QuestionHi i just bought a cadillac fleetwood 96. on friday, i floored the gas pedal to see what the car has for power from 20mph to 80 mph, just after that,the car lost a lot of power and about 5 minutes after, the oil pressure light came on and a rattling noise started and the car started shaking abit, i stopped and had the car towed to my mechanic but they are closed for three days. I just had the car for a week, i was wondering if you could have a diognosis of what happenned, i hope the engine is not blown dammit, it is a 5.7 LT1 engine, thanks
AnswerHello,
Bad news. From your description it sounds like the engine came part internally. Here is the really bad news, you are not likely to find a good junk yard engine because these were notorious for overheating to the aluminum engine taking out the head gaskets at a minimum and this was only the after effect of a cooling system problem. If you look through the archives of my answers on Cadillac aluminum engines, it is commonly a horror story.
If this engine had low miles and had been used for city driving, a ridge builds on the cylinder walls. When the engine is "opened up" the ring lands get that ridge and break, causing an internal oil leak and loss of oil pressure and once oil pressure is lost, the cam, crank main bearings score quickly as well as the rod bearings and he lower end of the engine is gone. This can all happen in seconds. Then the oil light is on and the engine will rattle and depending on the condition of the engine, a little more running of the engine a rod will seize and then come through the block.
All I have to go by is your description and obviously I am not at the car, but it sounds like you just blew the engine.
If even available anymore, a long block crate engine is about $4k, plus labor and misc.
I obviously would like to give you better news, but that is what it sounds like to me.
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