2005 XLR Head Gasket

[redsoxdad2]

Does anyone know if Cadillac ever solved the problem of blowing head gaskets on the North Star engines.

 

[XLRATING]

My understanding is it was fixed - or at least vastly improved - around the MY 2000 Northstars. It seems to be a pretty rare problem for our XLR's.

 

[lextoy]

my research also led me to the same conclusion. 2002 and newer N* head bolt problem was fixed.
havent heard of any XLR's having the catastophic leaking problems of older cadillacs.
well at least not the head gasket... some oil leaks seem common on the XLR, but not catastrophic, just expensive
haha

 

[redsoxdad2]

my research also led me to the same conclusion. 2002 and newer N* head bolt problem was fixed.
havent heard of any XLR's having the catastophic leaking problems of older cadillacs.
well at least not the head gasket... some oil leaks seem common on the XLR, but not catastrophic, just expensive
haha

Thank for responding. I do know what you mean by expensive. Found out from my mechanic that it would cost around $5k for a head gasket, he said that you need to drop the engine down to do it. He used to work for a Cadillac dealer on North Star engines all the time. Now has his own business.

 

[GizmoQ]

Does anyone know if Cadillac ever solved the problem of blowing head gaskets on the North Star engines.

I can only recall one XLR over the last five years on the forum that had to replace head gaskets. Seeing as my max boost is over 25psi and I haven't blown the heads off yet,I'd say its fixed on our cars for sure.

 

[redsoxdad2]

I can only recall one XLR over the last five years on the forum that had to replace head gaskets. Seeing as my max boost is over 25psi and I haven't blown the heads off yet,I'd say its fixed on our cars for sure.

Thank you, I am feeling better about this after all the feedback on head gaskets.

 

[airmike]

My guess is you don't need to drop the engine on xlr anyway, since it is no sideways.

 

[Stella]

From what I know you do have to separate the body from the chassis. You might have room to remove the heads. But from my understanding with the head gasket problem is the head bolts pull the thread out of the block. The best fix I've seen is studding the head bolts. With studding the block you would definetely need more room to mount the heads. Haven't gone down this road but I know there's not a lot of room under the hood of the x

 

[mark henicle]

i can only tell you my 2005 blew both sides at 98K miles. The first sign to me should have been them sending me the postcards to extend my warranty. I didn't take them up on it. I believed in GM. Big mistake. Don't know who has the piece of junk now.

 

[long Tall Sally]

the only ones I have seen or heard about from the NorthStar guru who says that the 04 and 05 had radiator leaks. People ignored them, the cars ran hot and the heads went out. he said with proper coolant replacement and a sealed cooling system He has never seen one just fail. he has done 1000's and I think invented the stud kit for the older models

 

[mark henicle]

Mine had 3 radiators over it's life with me. None of the failures were around that date the heads went. We came home from vacation once and had coolant on the floor, no one had driven the car. After the heads went we lost a radiator with a crack on the driver's side tank. Loved the car. Wish it had a motor that lasted.

 

[long Tall Sally]

everyone elses has lasted very well. 3 radiator failures? wow that's a first. Most replace the original one and then its good to go. Sounds like the first one went out, car Ran hot lost pressure into the coolant system which would have caused the other failures . The same motor is in the srx and they do not have the problems and there are tons of them out there.. Your mileage may vary due to your driving style.

 

[mark henicle]

As i said we came home from a vacation and found coolant under the car. No one was driving the car. Car was under warranty at the time dealer came and picked it up. That was about 2006 or 7. The head gaskets went June of 2017. Don't think it is related. Then the next radiator went about November of 2017. If you put a motor in that has been repaired by GM, why do they only warranty it for 3 years? I surely wish they had a better product. Never again. Went to trade it, all dealers stayed away from it. They know. One quoted me over 10k to fix it about 16 miles away, another one 35 miles away was going to to it for a little under 10K.

 

[long Tall Sally]

well it seems like you had some strange dealers. Engine replacement for the srx does not cost near that and they rarely replace them .Almost none for heads except that have run hot. With thousands of other xlr owners who have had no problems, I again would tell the poster that its not an issue with the cars. I would say your being up north had more to do with a dealer not wanting it and maybe in the winter. Down around Florida and Texas they get top dollar for them and they sell all the time pretty fast. Maybe the dealer pulled up your history and did not like what they say or the mileage may have ben high. As a whole I quote the NorthStar guru who says "The engine in the xlr is not known for having the problems with head gaskets and head bolts that the OLD engines had". I don't know of anyone that warranties a replacement engine longer than 3 and 36 .MAybe some do. Most are 1 year and 12,000 miles. Hope you bought something you can live better with.

 

[mark henicle]

by the way it my wie's xlr, although she has a heavier foot than i, the car was never abused. Maybe living above the mason dixon line, the aluminum couldn't handle the shrinking and expansion. I got to at least drive a great car for 13 years but it cost me 72K to do it. I swore i wouldn't own another GM but we traded it on a 17 stingray. Can't say it is the greatest, it idle's like it has 2 plug wires off. My mechanic says that engine doesn't have problems. Guess we will see. I drive a 13 Lincoln MKS. A far superior product than the XLR or Corvette. I hope GM survives, i will need parts someday. By the way before the Lincoln, i had a 2001 Cadillac ETC with a Northstar engine. Great car except the engine. It had just over 100K on it and drank a quart of oil a week. A fellow worker had a Monte Carlo with over 300K miles and didn't burn a drop. I can say nothing good about Northstar. I wish you the best with their products. Thanks for chatting.

 

[Jaxrwild]

61000 miles

 

[pure zen]

quote: "Never again. Went to trade it, all dealers stayed away from it."

No surprise there...




JMO,,, a 98K mile, low production exotic model, with many previous warranty and non-warranty engine or drive train work performed,,,isn't going to have much resale value in cold climate states. What is a dealer going to do with it? > Wholesale it to some independent 'sled lots' or auction it off. So, they are probably looking at it at 50% to 60% less than low book value....which is normal and understandable at that point. Sorry you had so much trouble with the car, but maybe should have sold it or traded it in between 75-80K miles. When close to 100K miles (or over) ,,dealers take a dimmer look at it as a valuable piece to put on their used car lot. They are only then looking at dumping it off w/o losing any $$. Hope your next purchased vehicle satisfies your expectations!

p z

 

[cobratoo22]

http://www.zr1specialist.com/HAT We...at DexCool Harms the Cylinder Head Gasket.pdf

 

[dawnst3ar]

Anyone looked at these?

http://www.northstarperformance.com/