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Detroit, 2:41 AM
Sat Nov 21
31 posts in the last 24 hours
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This thing is so crack pipe, it resembles the aquaduct structure in Pompeii, after the earthquake in 62 AD. This won't even make it as a PCH entry, because even if you return it to 100% pristine, like new condition, it could self-destruct the next time you drove it, and even if it didn't, no one would notice it, except for the cloud of smoke.
Not only that, you almost don't dare to drive it, anyway, because the suspension is so awful that simply turning a corner can become a happening worthy of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Worst of all, this car has no personality. You have to really look for the nameplate to know what it is. The Buick and Olds renditions of this car were enormously better, with tighter suspension and, as Tony noted, a decent gas engine which actually worked.
You can spend $6500.00 for this thing, but do it because you have fond memories of your grandfather buying one, just before they sent him off to the home, or because you collect Cadfillacs, and this is the only working diesel model you ever saw, or because you have a replacement gas engine, and a set of Riviera badges in the junk box. But for god sakes, don't actually buy it to drive. No one's that masochistic. #1979cadillaceldoradobiarritzdi...
11/09/09
Just that Olds 350 diesel could be had in every medium/large GM product... #1979cadillaceldoradobiarritzdi...
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While I'm no tree hugger, the notion of converting this into the world's first "Biorritz" is oddly appealing. Can Vogues and smug coexist? #1979cadillaceldoradobiarritzdi...
11/09/09
To be fair and to give credit to some of the criticism, the early "D" block ('78-'80 early m.y. '81) LF9's, while more powerful at 125 PS had some problems. The HOLES for the head bolts were not THD all the way to the bottom due to poor quality control on most engines (the block being thicker but using the petrol tooling, the last bit of the holes never got THD). 'No one thought of this' until late in the run and this was finally 'fixed for good' in "DX "block engines ('81+). Oil on "D" block engines needed to be changed RELIGIOUSLY every 3,000 miles using NOTHING BUT Rotella-T (I don't care what the manual says), or possibly Delvac. You can get away with the SAE-30 version south of the Mason-Dixon lines, but other than that, it's 15W-40. This is because of a propensity for soot build-up on the lifters and the poor quality diesel of the day.
The DX block was a much better engine with many of these problems solved, re-designed lifters to allow oil changes as late as 5,000 miles (STILL RELIGIOUSLY WITH ROTELLA-T). One of the biggest problems left was with the Stanadyne pump, being driven by a chain and getting out of sync because the chain would stretch (it needed to be a better alloy but was never done to give it commonality), but the chain would RARELY break with normal use. The fact that there was no water separator on either engine was the biggest problem. Water injection into a diesel can add additional pressure to combustion (some early jet planes had water injectors for extra thrust). This is bad in an engine that was designed to be just within pressure tolerances in order to get by. Failures ensued. Also headbolts were ONE USE ONLY and were commonly re-used after repair out of laziness or cheapness. Again repeat failure. Many mechanics of the day didn’t understand TTY headbolts, again, fail (not to mention, early TTY with flaky alloys were not that great to start with and needed periodic checking).
Most of the problem was with the bad diesel fuel of the day that had more water than oil in it (figuratively).
So this car belongs in a museum with a thorough explanation of how GM, its consumers, and the design all conspired to fail each other.
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But it's still is a crap engine. No I don't care if the ECU is wrong, or the tolerances are too tight, or the servicing needs to be perfect. It's still an engine isn't it? It's like saying the braking system is perfect except the actual calipers which apply the force. It's a system.
I don't blame the engine, I blame those dolts at GMPT (or rather their bosses) who got pressured into doing a rush job. #1979cadillaceldoradobiarritzdi...
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I blame Graverobber's style. #1979cadillaceldoradobiarritzdi...
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A heart-click for you. Well done. #1979cadillaceldoradobiarritzdi...
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