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I thought Cadillac made a huge mistake of putting the 8-6-4 motor which was an awful motor and then replace it with an underpowered and unreliable 4100 motor.
The V8-6-4 was a good idea, just way ahead of it's time. The motor itself was sturdy, from the same big block family as the 472/425 motors (there were also non-V8-6-4 368s) the problem was the ECM wasn't really fast or smooth enough to effectively activate and deactivate the cylinders. GM kept revising the programming, they released new chips up until 1986....supposedly the cars that were still around to receive the updates run great, most you find today have had the displacement-on-demand disconnected or been converted to 4bbl carb.
It would be interesting to see what someone could do to one of those V8-6-4 motors with modern electronics and updated programming.
The HT4100 was all around terrible motor, but it got a lot better.....especially after it became the 4.5l and then 4.9l. The Northstar V8 was still a huge improvement, though.
In 1984, I had a friend who had a 1979 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. I remember being 15 and impressed with this car but in retrospect I was just in awe with the Cadillac brand and the oppulence it offered. The car had a huge v-8 engine ( bigger than 1 350) that would cause the car to burn lots of rubber, but the car itself was not remarkably fast. The transmission was strong and shifted quietly and smoothly, but the ride was only ok. I remember riding in a Lincoln of that era that provided more of a smooth ride and better absorption of bumps than the Cadillac. My friend, the owner of this car, actually told me that he had ridden in a 1979 Thunderbird that he thought was much smoother than his Caddy.
In the early 90's he bought a downsized Cadillac Sedan de Ville than ran remarkably well.
I'm a retired mechanic and the son of a mechanic and we were both Caddy people.
I had my share over the early yrs as did my dad. His last one was the 79 Cpe De Ville that he bought with 9000 miles and then sold it with 21000 on the spedo to a man sight unseen. It was a beauty and one of the last best styles on the mkt then. I wanted the car but already had to many for just one person to drive and park. Full power and 15-17 mpg at the time.
My best friend first car was a 79 Fleetwood. He keep it clean! I'm talking bout washing it every other day, every day in the winter if salt water got on it. We couldn't eat in there or drink. Just small shots in big cups. We had so much fun in it in 1991. The women? Boi!!! Teen boys in a Caddy Fleetwood? Lovely?
The V8-6-4 was standard in 1981 only, I think. The normal 368 was universally offered in 1980 only, but some later Fleetwood 75s, limos, hearses, etc had the normal 368 later on. The junk HT4100 was a V8...wasn't there a 4.1 litre V6 offered as well, or was that just in the Electra and 98? Don't know about the durability of that one, but the idea of that having to pull 4000 pounds meant that it had to work hard.
Skip forward to 1986 and the Olds 307 is offered (standard for '87)...skip to 89 or 90 and the fuelie 350 is optional.
were the 79's as quiet as the older Cads from 5-6-7 years prior?
i ask because the 81 Imperials were getting the award of being dead silent on the road, no small feat for luxury cars that were noisier than their competitors in the 70's
BTW, 2 weeks ago i saw a restored 63 4 door Impala and last week i saw a green 73 Centurion convertible being gassed up
My parents had a 98 Diesel Olds 98 which turned out to be a POS and traded ( practically had to pay the Caddy dealer to take) for a '84 Fleetwood. Nice car but , as you said, underpowered. It was carjacked from my mom on a corner and she was left standing in the median at night. Then they got an '86 Fleetwood ( downsized model) which they kept until '91 for a new Fleetwood ( a beautiful car ) and then got a '96 Sedan de Ville which had a major problem ( the the Northstar ?) and traded it within weeks for a '97. They then traded that one in for a '05 for a Sedan de Ville which ( after they both passed on) I inherited with 35K. A nice car but not sure if I will continue the trend. It has 47K on the spedo now and I baby it hoping to get several more years out of it.
It is my opinion that each Cadillac was a better car than the previous one. JMHO, YMMV :-)
Last edited by Rogarven; 07-11-2013 at 04:35 PM..
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typical question you've come to expect from rlrl
