1999 Cadillac Krystal -"ex-Forest Lawn"

Kind of hard to believe that Forest Lawn would run a coach for 17 years! I'm would think that they would be trading every couple of years.
 
You'd think.... but, with 7 Cemeteries in Los Angeles Co. and 3 in Coachella Valley they have a few Satellite locations that probably don't have brand new Armbruster's. A lot of folks think of them as just having the one location in Glendale. This "ronnie" guy might reveal when they traded them in. The Dark Blue's a nice departure from Black but, for me, this Coach Builder's side window is a bit off.
 
Having been to a couple of funerals there, I can believe the low mileage for the coaches that stay on the grounds as their whole operation is in-house. I also know that Doug Scott in the past has had to remove the (F-L Exclusive) side window, install a plate and re-pad the top to sell them. MM
 
Kerry Bogard said:
just 32,688 miles
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Being a Northstar though, that very well may be close to end-of-life. We've literally already scrapped two nice DeVilles with only about 50K on them because of bad engines. Still a very interesting car worth considering though, given its scarcity. I know of only two others like it, one also a Northstar and the other a well-known one with the LT1.
 
I am told by a fairly good source that many of the Northstar head gasket issues are actually mis-diagnosed. He tells me that it is usually a cross over tube that blows out a small gasket, causing the external leak. Has anyone else found this to be the case?

It is now possible to pick up the '97-'99 coaches cheaper than the '93-'96 coaches!
 
That's interesting Kurt! I spoke to the Cadillac dealer in NC (Bill Black) and even he admitted to a major problem in those years. Love to hear more about the repair.
 
99

Kerry Bogard said:
You'd think.... but, with 7 Cemeteries in Los Angeles Co. and 3 in Coachella Valley they have a few Satellite locations that probably don't have brand new Armbruster's. A lot of folks think of them as just having the one location in Glendale. This "ronnie" guy might reveal when they traded them in. The Dark Blue's a nice departure from Black but, for me, this Coach Builder's side window is a bit off.
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Selle is Ronnie Grubbs,give him a call for any additional info you need.
 
we were told by a dealer it effected Northstars from '97 - '05... with few in the last years. I know I have heard of '00, and '01's having same problem. Our funeral study group was basically told, "if you have a '97 through '05, you may wanna be trading it...". I assumed these cars will be like the '80-'84's, specifically '82-'84 I think might have had the most issues... they will go quickly as engine problems begin...
 
The rubber gasket that I am referring to is about the diameter of a penny. Cadillac dealer told him that it was a blown head gasket. Dealer was wrong. Relatively inexpensive fix.
 
Kurt, in reference to your post on #6... I sent that to a hearse dealer and got this response:

"Just had an '03 Cadillac was told it was head gaskets, but after looking it was the cross over tube..."
 
Kind of like the 4.1 heads. Mine turned out to be a lose intake that bolts half over the head. Luckily for me the man I took it to spotted the problem and we got by a lot cheaper.
 
Kent Dorsey said:
we were told by a dealer it effected Northstars from '97 - '05... with few in the last years. I know I have heard of '00, and '01's having same problem. Our funeral study group was basically told, "if you have a '97 through '05, you may wanna be trading it...". I assumed these cars will be like the '80-'84's, specifically '82-'84 I think might have had the most issues... they will go quickly as engine problems begin...
Click to expand...

you can never stop learning.....thanks !
 
I think most of these issues are hastily diagnosed at Cadillac dealerships.

Also, a new engine or a trade-in(at scrap price) is much more profitable for the dealership than just replacing an "O" ring/gasket on a coolant cross-over! In the dealership's eyes, this is just a 12-19 year-old car and well past time to replace anyway.
 
Not sure if its relevant on these engines but it made a big difference on the 87 Buick Grand National 3.8 Turbo ones. It was found corrosion problems were poping up much like the O ring one here. A switch to pure anti freeze Not "Coolant" and the correct amount of distilled water added for the desired bottom temperature cured the corrosion problem. It seemed the problem was worse in areas with hard water (lots of minerals) and never use house water from a place with a water softener (too much salt). Since we have hard well water here I use distilled in all my keeper vehicles. Remember when you buy "Coolant" its like light beer you are paying for them to add water and you can bet its tap water.
 
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