I never threw a code, plus I had decent power throughout the power band. My only symptom was a rough idle when in park or stopped while in gear. I just knew something wasnt right with a car that had 38K on the odometer.

Compression tests confirmed 1 and 4 were low by the dealer...but was like pulling teeth to get to that point with Cadillac service. Took 5 or so visits to figure it out.

One service adviser told me, and I quote..."thats just how these turbo engines are"

 

He said tha'ts just how these turbo engines are? OMG, I might have flipped and said I need to talk to someone competent. He said " That's just how they are?" I've heard it all now. No that's just how you are.

 

Anyone have an idea of how many on the list are manuals vs autos? Since auto's tend to put different load on the engine and require different mapping, I'm wondering if it's more common in those.


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I heard a statistic that only 3% of all ATS sales are manuals (based on the trouble I had finding manuals nation wide I'd agree with this stat) I can only speak for the 2013 and 2016 MT6 that my wife and I own which have both been fine piston wise (33k and 23k respectively)


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I've been looking for manual piston failures and there's been about 4 on these forums. 2 of them were recent.

 

I have a manual.


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Cadillac isn't the only one with 4cyl turbo issues. Ford, BMW, Audi have it as well. Probably why Lexus hasn't jumped on it.

If you search, you'll see that other forums have their own main thread like this one.

http://www.torquenews.com/1083/study-finds-increasing-problems-4-cylinder-engines

Volvo, who is putting their 4 cyl 2.0T Drive-e in everything is detonating spark plugs/ engines apparently.


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At 60K with mine and knock on wood I have not had any symptoms of piston failure. I have a 13 manual

 

Same with me. I'm just praying my mods don't effect anything. I have yet to find someone to support my mods via the Trinity 1000 by diablo. Anyone know someone who reads logs and can send you a decent map according to mods done?

 

Yeah, pretty sad huh? Its a shame, too because the dealer is right down the street from me and is very convenient to use. I hate driving out of the way, but will do so moving forward with that lack of competency.

 

Cadillac isn't the only one with 4cyl turbo issues. Ford, BMW, Audi have it as well. Probably why Lexus hasn't jumped on it.

If you search, you'll see that other forums have their own main thread like this one.

http://www.torquenews.com/1083/study-finds-increasing-problems-4-cylinder-engines

 

Notable are the types of problems customers report. Sargent said in a recorded press statement that the smaller 4-cylnder engine problems reported typically are that “The engine hesitates, the automatic transmission shifts roughly, and a lack of engine power.” He goes on to clarify that “This increase in problems is most prevalent in vehicles with 4-cylinder engines.” To this auto enthusiast these problems all sound like the way that non-car enthusiasts describe turbo-lag. Turbo lag is always the first thing that automakers swear they have defeated in their new small turbo engines, but our experience driving these cars is that it is still an issue.

"Problems" and failed pistons look vastly different.

 

LED day running lights

my Cadillac brothers, quick questions.

i have an 2013 ATS without the fog led running day lights... i have searched everywhere to see if i can buy a kit or a harness that fits my 2013 ATS. im hopingif you guys having any ideas or where i can purchase some. or will any other Cadillac models fit?

 

Re: LED day running lights

my Cadillac brothers, quick questions.

i have an 2013 ATS without the fog led running day lights... i have searched everywhere to see if i can buy a kit or a harness that fits my 2013 ATS. im hopingif you guys having any ideas or where i can purchase some. or will any other Cadillac models fit?

I'm curious as to why you navigated into the performance section, clicked on bad pistons and asked a question about led lights. Go to the space section and use the search feature and search for rig lights or led lights. You will find plenty of threads, but the is one long one with all your answers.

 

Re: LED day running lights

lol rookie on this site...sorry didnt realize i clicked on iy

 

Re: LED day running lights

I took my 2014 ATS 2.0t awd with 36 700 KM (I got it on December 29 with 34 000 KM did a oil change at 36 000 KM.) in to a Cadillac on February 25 to get the engine checked for burning oil ( almost 2 quarts in 2 000 KM ) and found out it has had 1 piston and rod assembly changed at 32 000 KM.

Has anyone had problems with oil consumption after the dealer changed 1 piston ?

 

My 2014 ATS 2.0t pistons went bad. Number 2 and 3 cracked and they are replacing the whole engine under warranty. It happened at 29k, I wasn't doing any rough driving but I did get on it more than average but not to the point where the engine needs to be replaced. I hope this doesn't happen to my new engine, is there a lot of people on their 3rd engines?

 

Just took my 2013 ATS in on Monday because it was puking smoke out of the exhaust. Dealer called 2 hours after I dropped it off and said that there is a crack in the wall of cyl #3 and that they are going to replace entire engine under warranty. 49150 miles

 

Wow within two hours? Lucky you. Took me two months and 4 or 5 visits to 4 different dealers (twoof them Cadillac) to figure out my pistons were bad. I was told by one after demonstrating with him standing right in front of me while the care was shaking all over the place..."Thats just how these turbo engines are"

Finally a Buick/GMC dealer figured it out because the tech, wait for it...worked for Cadillac previously and knew it was a an issue.

 

2015 ATS 2.0 AWD - Build Date 05/15 Mileage 30k
Cracked piston lands cylinders 1,2,4. Compression in cylinders 1 and 2 was 50lbs. Engine still ran but when oil.and died at idle a few times.
Had tuned ECU for 2 months when failure occured. Reinstalled stock ECU.
Dealer replaced all pistons and rings. Took 9 days. Not sure when I will reinstall tuned ECU.
I don't think the tune caused the problem.

 

Who's tune were you using? You dodged a HUGE bullet!

 

Any reports of pistons self destructing after a dealer rebuild?

edit 1 This list is getting huuuuge
edit 2 Statement from Cadillac or GM?

 

They built 74k ATS's in the first two years, say half are 2.0T's (guess), as a percentage of 2.0T's built this list is tiny. Cadillac isn't going to give us real data as long as they have a choice.

I am surprised at the number of cars that were tuned and report a problem. Assuming at least some of the time the cars were tuned and the owner doesn't want to post it.

 

Typo: when oil. Corrected - Oil was almost two quarts low when low oil warning message appeared. Ended up adding 2 1/2 quarts total while driving approx. 100 miles over 3 days. Feel sorry for anyone driving behind me. Light acceleration didn't cause blue smoke but more than that, lots of blue smoke.

 

The only way to fix this is
A) Leave it stock and keep your warranty.
or
B) Bore it & Sleeve the block and install all forged internals.

Now you can tune, cam it, big turbo or what ever.

Even if GM was to give out any info it would done in such a manor that the percentage would be artificially low. I went thru this chit with brake calipers on my RV. It took close to 6 years to resolve even with a NHSTA recall and they kept saying the failure rate was less the 1%. But, the bottom line was Bosch had to build some 230,000 calipers and pay for the install. Just a FYI, this particular caliper is used in the medium duty truck chassis, including school buses and there are literally MILLIONS of them produced. So, yes it was probably less than .05% or less of the total produced. But, probably 40% failure in this application.

 

Workhorse W22 chassis? My father has a Winnebago Adventurer that rides on the same chassis and we went through the recall process too, thankfully we didn't run into any hassles with it.

I just recently picked up a 2013 ATS Premium 2.0T RWD with 44k miles on it. Couple odd issues that are getting sorted out on Monday, but nothing related to bad pistons. Anyone here have issues with their 2.0T not delivering any boost? It hasn't happened in a week, but the car will deliver 0 boost and throw no codes. Pulling over and re-starting the car fixes it.

 

I had an engine failure with all oem parts down to the air filter. I maintained a beyond stellar maintenance record and still cracked a piston. Ive since been running a tune and aftermarket parts and flog the ever loving crap out of my ats and never looked back. Its an inherent risk, enjoy what you have, or like some, squeeze what ever power out of your debit/credit card can allot.

In all seriousness though, anyone crack a piston used in a dealer rebuilt engine? Cant find the part number for the pistons used in rebuild. They're holding up beautifully! Chalking it up to a manufacturing default in the piston production process, all speculation of course.

 

My car broke a piston and a rod 3.25 laps into a road course event. Car was 100% stock 2013 auto awd with 20k miles on it. It was smooth running and silent with no warning at all. It didn't get hot, no odd noises, and then bang, it all came apart.

 

Automobile(s): CTSV, V1 and V2, SRX?

 

...This is a thread about the ATS, right? In the ATS forum? lol. And my car is a '14, not a '13. Late '14.

 

That's not what you have listed under your name (Automobile(s)) so I wondered. Would probably be more clear to me if you didn't list your vehicles as

Automobile(s): CTSV, V1 and V2, SRX

 

^^^^ He's probably asking because in the past people with a low post count and ATS not listed were trolls. They were saying how bad the car was and how theirs blew up. With the cars you have listed and no ATS and 7 posts might make people think you were trolling. We have seen these people come and go here. They are probably BMW people:yup: Just clearing it up. I know what he was getting at.

 

Simple as wondering if he posted in the wrong forum, just had a 2.0T but another vehicle and was complaining here also or what, looked at the vehicles listed in his profile and they don't match the forum he is posting in. Two things don't match so I asked. I really didn't think of the troll issue.

 

Yes... It was the W22 and I id it back in about 2005 as it was the same issue I had with Dodge van. Stuck claiper do to moisture and phnolic coated caliper pistons.

I would suspect a sensor or ECM issue. Re-flash or replace.

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I remember hearing how awful the recall process was on the W22 for the brakes. We didn't acquire the vehicle until around 2011 or 2012 and even then the recall hadn't yet been performed on that particular one. The ATS goes in on Monday to have the boost issue and noisy rear diff checked out.

 

HI, new here, just drove a manual 2.0T the other day and considering a purchase. Failures are concerning, will be monitoring this thread closely. thanks.

 

Get a 14 or up.... Just my humble opinion.

 

good to know, and as i'm going through threads i'm seeing why. There are several around the country < 20k. it would be tempting to buy one, send it to a tuner for 350+ hp, and be out the door for < 25k for a car to keep up with the ss and 392's. But...not liking the reliability issues i'm seeing...

 

ATS is a very reliable car. Have owned two so are, drove them across the country, and they have been rock solid. That being said, when you tune the engine all the way up to 350+hp, nothing is guaranteed to be reliable or last for a long time! The engine, transmission, rear end, shafts,... are not designed for that type of power. So that's a chance that you would take. As a matter of fact, many of those failed engines were the tuned ones! Long story short, you pay to play!

 

Wanna buy an SS? I've got a blk/blk A6 2015 with 13k miles on the clock. Beat my best trade in offer and it's yours. $33501 takes the car home.

 

after evaluating the GXP M6 market, i'd only be up for an m6 ss. why are you selling? thanks.

 

Piston #3 dead for the second time. 50k miles on dealer rebuild. death confirmed with compression and leak down test. no visual defects found on spark plug. no piston defects
visible with bore scope, i.e. signs of detonation. Ring lands must have let go from manufacturing defect or pre-ignition event. JE Pistons inbound!