Page 1 of 1

Hello New Caprice Community

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 4:47 pm
by 86Cutlass
Hello everyone, thank you for allowing me to be apart of this community. I recently acquired a dream car of mine, a 2012 Caprice PPV with the 6.0 liter L77. I have not finished doing my research into the car's history, but I believe it was a West Virginia fleet car for a very short period of time before it was wrecked on the passenger side.

The insurance company purchased it, had it rebuilt, and sold it at auction to someone in Connecticut. Who then sold it to someone in Ohio, who then sold the car to me (also in Ohio).

I am in the process of doing some maintenance and repairs (new intake and valve cover gaskets, new oil pressure sensor, etc), ,and I am noticing some clues that are making me think that the engine is not original. There are paint marks on many of the connectors, and some of the snaps are either broken or not snapped into their factory locations.

My question is, how can I tell if this engine is the original to the car? I found the block number above the oil filter, but I cannot seem to find any resource that tells me what to do with it.

Any advice on the subject would be appreciated. I look forward to spending more time on the forums and learning more about my new daily driver.

Re: Hello New Caprice Community

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:40 pm
by Mooseman
Welcome! Usually the VIN is stamped somewhere. The service manual usually says where it is.

Did find this post https://www.silveradosierra.com/threads ... st-4254057 on a Silverado/Sierra forum. Not the same vehicle or years but likely the same location.
The vehicle identification number (VIN) is located on the left side rear of the engine block (1) and is typically a nine digit number stamped or laser-etched onto the engine at the vehicle assembly plant.
engine plate.jpg
engine plate.jpg (35.35 KiB) Viewed 1413 times

Re: Hello New Caprice Community

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:56 pm
by GammaFlat
Welcome!
Original Engine: I don't think this matters much. If it has been replaced, it's more likely than not that you ended up with a "lower engine hours" solution. I would consider that good news. You mention wiring issues. This is potentially more problematic. If it was done by an inexperienced person and they butchered a few things.. you may end up with some things to address over time. If you're not coding out and you have no perceived problems, you're probably fine. The only thing to think about (I doubt this) is if you ended up with a non-aluminum engine (iron). That would be about 100lbs heavier. I think that we can assume you have a 6.0 liter.. otherwise you'd either be re-tuned or need a tune.

Other damage: If your car has a rebuilt title, your insurance company may not be willing to insure it. From first hand experience, I can tell you that Allstate may not insure it yet StateFarm will. To be fair, Allstate may allow a certain number of "rebuilt titles" in their insurance portfolio much like an insurance company will provide a limited number of flood insurance policies in a certain area. In my case, they would not insure my '09 Vibe with repaired (and pretty minor) front end damage that was repaired.

I'm shocked you need new gaskets. GM did their homework making engines very tight. It's kind of hard to get a valve cover gasket wrong. You occasionally hear about a main seal leaking (usually non-factory work). So maybe somebody swapped a short block and did as nice of work on the engine as they did on your wiring?

Re: Hello New Caprice Community

Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:08 am
by 86Cutlass
Thank you Mooseman and GammaFlat for your responses. I am not too concerned about the engine being replaced, I am just curious about the history of the car. I will have to take a mirror and check that location later.

As far as wiring is concerned, the only damaged wires I found were to the coolant temp sensor, the connector was broken. Well, a $10 visit to rockauto later and that issue is solved.

My insurance company seems to have no issue insuring salvage titles, as this is not the first and will likely not be the last salvage vehicle I own.

The gaskets were not as bad as I first expected, the drivers side valve cover was seeping some oil (very little). I also believe that one or two of the individual intake cover gaskets were leaking, as the car had a rough idle cold, which seems better now after I have replaced them.

Overall, I am very pleased with the car and look forward to fixing it up and cleaning the car to bring it back to its former glory. The car is an absolute joy to drive and handles like a dream, even though the tires have seen better days. I hope to have that solved this weekend.

Thanks again everyone! I look forward to posting more about the car in the near future and reading more about others.

Re: Hello New Caprice Community

Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 3:50 pm
by bstoner
Did you run a Carfax? My local shop reports all work to Carfax. Also run a Vehicle Inquiry System (VIS) at your local dealer. This will show you all the GM dealer work done. Mine showed the recalls completed, the rocker panel was damaged in-transit and repainted with 10 miles on odometer, rack and pinion replaced under warranty, and a blend door replaced under warranty.