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2004 DTS Transmission Shifts Hard - solved


growe3

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Long story, hope this may help others in similar situations.

The other morning on the way to work, as I changed lanes to exit the freeway, when the car downshifted it was very harsh.

Most unusual, this car always shifts smooth and predictable. As I continued along the city streets the shifts were all

very hard.

After work, I drove off as usual and the shifts were normal. As I cruised down the freeway gaining speed, at about 60 MPH

the SES light came on just as the car shifted very hard into fourth gear. I continued home at staying at about 65 MPH to

try and avoid any shifts.

At home I ran the diagnostics and got a P2763 - Short to voltage in the TCC Solenoid has been set.

I decided that I just did not have the time to do the repair myself, so I took it to a dealer, Hubacher Cadillac in Sacramento,

CA., that has always been trustworthy in the past. They of course wanted to do a complete diagnostics and I agreed to one

hour (@ $130). Just as I came into the dealers lot, the engine started to have a few misfires. The time turned into two

hours, a call later requested on more additional hour. I agreed reluctantly, but said no more diagnostic time after that.

Their findings:

Hard shift – P2763 (as I told them)

P0300 - #1 misfiring at idle

P1372 – Intermittent open A/B crank sensor circuit

Inspection/Recommendations:

Removed #1 spark plug, found coolant in #1 cylinder, suspect bolt thread pulled or head gasket, half-case is leaking, needs

to be resealed; must have been running hot for awhile. Coolant leaking from coolant crossover, and it needs to be resealed.

They need to remove engine, replace head gaskets, surface heads, reseal coolant crossover. This work to be done before

working on the transmission; so transmission can be tested more thoroughly.

The engine work would be about $5,000 and the transmission about another $1,600 to start. He estimated that it would likely

cost close to $7,000 to complete all of the repairs.

I told him, “Interesting, I have never had to add any coolant. The cars runs right in the middle of the gauge (180), and I

was just looking the engine over carefully before I brought it in, to try and determine the problem, and there was absolutely

no evidence of any coolant leak (very clean engine)”. “The car never misfired before, so I don’t know what that might be, but

I doubt it was head gasket failure”. "I use maybe a quart of oil in 10,000 miles".

Bottom line, don’t touch my car anymore, I will be taking it home; less a lowered to a $270 diagnostic fee.

The car drove fine, still shifted hard, but no misfire. I waited a couple of days; I then went to a different dealer Family Chevrolet,

in Shingle Springs, CA. They also needed to diagnose the car, fine I understand. They also said that if they did the repairs,

the diagnostic fee would be applied to the repair costs.

They found the same code as I did, and they did the repairs; the TCC solenoid electrical connection was broken. I inspected the

transmission when it was out of the car; there was no question of the problem. I decided to have them replace both of the wiring

harnesses, as insurance against any problems with them. The motor mount was also broken (I was aware of that).

I now had clear view of the engine from underneath. The half-case seal is fine, maybe two inches of old seepage that had sealed

itself. A very small amount of seepage from the oil pan baffle/spacer. There was absolutely no coolant leakage of any kind.

New bottom line:

Transmission repaired (solenoid, gaskets, wiring etc.), transmission filter replaced, motor mount replaced; no evidence of misfiring.

Total cost was $1,753. A fair price for the work done.

PS

The misfire came back two days later, it turned out to be a less than solid connection from the vacuum hose to the PCV, causing a

very lean condition; particularly at idle. Cleaned and reseated the hose and everything has been perfect for the last 400 miles.

Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Ahh yes......ya gotta love a Cadillac with no codes. :D

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

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I can't stand bloodsuckers like that. I guess they thought they would sell you a new car with a $7000 down payment and sell your perfectly good car out the back door.

04 was when the head bolts were changed again no? The frequency of problems in 04 has to be down

These types of thieves ruin GMs reputation

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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I can't stand bloodsuckers like that. I guess they thought they would sell you a new car with a $7000 down payment and sell your perfectly good car out the back door.

04 was when the head bolts were changed again no? The frequency of problems in 04 has to be down

These types of thieves ruin GMs reputation

I totally agree with you. I have ran into a couple of different places around here that do that too. I once took a Suburban that I had into a shop for an alignment and he said that I need practially a whole new front end (sbalizer bar, tie rods, the works). I said I would check it out later. I took it into another shop for a second opinion and he said everything was fine and dandy.

I thought '03 was when they changed the bolts?

-Dusty-

2006 Cadillac DTS Glacier Gold Tri-Coat with 175,000 miles

1993 Cadillac Sixty Special Gold Mist with 185,000 miles

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I hate thieves.... any kind of thieves.

Thieves need to die.

Touché.

-Dusty-

2006 Cadillac DTS Glacier Gold Tri-Coat with 175,000 miles

1993 Cadillac Sixty Special Gold Mist with 185,000 miles

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....Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Send copies of your letters to the local GM/Cadillac technical support and marketing offices, George. Documentation of diagnostic results and service recommendations will be important (critical).

GM (the NEW GM, that is) should want to know about dealers that are staining Cadillac's reputation and possibly putting their franchise in jeopardy. Let the sun shine brightly on your experience.

Don't overlook sending copies to consumer protection agencies in Sacramento.

And I would certainly send copies to the management/owners of the offending dealership along with the list of all parties/agencies you are communicating with.

Jim

Drive your car.

Use your cell phone.

CHOOSE ONE !

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....Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Send copies of your letters to the local GM/Cadillac technical support and marketing offices, George. Documentation of diagnostic results and service recommendations will be important (critical).

GM (the NEW GM, that is) should want to know about dealers that are staining Cadillac's reputation and possibly putting their franchise in jeopardy. Let the sun shine brightly on your experience.

Don't overlook sending copies to consumer protection agencies in Sacramento.

And I would certainly send copies to the management/owners of the offending dealership along with the list of all parties/agencies you are communicating with.

Jim is right. Too many people let things like this slide and then eventually GM ends up with the short end of the stick.

-Dusty-

2006 Cadillac DTS Glacier Gold Tri-Coat with 175,000 miles

1993 Cadillac Sixty Special Gold Mist with 185,000 miles

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Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Ahh yes......ya gotta love a Cadillac with no codes. :D

-George

People at stealerships would not lie so shamelessly if their lies did not work.

The saddest thing in life is wasted talent

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Also ripoffreport.com

-Dusty-

2006 Cadillac DTS Glacier Gold Tri-Coat with 175,000 miles

1993 Cadillac Sixty Special Gold Mist with 185,000 miles

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I can't stand bloodsuckers like that. I guess they thought they would sell you a new car with a $7000 down payment and sell your perfectly good car out the back door.

04 was when the head bolts were changed again no? The frequency of problems in 04 has to be down

These types of thieves ruin GMs reputation

I don't have the info right now, but I believe the 2004 Northstar head bolts have threads with about twice as as much engagement as the earlier Northstars; around 2 1/2 inches long.

One of the reasons that I bought a later model Cadillac.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

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....Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Send copies of your letters to the local GM/Cadillac technical support and marketing offices, George. Documentation of diagnostic results and service recommendations will be important (critical).

GM (the NEW GM, that is) should want to know about dealers that are staining Cadillac's reputation and possibly putting their franchise in jeopardy. Let the sun shine brightly on your experience.

Don't overlook sending copies to consumer protection agencies in Sacramento.

And I would certainly send copies to the management/owners of the offending dealership along with the list of all parties/agencies you are communicating with.

I am putting a package together to send to Hubacher Cadillac, BBB, and the auto repair agency. I could not figure out how to send this to GM, in a manner to get their attention. Every link that I found ends up to be a useless "happy owner" group. Do you know an address, Internet or regular, with which to make contact?

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

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Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Ahh yes......ya gotta love a Cadillac with no codes. :D

-George

People at stealerships would not lie so shamelessly if their lies did not work.

The problem here is that I was a mechanic by trade many years ago, building high performance engines, stock engines, stick and automatic transmissions, and all manner of custom car work. I also do all of my own work on my Cadillac's (excluding this recent repair), including two complete head bolt repairs on my two 93 STS's. I am familiar with these cars, and it really mad me mad that this guy would try to sell this blatant lie, even after I had given him a very through rundown on the problem, in writing.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

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....Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Send copies of your letters to the local GM/Cadillac technical support and marketing offices, George. Documentation of diagnostic results and service recommendations will be important (critical).

GM (the NEW GM, that is) should want to know about dealers that are staining Cadillac's reputation and possibly putting their franchise in jeopardy. Let the sun shine brightly on your experience.

Don't overlook sending copies to consumer protection agencies in Sacramento.

And I would certainly send copies to the management/owners of the offending dealership along with the list of all parties/agencies you are communicating with.

I am putting a package together to send to Hubacher Cadillac, BBB, and the auto repair agency. I could not figure out how to send this to GM, in a manner to get their attention. Every link that I found ends up to be a useless "happy owner" group. Do you know an address, Internet or regular, with which to make contact?

-George

George,

There should be contact information in your owner's manual - look for a District Representative or a Zone Manager.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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I hate thieves.... any kind of thieves.

Thieves need to die.

Jim,

Don't hold it in, just say what you feel. ;)

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

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Share on other sites

....Hubacher Cadillac is now on my bad list; I really hate it when someone just lies to my face. A more complete letter will be going

to BBB, to report this blatant rip-off attempt, and I will also send one to our local auto repair agency and request that they

investigate them for other rip-offs; like they tried with me.

Send copies of your letters to the local GM/Cadillac technical support and marketing offices, George. Documentation of diagnostic results and service recommendations will be important (critical).

GM (the NEW GM, that is) should want to know about dealers that are staining Cadillac's reputation and possibly putting their franchise in jeopardy. Let the sun shine brightly on your experience.

Don't overlook sending copies to consumer protection agencies in Sacramento.

And I would certainly send copies to the management/owners of the offending dealership along with the list of all parties/agencies you are communicating with.

I am putting a package together to send to Hubacher Cadillac, BBB, and the auto repair agency. I could not figure out how to send this to GM, in a manner to get their attention. Every link that I found ends up to be a useless "happy owner" group. Do you know an address, Internet or regular, with which to make contact?

-George

George,

There should be contact information in your owner's manual - look for a District Representative or a Zone Manager.

Kevin,

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a look.

-George

Drive'em like you own 'em. - ....................04 DTS............................

DTS_Signature.jpg

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