Cheers or Jeers: 17,000 Mile Cadillac Coupe DeVille Diesel

Link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item4602e04493

1979 Cadillac COUPE DEVILLE DIESEL

THIS IS THE NICEST 1979 CADILLAC COUPE DEVILLE IN THE COUNTRY 17,062 ORIGINAL MILES V8 DIESEL ENGINE ALL ORIGINAL PERFECT CONDITION LOW MILEAGE FACTORY DIESEL ENGINE RUST FREE NON-SMOKER

• ALL ORIGINAL
  
• PERFECT CONDITION
  
• 17,062 ORIGINAL MILES
  
• 5.7L V8 DIESEL ENGINE
  
• RUST FREE
  
• LEATHER INTERIOR SEATS
  
• WOOD TRIM INTERIOR
  
• LEATHER STEERING WHEEL
  
• POWER SEATS
  
• POWER LOCKS
  
• POWER TRUNK/HOOD
  
• CLIMATE CONTROL
  
• AM/FM RADIO
  
• OUTSIDE TEMPERTURE GAUGE
  
• INTERIOR/EXTERIOR LIGHTS
  
• HALOGEN HEADLIGHTS
  
• 15" WHEELS
  

We offer free airport pick-up. We can help facilitate low-cost shipping directly to your door.

I think it's a good looking CDV. Just think how history would have changed if GM had engineered the Olds diesel to a standard similar to contemporary Benz diesels, which ran for half a million miles if maintained...

Beautiful car..

awesome

Looks good!

Caddy looks fab; the diesel engine ruined it. A REAL diesel engine (rather than the pseudo-diesels that went into Olds and Caddies at the time) would make them a classic. When I lived in NJ, I heard stories of people swapping out the Olds/Caddy diesels for a Caddy V8 engine and it worked out great for them.

I didn't realize Cadillac was using the diesel before 1980..

'78 IIRC...

Exactly how bad were these diesels?

By 1984 they were fine. They had a water separator and stronger head bolts.

By 1984 they were fine. They had a water separator and stronger head bolts.

According to Wiki, no Olds Diesel ever had an OEM fuel/water separator.

That said, my father fixed diesels early on in his mechanical career... and him and his diesel cohorts felt the 1981 DX block improvements were enough to make for a suitable diesel... problem is, that even after 1981, the people buying them maintained them wrong, leading to more catastrophic failure. I would trust all 1981-1985 diesels about the same.

I believe dad installed a separator on our car.

that doesn't sound right... and even more suspicious is that the phrase in wikipedia is repeated word for word for word on every search result. But as I'm 4,000 miles away from my reference materials right now, I can't say anything against it. I do believe that a water separator from GM started in 1984, but perhaps that was only on replacement engines. 1984 rings strong in my mind because it was by then that the engine was running properly and the next natural reaction from GM was to kill it after 1985.

Good buy if it didn't have the diesel engine. Since it has 17,000 miles already, the engine will probably blow soon. It is really nice car in good condition, but it has the wrong engine (unless you don't drive anywhere).