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Trembling at idle

182K views 525 replies 136 participants last post by  goofygoober 
#1 ·
My 2.0T has a tendency to tremble at idle. I've switched to premium gas with no results. Also it doesn't alway happen, very irregular. Any ideas?
 
#367 ·
Update on dealer visit told me they already installed the update in august and can't do anything more.i suggest even to the service mgr that I was told that a o2 sensor maybe running slow.he ignored my comment and said it would have posted a code.so there again no code no investigation on there part no extra effort in listening to me to at least look at each o2 sensor but no such luck.i am making every effort to work with dealer to fix but same old story. FYI I am not paying for lawyer until case is settled and still not my responsibility to pay him FYI I was very kind and gentle as prior poster had suggested and got me nothing from dealer by the way the second dealer not original hill cadillac dealer
 
#368 ·
Hi everybody, very enlightening forum.
I've been considering an 2.0T ATS, looks and feels terrific at the car show, but having some second thoughts looking at safercar.gov and this thread. I'd appreciate your opinion about the trembling/stalling problem...has it been sufficiently fixed in the 2013? If I considered the 2014 instead, do you think would that give me a better chance of avoiding the problem?
Thanks! Sam
 
#369 · (Edited)
The vibration and stalling are separate problems. There is a fix for the manual transmission cars engines stalling that a forum member was working with GM on. So far it looks like the fix (engine programming) is good. There are vibration reports for all 3 engines. There are fixes for at least some but some owners say the fixes don't do enough. Obviously a 2014 is more likely to have these fixes already in place but there have been no reports of better parts in the 2014s that address these problems and the safercar.gov reports seem to support that. But both problems are limited to a small percent of cars.
 
#376 ·
I always drive in a spirited way. May be that's why the shake dissapeared ?. I have had also an update of ECM. I tried also to use super gaz. But what was strange is that the shaking appeared again, and disapeared after 200 miles around. I cambe back to regular, engine is a bit noiser from outside the car, but no shaking

I think they need to replace engine mounts on some cars
 
#382 ·
I've had this issue twice in the last week. I'm at a complete stop at a red light, in first gear with the clutch all the way in. The engine starts to shake, the RPMs jump up to 1500-2000 then go back down. Then last night in the parking lot of Kroger I reversed out of the spot, put it in first and went to the end of the aisle. Stopped, waited for a car to pass then started to pull the clutch out and the car just started jerking forward. Popped it out of first and put it back in and it started jerking forward again. Turned the car off then back on, it did it again then the power steering went out and the car died. Then it wouldn't turn back on. Let it sit for a minute and it started and was just fine. I just dropped it off at the dealership and we shall see if they can fix it. Thank goodness I was in a parking lot and not a busy intersection when it happened.
 
#383 ·
I've had my ATS 2.5L (basic model) for 6 months. It "rough idles" all the time. It is more noticeable when the engine is cold and gets less noticeable once the engine warms up. There was a general recall from GM on this issue when they tried to address the problem by reprogramming some vehicle software... that did NOT fix anything for me. Recently I have been told that this particular 4-cylinder 2.5L engine had this flaw since 2009. This engine is used on Chevy's and other GM vehicles (so much for Cadillac technological ingenuity). During my last visit to the dealer, I was told that there is nothing that can be done about the problem. That's the way the engine was designed. If this is a design problem known since 2009, why is GM putting these engines into new ATS's and advertising the ATS as "all new technology"? The biggest case of false advertisement I've seen! Very disappointing. I will never buy a Cadillac again and will not recommend it to anyone I know.
 
#386 ·
I am wondering if this has to do with the Electric Power Steering Rack. I had an issue where the car was rough idling and actually stalling right before the George Washington Bridge of all places. When I quickly restarted the car, I got a "Service Power Steering" light on the DIC. I had no power steering, but the idle was rock steady and smooth. Could the steering rack cycling on and off place a load on the engine, causing the rough idling. The idle can be so bad that the car feels like it is wagging its tail.
 
#387 ·
As far as I know there are two updates for the 2.5L rough idle. The first one was just for the ECM, that is the one that fixed my problem. The second one is for the ECM and the FUEL PUMP. DY905: You need to talk to the dealer and see which one you got. If it was the first one and they only did the ECM then they need to try the second update with the ECM and the FUEL PUMP. It says on the TSB that the ECM and the FUEL PUMP update need to be run separately and NOT together.
 
#399 ·
I bought mine new off the lot... 2014 back in April, so I noticed it but didn't say anything. A few days after I noticed the trembling, ok wtf. So after that full tank of crap gas they gave me was gone, I filled up with Chevron, I noticed right away it wasn't as bad (keep in mind I only fill up with 91). Then did shell, got a little better, then took it all the way up to 3k miles, and its still there but alot better. I only use Chevron or Shell gas 91 only. If you use crap gas like arco, I have noticed in my first car, second car, and third, I feel the difference. So at 3k Miles (today) I took it in for an oil change. Yea they want you to do it every 7500 miles, but I figure, this car is new, it probably sat on a lot since last year in June, and they probably drove it every so often, w/o changing its oil. So I wanted that factory semi synthetic garbage out. I took it to get the oil changed, I put (have only used this in all my cars) Mobil 1 Fully Synthetic 5w-30 Oil in it. This car takes 6qts (I have the 3.6) I also bought a Mobil 1 filter on Amazon, screw it why not, notmally I don't care a filter is a filter, but I got it anyways, as its supposedly better. The second I got the car back, and took it for a drive, I noticed it was gone... It was completely gone. Now when I am at a light it feels like the car is off. Love it! Still have an issue with the alignment though, since day one it pulled to the right, and I got it re-aligned, had a flat (yes at like 1500 miles) replaced all 4 run flats with NORMAL tires, and bought a on ebay. Still pulls to the right, I am probably gonna call the dealership and tell them this is not acceptable. One other thing on this rough idle issue. I noticed that the car will do it in Park, Reverse, Drive and in Nutral, if your car does it, in all of the above execpt Neutral, its probably related to your transmission. When I shift from park to say reverse, I shift, wait a second, then start to reverse, then wehn I goto drive, I goto nutral, wait, then goto drive wait, then begin driving. I did take teh car to the dealer and told them about the rough idle, and appearantly there is a service bulletin for it, so they were like, yea its running fine. I also took it in at the same time because the ac blows hot air in one vent and cold out of another when I set it at 75, apparently, thats normal even though the loaner they gave me didn't do that. That is kinda annoying. I hope this helps you guys!
 
#402 ·
I used to have a CTS with the 3.6l and it did this also. Now I have the 2.5 ATS. From my past experience I am confident it has to do with engine oil. When the CTS was getting old on oil around 5K miles I lose some of the oil from the engine (probably going into the intake) I would have a feeling of shakes and misses. I would then change the oil at 5K miles and the engine smooths right back out again.

All please check your oil level as it may be you are running a little low and is causing all this trembling and shakes. I know on my ATS 2.5l other than the slight roughness at startup from the engine turning over I could not be more pleased. We just got it last week used with 18K miles and it's quite and very smooth even with the 18" Run flats.
 
#403 ·
I used to have a CTS with the 3.6l and it did this also. Now I have the 2.5 ATS. From my past experience I am confident it has to do with engine oil. When the CTS was getting old on oil around 5K miles I lose some of the oil from the engine (probably going into the intake) I would have a feeling of shakes and misses. I would then change the oil at 5K miles and the engine smooths right back out again.

All please check your oil level as it may be you are running a little low and is causing all this trembling and shakes. I know on my ATS 2.5l other than the slight roughness at startup from the engine turning over I could not be more pleased. We just got it last week used with 18K miles and it's quite and very smooth even with the 18" Run flats.
I too had the trembling with my 3.6 CTS4 but not with my XTS unless I let it idle in park for more than a few minutes. I always just thought it was normal for GM cars. Hell, even out 2013 LaCrosse did it when idling in park.
 
#406 ·
I just called the dealer to try and get this fix scheduled, they told me to bring it in so they can validate the problem first because they can't just order parts based on something I found on the internet. Told them to look up the PIP # and then my history of over a dozen times complaining of the rough idle shit and I wasn't bringing it in until they have parts ordered. I'm just hoping this car lasts until 80K miles and then I'm getting rid of the piece of shit.



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Woo and looks like they finally believed that dang ol internet. They're ordering parts and got an appointment scheduled for Dec 1st. Hopefully this finally fixes it.

I just called the dealer to try and get this fix scheduled, they told me to bring it in so they can validate the problem first because they can't just order parts based on something I found on the internet. Told them to look up the PIP # and then my history of over a dozen times complaining of the rough idle shit and I wasn't bringing it in until they have parts ordered. I'm just hoping this car lasts until 80K miles and then I'm getting rid of the piece of shit.
 
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