2005 Cadillac CTS: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Oct 4, 2014 · Transmission · 51,250 miles · NY

Shifting gears was accompanied by clunking in rear differential. This occurred when shifting or when letting off the accelerator. In march of 2014 a whining also accompanied driving at speeds of 50 - 70 MPH. My cadillac dealer replaced the differential with a new one under a private warranty program. Within 2 weeks the differential was again making the same noises. Dealer said that cadillac would not do anything about the problem. Note: servicing mechanic noted after changing the differential fluid, that the fluid taken from the newly installed differential was burnt black.

Filed Mar 20, 2014 · Transmission · 46,450 miles · NY

Clunking sound and feel from rear axle when shifting gears . Appears to be getting worse.

Filed Mar 8, 2011 · Suspension · 115,000 miles · GA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 cadillac cts. The contact stated that when driving at any speed, the vehicle would exhibit an abnormal clunking from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was told that the pinion bushing for the rear axle would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 115,000 and the current mileage was 129,000. Updated 08/15/11

Filed Jul 21, 2010 · Steering · 72,000 miles · TN

My 2005 cadillac cts appears to have a problem with the power-assisted steering. The car pulls to the right, and is difficult to steer toward the right. Also, once turned by manual force, the wheel sometimes does not spin back into proper position. This makes turning in tight places and parking extremely difficult. I am the third owner of this car; I have taken it back to the dealer from whom I purchased it multiple times with this complaint; but they tell me each time that I am simply not strong enough to turn the wheel properly. The condition has not been fixed. The inability to smoothly turn the steering wheel to the right could result in a crash due to my not being able to avoid a hazard while driving or trying to park. Also, the rear differential on this car was faulty, causing a roaring noise while driving, and a clunking sound to be heard when applying or easing pressure on the gas pedal. The dealer at first said nothing was wrong, but after multiple visits (at least 5); they acknowledged the problem and repaired it.

Filed Dec 28, 2009 · Suspension · 55,704 miles · MO

Defective rear differential pinion bushing resulting in a audible "clunk" when shifting gears. The automotive aftermarket offers a rear differential pinion brace to compensate for the poor gm design.

Filed Oct 29, 2007 · Transmission · 43,000 miles · CA

My 2005 cadillac cts-v has been sent to the cadillac dealership numerous times concerning rear differential noise and clunking. After cadillac claimed that the problem was fixed by replacing the drive shaft, on the same night the rear differential blew up under normal driving condition. The car was sent back to cadillac and was denied warranty under the accusation of harsh driving or "hot rodding". There was no in-depth inspection or a mechanical and material analysis to determine the actual point of failure. The tech representative simple conducted a bias conclusion and accused me of "hot rodding".

Filed Sep 18, 2007 · Transmission · 1,500 miles · NY

Rear differential failure of 2005 cadillac cts. *jb I have a 2005 cts and experienced clunking while driving. The car was returned to dealer multiple times with complaint of clunking noise. All times the car was returned and said to be in proper operable order. I finally decided to contact cadillac direct and was told by customer service to bring my vehicle for yet another appointment. They changed the rear differential finally and stated that there was complete failure due to leak of fluid. [smch from e-mail]

Filed Jan 17, 2007 · Tires, Transmission · 27,000 miles · CA

I have a 2005 cadillac cts-v my first issue was back in 05/05 8,200 miles on car while driving car would not allow me to shift or change gears the car stalled and rolled to a stop. I called for road service 2 hours from home they towed car to an area dealer who later called to inform me the rear differential failed and gm had refused to pay for service. I had the car towed to my local dealer at my expense, at my dealers request. They informed me that gm said the car had excessive tire wear and damage was caused by driver abuse or aggressive driving I was forced to hire an attorney and pay for a vehicle I couldn't drive for several months. Late in august 05 cadillac agreed to pay for the repair. 01/07 27,000 miles I was driving the cts-v changed gears from 2nd to 3rd approx 30 MPH heard a clunk and rear end started to whine I parked the car, called road side service ,they towed the car to the dealer. Customer service rep called a few days later he said the rear end has failed again and needs complete replacement the hangar baring is bent, the main bolt is broke in two pieces and is recommending a complete new rear end he also said gm refused to pay for service to his surprise. Here we go again. My local dealer has the car it has not been repaired as of yet, so yes the old parts are available. The cadillac cts-v rear differential is weak and may break causing this car to skid or suddenly stop, causing an accident, injury,or death. Cadillac knows of problem and has provided some customers with warranty repair, offered 100,000 mile extended warranties for others and yet denied repair for customers with similar problems. This rear differential is under rated for this cars horse power and was designed for use in the standard cts version of this car the rear tires have also been a problem showing early signs of wear. I had to replace my first set front and rear at 8,500 miles, these tires are worst rated tire by consumers at www.tirerack.com and cadillacfaq.com

Filed Feb 17, 2006 · Body, Electrical · 400 miles · PA

Events leading to failure: no abuse, no tire burning. Vehicle used for commuting and job related purposes. Problems & resolutions: 7/11/2005 7/18/2005 problem shifting - dealer could not verify sunroof rattling - dealer could not verify right-rear sail panel broken - warranty repaired pixels burn on nav screen - nav unit replaced wheels scratched - dealer paid for repair front panel loose - replaced loose panel 7/25/2005 7/27/2005 left-rear panel broken - warranty repaired competition mode not working - warranty repaired dash panel loose - warranty repaired 8/22/2005 8/24/2005 wheel hop - service bulletin warranty repair hard to put in reverse - dealer says normal grinding when shifting - aligned exhaust system sunroof rattle - dealer could not verify sunroof material loose - warranty repaired 10/19/2005 10/23/2005 fuel gauge malfunction - warranty repaired 11/21/2005 11/23/2005 sunroof rattle - dealer could not verify drivetrain rough - dealer could not verify clunk when shifting - dealer could not verify car pulls to the right - tires bald @ 9000 miles battery failure - warranty repaired grinding in 5th gear - dealer could not verify 11/29/2005 12/1/2005 rattle from rear - warranty repair suspension right-rear panel broken - warranty repair; dealer warned this would not be covered under warranty anymore as "someone" is braking the panels on purpose 2/6/2006 2/8/2006 clunk from rear - dealer replaced differential/drivetrain unit under warranty. 5th gear sometimes hits reverse - could not verify grinding noise in reverse - dealer forgot to check unit won't play cds - replaced navigation/radio 2/15/2005 2/17/2006 grinding noise in reverse - dealer replaced transmission under warranty; area rep advised they will not replace future failures. Competition mode not working - warranty repaired.

Filed Feb 14, 2006 · Transmission · 11,550 miles · MI

I was simply driving "normally" and a "clunk" was heard from the rear of the car. The vehicle was not drivable. It had to be put on a flat bed truck and taken to the dealer. The right hand half shaft broke it two pieces and destroyed the differential in the process.

Filed Feb 6, 2006 · Suspension, Transmission · 3,373 miles · AZ

With only about 3370 miles on a brand new car, my rear differential internals were destroyed and the housing cracked due to the following 2 reasons: 1. Excessive wheel hop due to a poorly designed rear suspension 2. The differential that comes stock in every 2004-2005 cts-v cadillac is not rated to handle as much horsepower and torque as the car puts out. Gm cut corners and put in a differential that was meant for their v6 base model cts that makes about half the power. When the rear differential blew up, it also destroyed my driveshaft. I noticed the differential over time started to whine and clunk more and more and become louder and louder until all of a sudden while driving I heard a loud boom and a bunch of clunking and metal grinding. The car was immediately undriveable. My dealership replaced my driveshaft and the differential with a 2006 cts-v differential which is a beefier piece. I have 2500 miles on the new differential which is already starting to whine and clunk. Wheel hop is still atrocious and it is only a matter of time before this differential breaks as well. My dealership denied knowledge of any issues with cts-v rear ends, and tried to place the blame on me by stating that my rear tires were very worn for only 3370 miles, so I must have been abusing that car. That is not the case, and these tires are notorious for having the worst tread wear of any tire on the market, and every cts-v owner complains about how long they last. In fact, consumers gave the tires on this car the worst rating of any tire listed on "the tire rack." see here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tiremake=goodyear&tiremodel=eagle+f1+supercar+emt consumers rate the tire wear as a 2.6/10. What a joke, and cadillac dealerships place the blame for the tire wear on me the owner.

Filed Feb 5, 2006 · Body, Brakes · 27,171 miles · VA

4/11/05 - 8,367 miles - 1 day out of service rear end failure 4/28/05 - 9,664 miles - 5 days out of service rear bushing failure. *jb rear end failure 5/5/05 - 9,720 miles - 1 day out of service rear end failure wheel delivered from factory will not balance - no sign of damage 7/25/05 - 15,732 miles - 4 days out of service PCM recall #05544 - dealer unable to reprogram rear end hops wildly in rainy or slick roads when accelerating hard shifting into 1st gear rear end whine drive line clunk parking brake goes to floor and won't stop car rear end failure - dealer replaced rear differential and did not add friction modifier, claimed cts-v's do not need - later determined this was incorrect 8/29/05 - 17,372 miles - 22 days out of service rear end grinding friction modifier added transmission rebuilt replaced pressure plate replaced clutch - tsb 05-07-31-001 rear end bushings installed to reduce wheel hop tsb 05-04-114-001a navigation system replaced after all buttons were peeling parking brake goes to floor and won't stop car PCM recall performed 10/6/05 - 18,990 miles- 0 day out of service navigation system not programmed properly by dealership - returned for repair 11/5/05 - 22,151 miles - 0 day out of service replace all center caps on wheels - peeling 1/2/05 - 27,171 miles - 10 days out of service rear end failure radiator failure tsb 05-06-02-005a sun visor replaced due to peeling 1/19/06 - 27,538 miles - 6 hours out of service PCM removed and replaced at gordon histed's request 1/26/06 - 28,000 miles - 2 hours out of service navigation system removed and replaced 2/2/06 - 28,500 miles - ? Transmission failed again - won't shift into reverse 10 service visits in the last 9 months 44 days of out of service in the last 9 months.