Yeah so I just bought my ATS few days ago and found out about this yesterday. FML! I haven't gone through this thread yet I hope I am in the clear....

 

Bought a performance 2013 ATS with 2.0 turbo in July of 2013. Fun to drive. 32 mpg on road 24 combine. Son, who drives a bmw, noticed a knock and rough idle last March. I probably got used to it. Took it in for service and mentioned that. Took it in again in June for inspection. Mentioned it again. Everything okay. Then the syndrome hit. Stabilitrac light, t/c light, engine service light. Have now taken it back four times in last two weeks. They finally acknowledge cracked piston. Just found this site while researching and now better understand what I am in for. Thanks to everyone who contributed. I am driving a loaner and do not intend to take it back until I am assured of permanent fix or extended warranty. Currently have 37,000 miles so good for at least another year. Dealer is rural GM selling all GM vehicles. I don't imagine they sell or service many ATS's. So I tend to believe that they were not aware of the piston problem until they researched the technical bulletins. I plan to sit down with management when they tell me the car is ready. Any other suggestions?

 

Currently have 37,000 miles so good for at least another year.

Powertrain Warranty is 6 years/60k miles so I would think you have far more than a year left?

 

Recall/TSB:

http://gm.oemdtc.com/1144/14591-pis...44/14591-piston-damage-due-to-engine-misfire-2013-cadillac-ats-chevrolet-malibu

 

Why is it only some ATS experiencing piston fail. I would think they all would if it was a bad tune, and a hot spark plug from the factory. I have almost 50k on mine, only 93 octane and I drive it hard.. I feel like im just waiting for this to happen.

Just wondering what you guys thought, I mean I understand the rod failing issues, because they got a bad batch of bearings, and that would only effect those cars.

But this to me seams like it should happen to all ATS. Especially if you are running anything less then 93..

 

Sounds like there us a an oil sludge or carbon build up on the piston ring lands. It reignites under the right conditions creating preignition or detonation. That is why the ecu tweak and colder plugs.

Or you are like some of that are on the highway allot allowing the engine to get hot enough to burn off the crap and like to wind it out a couple of tines a week. My ATS has +80K miles and I just tuned it and put a downpipe on.

 

I bought a 2014 Cadillac ATS 2.0T in December 2015 from Kelly Cadillac in Fort Wayne, IN. I started having problems with it in June '16 and contacted the dealer that I purchased it from. The car shakes or vibrates severely while stopped (in gear) and in Park. They had the car for 7 days and replaced the torque converter. From the second I picked the car up it was apparent that the vibration was still there. When I asked them about this their response was, "use some fuel treatment and it will go away". WOW Really! Charge Cadillac for 74 hours of labor + parts and tell the customer to use fuel treatment to solve the original issue. Needless to say, I left that dealership and will not return.
After that I made an appointment at the next nearest dealer (in Northern Indiana there are only a few) Tom Naquin Cadillac in Elkhart. My first appointment was July 6. For the next four weeks they cancelled my appointment the day before I was supposed to take it in with no explanation except they were too busy to honor my appointment. I am also done with them.
Last week I tried the third dealer in Defiance, OH. After replacing the motor mounts and not solving the problem, they contacted Cadillac Tech support. They advised them to check the pistons for cracks. The dealer ran a compression check and found cylinder #3 was way below spec. Now they are in the process of replacing all of the pistons. I want to thank Cristina at Cadillac Customer Service for her help and Cadillac Tech service for assisting the dealer in diagnosing the problem. Also I want to acknowledge Estle Cadillac for trying to diagnose the problem and getting Tech Service involved. This is way more than anyone else has done to solve the issue.
My next question is why is service so lacking at Cadillac dealers? Is it because GM reduced the number of dealers and they are all overwhelmed now? Or is it that they just don't care about servicing the customer as much as they care about selling A LOT of cars? I now have a two year old car with 38K miles that has had thousands of dollars of service repair (labor and parts) and the value has been reduced (if someone looks at the service record this car certainly looks like a lemon). I have been a loyal GM owner since my first car in 1978 (a '72 Chevelle that I still have). My father retired after 50 years at a GM dealership (Parts Dept manager) so I was raised around the car/dealer industry. 38 years of only GM cars. I am a mechanical engineer so I am aware of things that happen in the design of systems and failure of parts. I can also tell when there is a problem or when my car starts to act differently. To have a dealer brush me off with, "that's normal" or "you will get used to it" is BS. This was my first and most likely LAST Cadillac. Am I wrong?

 

It sounds like its your dealer, The service I have had done on my car has been nothing but awesome. If i dont want to wait for the car they will give me a brand new loaner to drive. Its usually nicer then my caddy. I would find a new caddy dealership and take it to them.

 

Funny you say that about the highway. That is all I drive.. I drive 200 miles a day, and 95 percent is all highway. I run 80 to 85mph just under 3K rpms

 

Picked the car up on Friday. Service manager showed me the cracked piston. A chunk was missing around the top. Told me they checked out all of the Pistons and performed a compression test on all the cylinders. I was correct in assuming this was the first instance of a cracked piston in an ATS they had seen. Did remind me of the six year power train warranty as did david ats. The car now drives like new. Quiet or relatively so. No putt putt. Have put a couple hundred miles on it without a warning light. Hopefully, that will be it.

 

Looked for the built date on door. Only found that it was made in Lansing by UAW local. But my Delivery papers says it was shipped on 10/29/2012. So it sat on dealer lot for at least a half a year before I bought it.

 

Looked for the built date on door.

If you're looking for your car's final assembly date, you can go to www.compnine.com and enter your VIN. You don't need to subscribe to get that information.

 

^^^^ lot rot!

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Did the reflashed and colder plugs actually fix the problem or are they still failing at a high rate?

 

I guess it depends on what you mean by a "high rate" but I don't believe they ever failed at a high rate and we will never know the true numbers. We will also never know how many of these engines were modified or how much this contributed to the problem (I don't see added boost helping a suspect piston).

I think they have sold close to 120k ATS's in the North America, say half are 2.0T's (educated guess but really think the % is higher), If 10% failed there would be 6k cars that failed. Even if 10%, 90% haven't failed, by far the vast majority.

 

Did the reflashed and colder plugs actually fix the problem or are they still failing at a high rate?

2014s which came with the colder plug and updated tune still fail. Based upon the limited sample forums provide, it helps, but is not a cure.

 

Local gas station just discontinued 93 octane gas with 10 percent ethanol in favor of 91 octane gas no ethanol at 30 cent per gallon increase. I have always used the 93 octane for the ATS as recommended. Is the 91 per cent ethanol free gas that much better? Anyone know the difference between the two grades of gas. And what effect it might have on engine performance?

 

I'd rather have the higher octane, but you may notice a slight increase in mpg with the pure gas compared to 10% ethenol.

 

On my trips I habe 2 mpg increase with ethol free gas. I usually run the 91 tune as 93 is not available everywhere. Switch back to 93 when I get back to Texas.

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Purchased my 2013 ATS 2.0T AWD two months ago with 38K miles and have had it to three different dealers because of vibration issues. First issue vibrates when the AC is on when in park or in gear and the second is when driving feels like a shudder in the drive train in gears 4-6 during low rpm driving. Fortunately, the fourth dealer...a Buick/GMC dealer and the dealer I bought the car from did compression testing and got results indicating a possible piston crack. They're tearing it apart Monday to take a closer look. They've yet to diagnose the shudder vibration. but are going to road test it today.

The first two Cadillac dealers I took it to the first one said nothing is wrong and said the 2017 does the same thing. I asked them to let me drive the 2017 or demonstrate the issue in front of me and it was perfect. I took the car back and gave them a shitty review when Cadillac sent the questionnaire about my service visit. Then, took it to another Caddy dealer and they said they ran vibration tests on it and it fell within spec. I was literally talking to the service adviser and watching the door shake like crazy to show what the problem was and they claimed that GM said it was within spec. I laughed and gave THEM a shitty review as well.
This has been a back and forth and finally the dealer I bought it from is doing their best to make things right. Even offered to trade my car for something on the lot or they'd buy it back (less the 2 month depreciation of course)

Although I like alot about the car, its been a nightmare so far for me. MAF replaced less than a week after taking delivery, the vibration issues that are still being worked out, heated seats are not working right need to be replaced and have been on order for two weeks now, CUE touchscreen needs to be replaced as it developed two dead spots and thats on back order.

Hopefully they can work out the bugs because I have 58 more payments and limited warranty remaining :ill:

 

UPDATE

Got my car aback about a week and a half ago and its PERFECT. They replaced all four pistons, rings, seals, etc. as well as a new CUE screen that had two dead spots. Quality for a 3 year old Cadillac is pretty crappy, but it feels like a new car FINALLY.
I still cant connect how the drive train shudder I was experiencing

 

I have a 2015 which is exhibiting some engine knocking at idle. Not sure if it's related or not, but I started a thread over in the general discussion section.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...ms/cadillac-ats-general-discussion-forum/921713-2015-ats-2-0t-engine-knock.html

It includes a link to a youtube video where you can hear the knock, sounds like a marble bouncing around in the engine. Will post updates as I have them.

Tim

 

Anyone get new pistons/engine outside of warranty??? I'm at 80k miles.

Long story short I was in a small accident where I rear ended someone at about 15 mph on rush hour traffic. About a month later after getting the car back I get warning message that the A/C Compressor is shutting off due to potential overheating. I look at my temp gauge and it't about two marks away from the overheating red marks. I got it off the road quickly, my reservoir was bone dry and I could see coolant sprayed on the engine. Found a small crack in the tube going to the reservoir, did a quick repair, all was good for about a day. While driving I smelled coolant and saw that my temps were rising again. Found that my repair didn't hold, and repaired it much better the second time. Started the car and drove it around with no leaks to be found.

In the morning I start the car and find that I'm getting smoke coming from the turbo area, stabilitrak, traction control, and check engine lights are on, as well as rough idle. So I drive to Cadillac which is about 1 mile down the road. During driving it felt fine but at stop lights it idled terribly so I shut if of when I had to wait. Pulling into the dealership and driving through the lot at low rpms I find a huge hesitation in the pedal and loss of power. And gain I could smell coolant. When I parked and checked under the hood half my coolant reservoir was empty with NO signs of leaks outside of the engine... But looking at the oil I didn't find any discoloration or milky residue...

I had the spark plug and ECM update when it came out. My warning light symptoms and bad idle sound like I have a bad piston, but would that explain where my coolant is disappearing too? Not sure if my potential overheating caused the bad piston symptoms to happen or if the two are happening coincidentally...

 

My guess is when you lost the coolant it overheated and this caused your problem and I don't see Cadillac covering it but you can try. Very unlikely that the car lost all of it's coolant and completely unrelated the piston also came apart at the same time.

 

Carmex - I recommend you create another thread regarding your issue. Side note, you need to figure out where your coolant is going before jumping to conclusions if pistons are done.

 

I think I might have just gotten bit by the bad pistons.

2014 with a 12/13 build date. 36k miles. I'm the original owner.
Lumpy idle, weird engine noise under load, and a bad oil consumption issue.

Taking it in tomorrow.

 

Update:

Cracked piston, not sure which cylinder, but I'll update when I find out.

2014 36k miles 12/13 build date.

I had the new flash and the newer plugs since day 1, didn't help.

Bad sign for these cars sadly.

 

That sucks. But you'll be getting a new top end now and the car should feel great.

 

Well I think I've joined this club

Got my ATS less than a month ago and everything ran amazing for a while... got a service stability/steering light during normal city driving and shrugged it off. Noticed decreased power and rough idle afterwords. Just read through half this thread and it gave me a bad feeling... popped the oil fill cap and was met by a huge amount of air movement No CEL, just rough idle and diminished mid-range and a top-end that falls on its face.

Guess I'll compression test this weekend to confirm. 2013, 51xxx at start of issue.

 

Hope all works out for you guys. Sucks to get a car and have this happen. Especially when you love the car.