PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Copy pasted from my introduction thread

Picked up a 1999 Cadillac STS last October and have been doing minor maintenance and upgrades while enjoying driving the thing. Nicest car Ive owned so far. The northstar oil leaks are a minor frustration but Ive started to just look at it as the thing marking its territory. Black with a tan interior its got 120XXXkm on it right now which I believe is around 75000 miles. It still has the window sticker laminated from when the original owner spent 68000 on it new back in 1999, that was the selling feature for me.



One of the pictures of it from the website of the used car dealer where I bought it from. Had about 108XXX km on it when I bought it.



A photo I took a few weeks ago. I had it tinted at the start of the summer, Looks much much better with that done. I have a HID kit for the fogs I just need a weekend off work so I can go in and install it.



Just cause I had spent the entire day before this photo was taken washing and waxing the beast.

Good friend of mine has a 2001 LeSabre for some more C/H body love. Added a rear sway bar to that from a Cadillac STS which turned that land yacht into a corner carver... well that might be an exaggeration. Both the LeSabre and my STS were sold new at the same dealer in my hometown too.

Been a busy few months, got a lot done with my STS. Added magnaflow mufflers with 2003+ northstar tips. Excuse the poor photo, my phone isn't the greatest at nighttime photos. Why they reverted to the square tips from 98-02 is beyond me. These look so much better. The magnaflows have such an unreal noise to them backed to this car. Ill be sure to get a few drive by videos and something through a tunnel to truly show the 300 hp symphony of a northstar. I had the exhaust shop space the tips 1/2" further out than factory. I think it looks better that way and its a subtle mod that separates my STS from the rest.



This photo also shows off the LED reverse/license plate lights I added. Not a fan of them on the inside of my vehicle but I love the look of the crisp white light they give off for exterior lighting. Had to add resistors to the license plate lights to stop them from flickering but they're well worth it. Not the only lighting upgrade I've done to this car, finally added HID's in my fogs as well as my low beams. Really modernizes looking at this car at night.



Then right around my birthday



Headgaskets... Great. I actually put 1000 KM on this thing with blown headgaskets. Full James Bond smokescreen when cold. The motor hydrolocked overnight twice on me. Got a rental at that point. Pulled all the plugs, cranked it, reassembled and drove it the 200km to Northstar Performance. Despite hydrolocking twice it didnt damage any of the rotating assembly. Block got studded and resealed, new TCC solenoid as preventative maintenance and they found a problem with my flexplate. 2750 dollars well spent, would totally recommend to anyone who is having northstar issues. They re-installed a bunch of missing trim/washers from their own spare parts and corrected my trans shift cable all without charging extra. This car has been running better than ever since I got it back from them.

I added siriusXM as well and tried to do as clean of an install as possible. Hid the wiring and mounted the receiver in the cubby infront of the shifter. Lid still closes, pretty stealth install that puts a smile on my face.







Just a nice picture of it. With the headgaskets out of the way I'm looking forward to a good few years of ownership out of this thing. Like I said in my introduction thread I want to add a Bonneville GXP strut tower bar and replace some of the suspension bushings with polyurethane. Northstar Performance have released a performance front engine mount that I'm really interested in. I might install it over the winter to see the difference vs factory. I will need to put in a wheel bearing soon enough but I just need a weekend off work to get that done. Thanks for reading this far, hopefully you don't mind seeing a Cadillac in this poncho forum but its still quite similar to the GXP's.

Love the car! Great find too! Glad you are doing the necessary repairs to keep it running for a long time :-) . . BC

Welcome to the club! We don't mind the Caddy at all, a lot of members don't even have Bonnevilles. Hahaha!

After having the block studded and resealed, that motor and trans should last forever. Pricey up front, but you'll likely have it for years to come. Awesome car!

Nice, i love a black cadillac.

Looks great!

I'm giving some consideration of buying one of these one day, although part of me thinks it could be a high-risk purchase. Although rare over here, they're not impossibly hard to find as they were available in the UK when they were new, and with right hand drive too.

I remember Jeremy Clarkson roadtested it on Top Gear back in 1998.

Found it on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mndX4SyORc

OK, as you'd expect from JC he isn't all that complimentary, but at least he does show some love for the Northstar!

One question though... Would anyone in their right mind really let it go 100,000 miles between services?!

I LOVE your Caddy. I would love to find an 02-03 STS in Black with Black leather. Seems they aren't easy to find especially one that has been well maintained. Since that combo seems to be a "pimp" car, most of the time.

Saturn Simon wrote:Looks great!
I remember Jeremy Clarkson roadtested it on Top Gear back in 1998. ......

Found it on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mndX4SyORc

........

One question though... Would anyone in their right mind really let it go 100,000 miles between services?!

Yes, you would have to be out of your mind to go 100K miles without servicing any engine and, yes, I absolutely love the sound of a N* at WOT! Wish I could have one sooooooooooooooo bad. - BC

Saturn Simon wrote:Looks great!
I remember Jeremy Clarkson roadtested it on Top Gear back in 1998. ......

Found it on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mndX4SyORc

........

One question though... Would anyone in their right mind really let it go 100,000 miles between services?!

Yes, you would have to be out of your mind to go 100K miles without servicing any engine and, yes, I absolutely love the sound of a N* at WOT! Wish I could have one sooooooooooooooo bad. - BC

I'm guessing what they meant by 100k miles between services was fluid changes, spark plugs, wires, etc etc. Obviously not oil or filters.

Even the 2000+ Bonneville was touted as not needing service till 100k on account of its special spark plugs and Dex-cool.

You'll love that stud kit. I drove my old GXP hard without any reservations whatsoever, and combined with a top-to-bottom regasketing, it didn't miss a beat. The current owner picked it up with 75,000km on the studs (60k of which was mine), is much easier on it now, and it's doing great (albeit gas door rust is getting to it...).

Before me, it was Northstar Performance Jake's old car.

Love STS's. Looks great!

Saturn Simon wrote: One question though... Would anyone in their right mind really let it go 100,000 miles between services?!

Because GM marketed it this way to appease to the cheapskate automotive population who will never, ever, do maintenance on their vehicles within the average life of ownership unless something goes wrong. You know, the 99.9999999999999% of the people you share the road with. If they don't have to pay for stuff, it is a huge sales tactic. They do this because they put in spark plugs meant to go 100k. Coolant meant to go 100k (regardless of personal feelings in regards to Dexcool), Dexron transmission fluid meant to go 100k. Exhaust systems made from more expensive stainless steel meant to go 100k. I think you see where I'm going.

Because GM did this (as did other manufacturers), people lived by it, and then you see high mileage examples like this with substantial reconditioning items and/or problems.

I can't tell you how many times I'd have something come in with >100k on the clock, to do even a simple tune-up. Then you ask the owner if plugs, wires, filters, etc, have ever been replaced. 9 times out of 10, their answer was "Nope... The owners manual said I didn't need to change the plugs for 100k..."

Right from the 2000 Pontiac Bonneville owners manual;

Coolant (Page 6-22):

The cooling system in your vehicle is filled with DEX-COOL engine coolant. The coolant is designed to remain in your vehicle for 5 years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

Trans Fluid (Page 6-19):

If you do not use your vehicle under any of these conditions, change the fluid and filter at 100,000 miles.

Conditions were heavy duty usage such as taxi, police, etc, or towing, etc.

For spark plugs, under the maintenance section page 7-18 and 7-26, at 100,000 miles inspect plug wires and replace spark plugs.

So with that said, this is what people adhere to, right, wrong or indifferent.

^ Thanks. It makes more sense that it refers to trans fluid and coolant - although it's still clearly a long time. Not doing an oil/filter change for 100k miles would be lunacy.

Agree. I don't subscribe to their theory, but alas... stuff like this kept me employed too, so...