351mach11647545510 Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Has anyone ever had to do the head bolt thread inserts on one of these? Looks like im stuck doing it but would like to know a little more ahead of time and maybe any little tricks that help make it a little easier or so I dont fudge the holes up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcan900 Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 I have only seen one of these done, and the person went ahead and purchased some special tool set from Cadillac. They were able to sell the set after they finished redoing the threads, but I really think that is was needed to do the thread replacement at all. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 http://www.timesert.com/html/gm.html PS: I'm so sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 well, you have to have the engine out of he car to do heads on those. timeserts are the way to go. i watched one guy do one ever and have refused to even do one. its almost cheeper to get a new engine than to have head gaskets replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
351mach11647545510 Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 negative. might be cheaper ones out there than what I found ($5,800) but it's still expensive. timesert is like $500 for the kit. honestly thinkin about just rebuilding the motor if I go through all of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 Word on the streets is the timeserts wont hold. Been on several Caddy boards and have read where numerous members have had to re-do the job, or just scrap the Engine. If you go on Cadillacowners.com there is a tech there who uses "Norms" inserts and claims there better then timeserts. Also inspect the block carefully when you pull the bolts, if there is any aluminum dust/particles the timeserts will not hold! Don't worry about rebuilding the motor, those N* are virtually indestructible (with the exception of the blasted head gaskets/bolts). You might also want to look into using studs of some sort as opposed to timeserts...what year is your caddy btw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 timeserts only fail because people don't use the right tools to put them in. i've installed hundreds of them and never had one fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 sorry I should have clarified: Word on the streets is that timeserts won't hold in a N*. Lots of people have been having issues with them, then again others (including myself) haven't. As I recall there is some issue with galvanic corrosion within the bolt holes, if the corrosion gets bad enough the timeserts won't hold and will strip-out when torqued. Run a search on caddyinfo for "timeserts" and you will get mind-boggling amounts of info on the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted November 28, 2010 Report Share Posted November 28, 2010 like i said, people that don't do it right are the ones with the problems. i searched "Cadillac Timesert Issues" and came back with nothing. some of the hundreds i've done were in the northstar engines. the only thing i like about that engine is the water pump and thats only because it pays good and its easy to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acklac7 Posted November 30, 2010 Report Share Posted November 30, 2010 http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/northstar-performance-technical-discussion/133429-root-cause-head-gasket-failure-fix.html too many AJ's on the internets lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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