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1985 Eldorado Biarritz engine ??

Started by L Winter, January 22, 2005, 12:55:03 AM

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L Winter


Bruce Reynolds # 18992

Gday L. Winter,

Well, I suppose the shortest answers would be to the question "what is right with the HT 4100"?

And, the answer to that question, in most cases is not much, and they were very good to the towing industry.

Bruce,
The Tassie Devil(le),
60 CDV

Mike #19861


 Look at the good service it gave to many happy motorists. And the fact that it made an Eldorado availabe to me.

 Maybe I am a bit of a masochist. But Ill enjoy my 85 Eldorado just the same.

  Mike

Michael Stamps 19507

Ill agree with the masochist part.

JK,
Stampie

Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397

There are several serious design deficiencies in the HT4100, but the most significant is coolant leakage into the oil due primarily to the porosity of the block, which is aluminum. This leads to main bearing knock and/or complete engine failure even in engines with low mileage as this process is more a factor of time than mileage. Also, it will not survive a significant overheating incident. When they are running properly, HT4100s are very smooth and quiet, but they are underpowered for 4,000 pound Cadillacs (125-135 horsepower depending on year)and probably the most troublesome engine in an American car since the Lincoln-Zephyr V-12. Some people have had pretty good service from them, but that is attrituable to a combination of very careful maintenance and luck.

Linda Winter

Thank you Rusty for your explaination about the engine.  I have my fathers 85 Biarritz.  Its loaded with options.  He is the only one who has driven it.  I have all the papers from when maintenance was done and it was always done on schedule.  This car was garaged and my dad went out and dusted it when he hadnt driven it for a while.  There are 39,831 miles on it.  I even have the original window sticker and bill of sale.  My dad passed away this last July and it hasnt been driven since.  Can you give me an idea what I might expect to sell it for?

Johnny

Quote from: Linda WinterThank you Rusty for your explaination about the engine.  I have my fathers 85 Biarritz.  Its loaded with options.  He is the only one who has driven it.  I have all the papers from when maintenance was done and it was always done on schedule.  This car was garaged and my dad went out and dusted it when he hadnt driven it for a while.  There are 39,831 miles on it.  I even have the original window sticker and bill of sale.  My dad passed away this last July and it hasnt been driven since.  Can you give me an idea what I might expect to sell it for?

Thats the $64 Question!  Of course the most important factor is the "condition" of the car, right behind it is the fact that it has the notorious HT4100 engine.

My first question to you would be "Why sell it?".  You have proably one of the best looking Cadillacs in recent history and being a Biarritz, its the top level Eldorado.  Maybe someone in the family, might want to keep the memory of your father, by keeping the car and enjoying "weekend" runs with it.

It appears that your father took meticulous care of the car, and I would assume its in top condition.  As a guideline I can offer these situations.  Recently someone in our region purchased a vehicle almost identical to what you have, and I believe they paid in the $7,000 range.  In the CLC "Self Starter" monthly magazine, 85 Eldorados asking price have been in the $10,000-$15,000 range.  Keep in mind these are asking prices, it doesnt necessarliy mean thats what they will get.

I might add this, that although the HT4100 isnt the most desirable engine that Cadillac has produced, it appears that the 85s are somewhat less troublesome.  The engine was introduced in 82 and as time went on, they were somewhat more reliable.  A personal observation of mine, is that if the engines are going to fail, its usually in the 40k-60k mile range.

If you decide to keep the car, make sure you change the oil regularly, have the coolant changed annually, and add the GM pellets to the coolant, and you should have many years of trouble free driving pleasure.

Good Luck,

John

Bob Chesnutt

I suggest since the car only has 39K miles there is a good possibility that the intake manifold kit from Cadillac has not installed.  I suggest you have it done since most 4100s do not make 50K without dumping the antifreeze into the oil.

That is caused by 2 problems that the kit installation fixes, providing that it is installed correctly.  One is that the intake manifold bolts come loose due to the slight movement of the manifold when heating. The kit provides a spring under each bolt head and a new torque setting.  Second one is that the kit provides a new bottoming tap to redo all of the holes.  Originally, some bolts were hitting bottom without putting much pressure on the manifold and gaskets.

I have had 4 and as long as the kit had been installed, I never had a bit of problem.  I still have 1, the others were running great when I sold them with over 150K on them.

Bob C

Vick

biarritz trim level production was > 60percent in 85, therefore then, they are a dime a dozen.

Wilson

Bob,

You have suggested that an intake manifold kit be installed on the 4100 engines.  I have over 140,000 miles on my Eldo, so is it safe to say that the work was done on my Eldo. If it wasn’t how can I tell if it was done?

Right now the right side header may have a broken or loose screw, I hope it just loose.



               Wilson

Mike #19861


 This "kit" is a revised intake manifold gasket set. It would have been installed only if the intake gasket failed after about 1988 and was done with GM parts.

 It consists of a differant gasket material, bolts with spring washers and a 8mm tap to make sure all the threads are perfectly clean. Torque settings were also revised to 12 ft lbs for the bolts.

 Inspecting the washers on the intake bolts will tell you if this revised gasket has been installed.

  Mike