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Dealer says AWD system, ABS, STeering Assist, and TC shutting on/off due to miss. ???

5K views 21 replies 6 participants last post by  SlvrDude 
#1 ·
Hello CC Reps. I am having an issue with my car, which is still under the extended powertrain warranty. It is one of many issues I have had in the year I have owned the car, and one not fixed by a dealer visit, as all others have been. Needless to say at this point, I believe this is my first and last GM product, but I digress.

The car had a miss on cylinder 6, so on the dealership's (Walter Chevrolet in Pikeville) advice I got all the plugs changed as well as the coil pack on cylinder 6. This worked great and the car is now miss free. After this though, and in a snowstorm on an untreated road, my car began flashing "AWD OFF" and indeed I could feel it kicking out! This kept happening, with the system engaging and disengaging and the car beeping at me constantly, rattling my nerves already rattled by the weather conditions. Soon the ABS light began coming on indicating it was out, then followed by "Steering Assist off" and the Traction control disabled light. I luckily made it home safely but of course made a trip to the dealer.

They called me and told me, because the car had a miss code leftover from before the plug/coil change, the now non-existent miss was causing the car's AWD, ABS, Steering Assist, and Traction Control systems to constantly engage and disengage. Perplexed, I asked how a miss (of course I knew it was now gone, but I played along a bit) caused these systems to malfunction. Without any in-depth explanation, I was told Gm designed the car to randomly engage and disengage these systems if a miss was detected (mind you, it never did this for the weeks the car had a noticeable miss). So, stunned and distressed as my wife takes the car to leave, they try to charge me $95 because obviously with the car needing new plugs after 150 miles it wasn't covered under warranty. After some back and forth, they waived that fee but told me unless I let them change all the plugs and coil packs again, they would not help me under warranty.

Did GM really design the car to malfunction in a manner that is very dangerous to the occupants when an ghost miss occurs??? If so, I definitely have the wrong manufacturer...
 
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#7 ·
Response received 5 days after promised....

GM has told me because the dealer can't pull the code my local Advance Autoparts can and because they think that a non-existent ghost engine miss (the car gives out no miss codes, only loss of communication with the ABS system) they will not help me. Great.... Last GM for me....
 
#9 ·
Just wanted to update this thread...

Finally made an appt. with the dealership 50+ miles away... Earliest they could get me in is the end of next week (not a Caddy dealership but at this point I am thinking that is a good thing). Cadillac nearly cost me my life (or at least my car_ yet again yesterday. Ran into a snow squall out of nowhere, and thanks to no traction control, AWD, or ABS going up a hill she fishtailed both ways. Luckily I was able to correct. I was so angry that not only did the Cadillac dealership tell me nothing was wrong with the car, but Cadillac Corporate support told me that in their mind the dealership was infallible when making a diagnosis in this and refused to even open a case for me. All this for what would be probably a $100 "loss" for GM, one of the biggest companies in the world, who happily took a handout from me (the American taxpayer) and one I was happy to make... Ha, how foolish.

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Just wanted to update this thread...

Finally made an appt. with the dealership 50+ miles away... Earliest they could get me in is the end of next week (not a Caddy dealership but at this point I am thinking that is a good thing). Cadillac nearly cost me my life (or at least my car_ yet again yesterday. Ran into a snow squall out of nowhere, and thanks to no traction control, AWD, or ABS going up a hill she fishtailed both ways. Luckily I was able to correct. I was so angry that not only did the Cadillac dealership tell me nothing was wrong with the car, but Cadillac Corporate support told me that in their mind the dealership was infallible when making a diagnosis in this and refused to even open a case for me. All this for what would be probably a $100 "loss" for GM, one of the biggest companies in the world, who happily took a handout from me (the American taxpayer) and one I was happy to make... Ha, how foolish.
 
#10 ·
To Customer Care:

I am borrowing a car tomorrow so my wife can drive my car over 50 miles to another dealership to be checked out tomorrow. My question is, if they fix it and the issue ends up being something the first dealership missed, especially a wheel speed sensor/hub which they guaranteed were fine, what will Cadillac Customer Service do since they personally would then be deeply in the wrong, even more so than the first dealership? What will you do to recover and save your company's name and show all your customer's you really care even a slight amount about your customers.
 
#11 ·
DaPurple, I'm so sorry to hear about your updates and would be more than happy to look into your existing case to see what options are available to you. While I unfortunately can't guarantee a particular resolution, I can definitely investigate to see the latest updates for you. Please send me an email for further assistance to the email address above.

Best,

Katie
Cadillac Customer Service
 
#12 ·
The other dealership said they believe it to be an electrical issue but figure at least 3 hours to even begin to track down the issue... They, like the other 2 GM dealers told me this is common on the newer Cadillacs - There choice of words were that they "Keep them busy", "These new Cadillacs aren't what people think", and "They wouldn't own one". Now, the fact I've got this from 3 different dealerships and I'm told Corp. stands behind the dealers (which thus far has proven sadly true) I am getting the message to RUN, RUN far away!

I'll let you know what it ends up being next week (another 50 miles each way on my dime, for 2 cars since I don't want to pay for a rental and can't wait all day), but they told me it could be dozens of things on these cars...
 
#13 ·
I test drove a 4MATIC Mercedes C300 this past weekend and was not impressed. I feel like I want to keep/love my CTS so badly but with no support/belief from Cadillac I just can't do it. I want to be a "Cadillac guy" and my wife wanted a new Cadillac.

I feel like I am begging to be able to like this car and trust this company more than I ever have any other company, but I have gotten nothing at every battle I have been forced to fight.

That is the truest shame I can think of. I will take the car in tomorrow so it can be looked at, at a price of $80 an hour, on a car that apparently has such a myriad of things that put the car in an unsafe limp mode, it could take hours on hours to dsicover the issue, then add on parts and labor for the fix...

I have, too, never been this distraught over any product or service outcome...
 
#14 ·
I'm unclear as to your issue with Cadillac. Is it because they can not diagnose an issue with your car or that the issue diagnosed is not covered by the powertrain warranty? I know how frustrating this must be, but if it is a warranted item, hang in there. I know from experience that Cadillac stands behind their products. They have replaced two of my vehicles and I would never buy anything other than a Cadillac simply because of how the problems I did encounter with both were resolved.
 
#17 ·
GM has told me because the dealer can't pull the code my local Advance Autoparts can and because they think that a non-existent ghost engine miss (the car gives out no miss codes, only loss of communication with the ABS system) they will not help me. Great.... Last GM for me....
Um, if the 1st dealer said there's a code for "loss of communication with the ABS system" why don't they diagnose and fix that issue first? Clearly an ABS system fault can cause a loss of traction control. If the ABS system is not functioning due to a fault there's little the car can do to control traction or stability.

I can understand your frustration with a poor dealer experience, have been there and done that. But don't go off the deep end about the car because of one incompetent dealership service department. If there's a fault with the ABS, then it can be diagnosed and repaired, and will likely solve all the traction/4wd issues. It's not a Cadillac thing, most cars will disable stability and traction when a single system fault exists (e.g. Mercedes, Chrysler, probably all modern cars).
 
#18 ·
Actually the first dealer told me it was putting out a misfire code (though no one else could pull this code) and that was causing this issue. I took it to Advance Autoparts directly after and they pulled the losss off communication code the dealer couldn't.

Back when the car did have a miss (ended up being plugs/a coil pack), both this dealer and the next closest said they couldn't feel the obvious miss... and it progressed and progressed so I just took a shot and replaced those items at 80k miles. Had several other what the heck moments too, but Cadillac customer support always told me it is their policy to stand behind the dealership, hence my disillusionment.
 
G
#19 ·
Just a thought since I am not multi tasking I had occasional random T/C shutting off in my G5GT that was tied to a misfire.
That is part of the programming in the PCM

Anyways after Gm replacing my coils, plugs and fuel injectors twice the problem was still present randomly after each repair because my b.f. would scan my car and do live data with the car running and while I drove it viewing the misfire count table.
The misfires were just below the amount of misfires needed most of the time to where the Pcm would enable the DTC and service engine light.
It got to a point where my b.f. installed my own permanent mount scan gauge in my car with a pillar pod so that I could data log my misfires while driving to prove that they still existed.

So my b.f. used his scope to inspect the inside of my engine and determined it was a valve problem, which I had fight with 2 dealers to get fixed and then Pontiac customer service sent me to 3rd dealer who listened to my b.f.'s diagnoses and they consulted with a Gm engineer to come to same conclusion.
And that fixed my problem, the occasional DTC's and T/C off all ended with the replacement of the cylinder head.

The dealer Tech can view the misfire counts separately while the engine is running and or driving with a load on it with the GM Tech2 Diagnostic scanner tool that they use..

Just a thought in case your Loss of communication with the ABS doesn't come back after it has been cleared.

With all of the problems I have read that you have had a diagnostic scanner that also does ABS,Air bags and live data would pay for its self after a problem or 2 instead of paying the diagnostic fee's at the dealer IMO
 
#22 ·
DaPurpleRT said:
Thanks for the thought, but unfortunately, that would be covered under the powertrain warranty, and the dealers will not look at anything covered under that until they exhaust every conceivable non-covered option. So, hoping it is not this....
Slvrdude.
Regarding your ABS issue have same prob on my '04 Escalade traction control light comes car stalls out no AWD. Problem diagnosed as bad ABS sensors in FWD hubs. R&R problem solved... Common to all industry vehicles with AWD my dealer has had quite a few show up in his repair bay of late. Hope this helps.
 
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