1997 Cadillac Deville Engine problems

At about 12:30 - 1:00 am in the morning the car was parked at my home in the driveway directly in front of the garage. [[redacted]] the owner gets up to get something to eat when he looked outside the patio, he saw his car smoldering and than immediately burst into flames at the engine area. Called the fire department immediately and in the meantime tried to suppress the fire but not successful. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.S.C. 552(B)(6). *Tr

Tl* the contact owns a 1997 cadillac deville. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, he smelled a burning odor. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the oil pan seal was leaking oil. As a result, the oil was leaking onto the engine manifold. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The contact expressed extreme concern over a potential fire hazard. The failure mileage was 65,000. Updated 04/18/12*bf updated 04/23/12.*Jb

Upon starting the car first thing in the morning, the engine backfired through the induction system starting an engine fire. By the time the fire was extinguished it had caused enough damage that the car had to be junked. *Kb

Tl* the contact owns a 1997 cadillac deville. The contact was driving approximately 40 mph when the vehicle began to overheat followed by stalling. The a/c warning indicator was illuminated following the failure. The vehicle was not inspected by a dealer nor repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted to report the failure. The failure and current mileage was approximately 100,000. The vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 1997 cadillac deville. The contact stated the vehicle overheated and the head gaskets were blown. The contact stated a few prior to the failure, the vehicle caught on fire due to the vehicle being under recall (nhtsa campaign id number: 04v110000-fuel system, gasoline: delivery: hoses, lines/piping, and fittings) but could not determine if the failure was directly associated. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 120,000.

1997 Cadillac deville engine head gasket and cooling system malfunction dealer refused to fix overheating may cause explosion or fire defective pohanka cadillac fredericksburg,va 22408 sd replace entire engine, refused to provide 12 month warranty unacceptable response from gm cadillac dealer. *Tr

I bought a used 1997 cadillac from a cadillac dealership, before I bought the car I took it for a test drive, it drove like a dream, then on the way back to the dealership the oil light came on. I told the salesman about it, and he said he would have it checked out, he asked what I thought about the car other than the oil light coming on , I told him other than that I couldn,t find nothing else wrong with it. A couple of days latter I drove by the dealership and noticed the car was gone, I pulled in and...

Tl*the contact owns a 1997 cadillac deville. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact noticed a signal on the instrument panel that indicated to turn off the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the head gasket had blown. The contact did not notice any differences beforehand. The current and failure mileages were 116,000. Updated 10/16/08. *Lj updated 10/17/08. *Jb

Tl*the contact owns a 1997 cadillac deville. The vehicle will not start up after the key is turned in the ignition. The contact makes at least five attempts to get the vehicle to start. When the vehicle finally starts, the muffler produces a large amount of smoke and the engine light flashes on and off. The vehicle has been inspected by a mechanic a few times and the starter and alternator have been replaced; however, the failure persists. The current mileage was 182,895 and failure mileage was 161,000.

ENGINES IN THESE CARS ARE VERY BAD. *TR

Tl*the contact owns a 1997 cadillac deville. The contact stated that the check engine light remains illuminated. She stated that the vehicle gets very hot and displays a warning that instructs her to shut off the engine. Another warning indicator stated that there was no coolant in the engine. The dealer inspected the vehicle, but the contact was uncertain if any repairs were done. The current mileage was 106,200 and the failure mileage was unknown.

The vehicle engine overheats for no apparent reason. The local dealership has worked on this vehicle on three separate occasions and each time I have been assured the problem has been corrected. The local dealership has replaced the radiator, several coolant hoses and clamps, tightened clamps and replaced several "cross over pipe" seals. The operation of the water pump and thermostat have been checked. A local garage subsequently replaced the coolant overflow tank and several coolant hoses. The vehicle still...

On november 21, 2005, I payed working man's auto in austin, tx two thousand dollars as down payment for an "as is" 1997 cadillac deville. Upon getting the car I informed the salesman of a "service engine soon" light that was on the dashboard. He informed me that it "just needed to be reset". Due to my lack of knowledge regarding vehicles I took him at his word. When the took the vehicle to get inspected, it wouldnt pass inspection due to this "service engine soon" light. The manager and salesman asked if I...

I had antifreeze leaking from my cadillac deville and took it to a mechanic that I have a lot of trust in. I expected to hear I had a bad radiator and would have to replace it. Instead he called me and told me that gm has a bad design defect with the materials they used on the head bolts to hold the motor. They deteriorate because of this and strip out causing pressure on the radiator and it cracks. All this is a result of using aluminum instead of steal. The mechanic said he see the same thing every other week and to date gm has not done anything about it. I called gm and they blew me off. They gave me a file number of 1-380-399-885. *Nm

Dt: the gas gauge did not work properly. The consumer took the vehicle to a mechanic. The mechanic said there was a recall with the fuel rail . He told the consumer to go to the dealership because vehicle had a transmission and oil leak. The vehicle was taken to the dealer they did the recall and gave them a copy of what mechanic had given the consumer. They replaced the water pump, and said there was a bad oil leak. This wasn't consistent with what the mechanic said. Felt like the vehicle was a safety hazard ...

My 1997 deville has an oil leak due to poor engineering and results in the car dying out at any time. This has resulted in loss of power steering and brakes. I have had the car serviced but the problem quickly reoccured.*Ak

While driving. The panel lights illuminated. Stating to turn engine off. While driving consumer heard a popping noise coming from the front end of the vehicle. Found that it was the head gasket, was told not to drive the vehicle. Please provide any further information. *Nm

While driving the vehicel stalled. *Nm a poping sound was heard and the vehicle shut down and was very hard to restart. *Tc *jb

The motor was racing, the consumer could not get it back into idle mode. On the belt way, the consumer let up on the accelerator and the vehicle continued to race at a high speed. Please provide any further information. *Jb

The vehicle was parked and not running when it caught fire. The fire department was called and extinguished the fire. No injuries. The vehicle was towed to the body shop by the insurance company. Please fill in additional information. *Jb vehicle was parked locked and not running when it caught on fire. *Tc

The consumer stated the vehicle leaked excessive oil. The dealer stated the head gasket has failed. *Jb

While driving head gasket blew out. Consumer managed to drive home. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *Ak

I january 2004 I took my 97 cadillac deville to be serviced due to an indicator light on to check the coolant system. I was told that I would need a new engine due to the engineering design of the cadillacs since 1992 of mounting steel bolts in alluminum motor mount which was designed to last only up to 100,000 miles. The options I was giver were to replace the engine or have the mounts rebuilt but the later no longer came with a warranty option since a family opted for that at which time their engine fell out in...

My 1997 cadillac deville stalled while driving. This has happened at steady speed on the freeway, while exiting on a clover leaf ramp at highway speeds, while driving on a country road, while approaching a stop sign. The dealer service dept. Says it shows codes that car stalled but no reason. Therefore, even though the car is under cadillac extended warranty, they will not attempt to diagnose the problem unless the car stalls while they are driving it or if the stall leaves a code stating the cause. I feel the car...

Vehicle burns oil excessively. *Ak the vehicle may stop working at anytime. It seemed as though the engine didn't have an oil pan. The oil was changed regularly as scheduled and would burn 2 to 4 quarts between changes and began to use more between 39k to 42k miles. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem but would not help remedy the problem. *Sc *jb