1998 Cadillac Catera: engine overheating

7 of the 123 complaints about the 1998 Cadillac Catera describe engine overheating.

owner complaints: 7
of this car's complaints: 6%
typical mileage: 60,765
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 25 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Engine overheating by model year

2000
2
1999
1
1998
7
1997
7

What owners say

Filed Jul 16, 2008 · Engine · 136,000 miles · OH

The motor in the car started cutting out and slowing down when I would try to accelerate. There was never a knocking sound. There was no engine light and the car was overheating. From reading about this car online it sounds like a timing issue. I took it to a mechanic and was told he did not want to work on the car because of the complexity of the job. From what im told this has happened to alot of these cars and no recall has been issued!! Why not!

Filed Jun 21, 2008 · Brakes, Engine · 60,000 miles · NY

1998 cad. Catera - no incident started the problems - a mechanic knew it had a bad head gasket before opening the hood or being told why I was there because he said 9 out of 10 cateras have this problem. Consumer reports lists this year and model as a must to avoid car. At 60k miles had a bad head gasket, oil had gone through the system, car overheats, the hoses had to be replaced, it has to be flushed regularly, now at 80k miles, the power steering fluid is leaking, the coolant is leaking, the bearings and brakes are failing, the oil cannot be changed because the pan will break because the cap is welded on because of the heat in the engine. Why wasn't there a recall. This is too young a car to be failing like this. I would like compensation!

Filed Oct 28, 2004 · Engine · 64,594 miles · GA

Purchased 1998 cadillac catera 2/06/04. 64,546 miles. Water pump failed as we arrived home with vehicle. Selling dealer sent vehicle to his local cadillac dealer, capital cadillac for repairs. Water pump was on recall. *ak when water pump failed it damaged the main belt and caused it to come off disabeling power steering and other equipment powered by belt. Engine briefly overheated while stopping. Cadillac dealer replaced water pump on campaign 02041 and secondary air injection hose - campaign 01037. The failure does not mention 02018. Car has leaked coolant every since the dealer returned the car to us. The water pump damaged the engine. We want cadillac to repair or replace it. Cadillac cs will not communicate in writing, stating they only discuss orally. Cadillac has refused to assist or give out any information related to similiar problems.

Filed Mar 12, 2003 · Engine · 28,000 miles · PA

I had a problem with coolant leaking into oil possibly due to a bad oil cooler in the engine. The problem was fixed at a local mechanic shop. After a while, sometime in march of 2003 the problem reappeared and coolant is leaking into oil again. It also seemed that somebody replaced the oil cooler even before I bought the car. I had to pay a fortune to repair it the first time and now it's in the shop again and I will see what will happen this time. I am totally disappointed with cadillac, I will never buy another cadillac or possibly even gm after all the problems I had with this car. This was my first disappointment with american name car.

Filed Mar 9, 2003 · Engine · 60,765 miles · WI

Coolant leaking cause engine head needs replacing.

Filed Oct 10, 2001 · Airbags, Body · AZ

Water valve failed resulting in coolant leak, the dealer replaced valve and refilled system, oil cooler line leaking, dealer resealed housing and replaced coolant bridge oil level sensor shorted . Nlm

Filed Sep 13, 2000 · Brakes, Engine · NJ

Contacted dealer immediately upon receipt of recall notice for engiine problem-was not advised of any imminent danger-lost power steering-car overheated & engine failure, brakes continue to squeal intermittently, steering pulls to side.