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So your Northstar powered car overheated, or it's blowing white smoke. It may be losing coolant and you can't explain where it's going.
There are three ways the head gaskets can fail on a Northstar. 1- exhaust gases blow into the cooling system under load, such as when you climb a hill or pass someone. 2-coolant gets into the cylinders and you leave a trail of
white smoke behind you. 3- coolant gets in your oil or vice-versa. A blown head gasket doesn't mean your car is toast- Cadillacs and Oldsmobile Auroras truly are performance vehicles that love to be driven. Don't give up on your car yet.
Why take your car to us?
Our process is very in-depth. You've probably seen other shops advertise that they can do the repair with the engine in-the car. There are some big issues with in-the-car engine repair. All 20 head bolt holes have to be drilled and tapped to accomodate the new thread repair. Doing this in the car
means that you will have metal shavings EVERYWHERE. You cannot afford to have aluminum shavings in your alternator or exhaust system (can cause flow restriction in your catalytic converter), or A/C lines, transmission vent tube, pulley systems, etc. Special care needs to be taken when performing thread repair around so many moving parts.
We carefully REMOVE your engine before starting the repair process. We pull the engines through the top, it's actually a time saver for us and we also don't have to disconnect any suspension parts, steering linkage, brake lines, etc. There's not a lot of clearance to do this- but this eliminates the need for an alignment after the repair process is complete. The only thing we have to remove from the chassis is the RF wheel.
Once the engine is removed it is put on a stand. The cylinder heads and exhaust manifolds are removed along with the coolant crossover, and the mating surfaces are all cleaned up and inspected for cracks, warpage, or imperfections. The engine block is then taped up, drilled, and tapped for our SureGrip studs. All bolt holes are thoroughly cleaned and washed out, and then the engine is flippd upside down. The two halves of the engine block are separated to allow us to re-seal the bottom end using the GM Service Bulletin recommended repair method. Also both front and rear crankshaft oil seals are replaced. Goodbye oil leaks- this service is included with every head gasket job we do, unlike most of our competition. The oil pan and lower seals cannot be accessed later with the engine in the car- so now's the time.
All timing parts are washed and inspected for wear, all engine components are either washed or wiped down with a degreasing agent, and then your engine is assembled with our SureGrip head studs and new Fel-Pro gaskets and seals. After a careful tripple check of all bolt torques to ensure they're within spec, and a final inspection, the engine is re-installed into your car. All bolts that once came with your car, are returnd to their original position.
Leftover parts? Doesn't happen here. No missing brackets and bolts. We know where every bolt goes, its length, head diameter, wrench size, etc. We pride ourselves on returing your engine bay to factory assembly line specs. Sometimes when we see a part or bracket missing, or an incorrect bolt, we can replace it with the correct one because we have an extensive collection of Cadillac / Aurora parts and parts cars on-site.
Does Low-Cost mean Low-Value?
Absolutely not. Many of our customers ask how we can do this repair for the price we do, considering we put so much effort into each vehicle. Northstars is ALL we do! We are so busy with these cars we won't touch anything else. We are set up in a production like atmosphere. Each employee knows their job and duties and does it very well and efficiently. We have the correct tools to make the process move along as it should. No corners are cut, nothing is "slapped" together. We believe that careful, efficient work, is the key to our high success rate and quick turn-around. As the owner of the business, I want to sleep peacefully at night knowing that when one of my customers turns the key on a Caddy we just repaired, the engine will run and perform as the day it left the factory assembly line.
Miracle Sealants and Solutions
Do NOT pour miracle sealants in your cooling system. These hardly ever work and if it does, it masks a problem very temporarily and makes it more difficult to repair. There's two problem areas- the core of the head gasket rusts away, and the threads in the head bolt holes corrode away, causing the head bolts to release torque. It is a small design flaw, that is easily corrected with our patent pending SureGrip cylinder head studs. Threaded inserts and wire coil type repairs have a high re-failure rate. Our SureGrip studs haven't failed yet in over 250 cars, no matter how hard the engine is run. But make no mistake, every single bolt hole must be repaired. And it has to be done correctly.
Our Warranty, Location, & More Info
We offer a warranty of 5 years or 100,000 miles (166,000 kilometers) against head gasket re-failure. During this time, if there's coolant loss/overheating due to a stud failing, or a head gasket not doing its job, bring it back to us for a no-charge repair. We pride ourselves on the fact that we can offer this warranty, because of the positive history and faith we have in our repair method. Coolant changes must be performed every two years to maintain this warranty and only green, universal, low-silicate coolant must be used in the cooling systems. It is our belief that the orange stuff that originally came in your car is largely the cause of gasket failure.
We are located just outside of Altona, Manitoba Canada, just 10 minutes from the USA, accessible via a major border crossing with 24/7 access. This is about 6 hours from St. Paul, MN, about 2 hours from Fargo, ND, 1 hour from Winnipeg, MB. Vehicles have come to us from across Canada and deep into the United States. We have satellite shops opening soon in different parts of Canada and also in the USA.
Approximately 70% of our customers are from the United States and we welcome customers from around the world. We have repaired more than 195 Northstar, Aurora, and Shortstar engines to date, all still going strong with no overheating or coolant loss.
**24 Hour turn-around time. This is based on the average vehicle that gives us little-to-no problems such as rusted exhaust bolts or extemely dirty internals that need to be washed clean. We charge a flat rate but no matter how many hours it takes, the outcome is always the same. Flawless perfection of work. Example: If a customer brings us their vehicle at 7:00am on a Monday morning; our goal is to have it complete for 7:00 Tuesday morning. Keep in mind that our team works around the clock and that any number of things can affect the outcome of this time figure, such as a power outage, defective part, sudden emergency, etc... we strive and do our best to meet deadlines. This 24 hour time period depends heavily on the availability of Jake, he's fast and good at what he does. He has been known to work all the way through without stopping with his helpers. This 24 hour time period estimate will take effect as of May 14, 2012.
* The $2500 cost includes basic parts, labor, fluids, oil filter, etc. If additional parts are required such as a water pump, or timing chain tensioner, etc., we will need to bill separately for this; but we will ask your permission before any extra parts are installed. We don't mark up our parts either so we don't care to install anything that you don't need.
Why are we in Canada?
Good question. I wonder that myself sometimes. Jake Wiebe, the owner, was born in Southern Ontario Canada and has decided to maintain Canadian residency. While he has had offers to take positions in a few different U.S. states, he has decided for the time being to remain close to family and friends. Most of our business comes from the USA and Western Canada; as far as Milwaukee Wisconsin, Calgary Alberta, Vancouver B.C., St. Paul Minnesota, Fargo North Dakota, Atlanta Georgia, to name a few.
Please call 888-800-9470 for more information on having your Northstar repaired- we will schedule your car in line as soon as possible.
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