Cadillac Repair: cadillac oil consumption, cadillac owners, cadillac sedan deville

Question
I have a 96 cadillac sedan deville with 84ooo miles.It has the northstar engine.It uses about 1 to 2 quarts of oil between changes. I have talked to other cadillac owners with the same problem. Is this normal for the northstar engine?

Answer
Hi Vern, Cadillac has had problems with the oil control rings gumming up and then the engine will use more oil. This also happens because the oil isn't changed frequently enough. What also happens is the engine develops a leak between the engine block and the main bearing saddle assembly and oil will be seen creating a puddle under the car with-in 5 minuits running in the driveway. If there isn't any leaks then Cadillac has a service bulletin that wants all the sparkplugs removed and 4oz of top engine cleaner is poured into each cylinder and is then left to soak for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight. Then the excess cleaner is removed through the sparkplug holes and the plugs are reinstalled and the car driven until it stops smokeing which might take up to 30 minuits. An oil and filter change is done and then the oil consumption is watched. This might have to be repeated 2-3 times depending upon how bad the rings are. Talk to the Caddy service writer or manager if you need to have this done or are unsure of the procedure. Bill