000 miles.


I dunno though. This car is pissing me off. This is getting into a very expensive problem that I cannot afford to fix and do not want to get into.

I think the warranty was not time or mileage limited.I'd check with a Caddy dealer just tomake sure.BJ

duct tape and zip ties, thats all im gonna say