Questions and Answers

Cadillac Runs Worse After Fixing

Q. My son has a 1988 caddy which was running great. He decided to have a tune-up before making a trip to Florida. However after the tune up this car is running terrible.

He is experiencing loss of power when driving up hills. Have you any thoughts as to what the problem may be.

Thanks

A. He paid good money to have the car tuned up, take it back and complain. A reputable shop will make good on the repair. Everyone makes mistakes and technicians are no exceptions. If they will not make good, then a call to the local Better Business Bureau is in order.

I'm going to assume that he is putting in a good grade of fuel and the car is not overheating.

Sounds to me like the timing was adjusted wrong. A Technician will set the timing to spec on a high milage car and often it will run worse. You sometimes have to take into account engine wear and either advance or retard the timing accordingly.

Other possibilities are a partially clogged catalytic converter, a bad Exhaust Gas Recirculation Valve (EGR) or weak compression. But, since the car was running great before the tune up I would say the most probable cause is an error by the technician who performed the tune-up