HeavyCav

According to the info i have read the new diff is cast Iron not aluminum.
I don't know the specs but they have decided to overengineer it now rather than go through the same issues

HeavyCav

No kidding, there I was just cruising north on 31W, I down-shifted, mashed the gas and hop hop hop I got out of it and a few minutes later I downshifted again, this time BANG, parts and oil all over the road. the Diff grenaded.

OK folks I have read this thread, does any one have contact info? I have Mr. McHenry's number at NHTSA and have e-mailed him. I have the one Guys receipt for the warranty work.
However I need any data that I can use to give to the dealer here. They are small town and don't even sell V's much less have any knowledge of the failure rate.

One of you said that GM is required to send paperwork to the DOT. Any Link to documentation or proof that I can give the service MGR?

One of you said that Getrag has a report on the Diff and its nature. Any link to proof of that statement?

One of you said that you have only heard of 2 or 3 of these failures, here's the link to the 68 known cases that the NHTSA is currently included in the investigation:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...intVersion=YES

travellinmike

OK I've just purchased a 2006 CTS-V. It now has 1600 miles on it so barely broken in. Are the rears on these cars really as fragile as the last 5 pages of posts indicate? This is a performance car after all.

I don't intend on thrashing the car at every intersection like I'm 16 again I do that with my old 71 Riviera (139K miles and still smokes em). The car in indestructible.

I'd hate to think the occasional stoplight 0-60 test or downshift into a corner on a twisty country road with a 50K original sticker "performance car" will leave a trail of parts and diff fluid in my wake after as few as 10-15k miles.

I bought the car instead of a 2010 SS Camaro. Why have a plastic chevy interior and only 2 doors when I could have all the luxury of a Cadillac sedan with the performance of the Corvette to boot. With 2 kids the CTS-V's 4 doors made it a much easier sell to the wife.

If I'm forced to drive it like a V6 what's the point in having the vette motor? Another case of bait and switch?

Mike

madmaro00

iTrader: (6)

Many people have had no problems with their rear ends. Good news is you have an '06 that has the upgraded diff. My diff was replaced & upgraded to the newer '06/07 style due to a slight whine which is many times more common than catastrophic failure. Long story short, don't wheel hop the bloody thing, and it should last you.

HeavyCav

I have owned the car for three years. I have driven it very agressively and I will never own another performance car. I am sold. I will however buy the 09/2010 V as soon as the price comes down into my range. I love it and I have not met a C-5 Vette, Mercedes or BMW yet that I haven't smoked. OH! and thats not to mention the Porsche speedster I whipped on the track in seattle! This rearend issue will be fixed and I will be riding again soon.

Look under the car and see which diff you have. they did fix the problem for 06 and beyond.

02QSJOHN

Just found this and thought it should go here:

Make: CADILLAC
Model: CTS
Year: 2006
NHTSA Action Number: EA07017
Summary:
IN JULY OF 2007 THE OFFICE OF DEFECTS INVESTIGATION (ODI) OPENED PE07-037 TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS THAT THE REAR DIFFERENTIAL MAY FAIL CAUSING A LOSS OF MOTIVE POWER, AND IN SOME INSTANCES A LOSS OF CONTROL, IN MODEL YEAR (MY) 2004 THROUGH 2006 CADILLAC CTS, CTS-V, AND STS VEHICLES. AS A RESULT OF THAT INVESTIGATION GM ISSUED RECALL 07V-589 TO CORRECT A LEAKING PINION SEAL PROBLEM. EA07-017 WAS OPENED TO INVESTIGATE COMPLAINTS OF FRACTURED REAR DIFFERENTIAL HOUSINGS OR REAR HALF SHAFTS IN HIGH PERFORMANCE CADILLAC CTS-V VEHICLES. ACCORDING TO GM, THESE FAILURES RESULTED FROM THE CUMULATIVE DAMAGE FROM MULTIPLE POWER HOP EVENTS THAT CAN OCCUR DURING VERY AGGRESSIVE DRIVING. IN FEBRUARY 2008 INVESTIGATORS FROM ODI MET WITH GM REPRESENTATIVES TO CONDUCT TESTING OF THE SUBJECT CTS-V VEHICLES. DURING THE TESTING THE SUBJECT VEHICLES WERE SUBJECTED TO CONSIDERABLE TORSIONAL FORCES FROM STANDING STARTS AND WHILE DRIVING. POWER HOP OCCURRED DURING SOME OF THE MOST AGGRESSIVE DRIVING MANEUVERS. THE TESTING DID NOT RESULT IN FAILURE OF ANY REAR DRIVETRAIN COMPONENTS. THE ENGINEERING DESIGN AND TESTING DATA SUPPLIED TO ODI BY GM AND THE RESULTS OF THE TESTING CONDUCTED BY ODI TEND TO SUPPORT GM'S POSITION THAT THE DIFFERENTIAL DESIGN IS NOT DEFECTIVE. COMPLAINTS LISTED IN THE FAILURE REPORT DO NOT INCLUDE THOSE INDICATIVE OF FAILURE OF THE REAR PINION SEAL IN CTS-V VEHICLES COVERED BY RECALL 07V-589. FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS MATTER WOULD NOT BE AN EFFICIENT ALLOCATION OF AGENCY RESOURCES. ACCORDINGLY, THIS INVESTIGATION IS CLOSED. SEE ATTACHED CLOSING REPORT FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

source: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...&model_yr=2006

CTSvRolledOUT

wow.. Tons and tons of reading.. I have a 07 CTSV with some mods on her.. and mine whines like a BITCH!!!!

Stepside

I have an '07 with very low miles and no problems yet.
The part # for yours should be the same as mine which is 15793756.
The replacement upgraded rear is part # 25873498.
The location of the part number sticker is on the right center backside.
You cannot see it, but with a mirror and light, or reach up there with a camera and point it slightly downward to obtain a photo.

babrown18

so very true.. now every little mod i do i get the ''watch that rear end." nicely said

babrown18

are you sure its not the carrier bearing?

Stepside

Why would you think the numbers I posted would be the carrier bearing and not the part number for the rear?
We have been all over this on the Cadillac Forum.

babrown18

Well I hope you all find a solution.. my fix is just stay stock with Bolt on's

wes8398

iTrader: (2)

Babrown - that's not a solution. Plenty of completely stock V's have blown rear ends. The best solution right now is just to stay outta the wheel hop. And if it blows, take some $$ off the line of credit and get yourself a 4th gen (or whatever gen applies at that time).

frcook

Well, there certainly isn't a shortage of rear end discussions here. I gotta say, I don't think what version you have or how you drive matters. Here's my story...

I have an '05 V (bought it new). The original rear started whining at around 20K miles, and the dealer replaced the entire unit, saying there is a "real" problem with it. I don't know what version of rear it was replaced with though.

That rear started whining at around 50K. It was replaced, no questions asked again. This time with a '06 version (based on part number 157xxxx). This time around, I started to baby the car. Both to try and save the rear, and to save on tires. I started to routinely take off in second, no hard shifts, and never wheel hopped. As evidence, I got between 5-8k miles more out of my tires.

Come ~60k miles... another nasty whine, and another rear replacement (again, no questions asked). This time, part number 258xxx, which I was told is the latest version. Now I really started to baby the car. Any hard accelerations were done smoothly, no hard shifting, no wheel hops, etc. Now I'm getting 10K more miles out of my tires (more evidence of old fart driving).

Well, here I am at 80K miles, and the rear is whining louder that it ever has in the past. Sure am glad I got the extended warranty, and I'm glad my dealer recognizes this to be a problem.

For reference, the whining mentioned above has been consistent. It starts out while coasting from 50 down to 45. It eventually gets significantly louder and expands from 60 down to 40, and can be heard with the windows open and the radio on.

NOLAG05

I have an 05 and my diff whines like a 2 year old... bought her at 62300 and now at 67905 and getting the right rear axle replaced. Praying the diff doesn't go next...

tony tone

So I have a question. Is there a recall on it where a car out of warranty can have it replaced or does it have to remain under warranty. I ask because I'm at 82k miles and just started to hear a whine on the highway during acceleration/deceleration at about 60mph and wonder if the dealer will replace. Thanks...

Vemon

I had no luck at all getting anything out of the dealer when my pinion seal recently started leaking on my 05.

babrown18

I guess this whole 10 year sticky was bs

frankyj1975

hi my name is erik and i cannot figure out hot to start a new thread so im just gonna post in here. i have a 2008 cts-4 hot lava edition with the 3.6 di vin code V. my front end keeps binding and making the tires squeal and it feels like its gonna fall apart at any time. ppl keep telling me its normal but i say b.s. for the simple reason that right b4 i bought this one i had a 2008 sts-4 and they have exactly the same front end parts and it did not do anything even remotely close to what this one does. i did test drive several cts-4's and not one of them did what mine does. any ideas? thanks

heavymetals

iTrader: (3)

GM hid the ignition key problems and that KILLED PEOPLE.
Nobody with any juice was injured or killed by an exploding diff.
Bottom of GM's list of todo's