Must Read!! Article from GM High-Tech Performance--CTS-V Differential!!

[Got5onit]

Originally Posted by commander112

Alright, here is my question, what are the first symptoms of Diff failure? I have owned my v for about a month (05 w/45000 miles) and have finally taken the car out for some highway time during which I have made it up to 6th gear. That is when I hear noise (dull whining almost like it is bogging down) from the rear end. 80+ mph in 6th gear. Put it in 5th and I hear nothing abnormal from the rear. I doubt the dealer would replace it based on that at this time but also would hate for it to let loose and leave me stranded before I could get it fixed.

Mark

Whining from the rear end is the 1st sign. Take it in, my friend. Your diff is on the way out. My original diff whined from 40mph to 60mph. My second diff started whining from 80 and it now whines at 60mph as well. I do not race the car, I do not do burn outs, I don't pop the clutch, etc. Why, because I know the rear is fragile as hell.
I beat the shit out of my Cobras and they just took it without any issues.

[CIWS]

Originally Posted by Rasta

hello is this thing on how does this work

Can't hear you very well, could you speak up a little ?

[urbanski]

Originally Posted by Rasta

hello is this thing on how does this work

strike 2
try a little harder next time

[GT04CTS-V]

Originally Posted by Rasta

hello is this thing on how does this work

Hummm - must be the lead GM engineer for V differentials


GT

[wildwhl]

GM did fix the rearend.

The car ships with not so sticky tires now. I know with the RE050A's I'm running that hooking up and snapping this puppy even with over 500 crank hp won't happen.

With the F1's I would have snapped it a half dozen times now.

Did we get screwed?

yep.

I don't care anymore, though. Life is too short to dwell over mistakes such as these. My next car simply won't be a GM - even though I'd likely give my left nut for a Z06 or a Stingray (SS, or ???) 'vette. I just don't have the stomach for it.

Next car is Mercedes and a Porsche - and that's all there is to this story. The Caddy might stay around for thrashing on...and it might not.

L8R

WW aka lzybutt

[Luna.]

Originally Posted by V06

But I'm not an engineer or a bean counter at a corporation. GM must have had a good reason for doing what they did.

Go watch the movie Class Action (absolutely terrific movie). Afterwards, you will understand one possible motivation.

Seriously.

A car manufacturer has a problem with its rear tailight--if the car is rear-ended while the left-hand turn-signal is on/blinking, the car had a chance to blow up. They opted to NOT fix it because...go see the movie... It's VERY good.

[heavymetals]

What more can be said that hasn't been said?

I concur with WW.

I don't understand Cadillac, but then, I didn't understand my ex-wife either.

Why make a hot rod, then ignore all the field testers who found the shortcommings?
Those type of (in)actions do not build brand loyalty.

[Holmes815]

I understand that this subject has been beaten to death on more than one occassion; with that being said I would like to say that I LOVE MY V. I'm not so much angry as I am determined to do my part in trying to make a dent on the situation; if nothing comes about from me attempting to make a stir then I can at least feel good that I tried. If every V owner wrote one letter or made one phone call, reguardless of how small of a production run the V has had, it could help bring this issue (even if it's ever so slightly) to a possible resolution. Maybe I'm naive but power in numbers, right???

James


P.S. ahahnu, I'll definitely let you know if I need your help!!! Thanks

[Silver Dollar]

You think we have it bad? Consider the pounding this guys rear end takes!



Members only? I believe it sould read "Only Members"

[Dave's V]

Originally Posted by Florian

Hey Dave, thanks for the shout-out....good to hear from you again.


F

Florian,
It is good to hear from you again also. I came here hoping GM fixed this problem but it sounds like it got worse.

Cadillac is going to have serious marketing problems and not only with its V series. I know I definitely wouldn't buy an CTS, STS or XLR V and right now I probably wouldn't buy the regular versions also. If I don't consider quality, the V was the best car I have owned. With quality it is easily the worst. It would be a fantastic car if it wasn't for the rear end issues. I didn't race, burn outs, wheel hop or whatever with my V and it still failed once and was on its way to the second time. I'm also at 4300 feet which cuts down on the power a little.

One of the biggest things I didn't like is the dealer's attitude (maybe they were directed by Caddy or GM). I've been told by mechanics that they can "tell how much I reach redline", they judge abuse by tire wear on a tire that may last 15k miles if you are lucky and they say "It must be abuse because it is a second time occurance" or "You must abuse the car because you got the wheel hop TSB done."

Someone mentioned the Trailblazer SS as an option. My advice is to search the web. I'm even debating if my third car should be a Vette since it seems like all GM divisions can't build a reliable high performance car.

So Cadillac, here it is from a previous V owner. FIX YOUR DARN PROBLEMS! Treating your customers right will also help. If not, in a couple years I will go somewhere else for my weekend driver and it may not be in GM at all.

[Luna.]

Any update on finding "the" memo?

[90Brougham350]

Yet another mistake, why wouldn't Cadillac invest the time and the money to train and educate dealer mechanics on the V? They know stock V's are going to be breaking drivetrain parts, so why the lack of knowledge on the part of dealerships? Obviously there are a few good apples, I get the impression from reading these posts you guys like Lindsay Cadillac, but it seems to me that idiots for mechanics many of you have to deal with are just one more part of GM's long-term plan to put themselves out of business.

[ViViDsapper]

I hope that I am not getting in on this conversation too late but… I have owned a CTS-V for over a year now (04/41000). I have put about 7000 miles on it and I have not noticed a single problem with the car. I did some minor upgrades, (cai, programming, flywheel, shifter, and exhaust) but about a month ago I was at a stop light and all hell broke lose. During my take off, a loud bang came from the rear-end. Right away I did not notice anything wrong, but on the drive home the rear-end started screaming, but it felt fine. So I took it to the closet Cadillac dealer and they told me that the differential had ripped off and was hanging by a single bolt. Also the left half shaft had sheered in half. To make matters worse, I had also tore a hole in one of coolant lines. Luckily everything was covered under warranty. And after two weeks, for waiting to get parts, I drove it home. Now, I have a dull whining noise coming from the rear-end. The noise is usually heard in 4th gear at 40mph. I am hoping that the diff. is not failing me now.

[rand49er]

Originally Posted by commander112

Alright, here is my question, what are the first symptoms of Diff failure? I have owned my v for about a month (05 w/45000 miles) and have finally taken the car out for some highway time during which I have made it up to 6th gear. That is when I hear noise (dull whining almost like it is bogging down) from the rear end. 80+ mph in 6th gear. Put it in 5th and I hear nothing abnormal from the rear. I doubt the dealer would replace it based on that at this time but also would hate for it to let loose and leave me stranded before I could get it fixed.

Mark

Mark, I know you don't want to, but go to Massey. My car was making a difficult-to-hear whine at 45-46 MPH. I asked how bad it had to get before I should say something to them. Without batting an eye, the service writer said, "Let's replace it." Now, I just know they've been told by GM to not give anybody any guff about their difs. Mine is modded, and you should have heard it idling in the service area (VERY throaty ... not Caddy-like at all!), and they didn't give a hoot about it being non-stock.

I feel for the others here on the forum who've had problems, but I'm tellin' ya it's the bean counters who are the ones dragging their feet on this. The engineers know precisely what the deal is ... I talked to a Proving Ground engineer I met at the Costco a couple of miles away from the GMPG while he was out with a new Z06, and this guy just shook his head; he was so-o-o frustrated.

The best solution here for GM's long-term well-being would be to recall the '04-'05 Vs and put a newly designed, robust dif/halfshaft asm in them. We're talkin' MAX 8,000 difs, probably fewer. This could be done without fanfare, and GM would make back the bucks in the form of future profits on return customers. Hell, I'm an engineer with a finance background, and I could have figured that out without all that education! It's like they don't have any faith in themselves or in their own future or something. I've worked there, I know the mindset.

[daytripper]

Originally Posted by Luna.

Any update on finding "the" memo?

Can we at least obtain and post the GM Performance article as a start?

Brian R.