The stsv engine bolts right up to the trans. They where both northstar based. Except the srx is all wheel drive and the stsv wasnt. Someday when the engine blows, it will be a good reason to put on a better blower and make it have just a little more power. But it is the wifes daily driver and so i cant touch it anymore until it dies.. lol

 

A very good friend of mine has had 4 rear ends now!!! The first one was probably his fault, but not the rest of them.
When I worked at Katech, the shop V got a new rearend after only 20000. And I am sure it has had more since.

 

I have a 04 cts-v with 54,000 that has had a clunk and a whine since june 2006(had 20,000 miles at that time). Could not stand the car anymore and wanted to sell it. My wife took it in three times since june 2006 and was told by the dealer these problems "where normal characteristics of this transmission". As recent as August 2007 dealer still saying they can't see the problem...until last month. My wife went in and raised hell. She told them we are not stupid and don't know how to drive the car. It's a performance automobile and we should be able to get on it a little and not have the clunking. She also told them she had done research and found other people had problems (that's how we found this site). Suddenly, the car needs a new rear end...the bushings were gone. Dealer said the clunking and whine where the indication that the rear end was the problem. Told my wife the car was not driveable, it was unsafe and the back end was on national backorder. Took two week to get done. Dealership finally admitted they, "drop the ball and missed the problem". My wife had to take in all of the previous repair tickets with the complaints before they would admit it. We almost forgot how much we love this car. It drives like new.

 

Received a recall notice from GM this week about rear diff leaks that lead to potential whining and failure. It's recall notice 07204.

 

I received the same notice today.

 

I just had the recall done last week.

Component :
POWER TRAINRIVELINEIFFERENTIAL UNIT

Date Investigation Opened : July 17, 2007
Date Investigation Closed : December 27, 2007
Summary:
ODI EVALUATED TWO DIFFERENT ALLEGED DEFECTS INVOLVING REAR DRIVETRAIN COMPONENTS DURING THIS PRELIMINARY EVALUATION. GM IS CONDUCTING A RECALL TO ADDRESS ONE OF THE DEFECT CONDITIONS AND ODI HAS OPENED AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TO CONTINUE ITS INVESTIGATION OF THE OTHER ALLEGED DEFECT. ON DECEMBER 19, 2007, GM SUBMITTED A DEFECT INFORMATION REPORT TO NHTSA CONCERNING DEFECTIVE REAR AXLE PINION SEALS IN APPROXIMATELY 275,936 MODEL YEAR (MY) 2005-07 CADILLAC CTS, STS AND SRX VEHICLES AS WELL AS MY 2006-07 PONTIAC SOLSTICE AND MY 2007 SATURN SKY VEHICLES (RECALL 07V-589). ON STS AND SRX VEHICLES WITH ALL WHEEL DRIVE, THE FRONT AXLE PINION SEAL ALSO DOES NOT MEET ALL OF GM'S SPECIFICATIONS AND MAY EXPERIENCE A FLUID LEAK. GM INDICATED THAT THE SEAL SUPPLIER MADE AN UNAUTHORIZED CHANGE TO THE PINION SEAL MATERIAL. LEAKING PINION SEALS COULD RESULT IN LOSS OF REAR DIFFERENTIAL LUBRICATION WHICH COULD RESULT IN REAR WHEEL LOCK-UP AND LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL. ON DECEMBER 7, 2007, ODI OPENED AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS (EA07-017) TO INVESTIGATE COMPLAINTS OF REAR DRIVETRAIN COMPONENT FAILURE (E.G., FRACTURED REAR DIFFERENTIAL CARRIER HOUSING OR REAR AXLE HALF SHAFTS) WHILE DRIVING IN APPROXIMATELY 7,600 MY 2004 THROUGH 2006 CADILLAC CTS-V VEHICLES. THIS CONDITION MAY RESULT IN A LOSS OF MOTIVE POWER AND VEHICLE DISABLEMENT AND IS NOT ADDRESSED BY RECALL 07V-589. ODI IDENTIFIED 35 COMPLAINTS (16 TO ODI AND 19 TO GM) AND 128 WARRANTY CLAIMS POTENTIALLY RELATED TO THIS CONDITION (SEE EA07-017 OPENING RESUME). THESE COMPLAINTS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE FAILURE REPORT SUMMARY OF THIS CLOSING RESUME. THE COMPLAINTS AND WARRANTY FIGURES GIVEN IN THIS RESUME ARE LIMITED TO THOSE THAT (A) ARE MOST LIKELY CAUSED BY A LEAKING REAR PINION SEAL; AND (B) RESULTED IN AN ALLEGATION OF A REAR DIFFERENTIAL FAILURE WHILE DRIVING. THE DATA DO NOT INCLUDE ALL REPORTS OF SEAL LEAKAGE.

 

Am I reading this part right? It doesnt seem like there is any resolution to this issue by ODI.

It looks like the first recall gets you a new set of pinion seals... but what about the weak underrated rear end?

I'm considering purchasing a CTS-V, and I was just doing some research on them and the rear is scaring me. I'm getting conflicting answers about the '06 model years and whether the issue was resolved by the OEM. I really dont want to get into a $25,000+ car thats going to give me problems like what I'm hearing about.

Did anything change in '06?
How much confidence would you guys have in an '06 with the BMR kit if the car is never taken to the drag strip. Just some spirited street driving here and there.

 

The rear is fine. If you want to do clutch dumps and drag race than this is not your car. Other than that its not that bad IMO

Now that being said wheel hop causes the problem and you can do a number of things to fix that


Remember no one starts threads about the rear working great...Get what im saying

 

Yeah, I hear you. I have another car for racing with, so I wont be dumping the clutch on the next car. I'd probably do what I can to address the wheel hop, make sure the rear doesnt leak, and it sounds like I should be alright.

Anybody know about the '05/'06 model year rear suspension/drivetrane differences?

 

I am planning to buy soon also. A 2005 that is waiting on parts to fix the rear end.

My thought is that the new parts will be the same as the 06 and 07 so I shouldn't have any issues. The car is still under warrenty. I should check on the bushings also...

 

Don't speak too soon. My wife was the sole driver of my V through the life of its first rear. I can assure you, it was not her habit to drive the car in that way. The P O S rear still started to whine...

Shane

 

So nothing happened. What a surprise.

 

Well our 05 V rear end blew up on me last night. I was going into 2nd gear and booom. I have been driving this car the same way since new. It now has 58k on it. No mods what so ever all stock. So there is my story. Has anyone heard anything else on this issue?

 

i just bought one. i hope i don't have these problems.

 

LOL!! No worries u will

 

The V1 diff is an embarrasment. For a $53K, that's what I paid, to have the same diff as the same model with a 6-cylinder is bullsh!t, GM should have anticipated issues, and if not, replacing probably 20% of them should have opened their eyes. My car is modded, so I am a poor example of determining if the diff was acceptable to 400HP, but with so many failures and replacements, I think a monkey **** can decipher that GM did not deliver.

BTW, not sure how you own the car and do not beat on it, as that is how it was marketed, still remember the SB commercial with a V being launched out of a tunnel with the shotgun shell bouncing off the road-MISLEADING MARKETING!!!

 

wow, i was contemplating on whether to get one of these or not and this is a major negative.

 

So dose any one have any useful information on what, when, or anything, the DOT is doing with any investigating the differential problem??

EDIT: I just recived a email back form Stephen at the DOT.
They pretty much say GM was not able to reproduce the problem, and "power hop occurred during some of the most aggressive driving maneuvers".

GM, man up to your own **** up's!!!:

 

I need a simple answer, yes or no. I am looking at an 06 ctsv, should I worry about the rear end, or are the 06 and later models not involved in this rear end problem.

 

Yes they still have the problem. In 06 the did get an upgrade but it still didn't solve the problem. Personally I'll just be getting the BMR anti-wheel hop kit and just gonna be careful launching the car. I don't run from a dig very often though so it shouldn't be a problem. Already had 1 replaced under warranty though and my 05 only has 36k miles on it. It was the first time it's been replaced in my car though and they put in the 06 upgraded unit.