Repair-It

One gasket.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 44&jsn=444

$22. A little pricey (probably why I didn't replace originally). But I am not sure this is even what is leaking. It may just be the hose connection to the t-stat housing. Maybe just needs to be cleaned and an actual hose clamp installed.

Sheesh, $25 with tax. For a small gasket in the shape of an 8. I guess gaskets in the shape of an O are generally cheaper...

Got my gasket. Not bad for the $2.99 first class mail shipping. Helps that was coming from NY...

I did a bunch of stuff today. I will put stuff where it belongs. Here is the summary:
- Oil change
- Fixed my coolant leak but it was not what I thought
- Trans fluid (again) and this time I added some Lubegard shudder fix stuff...I'll explain
- Found my clunk, I think

So the Roadmaster didn't start. I had parked this since Saturday having done all of that work but then found the ball joint issue. So it has been sitting in the cold since then. Out of the Roadmaster I went...

Walked over to the STS, pulled the door handle. Light came on, but did not open. Tried that several times. Nothing. Great. Tried the unlock button on the fob. Nothing. Oh. I had left the keys to it in the center console of the Roadmaster all week so the fob was literally at 0F. I tried old school - key in the door lock solenoid. That did it and unlocked all the doors even. Got in the car. Pressed start button. "No fob detected." Right. So I shoved it in the little pocket/slot inside the center console which is a backup method if the fob battery dies. Worked perfectly as designed and the STS cranked and fired right up.

This car has a significant amount of driveline drag in cold weather. I assume it is all the AWD crap. The Roadmaster actually felt pretty normal even in single digits when driving, even right off a cold start. The STS barely wants to roll. Probably should do some fluid changes in the diffs and transfer case with a good synthetic.

But yeah, drove it in. Nice to have heated seats, steering wheel and a good stereo again, of course.

Got to work, shut it off. Steam wisps out from the grill. Uh oh. Maybe just leftover from when I did the water outlet gaskets? Opened the hood. There appeared to be coolant all over the place. I do NOT think it was leaking from the gaskets that I changed but seemed to be coming from somewhere else. Could be a hose. I will have to look more closely. Hopefully it has enough coolant to get home.

kevm14 wrote:OMG

Are you ready for this?

Guess how much the electronic throttle body is. Go ahead. I'll wait. Don't scroll down.











Did you guess?




























$57.79. That's AC Delco. I have no idea how it can be that cheap. I bet most non-electronic throttle bodies are way more than that, especially when you add up the other parts that this completely replaces. It performs idle air control functions. And throttle position sensor. There are definitely some NOT overpriced parts for the Northstar. I would have guessed $400 for the TB, seriously.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.ph ... 36&jsn=436

It is tempting just to replace this as I wonder if it would fix that lazy tip in response that I've complained about since buying the car. And forget cleaning the damn thing - just replace every 50k!! lol

Just ordered a new throttle body and gasket for $73 shipped. Apparently driving both cars has caused me to want to spend money on both, in the name of improving things on one car that the other does better. Hopefully this actually fixes the tip in laziness. Rockauto said some kind of relearn procedure may be necessary but that's why I have a Tech 2.

I also drove the SRX this weekend on a long drive and it really has no tip-in laziness at all. Apparently it is a different TB though, at least according to Rockauto.

Hoping this will be a good STS weekend...looking for:
- No more clunks (after driving more)
- No more leaks (after the new hose)
- No more delay off the line at tip-in (after new TB)

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/6792157748.html

Cadillac STS-4 AWD V8 - $1 (Wilmot / Danbury NH)

2005 Cadillac STS-4
condition: excellent
cryptocurrency ok
cylinders: 8 cylinders
drive: 4wd
fuel: gas
odometer: 130000
paint color: black
size: full-size
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: sedan
This is the AWD V8 model SG1 with every possible factory option (I have the build sheet from GM). Heated steering wheel, heated and cooled seats, navigation, 15 speaker Bose sound, HID lights, premium wheels, etc.

Prior to winter the following was done at our mechanic:
Brake pads
Rotors
Calipers
Shocks (electro-mag air ride)
Tires

Clear New Hampshire title in hand. $6k or partial trade + cash of same value. I'd also trade up for a skidsteer.

Currently snowed in from the last storm with the property being plowed (extra vehicle). Come check it out with cash, and can clear a path out. Bring plates (or trailer) and drive it home.

Any questions feel free to ask. If you're reading this, the car is available. Thank you

He gets partial credit for "SG1" since he meant to type 1SG. SG-1 was a TV series....lol

I realize it is NH but it's funny that this AWD vehicle is snowed in. Great sales pitch (and to add to that, according to him, a skidsteer would be way more useful than this car to him). And $6k is way too high for this, though some decent maintenance was recently done including pricey shocks. But at least you can pay in cryptocurrency.

kevm14 wrote: Hoping this will be a good STS weekend...looking for:
- No more clunks (after driving more)
- No more leaks (after the new hose)
- No more delay off the line at tip-in (after new TB)

Still assessing the leak situation. I just need more time to monitor. I don't see any leaks though. And no massive steam cloud out of the grill or anything like that. I wish I could have rinsed the front of the engine because I think there is coolant on all kinds of stuff, like the ABS pump and alternator. Great.

I think the throttle is now acting as intended by the calibration. Which is to say, still soft but at least it feels more linear off the line now. I think a tune would actually do a lot for the drivability and even power but that will not be possible sadly. Knowing it is likely behaving as intended means I can hopefully stop worrying about it. It is not doing that hunting thing off a cold start, which was sort of the only hard indicator that something was malfunctioning. And obviously it still didn't set a code.

I saved the best for last. I have to say, doing those upper control arms did more good for the car than I originally assessed. It's funny. I knew the commute would make or break my repair success. Fortunately it is good news. I would say I solved the clunk issue. Obviously I will always be aware of the end link situation and in the future if that does loosen up I will weld some washers per Adam's recommendation (well, Adam will weld washers...). And at some point, it will need some lower control arms. But it feels pretty damn decent at the moment. Probably going to skip the alignment since I'm not in any real hurry to preserve the front tires. If I see some odd wear starting I will consider it but I think it might be more cost effective to leave it the way it is until I need front tires.

Very happy to be back in the STS. It's a really good daily driver. Minus the fuel economy. But I'm good with it.

New STS-V ad.

https://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/d/s ... 14616.html

2009 CADILLAC STS V - $15500 (Southington)

2009 CADILLAC STS V
VIN: 1G6DX67D090126433
condition: excellent
cylinders: 8 cylinders
fuel: gas
odometer: 71000
paint color: black
title status: clean
transmission: automatic
type: sedan
2009 Cadillac STS V with 71,000 miles, 4.4L 8 cylinder Engine. Leather interior. In excellent condition. $15,500.00
Contact John @ show contact info
do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers

Overall seems pretty decent and fair.

I have to say, an 09 one of these is incredibly rare. The regular STS was dwindling by 09, so the V certainly was.

I wasn't kidding. This is unreal.

STS-V Production Numbers
2006 - 1,306 Total - 55 were exported to various countries
2007 - 642 Total - 65 were exported to various countries
2008 - 459 Total - 32 were exported to various countries
2009 - 96 total - 4 were exported to Gulf States (BAHRAIN,OMAN,QATAR,UAE)
Total production 2,503 Units

If that is a real 09 V, it is one of 92 produced and sold in the US.

Of note, this car sports the updates that the STS received later in its run. And they are not that significant. Outside it is the fender vent and I think that's about it. Inside it is some very minor stuff like a vertical strip on the vents, maybe some extra hash marks on the instrument cluster, the shifter from our SRX (the updated 6-speed shifter), uhh….not sure what else. Wonder if it has any of the other later run stuff like lane departure warning and that kind of stuff. They did also have a Platinum edition with some interior trim upgrades, but not sure if that was available on the V. STS-V never had adaptive cruise as far as I know, and also never had MR shocks as far as I know.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_STS-V

This is about what I paid for my CTS-V in 2010 as a 5 year old car. This is now a 10 year old car, but was also considerably more expensive. And has like 25k fewer miles than my V did in 2010.

Wish I had some spare change for something like this. I would have so many interesting cars. I would not trade my V for this V, mainly because I already have the STS experience. The STS-V has two major minuses compared to my V: handling and no manual trans. Those are non-negotiable, or should I say, there is nothing that the STS-V does, that makes me want to give up those things. I also say this never having driven one but my read on these kinds of things is usually right.

Looking at the Wiki, some notes:
- HUD was standard, at least on the 09. I do like that.
- Rainsense was optional but probably standard again on the 09. I like that on mine.
- It may have had the blind spot warning thing (lights in mirrors, something common now but very rare at the time) and maybe a lane departure camera, also like current cars
- Ventilated seats not available on the V, as with ACC, but I knew that already
- MSRP $79,465, though I am sure none sold for that, especially in 09, even with so few being available

I have good news and bad news.

First the good news: I think the coolant is no longer leaking.

For the bad news check the catalytic converter thread...