CT4BW's Turning Off - Safety Risk

[savethemanual]

Have they ruled this out?

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/04/some-cadillac-ct4-v-blackwing-units-will-get-an-engine-wiring-harness-fix/

 

[minn19]

We can agree to disagree - there seems to be a trend of a subset of our cars losing power without warning, and the dealers have been unable to replicate or fix the issue. We don't know if it was only a specific group of cars, or cars with certain options, etc. I love my car and I'm not getting rid of it - but I'm absolutely paying close attention to my driving habits until this type of failure gets sorted out. Bad things happen everyday (especially in my line of work), but my car shutting off while I'm getting after it has me paying close attention to this thread and any potential solutions.

There is no disagreement that this is a very serious problem. It‘s your reason of how you are worried about using your car I find odd. Most random left turns across traffic is probably more dangerous in this situation than taking a corner hard.

 

[ernsteeng]

There is no disagreement that this is a very serious problem. It‘s your reason of how you are worried about using your car I find odd. Most random left turns across traffic is probably more dangerous in this situation than taking a corner hard.

Not trying to pile on but it sounds a little like a hypochondriac. Like surfing the internet and reading a story about a disease or talking with some that has a disease and suddenly you have it too. Or you become so worried about the disease someone else has that you start changing the way you live your life.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Not trying to pile on but it sounds a little like a hypochondriac. Like surfing the internet and reading a story about a disease or talking with some that has a disease and suddenly you have it too. Or you become so worried about the disease someone else has that you start changing the way you live your life.

This is a bit different.

I deal with operational risk on a daily basis. In a situation like this, you'd look at likelihood and consequence of the fault. Without a root cause and with seeing the problem on multiple vehicles, the concern is that there could be systemic problem that is present on all of our cars. As to the likelihood? For cars that have not already experienced the issue the likelihood seems low in the grand scheme of things (I don't know how many 4BWs are out there, maybe 2 or 3 thousand??) and we've heard about roughly 10 cases of this. Let's say we are only hearing about 30% of the cases. That would still mean only 30 or so cars out of ~3000 have shown the problem. Not a huge risk, but very much not zero either. For cars that have already seen the issue, the likelihood of recurrence is high.

As to the consequence if the failure happens? Well, it is potentially catastrophic depending on the driving conditions at the time of the failure. I my line of work, we would not be operating the vehicle until a root cause had been established and/or a suitable workaround was developed in the event of an occurrence. This is where driving the car more conservatively would come in. Try to limit the consequences of a failure by changing the driving the conditions. That could mean slower speeds, larger following distances, waiting for bigger gaps in traffic before left turns, "training" for what you will do in various scenarios if the failure occurs (at least having a thought out plan of exactly what you should do and preparing yourself for mashing a very heavy brake pedal, for instance). I could go on and on.

But his thought of driving more conservatively is by no means strange.

 

[cgdigisco]

Not trying to pile on but it sounds a little like a hypochondriac. Like surfing the internet and reading a story about a disease or talking with some that has a disease and suddenly you have it too. Or you become so worried about the disease someone else has that you start changing the way you live your life.

This is not a good analogy. A better analogy would be the type of firearm you carry for your job has had reported malfunctions, and after the manufacturer looks the firearm over, they are unable to know what causes it and gives it back to you.

How much confidence would you have in it when push comes to shove? That’s the only point I’m making.

 

[cgdigisco]

This is a bit different.

I deal with operational risk on a daily basis. In a situation like this, you'd look at likelihood and consequence of the fault. Without a root cause and with seeing the problem on multiple vehicles, the concern is that there could be systemic problem that is present on all of our cars. As to the likelihood? For cars that have not already experienced the issue the likelihood seems low in the grand scheme of things (I don't know how many 4BWs are out there, maybe 2 or 3 thousand??) and we've heard about roughly 10 cases of this. Let's say we are only hearing about 30% of the cases. That would still mean only 30 or so cars out of ~3000 have shown the problem. Not a huge risk, but very much not zero either. For cars that have already seen the issue, the likelihood of recurrence is high.

As to the consequence if the failure happens? Well, it is potentially catastrophic depending on the driving conditions at the time of the failure. I my line of work, we would not be operating the vehicle until a root cause had been established and/or a suitable workaround was developed in the event of an occurrence. This is where driving the car more conservatively would come in. Try to limit the consequences of a failure by changing the driving the conditions. That could mean slower speeds, larger following distances, waiting for bigger gaps in traffic before left turns, "training" for what you will do in various scenarios if the failure occurs (at least having a thought out plan of exactly what you should do and preparing yourself for mashing a very heavy brake pedal, for instance). I could go on and on.

But his thought of driving more conservatively is by no means strange.

Exactly - this is a great explanation here and well worded. Am I being overly cautious? Maybe, but until I know what causes this issue, it will be in the back of my mind.

 

[ernsteeng]

This is not a good analogy. A better analogy would be the type of firearm you carry for your job has had reported malfunctions, and after the manufacturer looks the firearm over, they are unable to know what causes it and gives it back to you.

How much confidence would you have in it when push comes to shove? That’s the only point I’m making.

We have no idea what the population of cars affected are. There are assumptions in this thread that this is a small sample of larger group. What if this is the entire population of people affected? What if it turns out to be one part that was produced on a specific day that didn't affect any other vehicles? If the problem becomes more widespread with more people speaking up and noting the issue I would feel differently. But a handful of people reporting an issue out of thousands of vehicles produced doesn't make me change my driving habits or my enjoyment of the car.

 

[NewCaddy]

Have they ruled this out?

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2023/04/some-cadillac-ct4-v-blackwing-units-will-get-an-engine-wiring-harness-fix/

This engine wiring harness contact fix has been officially put as a recall, or as they coin, customer satisfaction program no. http://link.onstar.com/ls/click?upn...8Yn7C-2BpBw0xLO9pDZqwYnkzwpifPyh-2Bu2KQ-3D-3D

 

[1Evil55]

We shut down an entire planet because .01% of the population were dying from a lab leak. This thread reads similar.

 

[cgdigisco]

We have no idea what the population of cars affected are. There are assumptions in this thread that this is a small sample of larger group. What if this is the entire population of people affected? What if it turns out to be one part that was produced on a specific day that didn't affect any other vehicles? If the problem becomes more widespread with more people speaking up and noting the issue I would feel differently. But a handful of people reporting an issue out of thousands of vehicles produced doesn't make me change my driving habits or my enjoyment of the car.

Not to pile on - but why are you acting so defensive now? No one is criticizing anyone for not being concerned about this, in fact, it's been the opposite. We also could have very different driving habits, for example, maybe I'm getting more aggressive on tighter roads (which would have this potential issue be more concerning) where as you are opening yours up on the highway (which would give you more space to sort out this issue if it were to occur to you).

There's no problem with not being worried about this, but at the same time, it's not odd to be worried about the fact that a sizeable group of a low production vehicle are shutting off without warning, and the manufacturer has no idea what causes it to happen.

 

[Furinax]

Update. They are returning the car to me. I don't believe they figured it out. They said they cleared the codes. I had asked them to check the grounding points as well as to see if my car was part of the recall, and they said they did that (wasn't a recall). In the end they said the only possibility was the OBD2 port which I have a gps unit installed for my insurance. They suggested I remove that to see if the problem goes away.

I may do that but I'll have to switch insurance companies and really I don't see why an OBD2 port which is diagnostic would affect the car like this. At this point I'll drive the car like normal but if it comes back a third time I may not trust them to fix it as it seems like they have already run out of options. Any idea on how to contact GM about this?

 

[DCV]

I guess that's what I will get done on Saturday. Now I want to go to the garage and go look for myself for this chaffing wire loom hitting that thermostat housing. Pretty sure I can do my own fix of it. Sounds like it need a covering added and some way to move it a bit. I'm in the office today, but when I get home, I will go take pictures of the offending wire loom. On a side note, years ago I had an Aprilia RSV1000 that would cut out on me while I was leaned over doing 100.....that'll make you pucker up.

 

[ernsteeng]

Not to pile on - but why are you acting so defensive now?

I didn't realize I was. The analytical part of my mind is having difficulty understanding the concerns since only a small percentage of cars have an issue. That won't make me change my driving habits. But as you mentioned - to each his own.

 

[RDATLTE]

Update. They are returning the car to me. I don't believe they figured it out. They said they cleared the codes. I had asked them to check the grounding points as well as to see if my car was part of the recall, and they said they did that (wasn't a recall). In the end they said the only possibility was the OBD2 port which I have a gps unit installed for my insurance. They suggested I remove that to see if the problem goes away.

I may do that but I'll have to switch insurance companies and really I don't see why an OBD2 port which is diagnostic would affect the car like this. At this point I'll drive the car like normal but if it comes back a third time I may not trust them to fix it as it seems like they have already run out of options. Any idea on how to contact GM about this?

You sir are a Saint for owning a performance car such as this with Big Brother plugged into your OBD2 port.

 

[DCV]

If the insurance company see 100+ mph runs with thst tracker installed, and they will. They will raise your rates.

 

[minn19]

This is a bit different.

I deal with operational risk on a daily basis. In a situation like this, you'd look at likelihood and consequence of the fault. Without a root cause and with seeing the problem on multiple vehicles, the concern is that there could be systemic problem that is present on all of our cars. As to the likelihood? For cars that have not already experienced the issue the likelihood seems low in the grand scheme of things (I don't know how many 4BWs are out there, maybe 2 or 3 thousand??) and we've heard about roughly 10 cases of this. Let's say we are only hearing about 30% of the cases. That would still mean only 30 or so cars out of ~3000 have shown the problem. Not a huge risk, but very much not zero either. For cars that have already seen the issue, the likelihood of recurrence is high.

As to the consequence if the failure happens? Well, it is potentially catastrophic depending on the driving conditions at the time of the failure. I my line of work, we would not be operating the vehicle until a root cause had been established and/or a suitable workaround was developed in the event of an occurrence. This is where driving the car more conservatively would come in. Try to limit the consequences of a failure by changing the driving the conditions. That could mean slower speeds, larger following distances, waiting for bigger gaps in traffic before left turns, "training" for what you will do in various scenarios if the failure occurs (at least having a thought out plan of exactly what you should do and preparing yourself for mashing a very heavy brake pedal, for instance). I could go on and on.

But his thought of driving more conservatively is by no means strange.

Again, I don’t think it is odd at all to worry about this issue, it is obviously a very serious one.

I don’t know where that person lives, but most would agree that it is nearly impossible to always do what you are stating. I live in a fairly small town/rural area, but it would be nearly impossible to avoid dangerous situations that would arise from the loss of power. Just stalling out going straight on a 45mph road could get you into a pretty nasty rear end situation. We also all know that numerous people are texting on their phone or distracted by something else. Plus, what if it doesn’t restart? Now you are stuck somewhere waiting for roadside assistance for who knows how long. Then dealing with a tow truck and all the fun that goes along with that.

It is also obviously wise to not go looking for trouble and push the car hard in their example of backroad cornering. But, you either trust the car and the manufacturer or you don’t. So the prudent thing to do is to park it until a solution is found. Which, as we‘ve seen unfortunately could be awhile.

But, I’m also skeptical they are truly taking it easy every time they drive it. That would take a ton of will power that most don’t have, but maybe. Just the fact that they are still driving it tells me they really aren’t that overly worried about it.

 

[shbox]

Update. They are returning the car to me. I don't believe they figured it out. They said they cleared the codes. I had asked them to check the grounding points as well as to see if my car was part of the recall, and they said they did that (wasn't a recall). In the end they said the only possibility was the OBD2 port which I have a gps unit installed for my insurance. They suggested I remove that to see if the problem goes away.

I may do that but I'll have to switch insurance companies and really I don't see why an OBD2 port which is diagnostic would affect the car like this. At this point I'll drive the car like normal but if it comes back a third time I may not trust them to fix it as it seems like they have already run out of options. Any idea on how to contact GM about this?

Contact your insurance company and tell them it needs to be removed for diagnostic purposes by the dealer and see what they say.

You can try execreferral@cadillac.com to ask questions. They have answered a couple for me.

 

[F1Scamp]

Well add mine to the list, driving home in rush hour traffic, went to hit the brakes and they were rock hard with little response. After avoiding the car I was behind I looked down and saw the dash lit up. Speed limited to 62mph, steering assist reduced, engine in quiet mode. Checked the codes PC121. My good scan tool is at the shop. Shutting it off and starting it back up shut all the lights off but the check engine and I got brakes back. Wish I had the other scan tool with me I have a feeling most of the codes are going to disappear.

 

[cgdigisco]

Did you get the letter in the mail from Cadillac with regards to the recall? It is the installation of the anti-abrasion sleeve which secures the harness away from the brake line.

 

[F1Scamp]

I did. I'm going to see if they have pictures of exactly where the area of concern is. Just quickly looking at it tonight this looks like a possible suspect.