Fixing All The Issues With The Cadillac Northstar Engine

Today we build a Cadillac Northstar LH2 for boost using parts from Northstar Performance. We do head studs, main studs, gap the rings, clean, and assemble.

[Seyeler]

Very excited for the North Star build. I know everyone’s gonna want peak power, but reliability solutions could actually make this engine a new option for serious street cars.

[nicksautorepair]

As a former Cadillac technician, gear head and current owner of a Northstar powered car, I’m very excited to see someone using one of these in a performance application. Like most engines, they had their issues but the problems are fixable. I love the Northstar engine! Can’t wait to see how it turns out.

[NorthstarPerformance]

Awesome Calvin!! Thanks for the shout out on our SureGrip Head Stud Kit and thanks for the business! You did an amazing job here. :) :)

[craigfiles]

Did anyone else notice the pressure washer back away in fright when Calvin was wheeling out the motor to be washed lol.

[TrollPerformanceTuna]

Dude your mom is a real one, it’s awesome to see y’all’s love for automotive performance is literally a family deal

[jdubcbr]

That bolt knocker deal is genius. I use to do something similar on semi truck wheel nuts that were seized.

[prevost]

I enjoy longer videos. I don’t get bored easily when the content is good like yours.👍

[slicedbread]

Your mom is a gem. The guys at Northstar Performance know this engine and they have been working on them for a while. Sometimes it isn't the engine, it is the people that take it under their wing to understand them and figure out solutions.

[kevin]

My son bought a 96 Deville about 2 yrs. ago with the northstar engine. His plan was to take that engine out and put in a built for boost LS4 5.3 engine. The engine is built, sitting in his garage. He is waiting for the northstar to start having problems before he changes it all out. That northstar in it is strong and has no leaks.

[prevost]

The 4.0 Lexus and 4.7 have the starter in the valley like that. They use the finest starters made and they rarely need replacement before 250, 000 miles. When you are using top quality components the location makes perfect sense. I’ve seen starters mounted outside the block on certain vehicles that are far more difficult to remove than the design of putting them in the valley.

[mattliston]

NSP sells the valvespring upgrade package. Enjoy the path to big gulping mouthfuls of air north of 8500 rpm!! Even the original terd 1993 engines were capable of a TON of naturally aspirated power with the head bolt repair and valvespring upgrades.

Grab a spare set of cams, have them re-profiled. With the variable valve timing, you can unlock well over 400whp NA, Even the 4.0 liter variants kick out over 300whp when tuned!!

Gotta love the high compression!!

[blackopsrocks]

I have/had a turbo northstar from a fiero project in 2009 on an engine stand. I didnt kill it but we pushed coolant more than once and I got tired of head work, swapping heads and doing head gaskets. I puked water on the dyno but we made a 550 hp kick, 650hp run and I had gotten over 700 when it burned through the head gasket and spit water all over the dyno. It finished the run, but with water on everything I didnt get a good value, even though it did make 22psi. If I had a chance to do this again I would make copper gaskets and install a fire ring on the heads. At the time we were using hp tuners and a LC3 ecm and harness with disabled vvt function (my engine didnt have it). Also its good to hear northstar performance is still in business. Cheers, looking forward to seeing this one.

[drver]

Calvin, the rate you’re putting out great content on this channel, especially recently, is so impressive! Kudos to you and your family, keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!

[jayburrough]

What a great mother you can tell she loves her son.we need more mom's like that.. great video

[young]

Hell im probably the farthest person from being a Northstar guy but im all about odd ball builds and this is about as odd ball as it can get lol, i appreciate anybodys efforts to try something different no matter if its a win or fail at least they tried. Rather see a North star than another LS, they been done to death so they are well up there on the boredom scale now. Good luck Calvin, wish you well hoss

[Tk-divd]

Never knew how fucking beautiful a mother and son building an engine together would be

[streetsweeper]

Northstar Build!?! Yes, subscribed! Do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

[captainchicken]

that airhammer attachment is effing sick!

[bnykng]

No one would ever mistake me for a gearhead and I struggled to understand the purpose for half the stuff you referenced, but this still was a great video. Thanks for sharing your sage knowledge. Keep em coming! I wish I had a better grasp of all things automotive. Maybe in my next life.

[BlakeEM]

Wow, that air hammer trick is promising, I look forward to seeing how it works on a 4200!