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Rattle when accelerating 0-30mph

16K views 26 replies 15 participants last post by  CADILLACOSSACK416  
#1 ·
I have a 2009 Cadillac CTS with 89k. When going from 5 to about 30 miles per hour I hear a rattling noise that sounds like the metal ball in a spray paint can. It goes away after about 35 to 40 miles per hour. Car kinda feels like it has lost some gitty-up. I use premium fuel, heat shields are tight. Anybody?
 
#4 ·
Could it be sympathetic vibration of a non-essential part?
Where does the sound come from?

BTW, I'm driving a 2009 CTS-4. Love driving it. View attachment 584199
It sounds too definate to be sympathetic noise. It seems you can almost bypass it by getting up to speed at a more rapid acceleration but then again, that would make sense.
Codes?
How's the oil pressure?
Oil pressure is right on point. No fluxuation. Oil level on the other hand, is ALWAYS needing to be checked. Burns/eats oil. I know with this 3.6 motor, age of the car and mileage, that's pretty normal, especially on the highway driving I do daily. No check engine light. Haven't hooked up a code device yet.
 
#9 ·
No break work done recently. First time I heard it was 5-6 months ago. Seems more prominent/present now. It's pretty close to every acceleration. Like I mentioned, I can rapid accelerate through it but not sure if that's a good thing either. Sounds like the medal ball in the spray paint can. Man, I love my BlkLak
584223
 
#6 ·
If the noise is coming from your engine I would suggest trying something like this intake cleaning system:


You can usually buy it at auto parts stores also and I have used it several times and seems to work pretty good. As to your oil consumption I will address that on your other post

Roy
 
#12 ·
Under the hood. I'm going to say lower part of middle of engine. Cant be certain.
Post a sound clip.
I'll try and see if I can without drop'n my phone on the 94E. That'd be just my luck.
Sounds like detonation.

Roy
What's the fix Roy? I'm sure it has been noticed that I am no grease monkey. Doing a 100k (yes, I'm only at 89k) tune up Monday with all fluids being changed, tranny, break, steering, differentials, serpentine belt and oil change. Anything easier to get to for diagnosing while all this is being done?
Sounds like detonation.

Roy
What' the fix for detonstion Roy?
 
#13 ·
There are a couple of things that you can try. 1 is to get some octane booster and put it in with your gas and if it goes away then probably its detonation and then we would have to try and determine what is causing it. It can be caused by carbon build-up and an intake system clean might help that. You can either try the 3M kit that I linked to which will take you probably an hour or so to do or if you're taking your car into a shop which it sounds like, a lot of them have an intake cleaning system machine that they can hook up and it usually cost around 80 or $90. Too much oil going into your intake system can cause this also because you are displacing air and fuel with oil vapor which does not create the same amount of power. You can try pulling the PCV tube from your engine and putting something over the opening in the intake to block it so you're not just sucking air. Possibly a small piece of cardboard that is taped into place and then just do a quick run to see if it's still pings. I would do this before anything else to see if that is the problem. If it is the problem then you can put a small plug-in with a small hole in that plug which is what I have done to my engine to reduce the amount of vacuum sucking the oil Vapors out of the engine.

Roy
 
#17 ·
Three things I suggest you check.. As these are all potential issues on this year car...
Check your oil level. If it is low you could be having issues when your RPM is close to idle.

Check the plastic piping from the back of the heads to the intake. Check for leaks or possible cracks. I have had similar issues with both of my cars due to these hoses coming disconnected or cracks in them. You have one from the passenger side to the intake its self and one from the drivers side to the intake tubing by the MAF sensor. (Most likely)

Check your driveshaft for broken or lose bolts. This year car is especially known for AWD issues with the main driveshaft bolts coming loose. They get replaced with a different style that is less likely to come loose or break off than the original ones.

Beyond that I would check for issues in your exhaust manifolds or fuel related issues such as bad fuel pump output or stuck injectors.
 
#24 ·
Three things I suggest you check.. As these are all potential issues on this year car...
Check your oil level. If it is low you could be having issues when your RPM is close to idle.

Check the plastic piping from the back of the heads to the intake. Check for leaks or possible cracks. I have had similar issues with both of my cars due to these hoses coming disconnected or cracks in them. You have one from the passenger side to the intake its self and one from the drivers side to the intake tubing by the MAF sensor. (Most likely)

Check your driveshaft for broken or lose bolts. This year car is especially known for AWD issues with the main driveshaft bolts coming loose. They get replaced with a different style that is less likely to come loose or break off than the original ones.

Beyond that I would check for issues in your exhaust manifolds or fuel related issues such as bad fuel pump output or stuck injectors.
Thanks for the info.i will check on those things.
Here is few common things to check:
Drive shaft bolts
Loose transmission mounting bracket bolts.
Engine timing chain, but it should have make same noise if it is in neutral
0-30mph?, check torque converter, going bad because of cracked flax plate, also common issue on older models
All other suggestions are well meaning but useless.
Thanks. Man, your Cadi looks nice brother!
Just a thought, I had the same issue on wife's Escalade. Turned out to be the catalytic converter. eventually it started throwing a code.
 
#18 ·
I would go with redheadedrod's suggestion of driveshaft bolts backing out. Happened on my '10 a number of years back. Fortunately, mine was still within the powertrain warranty and the tow to the dealership etc. was all covered by GM. I hope I'm right because I would rather have this than an internal engine rattle. Good luck!
 
#19 ·
Hmm thanks I had a similar issue for years now, when I accelerate at lower speeds its this rattle/creaking noise from the engine area until I hit a certain speed. I've taken it to the dealer but they say its just the computer noise. The only thing is I have a 3.0 RWD.

I will go ask them if the driveshaft bolts are secure next time I go. Is it something they can quickly take a look at?
 
#20 ·
Hey

I have had the same noise happen

started at 29k miles on my 2009 CTS4 all the way through 82k miles

never did any damage to the car - just annoying and people outside the car can for sure hear the noise

I also had the exact same problem with my 2006 Cadillac STS - same noise - exact same noise all from like 10 mph to 35 mph

I heard potentially it was a heat shield making the rattling noise

Wish I had a solution for you - I know EXACTLY what you are talking about

it
 
#22 ·
Here is few common things to check:
Drive shaft bolts
Loose transmission mounting bracket bolts.
Engine timing chain, but it should have make same noise if it is in neutral
0-30mph?, check torque converter, going bad because of cracked flax plate, also common issue on older models
All other suggestions are well meaning but useless.