Cadillac CTS loss of power problems

Filed Oct 31, 2026 · Brakes, Engine · MI

On October 30, 2026, at approximately 3:10 PM, my 2009 Cadillac CTS experienced an apparent engine and brake system failure while I was operating the vehicle. The vehicle lost power, and I was unable to stop despite applying the brakes. The exact component or components that failed have not yet been identified. The vehicle is currently available for inspection by insurance representatives, mechanics, manufacturer representatives, or other authorized investigators upon request. The apparent engine and brake failure created an immediate safety hazard because I was unable to maintain control of the vehicle's speed or bring it to a safe stop. As a result, the vehicle struck utility power equipment near my residence. The incident placed me, nearby residents, pedestrians, and motorists at risk of injury. The collision also caused a power outage affecting homes in the surrounding neighborhood. At this time, the cause of the engine and brake failure has not been reproduced or confirmed by a Cadillac dealer or independent repair facility. The matter remains under investigation pending inspection of the vehicle and its components. The incident was reported to 911, and a police report was generated. The vehicle has been reported to my insurance carrier, USAA. As of the date of this statement, the vehicle has not yet been inspected by General Motors or a Cadillac dealer for purposes of determining the cause of the failure. Additional inspections may be conducted by insurance representatives, repair specialists, or other qualified parties. Prior to the incident, I did not observe any warning lamps, brake system alerts, engine warnings, or other messages that would have indicated an imminent loss of braking capability or engine failure. The failure occurred suddenly on October 30, 2026, at approximately 3:10 PM. The vehicle had recently undergone a 120,000-mile service inspection, and no issues were identified that would have suggested an imminent catastrophic failure.

Filed Oct 20, 2026 · Brakes · OR

Component Affected: SERVICE BRAKES Description of Safety Defect & Incidents: Experienced a recurring, systemic mechanical failure within its camshaft-driven brake vacuum assist system, creating an imminent crash hazard on public roadways. On two separate occasions while traveling at operational roadway speeds trying to slow down for an interchange, the vehicle suffered a sudden, catastrophic loss of power brake assistance. The brake pedal instantly became completely rigid, hard pedal, requiring maximum physical exertion to slow the vehicle and drastically extending the emergency stopping distance.Repair History & Manufacturer Involvement: The primary brake vacuum pump was initially replaced by an authorized Cadillac dealership in July 2023. Following that service, the "Brake Assist" warning lamp remained persistently illuminated. I called the dealership to ask how I can reset the warning and no one called me back, so I just lived with it. After driving only approximately 5,000 miles over 3 years, the system completely failed again, causing the second aforementioned on-road moving brake failures.The vehicle was towed back to the authorized Cadillac dealership on June 29, 2026, and has remained continuously out of service in their possession for nearly four months (113+ days) as of late October 2026. Dealership technicians have hit a diagnostic wall. They have repeatedly replaced parts, brake vacuum pump, vacuum sensor hose, brake booster twice during this single visit, and the brake master cylinder. Despite these component replacements, diagnostic fault codes remain active, check engine and brake warning lights remain illuminated, and power braking function cannot be reliably restored.The failure is so severe that the dealership has opened two concurrent General Motors Technical Assistance Center (TAC) cases, and a corporate GM Field Engineer was deployed to inspect the car, which recommended to replace master cylinder on 09/22/2026, no contact since, no loaner.

Filed Dec 8, 2025 · Steering · 93,942 miles · CA

The contact owns 2016 Cadillac CTS. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. A dealer was contacted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the steering rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 25V175000 (STEERING); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was 93,942.

Filed Sep 22, 2024 · Acceleration, Steering · AR

The primary issue with the vehicle is the failure of the front transmission pump seal (part #24225543) and the torque converter seal ( part #242337534 ) which caused a significant transmission fluid leak. THe original repair of the torque converter seal was done in Jan 2024 by Andrews Cadillac In Mt Juliet Tn. Failure to properly repair the torque converter seal led to internal damage within the transmission, resulting in the need for a full transmission replacement. THe front pump seal was not replaced as recommended by the service repair manual at the time of the torque converter seal replacement. The faulty component is available for inspection upon request. The safety of myself and others was put at risk due to the vehicle's hesitation to accelerate after stopping, a direct consequence of the low transmission fluid. This hesitation causes a sudden loss of power while driving, increasing the likelihood of an accident. THere is a delay and then a hard shift when off , a significant bump when shifting from first to second gear and when I stop it feels like I've been rear ended by another car. The issue has been confirmed by multiple service centers, including Parker Cadillac, ORR Cadillac, and Christian Brothers Automotive, all of which identified the transmission pump seal as the source of the leak and the resulting damage to the transmission. Additionally, Christian Brothers Automotive found that the torque converter seal was also leaking, further contributing to the vehicle's transmission problems. Despite efforts to have GM engineers inspect the vehicle at ORR Cadillac, they declined. However, Christian Brothers Automotive has provided a thorough inspection and diagnostic of the .There were no warning lamps or error codes indicating the issue, as it was a mechanical failure rather than an electronic one. The symptoms became apparent when the vehicle began hesitating after coming to a stop, and a transmission fluid leak was discovered during the inspection​

Filed Apr 5, 2024 · Acceleration, Brakes · CT

Severe and sudden malfunction of the ABS/Stabilitrak system at 45MPH causing loss of directional control of the vehicle. Failure caused by disintegration/cracking of ABS/HUB RELUCTOR RINGS, feeding incorrect wheel speeds to stability system. This failure caused a total loss of power, vehicle veering right despite full left steering input, ABS activation continuously (increasing stopping distance). Vehicle exited road due to loss of control.

Filed Jun 3, 2023 · Acceleration, Brakes · OH

There have been a collection of other Vin numbers for this year make and model for the symptoms I have been experiencing since taking ownership in 2019. The vehicle will stall while running and randomly disable ALL WHEEL drive, Traction Control, ABS, and send Check engine light on causing me amdy son on infinite number of times to almost be hit In the middle of amd intersection, after a stop sign at low speeds, upon turning the wheels into or put of driveway, parking spaces and worst off at 60 mph on a freeway. This has resulted in multiple near accidents as the vehicle randomly disables itself. It occurs mostly after pressing the brakes to shift gears and almost always causes the vehicle to become inoperable for over an hour where it sits as there is no option to disable AWD or choose from FWD OR RWD. It happens in manual mode (or called performance mode) as well as automatic mode and has been occurring for 5 and a half years. I have been charged an exorbitant amount for supposed repairs from.dealers and mechanics who have claimed to fix it and I have severe autoimmune disease, a foot prosthetic, AND a minor child I have to transport to and from.school in the car. My issue and warning lights and symptoms mirror the recall of the Vin numbers the manufacturer has performed the recall repair on exactly and yet I have been sent from dealers who refuse to check the part that's defective which is I believe the hydrolic brake rod to the brake petal. The bold needs to be simply retorqued to the proper torque to fix the problem as it was either assembled improperly torqued and or can loosen over time resulting in dangerous and immediate and unexpected complete loss of power to the vehicle allowing people to slam into you at any time. I have had it towed numerous times after these incidents. All features, climate control, locks, entertainment, windows and everything functions when this happens. I have replaced batteries, brakes, oil changes etc. Unresolved.

Filed Sep 18, 2021 · Engine, Transmission · MO

Transmission cooler line fittings have dissimilar metals causing the threads inside the radiator transcooler to strip and dump coolant into Transmission lines and on road along with what was the transmission fluid as well as steam rolling out blocking vision through my windshield going uphill on a dangerously busy road crossing.This is a well known manufacturing defect that has yet to be handled. This could have gotten me and my 3 year old son seriously hurt by sudden loss of power and slick roadways not being able to avoid or brake properly or even steer away from on coming collision. The dissimilar metals are aluminum nut with a mild steel washer backed by a stainless steel washer before it contacts the radiator. This car has 101k miles and has been babied it's entire life. And when I see the 4 brake lines are about to rust out after all the repairs that have already been done. This is just poor quality material and craftsmanship. Easily could have been avoided by simply using a different metal than mild steel between dissimilar metals.

Filed Sep 2, 2020 · Driver assistance, Engine · 197,300 miles · NM

First ECM module needing to be replaced, we replaced it then after that started running rough, took it to auto zone, 12 codes popped up. Did normal maintenance of vehicle, oil change spark plugs . Then a few days later we were on the highway and all of a sudden we lost all power, pushed on accelerator no power, front end started shaking, so pulled over, vehicle was very hot and smells like gas, had it towed compression test were no good, was told gasket were bad, also was told to check the recall list. Im up set because our children were in the vehicle with us. I hope we are able to get whatever needs to be fixed on this vehicle. Thank you.

Filed Feb 17, 2020 · Driver assistance, Fuel system · 180,000 miles · LA

February 14, 2020 is just the last date it has happened on. It's happened approximately 30 times. For the past two years if you don't just ease on the gas the reduced engine light and traction control light comes on and the car will not go over 5 m.p.h. I have read several hundred articles online on different websites with people describing the exact same thing. It almost got me hit on the ms. River bridge the other day. If u have to go up any type of incline it does it also. I was accelerating slowly as I possibly could going up the small incline on the bridge that connects louisiana and mississippi. All of a sudden the reduced engine power light came on and I could not get out of traffic that was doing approximately 55 m.p.h. And my two year old grandson was in the backseat. The only way to fix it temporarily is to get off the bridge because there is no where to pull to the side of the bridge. You have to kill the car for a few seconds and recrank it. I've had mechanics look at it and I've had it hooked to the computer at o'reillys. No one can tell me anything. But if it weren't a safety recall why would almost 1,000 vehicles that I know of be doing the same thing. You can google it and see that I'm telling the truth. Lots of these cars have the identical problem. I'm currently looking for a newer model between 2014-2018, but I'm afraid of having the same or a similar problem. This is definitely a recall. But it seems to me that you all do not want to do any recalls on these cadillacs. I've been to lots and lots of websites and I have not found anyone who's been able to figure out the problem. Even the ones that have had it put in the dealership have still yet to figure out the problem. It has to be electrical or one or more sensors malfunctioning. Thank you for your time.

Filed Sep 18, 2019 · Engine, Seat belts · 39,800 miles · MI

Vehicle displays 'service rear axle' 'service stabilitrak' 'park assist temporarily unavailable' 'automatic seatbelt tightening unavailable'. 4 separate and unique occurrences. Some have also included 'reduced engine power'. Typically the messages come on and reduced power occurs after expressway driving, followed by stop and go city driving or traffic. Also ambient temps are over 80 degrees with each occurrence. Lastly engine bay is extremely hot after the service messages are displayed. Engine temperature gauge does not indicate overheating (displays under the halfway point of the gauge). I have 2 separate video documentations that can be uploaded to youtube. 1st occurrence resulted in cylinder head replacement under warranty. The next 3 occurrences have all happened after the warranty service. Dealership has been unable to replicate the issue after the car cools down. Cadillac customer service said a second dealership review was required even though the car was brought to the dealer with the above service messages present. Attached documents display first warranty service, and second record service messages being present. Similar tsb issued for the ats-v lf4 engine for 'service rear axle' or 'rear axle off', also the lt4 engine has a tsb for engine overheating and going into reduced power mode when the charge air cooling system is not refilled properly via vac-n-fill method. This vehicle has a similar liquid to air, charge air cooling system, requiring the same type of fill method. Full disclosure I am a general motors employee.