Bonneville GXP/ Northstar Powered Cars Discuss your Bonneville GXP and/or any other Northstar powered Olds or Cadillac... Including the 3.5L Twin Cam V6 (Short Star ) 4.0L and 4.6L Northstar V8's. Please use General Chat for non-mechanical issues, and Performance and Brainstorming for improvements.

2005 GXP

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Old 06-17-2014, 12:52 PM
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And yes... I did intentionally pick to reference a Rover 3500S because of a similarity to the N*. For those that remember their auto history will probably know the reason why
Old 06-17-2014, 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted by theonlypheonix
Product??, the basic problems are the skills of the mechanic or lack thereof.

Back in the days when I owned a Rover 3500S and was in the parts department
of the dealer, a mechanic came over, made small talk then made the statement
"they're junk cars". I thought about that a second and replied they're no better then
the mechanic working on them!"

Since I was a teen I've worked on all my cars as a hobby, never did any need major engine work and I get 200K to 300K mi per vehicle without any major work. Give it to your typical shop mechanic and they'll turn it in "JUNK" the first time they work on it.

After the second go around on the N* HG issue I decided to pull the valve cover on the front head. The studs were misplaced in the block! The top left and top right nuts were way, way over torqued and the remainder 8 nuts were randomly torqued between 55 to 75 ft/lbs when all should have been torqued to 75ft/lbs.

Judge for yourself very complex engine maybe way over the heads (no pun intended) of your basic mechanic but they should at least be able to do the very basic of engine tasks, i.e. torque head studs!
Umm that sounds like improper installation. The head studding process is a basic task. That might explain it blowing twice though. Any fix if not applied right is gonna cause more issues. As for product, yes there is a difference. There are two main sets on head studs on the market for the Northstar. They differ in how they seat into the block. I will not mention one over the other or give specifics in an effort to prevent any of the Cadillac community drama (trust me it'* been blowing up on facebook the last few months) about them from coming here.
Old 06-17-2014, 11:45 PM
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Originally Posted by theonlypheonix
And yes... I did intentionally pick to reference a Rover 3500S because of a similarity to the N*. For those that remember their auto history will probably know the reason why
For those curious about the Rover/NorthStar connection, they both have ALL aluminum GM engines. The Rover company (British Leyland) purchased all the tooling for GM 1961-1963 all aluminum 215 ci V8 engine and I believe it is still used to this date although the fuel systems have changed over the years. Its worthy to note that in its form it did not have any of the reliability issues the NorthStar has i.e. HG/bolt problems and was popular when bored out and re-cranked in Can Am racing. An example of the good old days and another engine I was able to get 200K mile on without major issues.

Last edited by theonlypheonix; 06-17-2014 at 11:46 PM.
Old 06-18-2014, 12:30 AM
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[QUOTE=yutzybrian; They differ in how they seat into the block. I will not mention one over the other or give specifics in an effort to prevent any of the Cadillac community drama (trust me it'* been blowing up on facebook the last few months) about them from coming here.[/QUOTE]

I have seen a little of that drama... but if someone has internationally and deliberately made my car the victim of that drama it has NOW been brought to the GM Forum! And there will be a price to pay for the damage done.

We are all part of a community of car enthusiasts and I hope not out to knowingly and intentionally damage the others vehicles for monetary gain or intentionally inflicting loss to another member, group or supplier.
Old 07-09-2014, 02:38 PM
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Im not losing any water I keep checking the overflow and its at same place...
Old 07-09-2014, 02:49 PM
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That is a good thing, just keep an eye on it, and if you ever start to lose coolant, and cannot find an external leak, I'd park it and do the LIM Gaskets like I suggested, or you will end up needing to rebuild your motor, or get a new one..
Old 07-09-2014, 04:43 PM
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GXP back on the road again and running like new after head gasket replacement...again!

After some analysis it appeared that the studs were not originally place properly in the block attributing to head gasket leak/failure. For the DIY'ers note that all studs do not install in the block the same and the manufacturer instructions for the studs being used should be followed. This will save the need to redo the job a second time.
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Old 06-06-2015, 11:40 AM
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What appears to happen the head gaskets start to leak then in some cases they leak coolant into the combustion chamber and because water wont compress they rip the threads out of the block
O there is a fix called timserts were you drill the block and tap it out bigger
and tread in a insert with threads on out side and inside
best left up to a machine shop on a bare block
And who is to say it wont happen again
Lets just say the aluminum in a beer can is better quality then
the block is made of
Did we say anything about were you have to remove the engine to get the heads off
or the oil pan in the sub block
And lets not forget when your wife calls you saying the starter is dead
and you think {no big deal I will change it at her work right!!}
GM'* idea was {hey how can we screw every one from working on this more then we all ready have}
I know we can put the starter under the intake manifold
the only people that still have one soon finds out there life savings are gone
paying some one to fix it
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