Flawless Summer

One weekend before Labor Day, and it's been a flawless summer of driving for the '87 Sedan Deville. Here's the report: The Cadillac now has 52,400 miles, or about 7 thousand miles accumulated since I purchased it in May of 2005. Since replacing the alternator last November, it's been running trouble free. The only repairs needed since then have been preventive maintenance and cosmetic. It's been driven daily as our primary transport, mostly back and forth to work and on weekends, and hasn't even had a hiccup. The A/C works perfectly, and the mileage average is 16.4 in town, 24.5 on the highway.

In October, I'll change the oil again and send off a sample to Blackstone Labs for analysis. This will be the confirmation test of Amsoil, to see if it lives up to my expectations. Also due up is a drain-flush-refill of anti freeze, which in my opinion is the single most important maintenance item to preserve an aluminum block Cadillac engine for the long term.

There are two other issues that will be addressed this winter, while the Cadillac is comfortably tucked away from the bad weather. First is removal of the front seat to repair the tilt motor, which has stopped working on the forward side of the seat. The motor still runs, but it just spins like the gear is disengaged.

The second project will be the removal of the power antenna. The GM factory service manual gives pretty detailed instructions on how to remove and repair the antennas. Here again, the motor runs fine, but the cable which pushes and pulls the antenna up and down seems to have broken or become detached.