Cadillac Owners Forum banner
1 - 10 of 10 Posts

· Registered
2009 Escalade
Joined
·
13 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hey Guys,

For the past few thousand miles, my 2015 Escalade Luxury model has been shuddering when coming to a complete stop. A lot of times, when I exit the highway and come to a stoplight, you can feel it shake. The shake is not violent, but a lot of times it is distracting and a nuisance. Shortly after this "shudder" began, my Wife was pulling away from a stoplight and it seemed as if the Escalade wasn't going anywhere and then suddenly, there was a clunk, and it lunged forward; that's only happened once. The "shudder' is an ongoing issue and happens 99% of the time. I am terrible at explaining mechanical issues, but it feels similar to a slightly rough idle, and the other times, the "shudder" is much stronger. When going from highway speed to stop, the "shudder" is much worse than in-town driving.

Looking back on the service records, the torque converter was replaced around 16,000 miles. Now, with just shy of 65,000 miles on it, I've had it at my local Cadillac dealer three times in the past two months.

On the first of three service records, they noted:

OUT OF RANGE SOFTWARE / INSUFFICIENT FLUID FORMULATION. ROAD TESTED VEHICLE AND CONFIRMED CONCERN. INSPECTED SOFTWARE LEVEL PRESENTLY BEING RUN. UPDATE AVAILABLE. PERFORMED SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD TO TCM AND UPDATED CALIBRATIONS FOR SHIFT AND IDLE ISSUE(S). FOLLOWING MOST CURRENT BULLETIN RELATED TO CONCERN, REMOVED TRANS PLAN AND CLEARED FLUID FROM TRANSMISSION. CLEARED COOLER AND LINES. REFILLED UNIT WITH NEWLY SPEC'D SYNTHETIC FLUID FORMULATION. ROAD RESTED O.K. FOLLOWING CORRECTIVE ACTION.​

Once we received it back, they told us that it would likely shift roughly for the next 200-250 miles because that is the time it takes for the transmission to learn/adapt to how it's being driven, and if we continued to experience the issue to schedule another appointment. After surpassing the 250 miles, the issue seemed to worsen and we scheduled another appointment.

On the second of three service records, they noted:

POSSIBLE SOFTWARE ANOMALY. ROAD TESTED VEHICLE. SLIGHT VIBRATION NOTED WHILE DRIVING. VERIFIED PROPER TORQUE CONVERTER LOCKUP AND FUNCTION VIA DIAGNOSTIC MEASURES. NO DTC'S PRESENT. VERIFIED MOST CURRENT SOFTWARE PRESENTLY BEING RUN. SET ALL CALIBRATIONS AND RE-ROADTESTED VEHICLE (FOLLOWING TIRE BALANCING AS WELL) VEHICLE OPERATED AS DESIGNED AT THIS TIME.​

After receiving the vehicle back, we were told to give it a few hundred miles, and again, if we had any issue, to bring it back. As soon as I pulled away from the dealership and reached the first stoplight, I felt the same "shudder" as I had felt all along. As they suggested, I gave it a few hundred miles and the issue persisted. When I arrived at the dealership to drop it off the third time, the Service Advisor introduced me to the Service Manager; he asked to ride in the Escalade with me so I could show him the issue. Due to the location of the dealership, I explained that he may not have the opportunity to feel the "shudder" at it's worse as it presented itself more prominently when exiting the highway. Thankfully, he did feel it somewhat and acknowledged that it was an issue.

On the third of three service records, they noted:

ROAD TESTED VEHICLE EXTENSIVELY. PERFORMED RE-LEARN OF ALL ADAPTABLE FEATURES - TCM/ECM - VERIFIED MOST CURRENT SOFTWARE VERSION IS BEING RUN BY ONBOARD COMPUTERS. VEHICLE IS PRESENTLY OPERATING AS DESIGNED. NO FURTHER CORRECTIVE ACTION NECESSARY AT THIS TIME.​

I just picked it up today and we were again told that it would drive rough for a few hundred miles because of the need for it to learn/adapt to how it's being driven. Again, no more than 2-3 miles down the road, the "shudder" presents itself. After highway driving and exiting, the "shudder" seems to be the same as it has been since first felt.

This third time around, the Service Manager told me that they've basically done everything possible to remedy the issue and that there are no "hard parts" to replace. Since the first visit, our Service Advisor has told us how unhappy most people are with the transmission in this model Escalade, and how many they've had in for replacement. I've made it clear that I'd rather them keep the Escalade until the problem is fixed rather than give it back with the same issue. I'm not pushing for one thing or the other, except for the necessary steps to be taken to fix the issue. I completely understand that their computers are pulling no codes and the diagnostics are clear, but there is clearly an issue; the Escalade isn't supposed to "shudder" when it's at a complete stop. Our Service Advisor and the Service Manager have been incredible to deal with, but if Cadillac is receiving all of this negative feedback from their dealerships and their customers, why isn't something being done? I cannot think of one person who goes out and spends $80,000+ dollars on a vehicle to have it malfunction.

Has anyone had a similar issue? This is driving me crazy! Again, I don't feel like it's the dealership, but clearly, something has to give! My 2015 is the newer model, I believe, as it has the new emblems.
 

· Registered
2009 Escalade
Joined
·
13 Posts
Discussion Starter · #3 ·
The torque converter won't shudder at idle at a stop. So if you have a rough idle, that an engine concern. Possibly a spark plug, fuel injector, etc.
Thanks for your reply! Something that I inadvertently left out of my original post is that the shutter completely stops if I shift into neutral or park. Wouldn't something with the engine persist regardless of the transmission being engaged? The Escalade can be steadily shuddering, but as soon as I shift up to neutral (or park), it stops completely.
 

· Registered
'21 XT6, '19 XT5, '17 GMC Sierra 6.2
Joined
·
2,181 Posts
Still sounds like the engine is at fault. When you shift into park/neutral, you take the load off the engine and it is allowed to free wheel easily. So some engine problems go away or get less severe. But a technician should be easily able to identify a engine misfire, so I'm guessing maybe its not a misfire but possibly an engine mount problem. Bad engine mounts (or transmission mounts) can cause a rough, shaky engine vibration at idle.
At your next service visit, don't use the word shudder. I think that is keying them into a transmission issue. Tell them you feel the engine shake and vibrate at IDLE IN GEAR. Hopefully they'll find or rule out a misfire or maybe a bad engine/trans mount.
 

· Registered
2009 Escalade
Joined
·
13 Posts
Discussion Starter · #5 ·
Still sounds like the engine is at fault. When you shift into park/neutral, you take the load off the engine and it is allowed to free wheel easily. So some engine problems go away or get less severe. But a technician should be easily able to identify a engine misfire, so I'm guessing maybe its not a misfire but possibly an engine mount problem. Bad engine mounts (or transmission mounts) can cause a rough, shaky engine vibration at idle.
At your next service visit, don't use the word shudder. I think that is keying them into a transmission issue. Tell them you feel the engine shake and vibrate at IDLE IN GEAR. Hopefully they'll find or rule out a misfire or maybe a bad engine/trans mount.
Thanks for the advice. I'm going to drive it for a couple of hundred miles as they've suggested, although I don't think that's going to change anything, and then reach out to the Service Manager.
 

· Registered
2011 CTS-V Coupe; 2015 Escalade
Joined
·
7 Posts
I’m learning that this is due to the AFM (active fuel management) because when it goes in and out of V4 the tranny has to learn all over again. I bought a device called “Range” tuner you plug into the OBD port and keeps it in V8 all the time. I got better shifting. I also recently learned too that the tranny temp sensor will go out and not throw a code for some time. Watch your tranny temp on the dash and if it bounces up and down drastically in temp that will need replacing. Good Luck
 

· Registered
Joined
·
1 Posts
I have a 2015 Escalade ESV. i had the shuddering for some time now and it drove me crazy that it would shake like something was coming off of it.
I did mention "had". So i went to Pepboys and they said it had something to do with the torque coverter so they sent me to AAMCO who robbed me of $1200 and still didn't fix the problem. I did some research on this same forum and found out that GM upgraded their transmission oil to "Mobile 1 full synthetic with dexron" because they were getting so many complaints about the same issue. I went to a transmission shop, had them change the filter and oil to "Mobile" (because they insisted that wasn't the right one for my vehicle) and literally the next day it was gone. Cartwheels in my driveway for days.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2 Posts
We have this issue on our 2015 Escalade esv. Was this ever fixed?

We have this issue on our 2015 Escalade esv. Was this ever fixed?
I had this issue on my 2015 platinum model
Turns out there is a TSB 18-NA-355 to fix this issue
Pretty much says to remove your transmission fluid and filter and replace it with Mobil 1 Synthetic LV ATF HP fluid

I ordered a transmission filter along with a new gasket removed old transmission fluid, and filled with the new mobil 1 fluid about 8 quarts.
I also bought a superchips flashpaq 2845 and disabled the Active Fuel management (AFM) to prevent my Escalade from going from v8 to 4 cylinder mode and I feel like I just bought a new truck.
No more shuddering, best of luck!
 
1 - 10 of 10 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top