It's hard to say why exactly why they would end the life of a successful powerplant, other than the industry trend toward 6 cylinders. These days, manufacturers are advertising V6 engines producing hp and getting 30 mpg on the highway. Add to that the fact that they are lighter, and take up less space, and it's hard to make an argument against them. Overall, the Northstar has lived a good long life and has gained many fans - myself included.
It's spirit will surely live on in GM engines yet to come. Sign up to get the latest performance and luxury automotive news, delivered to your inbox daily! I agree to receive emails from Motor Authority. I understand that I can unsubscribe at any time.
Privacy Policy. Contribute: Send us a tip Contact the editor. Share This Article:. Even today, the Northstar engine longevity is well over , miles—that is if the engine is regularly maintained and cleaned.
The Northstar engine was destined to revolutionize the automotive industry. It created a need for Cadillac that had not existed before, but it also brought with it a number of problems and frustrations.
Over time, GM found itself in an awkward position: some customers loved their Northstar engine, while others were disappointed with them because they did not meet expectations or broke down too easily. According to available data, head gasket damage is not uncommon at about , miles. Oil burns or leaks are also not uncommon with the Northstar V8 engine.
Even though it is well designed like other engines, there have been issues in this area — and they can cause major problems for drivers on both sides of the equation, as not only is there more wear and tear, but the likelihood of catastrophic failure at some point increases if the engine is not well maintained.
There was a major oil leakage problem with the first version of the Northstar V-8 engine , but Cadillac fans ignored it. This problem was caused by an installation error where the gasket was not pressed as tightly into the aluminum block, causing it to leak quickly. GM later fixed this leaking design flaw by developing a rear seal that presses firmly into place, without any room for leaks that could result from loose or incorrect placement.
But even though they were able to solve the leak problem with the installation of these new seals in future engines manufactured after the model year, there was still one fatal obstacle: all repairs require special service tools— which means you will not be able to replace your own faulty parts yourself. Another major problem that arose was a problem with the head gaskets blowing up due to debris from burning oil. This problem became bigger and more common as time went on.
GM, with the help of their engineers, developed a solution to eliminating this problem once and for all; they developed cleaning kits so that not only did the engine no longer overheated.
This helped in that deposits from burnt oil no longer accumulated in the engine. The head gasket and oil leak problems were most prevalent in the earlier versions of the Northstar engine In , Cadillac was able to solve the head gasket problem by lengthening them. This greatly reduced the number of Northstar engine failures and made it less likely that future vehicles that were still on the assembly line would have this problem, as they were built with longer bolts from the start. Although the head bolts were replaced in , the Northstar V8 engines still experienced overheating.
In , engineers at GM found that these engines were just as prone to this problem, if not more so, then other aluminum V8 engine models when they investigated complaints from customers who owned vehicles with LS6 heads.
Different kinds of Northstar engines were used at Oldsmobile and in several high-class and luxury Pontiacs in the s, making you wonder if the Northstar engine was really good or bad. Despite the use of the Northstar engine in various cars that did well on the market, General Motors stopped producing the Northstar engine in If you are wondering if the Northstar engine is good or bad, this might be confusing, since the engine has been utilized in so many cars.
The Cadillac DTS is a full-size luxury sedan that is produced by Cadillac and was the largest luxury car for the model year. The Buick Lucerne was a full-size car manufactured by GM from and was one of the top-of-the-line sedan options from General Motors before it was replaced by the Buick LaCrosse.
Finally, the last car to receive a Northstar engine was the Cadillac STS, a midsize luxury 4 door sedan that was manufactured from and equipped with a six speed automatic transmission.
So, why did the production cease? These V8 engines were the only engines used by Cadillac for almost the next decade, until the Blackwing V8 engine was produced in With a long timeline of being used in Cadillac cars, you might be wondering if the Northstar engine is good or bad? We are going to give you some insight here. GM began the process of designing the Northstar engine in the early s when they anticipated the need for a dual overhead cam in the V8 engine which was a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber.
With the feeling of direct competition about to happen from overseas in Europe and Japan, GM needed to stay up to date with the times. Before the Northstar engine was produced, Cadillac was using the HT Overhead Valve V8 , which is a piston engine that uses valves located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber.
Cadillac began producing new models to use the Northstar engine that he hoped would be direct competition against the luxury cars from BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus. With the production of the Northstar engine, with the consumers wondering if the Northstar engine was good or bad, the numbers did the talking. The engine was capable of putting horsepower out of its 4. The cylinder liners and the aluminum piston included valve clearance, with the valves striking the pistons if they lose timing.
However, the Northstar engine used 4 valves per cylinder and maintenance free cam-drive chain use to prevent any repairs or replacements necessary within the mechanism. One notable feature of the Northstar engine includes the limp mode , which allows the engine to keep running for a short amount of time without any coolant running through the system in case of an emergency. With the car supplying fuel to only one cylinder bank, the engine would cool the inactive bank in order to allow the engine to maintain safe temperatures and being able to drive for miles without any further damage, showing how the Northstar engine can be considered good and productive.
The engine was first introduced back in the early s with the Cadillac Allante, a two-door, two-seater luxury car produced by Cadillac from until The horsepower Northstar engine was used on all Cadillacs , while the Deville Concours and the Sevilles were fitted with the higher horsepower hp version.
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