Cadillac Catera grinding brakes problems

Filed Jul 23, 2003 · Brakes · 58,200 miles · GA

The brake maintainence warning is defective and insufficent. According the owner's manual when the warning light appears the consumer will need to have brakes serviced soon. The warning light does not appear when the brake pads need changing, which is a warning. The brakes do not have a sensor which causes the brakes to squeal when pads need replacing. Therefore, not giving the consumer the opportunity to make minor repairs before serious damage and injury occur. However, the brake maintainence light does appear when your pads have completely worn out, you now have damage to your rotors, and damage to your cylinders now turning an $200-$300 repair to a $1000 repair. This is unfair and deceitful to the consumer. Discussed issue with gm customer assistant supervisor who basically told me ole' well, too bad-so sad.

Filed Jan 31, 2003 · Body, Brakes · MI

The consumer is experiencing the following: the engine is overheating/there's a loud tapping sound, the brakes are grinding on the right side, the power locks at times won't unlock/must play with the floor shifter, and the clock was repaired. The dealer suggested that nothing was wrong with the vehicle, in reference to the engine. Scc

Filed May 6, 2002 · Body, Brakes · AL

Due to a defect in front aligment tires wore excessively.*ak the rotors were turned and resurfaced several times. The brakes pulsate, squeak and go too low to the floor. The third set of tires that were on the vehicle were wearing out due to an alignment problem, also another tire was leaking air. The passenger rear door handle broke and the driver's rear door hinge was unstable, also the driver's door lock sticks. The wipers scrub. The steering column makes noise. The right side head light shines too high.

Filed Mar 14, 2002 · Brakes, Lights · MD

Consumer can hear grinding and loud noises in the brakes, brake pads and rotors have been replaced twice. *ak consumer states he has never experienced any noise or grinding in the brakes until the vehicle was serviced for replacement of brakes and rotors. Since replacement of the brakes and rotors, consumer is still experiencing loud noises and grinding in the brake system. *tt consumer states the car was being serviced for a light bulb replacement.

Filed Jun 2, 2001 · Engine · OH

Vehichle quit running, when brake applied while cruise control was on, at 68mph in heavy traffic . Coasted over to median. My husband was driving and pulled over to the left, had he gone to the right we would have been hit by the south bound traffic. When the engine failed. The car would not restart, making grinding noise when attempting to restart engine. Called aaa for tow.(flat bed) left sitting in median in heavy traffic. Local police stopped and osp also. In speaking with cadillac customer service we were told that there was a recall #00042 on this vehichle, of which we were never notified. I was told that bond and rubber hub pulley may fail. 04/25/2001. Informed by cadilac dealer engine needs to be replaced.($9,500) this car can stop without prior warning when the engine fails. This could be a potential hazard when traveling at high speeds, possibly causing a serious accident. We were very fortunate! Customer service at cadillac is not returning our calls or acknowleding the recall. How many people are having this problem with this car? Depending on when this happens , such a failure could be a potential hazard. We have had the engine replaced through a private individual and it is available for inspection. The problem was that the bearings came out of the pulley that holds the timing belt. The belt was not broken....we need to know if our new engine, which also is from a '97 catera will have the same problem at 60,000miles...thank you for checking into this. Fjf

Filed Mar 26, 2001 · Engine, Suspension · NC

Car was making a grinding sound under hood. Was told timing chain tensioner was almost broken. Dlr replaced tensioner, timing chain, and idler pulley. Car has had 6 alignments since 10/13/00. Car still pulls to left and wears out tires prematurely. Car has 47,000 miles on itand has 3rd set of tires on it. Car had a oil leak on valve cover gaskets. Dlr repaired and replaced. Car hesitates and surges forward. Dlr has not found problem. Car has abnormal shift patterns. Sometimes shift down to a lower gear causing car to lose power and speed, then shifts back to overdrive without depressing accelerator. Dlr has not found a problem. There is a sound from rear of car. Sounds like bad shocks. Dlr replaced frame support bushings and lower control arms. Noise still there. There are too many problems to report here. Car has serious problems and has been to dealership for extensive warranty work 9 times within our 7 months of ownership. The last visit, the sealership had the car for 15 days trying to repair the car, and now, most of the same things that were suppose to be repaired are still faulty. Today, the heating system went out. There is no heat in the car now. We will be returning back to dealership this morning. We have written the manufacturer and will be sending that letter off today also.

Filed Oct 4, 2000 · Brakes · MS

Brakes were squeaking & the brakes would give. Dealer had checked vehicle couple of times & never mentionedanything about rotors being replaced. Dealer was blaming it on wear & tear. Rotors & pads were replaced in january at 13,000 miles. Later, they needed to be replaced again.

Filed Sep 13, 2000 · Brakes, Engine · NJ

Contacted dealer immediately upon receipt of recall notice for engiine problem-was not advised of any imminent danger-lost power steering-car overheated & engine failure, brakes continue to squeal intermittently, steering pulls to side.

Filed Sep 24, 1999 · Engine · NC

Car was in to dealer on 5/25/1999 (mileage 7876) when I complained of engine squeal, nothing done

Filed Sep 8, 1999 · Brakes, Visibility · CA

Windshield wipers. Squeaky brakes.