2004 Cadillac XLR Rebuild

[Johnson1989]

So here it is, a thread documenting my journey bringing an XLR back to life. My intention is to give others the chance to follow my progress, from the day of delivery, to the day I get it back from the paint shop. Along the way I will post updates, pictures, small guides and pretty much anything I've learned through this process. My hope is to help others learn from my experiences, both good and bad, or at the very least provide you all with some interesting entertainment.

Without further ado, let's begin!

I've been playing around with salvage vehicles for around 10 years, going all the way back to when I was still in high school. My first was a 1997 Grand Prix GTP back in 2005, with my last being a 2006 Lincoln Navigator I rebuilt last year. In between those two are 3 Caddys another Gater and a few cars not really worth mentioning, haha. As much as people are afraid to touch repairables, I love it. There's something about taking a car destined to be stripped for parts and making it whole again. With the low production numbers of the XLR, it makes the entire process that much more enjoyable. Anyways, enough about my history, lets talk about the car shall we?

I purchased this XLR from a Copart auction out of New Jersey around a month ago. Looking at the pictures and description from Copart, I thought I was in for an easy, affordable rebuild. Boy was I wrong. Here are some of the pictures of the car at auction:

My assumption going into this was that the car was a theft recovery, I based this off of the lights missing with no major damage to the body panels. Unfortunately when the vehicle arrived at the door, what I saw in person told a slightly different story... Stay tuned for the next post regarding delivery and my subsequent battle with an insurance company, haha. Thank you for reading!

-Johnson1989

 

[Phil105]

HEADLIGHTS

There's a PAIR OF HEADLIGHTS on ebay right now. $1499

 

[Johnson1989]

Headlights

Hi Phil, believe it or not those are actually my headlights on ebay. Long story, but basically when I bought the car I assumed the headlights and tail lights were missing, as seen in the photos. So I kind of jumped the gun and bought headlights from a guy in Pheonix. Now the funny part, these headlights that are on ebay were in the trunk when the car was delivered... So I have 2 sets of headlights. The ones I got from phoenix didn't have the crazed DRL lenses so I decided to keep them and sell the ones that were with the car.

I appreciate the heads up though. That being said, if anyone on this forum is interested, I'm more than willing to go down on the price for both of those lights. That's just a number I came up with based on what others are running for.

 

[Phil105]

Hi Phil, believe it or not those are actually my headlights on ebay. Long story, but basically when I bought the car I assumed the headlights and tail lights were missing, as seen in the photos. So I kind of jumped the gun and bought headlights from a guy in Pheonix. Now the funny part, these headlights that are on ebay were in the trunk when the car was delivered... So I have 2 sets of headlights. The ones I got from phoenix didn't have the crazed DRL lenses so I decided to keep them and sell the ones that were with the car.

I appreciate the heads up though. That being said, if anyone on this forum is interested, I'm more than willing to go down on the price for both of those lights. That's just a number I came up with based on what others are running for.

What a coincidence! Hope you have the same luck thru-out this rebuild. I'm afraid you're really gonna need it. Be interesting to see how much you wind up having in the car when you finish. Wish you the best. Should be an interesting trip!!

 

[Johnson1989]

2004 Cadillac XLR Rebuild - Part 2

So we left off last night thinking that the car was going to be an easy rebuild. A simple buy new headlights/tail lights and tighten a few things down, easy right? Well it would be except the car pictured above is not what arrived at my door... It is in fact the same car, obviously, just missing a few more items than I had thought. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

This is exactly how the car was delivered, no driver side fender and no front bumper assembly. As you can imagine I was a bit shocked when the transport truck showed up. Unfortunately the driver didn't have any answers for me, nor was anything listed as missing on the Bill of Lading (pre/post shipment inspection). This had me scratching my head for a few days until I decided to contact both the shipping company and Copart. The shipping company was already aware of the issue when I called, I guess the driver gave them a heads up I wasn't very happy. They didn't offer any help or information regarding what may have happened to the parts. This included not explaining to me why the parts weren't listed as missing on the inspection before it was put on the truck. So feeling backed into a corner I decided to contact the Copart facility in Trenton. The representative I spoke to was very helpful. She had her yard manager check the yard and shop for any loose parts. Unfortunately nothing was found. She then put me in contact with her yard manager who assured me the parts that were missing were physically tied down to the vehicle when it left his yard. He actually remembered the car because it was the first time they had one at their facility. Its hard to tell in the photos, but along with the bumper, the fender was actually unbolted from the car as well. My theory at this point is that the parts had to come off during shipment. What caused them to come off is beyond me, but its the only theory that makes sense based on what Copart told me.

Due to all of this I went ahead and filed a claim with the shipping companies insurance. At first it didn't sound very good... But then I was put in touch with the regional claims manager and things started looking up. This process started around 10 days ago and I am still waiting on a final decision from the insurance company, crossing my fingers that they rule in my favor. I will update when I hear back.

Moving on... The day after delivery I decided to inspect what was left of the car. First thing I noticed was some damage on the drivers side door and rear quarter panel. Unfortunate, but it can be fixed at a body shop. There were also some pretty deep gouges/scratches on the passenger fender, hood and one long scratch on the roof. Sounds like I'll need to get much of the car repainted, fortunately I planned for this when I budgeted the rebuild. The biggest surprise was when I looked under the car. Most of the Skid plate holding the radiator in place had busted off, taking part of the plastic tank of the radiator with it. So, time to order a new radiator, ac condenser and skid plate, yay... I also decided to order a new water pump, some pulleys, belts and a new fan for good measure. This way I won't have to rip all of this stuff out ever again, at least I hope not haha. I started deconstruction today and have everything out; radiator, condenser, fan and all of the plastic stuff that went along with it. I will go over that in a later post but for now, here are some pictures of the additional damage:

Two tires may need replacing along with one rim(scratched). It appears this wasn't a theft recovery, rather someone went into the ditch while driving. The bottom of the car was coated with dried mud. I'm still dumbfounded as to why the headlights were taken off and put in the trunk as they aren't damaged in any way. No idea what happened to the tail lights haha. Fun times ahead!

 

[Johnson1989]

Appreciate that Phil! So far my luck has been both good and bad as evidenced in my last post. Currently I have around 8k in the car including the parts I ordered for the cooling/AC assembly. Fortunately everything seems to work as far as the electronics are concerned. Whether I can keep this build under 11K which was my goal going into this is unfortunately in the hands of the insurance company.

No matter what happens I will complete this car. I've wanted one for far too long to just give up and send it back to auction

 

[lextoy]

those lights were pulled off and put int the trunk by someone who knows their street value
luckily they were preserved for the next owner(you!!)
the front skid bar breaking and taking the radiator with it , is a common repair for these vehicles.
if the impact was only that mild then hopefully damage was contained to the front end and the convertible top will still function properly.
go thru the passenger compartment and trunk compartment now and see if you can find any evidence of water leaks.
in the trunk look in both rear compartments left and right, make sure no evidence of water. especially the drivers side compartment as it houses modules and hydraulic pump for the top/trunk.
look under passenger floor carpets for fuse box and more modules.
no excuse for those parts falling off the truck. hope they make good on the claim.
driver is either an idiot or a thief...

 

[lextoy]

when you repaint you can remove the XM wart on the trunklid !!
what color you thinking of ?

 

[Johnson1989]

those lights were pulled off and put int the trunk by someone who knows their street value
luckily they were preserved for the next owner(you!!)
the front skid bar breaking and taking the radiator with it , is a common repair for these vehicles.
if the impact was only that mild then hopefully damage was contained to the front end and the convertible top will still function properly.
go thru the passenger compartment and trunk compartment now and see if you can find any evidence of water leaks.
in the trunk look in both rear compartments left and right, make sure no evidence of water. especially the drivers side compartment as it houses modules and hydraulic pump for the top/trunk.
look under passenger floor carpets for fuse box and more modules.
no excuse for those parts falling off the truck. hope they make good on the claim.
driver is either an idiot or a thief...

Haha, that would make sense. Apparently they forgot to pull them out of the trunk before dropping it off at Copart! The impact is very mild, there doesn't appear to be any other damage outside of the front, and even then none of the front support was damaged. I also did what you said and checked out the two cubby holes in the trunk, both are clean and dry. Unfortunately I haven't been able to test the top yet... crossing my fingers it works! My garage is too low and I can't move the car until I get the radiator situation sorted out.

Still haven't heard back from progressive, might need to give them a call tomorrow to see what's going on. You are right, the driver was very incompetent. Haha, he tried using a Ford key to unlock the car and couldn't figure out why the lights kept flashing on the explorer at the front of the trailer!!!

when you repaint you can remove the XM wart on the trunklid !!
what color you thinking of ?

I have thought about getting rid of that XM wart, as I don't intend on ever using it. Unfortunately the trunklid is in perfect shape and won't need repainting. I'm assuming there's a nice big hole drilled underneath it that would need to get filled.

Right now I don't plan on changing the color, as that would involve much more work and $ to get it done right(Door jams, roof components, under trunklid and hood, etc). As it sits, I should only need to repaint the front end, roof, drivers side door and 1 rear quarter panel. I have a painter that's great at color matching with older paint and the rest of the car is pristine. Usually when I have cars painted I try to leave as much of the factory paint on as reasonably possible.

 

[Johnson1989]

2004 Cadillac XLR Rebuild - Part 3

Wow, what a busy week it has been. Unfortunately I haven't done much with the XLR since my last post. We left off last week with my deconstruction of the AC/Coolant System. Everything was pretty straight forward and only took me around an hour to complete. Since then I have been waiting for a few extra parts(Thermostat/Gasket, Water Pump, new belts and a new AC Condenser). All arrived earlier this week so I should have everything I need to get the car running. Today I took off both belts and disassembled the water pump and Thermostat housing. The belts were a pain, but the water pump and thermostat housing took all of 10 minutes to take out. Plan is to start putting all the new parts on tomorrow and hopefully get it started.

Here is a picture of where the skid bar was attached to the radiator, as you can see there's a nice big hole where the plastic stem used to be:

Here is a picture of the front of the engine after everything was disassembled, having that nice big gap sure makes the job of replacing the belts and water pump much easier!

I'm not going to lie, those hoses were a pain to get off of the radiator. A screw driver and some WD40 seemed to do the trick.

In other news, I heard back from the shipping companies insurance two days ago... They denied coverage. Apparently the specific event that caused the parts to go missing cannot be documented, as no one can verify when it happened. Basically this isn't covered under the shipping companies policy and there's nothing they can do. Awesome I know... what they are more or less saying is this company does not have to accurately fill out a pre-inspection and can deliver a car in whatever condition they so choose, so long as they make sure not to document any parts that go missing. This has left me with 3 options; 1) I can pay for the replacement parts out of pocket, 2) I can bring the shipping company to civil court and 3) I can file a claim with my insurance. Obviously the last thing I want to do is pay out of pocket for damage I am not liable for, unfortunately bringing them to court isn't much of an option either. They are out of Pennsylvania and the cost of hiring a lawyer and flying out there just isn't worth it unless I was pretty sure I would win. Even then there's always the possibility of them not paying regardless of the outcome. Based on all of this I have decided to contact my insurance to see what they can do on their end. The car is covered under my comprehensive policy, but I'm not sure if filing a claim would cause my rates to go up. What direction I take moving forward will ultimately depend on that factor.

That's all I have for the time being, hopefully this thread is providing some entertainment for you all, haha. If there is anything you'd like me to add to my future posts or any changes you feel would make this thread better, please let me know. Otherwise my next update will occur sometime this weekend after I get the car started! Cheers!

 

[David_B]

Did you hire the shipping company to deliver the car? If not, it seems Copart is responsible, not you, to fix the non-delivery of your purchase parts.

 

[Johnson1989]

Yeah I hired the carrier myself via a dispatching company(DIY Transport). DIY more or less puts out a bid to numerous carriers and those carriers decide if they want it or not. That's how I got hooked up with these guys from PA. DIY has actually been very helpful with everything, unfortunately they are pretty much the middle man in the transaction and are not liable for the carriers. All they can do is revoke the carriers account if they fail to follow policy.

Concerning Copart, they swear up and down that the vehicle left with all of the parts pictured. Once the vehicle leaves their lot they are no longer responsible for it. Without having been there when the vehicle was picked up all I can go off of is their word and the fact that the carrier did not document anything as missing on the Bill of Lading.

I'm not too bent out of shape yet, I still have my insurance (USAA) to work with and they've always been extremely helpful. Hopefully they can get this sorted out.

 

[onalaska]

I would watch for the missing parts to show up on e-bay or craig's list sometime soon. Not many XLR bumpers in that color.

 

[xlrlist01]

Wow, what a busy week it has been. <snip>

You might want to check the front of the Northstar for oil leaks, the 2004 had a manufacturing defect resulting in a slow leak. With all the belts off and radiator out, replacement (with a new improved gasket) (the fix) is real easy, though you do have to take the front steering out too, which needs a special tool to take the load off the spring. A service history check should reveal if it has been done already.
Ah, I've just seen https://www.xlr-net.com/forums/cadi...76-excessive-buildup-on-engine.html#post65544
</snip>

 

[Johnson1989]

I would watch for the missing parts to show up on e-bay or craig's list sometime soon. Not many XLR bumpers in that color.

Haha, I've been watching ebay just in case, so far no luck. I'll keep an eye on Craigslist New Jersey and see if anything comes up. I would imagine that if they did steal the parts they either off loaded them already, or they're going to hold onto them for a while. Especially with 2 different insurance companies poking around asking questions, lol.

You might want to check the front of the Northstar for oil leaks, the 2004 had a manufacturing defect resulting in a slow leak. With all the belts off and radiator out, replacement (with a new improved gasket) (the fix) is real easy, though you do have to take the front steering out too, which needs a special tool to take the load off the spring. A service history check should reveal if it has been done already.
Ah, I've just seen https://www.xlr-net.com/forums/cadi...76-excessive-buildup-on-engine.html#post65544

Yeah, you called it! There is definitely a leak somewhere, based on what people have posted in my other thread I plan on replacing the cam covers($100 a piece) and possibly the oil pan gasket. I've thought about replacing the timing cover and gasket, but I've never done that before and I really don't want to get in over my head on a repair like that. Plus the timing cover is probably the cleanest part of the front of the engine believe it or not. I'll have to look into it more and see if its something I'd want to tackle, the parts are definitely affordable.

Could you tell me what the manufacturing defect was? Are you talking about the cam covers or something else? Appreciate the help!

 

[xlrlist01]

Haha, I've been watching ebay just in case, so far no luck. I'll keep an eye on Craigslist New Jersey and see if anything comes up. I would imagine that if they did steal the parts they either off loaded them already, or they're going to hold onto them for a while. Especially with 2 different insurance companies poking around asking questions, lol.



Yeah, you called it! There is definitely a leak somewhere, based on what people have posted in my other thread I plan on replacing the cam covers($100 a piece) and possibly the oil pan gasket. I've thought about replacing the timing cover and gasket, but I've never done that before and I really don't want to get in over my head on a repair like that. Plus the timing cover is probably the cleanest part of the front of the engine believe it or not. I'll have to look into it more and see if its something I'd want to tackle, the parts are definitely affordable.

Could you tell me what the manufacturing defect was? Are you talking about the cam covers or something else? Appreciate the help!

I don't know exactly what the defect was, but in some way the timing cover didn't fit snugly on the end of the engine block. The fix for the leak was, IIRC, both an improved design of timing cover and an improved (thicker) gasket.

 

[Johnson1989]

2004 Cadillac XLR Rebuild - Part 4

Hey Everyone,

Its been a little more than a month since I've updated this thread so I thought I would hop on and let you know where I'm at with the XLR Rebuild. The delay in my posting was primarily caused by waiting on parts, and of course the more I dug into the car, the more parts/seals I decided to replace. Right now the car is running and running well at that! I also had a chance to finally test the top and it works flawlessly! Such a relief . I've been able to drive the car around the block a few times and even though it still looks like a disaster with the bumper and fender missing, it was still a pleasure driving with the top down. As you can imagine all of this has made me especially anxious to get the car done!

Here is a list of what I've replaced under the hood over the last month: Radiator, A/C Condenser, Fan, Skid plate, Belts, Thermostat/Housing Seal, Both Camshaft Covers/Seals, Valve Cover Seals, Water Pump, Sparkplugs (E3), New Hoses and Air Filters.

I've also completely scrubbed the front of the engine and you wouldn't believe how much gunk was on there. I still need to steam clean the sides and bottom, but wanted to get the front cleaned while the radiator was still out. Made the job quite a bit easier I might say. So far I haven't noticed any leaks since replacing the seals, so hopefully the engine will stay clean now.

There have been a couple issues that have popped up since getting the engine running. The first is in regards to the coolant that was in the vehicle. While the engine was apart I noticed a little bit of reddish-brown paste in the old hoses and thermostat housing. Because of this I decided to run some coolant flush through the system with distilled water. I understand this isn't recommended, but I had to get the system cleaned out before doing a fluid exchange. I didn't feel just flushing with water would do the job. After running the car around the block for around an hour a day for three days I finally emptied out what was in the radiator, and shockingly what came out was a very dark brown/black liquid. It wasn't thick as most of the original coolant had already been taken out and replaced with water, but the color was alarming. Obviously the first thing that came to mind was that oil had gotten into the system which would point towards a failed head gasket. Not good. Fortunately I had enough sense to put some of the coolant into a large clear jug and let it sit overnight, the next day there was no fluid separation in the bottle so I'm ruling out oil causing the discoloration. I would assume quite a bit of oil would need to be in the system to cause the liquid to be black, so one could imagine that oil would naturally float to the top of the jug if it was in there. After searching quite a bit online I've come to the conclusion the discoloration is caused by very old dexcool being in the system, this would also explain the thick paste I found in the hoses. It looks like someone left the coolant in much longer than the 5 year limit. I'm really hoping this isn't the original coolant from 2004, but at this point who knows. All I can do is continue to flush it out and do a complete coolant exchange and hope the system hasn't been severely damaged by corrosion. Crossing fingers now, haha.

The other issue is the revs upon start up. On a cold start the revs bounce up and down every few seconds between 1000 and 1500 RPM. After warming up the revs remain stable so I may have a vacuum leak somewhere that seals up once the engine is hot. I'll have to do some more digging, but was hoping someone here could maybe point me in the right direction? Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

Aside from that the engine seems to run well. I haven't noticed any abnormal noises and acceleration is smooth. This next week I'm going to get some estimates on the paint and hopefully drop off the fender and front bumper. Both parts are black so I'm going to have them painted before attaching them to the vehicle. Once that is done I'll drop the car off to finish the paint job. My goal is to have the car in drivable condition by the end of the month. Lots of work left to do, but I'm getting there! I will update with more pictures and details tomorrow, thanks again for reading!

-Cory

 

[onalaska]

For the vacuum leak try tightening the intake manifold bolts. It is very common on the 4.6 Northstar for the bolts to loosen and cause vacuum leaks.

 

[XLRATING]

Wow, you've made a lot of progress, fast! Your info also may be helpful to me as my XLR has recently started doing the same thing as yours with the revs bouncing up & down on the first start-up of the day.

Are there any other symptoms for a vacuum leak in these other than revs bouncing? Just trying to isolate if that's the problem I'm having. I don't have any MIL's lit.

 

[David_B]

I thought the cold start bounce was just the engine getting oil pressure up since the northstar oil pressure at low idle is pretty low.

I guess if it does/nt do it in a warm climate/very heated garage maybe it's not/is normal?