Cadillac Repair: 1990 Cadillac Eldorado 4.5L v8, intake manifold gasket, roller camshaft

Question
I am looking at the above mention car, but I was
told by serveral mechanics to avoid this care be-
it is a repair nightmare. What can you tell me
about this car? Willie

Answer
Hi Willie, The same thing can be said about other cars that have alot of electronics on them...the more they have the harder it could be to fix and the more things that can go wrong and you have to find a sharp tech that can fix it. Most people can fix a Chevy but shy away from the Caddy because they aren't smart enough to repair them. Personally I hate to see any Ford product come into the shop because to me they are a nightmare to work on because Ford doesn't give the aftermarket service manual people enough information to write the repair info and what it does give in the way of trouble code diagnosis is so poorly written and hard to understand. That said here are some problem spots. 1) The engine intake manifold gasket is known to crack around the coolant ports and allow antifreeze into the engine. The good news is that this engine has a roller camshaft so it you catch it in time all that needs to be done after replacing the gasket is flush the engine and cooler and the engine still should be ok. 2) Once the trans gets to 125K miles it could go at anytime. 3) The electronic struts fail electrically and are expensive to replace. The good news is is there are cheap struts available that do away with the electronics and can be installed and then the computor disconnected. 4) The fuel injectors have a tendency to short out internally and then the engine will run rougher as it reaches operating temp. Useing gas that doesn't contain ethenol seems to help and the replacement injectors are made to resist shorting. 5) finding a tech that understands how to repair a Caddy because there are guys that will fumble through a repair just to get it out of their stall or their repair techniques are poor quality.....Those are the sore spots and the only time I would see a car was when it broke down but driveing it is alot of fun and I'm sure you would enjoy the ride. Go the the library and read the consumer reports for the 1990 Eldo and see what they say. And if allowed get a tech to give the Eldo and inspection prior to buying othersize the seller might be trying to hide something and this might be an expensive car to fix right away. Olds Tornado and Buick Riveara are the same body style except with a differant engine. Chech what CR has to say about them too. Hope that helps. Bill