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Comments
When they actually fixed it, they told us that what had happened was the wiring harness was short-circuiting, which leads to an incorrect signal and therefore problems with the brake system (because the speed sensor/hub/ECBM is responding to a false code). Once the wiring harness was repaired, we have not had any trouble.
Of course, multiple attempts to urge GM to send out a message to CTS owners letting them know there is an issue with the wires/wiring harness that could cause a short-circuit which leads to incorrect information which results in the brake control module responding inappropriately and the brakes not working - that has not happened despite our best efforts.
That terrifies me, because one can only imagine the accident that lies ahead when (inevitably) someone's CTS has this problem in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Good luck. I would ask the dealer to check the wiring if you proceed.
(PS, I am not sure where you are located, but the CA senators have opened an inquiry on this front. You might want to contact them to add your information)
I really don't want to spend the $1000 to get the speed sensor fixed (I'm out of warranty) and then have it go bad again.
How fortuitous that you are in CA too.
I am working with Barbara Boxer, specifically with Eric Jose Vizcaino (Dir of Constituent Services) and his assistant, Maria Henderson. The San Francisco office is 415-403-0100, or 1700 Montgomery St, Suite 240, 94111.
If you wouldn't mind, you can reference the letter that Eric wrote on our behalf to David Strickland at the NHTSB (dated Oct 19 of this year). This might help them put the concerns together.
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We are asking (now that there are multiple reports of the same event) that Cadillac send this information to CTS owners so that they can replace the fault (pretty simple repair) before a brake failure results in serious injury. We would like to prevent this accident from occurring.
So should I just pay the $800 and get the speed sensor replaced or wait? Again, I don't want to spend the money and then have the problem come back. I don't want to let GM off the hook by paying for what is obviously a dangerous defect. And I also don't want to drive a car that doesn't stop!
Any advice?
It could be in your case that the speed sensor is failing, or it could be the wiring, or both. The speed sensor replacements did seem to repair the problem temporarily, but since the braking issue was always intermittent it is hard to know for sure.
I know if they do replace your speed sensor and the problem reoccurs they may need to try to repair again and it would be covered under the warranty for the first repair.
I can't tell you what to do, but I would definitely keep good records
Good morning, I would like to look into this for you. Would please e-mail me with your contact information, VIN, current mileage, and when this problem started. I look forward to your response.
Christina
I sent you an email.
Best Regards,
Patrick
with 60K miles I figured I'd just replace the battery and hope for the best. Today I dropped in a brand new ac-delco battery ($161.00) and all the issues have cleared. I'm crossing my fingers that the issue was poor voltage or low current and not that something re-set when the battery was disconnected. I'll update if the problem returns.
Next time, use a battery charger to bring a dead battery back to normal. Also 4-5 years is about a normal battery's life in a modern car.
I was maybe interested in buying a CTS with AWD and i was reading about the Reliability ratings in Consumer Report and that kind of turned me Sour towards the CTS I really like the way Looks its very sharp but am skeptical about that Reliability.
One Consumer Report gives it a 1/2 Black Circle for Reliability .
Anyone here can give me some insight if they are having any issues with this car re reliability or No Problems at all?? Should i go for it and take a chance??
Thank you
Thanks for the response. I was thinking of buying a Cadi Cts last year and this year.
Has anyone purchased a 2010 or 2011 with good reliability thus far??
Im just a bit of a nervous person about Reliability i guess. I had seen in a magazine that the CTS has sort of a somewhat black circled area for reliability and maybe thats for Older Models but i just was wondering about the newer Models how the Relaibility was.
Anyone here who has a newer model CTS if you can please share your Insight.
Thank you
Having the vehicle diagnosed by a GM dealer is the first step. You can contact Customer Assistance; however, they will tell you that you must have the vehicle diagnosed before they can assist. The number for customer assistance is in the Owner Manual. I hope this helps.
Christina
GM Customer Service
Look forward to hearing from you,
Sarah
GM Customer Service
My 2005 GM vehicle has had apparently the same intermittent ABS failures for years - sometimes a diagnostic failure - sometimes felt at low speed hot weather when one of the 4 brakes is released - it does increase slightly braking distance and is alarming but increasing pedal pressure does function properly.
For my car, the issue is basically known to be wheel speed sensor, especially when heated. It's so intermittent and imho is not safety related, because it only occurs on *one wheel* at a time. Always the same one. Right front.
I understand that in some (all?) vehicles the speed sensors are especially sensitive to damage from road debris or mild corrosions.
We had multiple communications (in person, via email, letters, phones) with GM during that time. GM never showed much concern about the potential liability/risk of morbidity and mortality associated with this problem. The dealership replaced the speed sensor/EBCM 4 times in an attempt to repair the problem (although it never did). We paid out of pocket quite a bit of money once the car was out of warranty, but the problem did not resolve.
Eventually, an intelligent mechanic fabricated a new harness with new terminal grounds from the EBCM to the left wheel speed sensor and rerouted the harness away from any possible sources of inductive voltage. Once that was complete, we have not had a problem.
The mechanic (who works for our dealership) said to us that anecdotally he has run into this problem more than once and that there seems to be a failure in the design or workmanship in some of the wiring harnesses connecting the EBCM to the speed sensors that causes the brakes to fail. (Separately, he recommended the next time we buy a car, we not buy a Cadillac, because he felt that the fix -- rerouting the harness -- was not a time- or money-intensive fix, but that GM didn't seem interested in letting car owners know that, despite the potential and obvious dangers).
We spoke with our representative to Congress who asked us to file a report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), who with enough examples is able to force GM to notify owners or issue a recall.
I would STRONGLY encourage all of you who have had this problem to 1) have your mechanic check the wiring harness for sources of inductive voltage, and 2) to report the problem to your congressional representative and to the NHTSA.
You can find your congressional representative here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
You can report to the NHTSA here: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
For us, as a family with small children, this has never been about getting any reimbursement for the large amount of money we've given to attempt to fix this problem. This has always been about making sure that the cars on the road are safe (thinking about driving this car in my children's school's parking lot started this process).
We have been truly disappointed by what seems to be GM's lack of concern about the potential safety hazards. I try very hard to be a fair-minded person, and I have been so dismayed by GM's lack of interest in responding to these concerns. Shame on you, GM, for letting the dollar or just plain laziness stop you from getting information to car owners that could potentially prevent a serious accident.
Please let the NHTSA know about your issues, in the hopes that they might be able to convince GM to do the moral thing and let its owners and dealers know about the relatively simple repair to this issue (which, if you Google, you will find occurs in other GM cars besides Cadillacs), before a child loses a life by being hit by a car that can't brake in a neighborhood parking lot.
I replaced the wires from the wheel/speed sensor, splicing and soldering near the radiator. The parts for both sides were less that $100. with the right clip! I later tested both of the old wiring harnesses, 4 wires with an OHM meter. initially looked like a waste of time until I moved the wires around***simulating a hard right turn*** OHM meter pegged!
In my Non-Professional opinion problem is the OEM wire routing....causing repeated kinking of the wires on hard turns. I routed my new harnesses along the sway bay where this kinking is less likely.
DID I MENTION MY ABS PROBLEM IS GONE??
If you would like to check your VIN for any open recalls, please send us the last 8 digits at socialmedia@gm.com.
Kindest regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service
In your opinion what was the definitive resolution to this problem? I’m about to contact the GM dealer in my area and do not want to pay for diagnostics or repair if this was a manufacturer's issue. In reading the posts it seems the problem may have been a wiring issue or a hub speed sensor code or something to do with the differential. I also noted a Technical Bulletin -- 03-05-25-009A JUL 04 Brakes - Low Brake Pedal/Air in System. Is this correct?
I know nothing about the mechanics of automobiles, and feel I’m in a death trap. Many, many thanks for any assistance you can offer.
As I said in my post ;
I replaced the wires from the wheel/speed sensor, splicing and soldering near the radiator. The parts for both sides were less that $100. with the right clip! I later tested both of the old wiring harnesses, 4 wires with an OHM meter. initially looked like a waste of time until I moved the wires around***simulating a hard right turn*** OHM meter pegged!
In my Non-Professional opinion problem is the OEM wire routing....causing repeated kinking of the wires on hard turns. I routed my new harnesses along the sway bay where this kinking is less likely.
MY ABS PROBLEM IS GONE??
With the OEM set-up, the wires kink every time the wheels are turned. That is why I re-routed the new wires in a manner that less kinking can occur. I CAN NOT reproduce the braking problem therefore I am calling it fixed. Good Luck!
Thanks so much for your response! I called two GM dealers about my CTS breaking problem to see if they had any knowledge of this issue. Absolutely not a clue -- never heard of such a problem. They were not interested in referring to the suggested Tech Bulletin - (air in system.) Was told had to bring car in to see if they could replicate, then maybe fix. At least $100.00 + for the effort, and God only knows if/when the replication would occur and what the cost would be. My own angle mechanic will take the car for a while to see if the problem occurs while he has it. I will give him all of the info gathered here. Again, many thanks. I will post when I have any new information.
ps
Sarah @ GM
Since it is apparent that GM monitors this site, why is there not even a technical service bulletin out regarding a possible fix instead of dealerships resorting to thowing parts at the problem hoping it goes away? Based on the posts, it is not a new or isolated issue It would seem to be in your best interest to help technicians find a permanent solution, especially since the wiring solution would be a quick and inexpensive fix. At the very least they could check the wiring for continuity.
Thank you for your feedback, and I can certainly understand your perspective given our frequent posts on the forum.
We are customer service and we do take note of concerns when a thread begins to grow (usually 5+ people having the same concerns with the same model year of a vehicle), and this information is passed along. However, where it goes from there it is difficult to say.
Christina and my primary objective is to help individuals get their individual concerns addressed if they choose to work with our dealerships.
Good, bad, or otherwise, this is where we're at. I can say that we do get visitors to our location from other departments within GM and we are able to draw attention to forums like Edmunds.
Again, thank you for your feedback and patience. I hope that the fix proposed by sirpontiac works for your CTS if you decide to go that route!
Sarah, GM Customer Service
That's how good the brakes are, capable of that much G impulse-force to seem like a collision to an accelerometer.
The driver responded, "I'm too busy driving to talk right now, we are on a racetrack. We did not crash, do not send EMTs or fire crews."
Personally I was disappointed that I somehow did not brake the rented CTS-V enough to get a call from Onstar.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Most important; I have no issues any longer!
Hope this helps!
Brian