LT-1 engines
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 374
Likes: 0
From: Corona CA - "An Armed Society is a Polite Scociety"
LT-1 engines
Hi everyone.
Other than my C5 I also have a 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. In 1994-1996 they came with the LT-1 engine. Is there anything that I should keep an eye out for regarding that engine?
It starts and runs great but she has 146000 miles on it and I'm planning on taking it on a long road trip. Other than the normal things replaced (hoses, belt, plugs, etc.) the opti-spark was replaced at just over 100,000 miles with an upgraded one.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Other than my C5 I also have a 1995 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham. In 1994-1996 they came with the LT-1 engine. Is there anything that I should keep an eye out for regarding that engine?
It starts and runs great but she has 146000 miles on it and I'm planning on taking it on a long road trip. Other than the normal things replaced (hoses, belt, plugs, etc.) the opti-spark was replaced at just over 100,000 miles with an upgraded one.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by c5Cruiser; Sep 16, 2014 at 09:25 AM.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 30,427
Likes: 1,609
From: Outside the Quick Stop N.J.
You know someone here will jump all over you, saying that the LT1 in the Caddy is not a Vette motor, only has 2 bolt mains, iron block, etc. Seriously though, I have one in my 95Impala SS and the only thing I can think of is the plastic heater hose fittings. I think there are a few different ones that get brittle with age and heat exposure. As for anything else, just give it a thorough once over. These motors are pretty robust, I have 130k on mine and besides the Opti have only had a few sensor/wiring issues.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 6,528
Likes: 752
From: South Dakota
I have had a bunch (7) of LT1's.
96 Impala SS
96 Caprice
95 Caprice 9C1
96 Z28
and 3 Corvettes.
For me they have been quite reliable engines. I had 5 of them that I took up between 100k and 150k miles. The only engine issues I had were that I lost a water pump on the Z28 (and it didn't cause the opti to fail) and the air pump on the 96 Caprice failed (it can be legally tuned out with factory decals to exempt the emissions). A couple of them started an oil leak at the back of the intake manifold. I never had an optispark fail.
On my Impala/Caprice cars I kept getting very little heat from the heater. I have had to flush them periodically. I suspect they are worse than most cars possibly due to very little flow through the heater core and perhaps the core design and placement, but I suspect there is not enough flow to keep them clear.
These can go a lot of miles. In the police fleets they usually drove them for about 100k miles and then the taxi fleets would run them to about 300k miles.
Over all, quite reliable for me.
Good luck.
96 Impala SS
96 Caprice
95 Caprice 9C1
96 Z28
and 3 Corvettes.
For me they have been quite reliable engines. I had 5 of them that I took up between 100k and 150k miles. The only engine issues I had were that I lost a water pump on the Z28 (and it didn't cause the opti to fail) and the air pump on the 96 Caprice failed (it can be legally tuned out with factory decals to exempt the emissions). A couple of them started an oil leak at the back of the intake manifold. I never had an optispark fail.
On my Impala/Caprice cars I kept getting very little heat from the heater. I have had to flush them periodically. I suspect they are worse than most cars possibly due to very little flow through the heater core and perhaps the core design and placement, but I suspect there is not enough flow to keep them clear.
These can go a lot of miles. In the police fleets they usually drove them for about 100k miles and then the taxi fleets would run them to about 300k miles.
Over all, quite reliable for me.
Good luck.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 374
Likes: 0
From: Corona CA - "An Armed Society is a Polite Scociety"
I have had a bunch (7) of LT1's.
96 Impala SS
96 Caprice
95 Caprice 9C1
96 Z28
and 3 Corvettes.
For me they have been quite reliable engines. I had 5 of them that I took up between 100k and 150k miles. The only engine issues I had were that I lost a water pump on the Z28 (and it didn't cause the opti to fail) and the air pump on the 96 Caprice failed (it can be legally tuned out with factory decals to exempt the emissions). A couple of them started an oil leak at the back of the intake manifold. I never had an optispark fail.
On my Impala/Caprice cars I kept getting very little heat from the heater. I have had to flush them periodically. I suspect they are worse than most cars possibly due to very little flow through the heater core and perhaps the core design and placement, but I suspect there is not enough flow to keep them clear.
These can go a lot of miles. In the police fleets they usually drove them for about 100k miles and then the taxi fleets would run them to about 300k miles.
Over all, quite reliable for me.
Good luck.
96 Impala SS
96 Caprice
95 Caprice 9C1
96 Z28
and 3 Corvettes.
For me they have been quite reliable engines. I had 5 of them that I took up between 100k and 150k miles. The only engine issues I had were that I lost a water pump on the Z28 (and it didn't cause the opti to fail) and the air pump on the 96 Caprice failed (it can be legally tuned out with factory decals to exempt the emissions). A couple of them started an oil leak at the back of the intake manifold. I never had an optispark fail.
On my Impala/Caprice cars I kept getting very little heat from the heater. I have had to flush them periodically. I suspect they are worse than most cars possibly due to very little flow through the heater core and perhaps the core design and placement, but I suspect there is not enough flow to keep them clear.
These can go a lot of miles. In the police fleets they usually drove them for about 100k miles and then the taxi fleets would run them to about 300k miles.
Over all, quite reliable for me.
Good luck.
