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2003 Deville road noise


TOMMY

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I recently purchased a 2003 Deville with 29,000 miles on it. The car was owned by someone I know and has been well maintained. I am disappointed with the cars ride and cabin noise. This is my first cadillac. Previous car was a 1991 park avenue. At 120,000 the park avenue was quieter

and smoother ride. The cadillac is still under warranty. I am wondering if there is a problem with the suspension on the car or a tire/wheel problem. I plan to take the car to the dealer for service soon and will discuss the issue of the noise. Any remarks or suggestions appreciated.

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Welcome. It may help if you could describe the noise. Is it true wind noise you're hearing from a bad seal somewhere? Or do you hear (and feel) the road texture? It's hard to diagnose this stuff online because everyone has a different definition for "loud" or "soft", etc.

I recently bought an '01 STS, but drove a few newer DeVilles during my search. The DeVilles I drove were put-you-to-sleep smooth, and very quiet inside. The STS rides stiffer, but is still very quiet.

I suspect something is wrong somewhere, but without further detail, it's kind of hard to tell.

Once again, welcome to the forums. Stay a while!

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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What make, size and speed rating are your tires?

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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Welcome. It may help if you could describe the noise. Is it true wind noise you're hearing from a bad seal somewhere? Or do you hear (and feel) the road texture? It's hard to diagnose this stuff online because everyone has a different definition for "loud" or "soft", etc.

I recently bought an '01 STS, but drove a few newer DeVilles during my search. The DeVilles I drove were put-you-to-sleep smooth, and very quiet inside. The STS rides stiffer, but is still very quiet.

I suspect something is wrong somewhere, but without further detail, it's kind of hard to tell.

Once again, welcome to the forums. Stay a while!

The noise is from wheel road contact and wind/windshield noise. Trying to listen to music in the car is disturbed by these outside noises. It does not seem to be a bad seal, just noise coming through the side windows and windshield

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The noise is from wheel road contact and wind/windshield noise. Trying to listen to music in the car is disturbed by these outside noises. It does not seem to be a bad seal, just noise coming through the side windows and windshield.

Well, wind noise doesn't come "through" glass...it leaks past seals and things like that. Does the car have a sunroof? That can sometimes be a source of wind noise. Else, I would check very carefully the condition of the door seals, how well the doors close, check to see if the windshield has been replaced before, and maybe that is letting wind noise in. It's gotta be coming from somewhere.

I join BodyByFisher in asking what brand and speed rating your tires are. They're most likely the original tires, and they could be worn way down. New tires (of any brand) will likely help here, in terms of the road noise.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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Yeah I second the checking off the tires, just getting mine fronts even with each other (around 35 usually) makes a world of difference in how the car feels.

The Green's Machines

1998 Deville - high mileage, keeps on going, custom cat-back exhaust

2003 Seville - stock low mileage goodness!

2004 Grand Prix GTP CompG - Smaller supercharger pulley, Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Dyno tune, etc

1998 Firebird Formula - 408 LQ9 Stroker motor swap and all sorts of go fast stuff

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Yeah I second the checking off the tires, just getting mine fronts even with each other (around 35 usually) makes a world of difference in how the car feels.

Thanks for your reply. The tires are original equipment michelin symmetry p225 60r16. The tires do look more worn on the outer edges. I just had them rotated and didn't notice any change in the sounds. The sounds I here come from wheel road contact, I believe. Its just not a quiet cabin

I expected in this car.

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Yeah I second the checking off the tires, just getting mine fronts even with each other (around 35 usually) makes a world of difference in how the car feels.

Thanks for your reply. The tires are original equipment michelin symmetry p225 60r16. The tires do look more worn on the outer edges. I just had them rotated and didn't notice any change in the sounds. The sounds I here come from wheel road contact, I believe. Its just not a quiet cabin

I expected in this car.

If you are getting wear on the outsides its related to your alignment (toe problem?) or running them with too low pressure. Try NOT blaming the car as you are doing before you eliminate all causes... Balancing and rotating won't help if you have an alignment problem, roughness sawtoothing or low pressure issues... I have a 96 Deville that is quiet.. You could also have a hub bearing problem... You should NOT be getting road noise, you have a problem.... What pressure are you running, you should run a minimum of 32 PSI and up to about 36 PSI.. The Symmetry is a quiet running tire.. Check the tires for rough sawtooth wear patterns caused by alignment issues...

The next time you get up to highway speed, try doing a few S-turns within the lane and see if you can make the noise come and go..... if you can make the noise come and go you have a bad hub bearing....

By the way my wife purchased a used 2002 Monte Carlo with 22,000 miles on it and it had a bad hub bearing that moans.....

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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Although this is not a cure for road noise per se, I'll share it as general information while we're in the subject of late model Deville cabin noise:

My 2000 Deville had a engine noise which was quite audible in the cabin. I noticed it right away when I test drove the car before buying it. It sounded like an opening in the firewall that was letting the noise of the engine into the cabin. It was loudest under hard acceleration and was quieter when I took my foot off the gas.

While chasing down some other issues, I found the source of the noise. In the floorboard, under the carpet on the driver's side, up under the dash, near the base of the steering column, is a hole through which a number of wires and cables pass from the cabin to the engine compartment. The hole is fitted with a rubber grommet which is intended to seal the space around the wires. On my car, the wires were pulled to one side of the hole so that there was a sizable gap between the wires and the grommet on the other side.

The fix was simple. I just packed the gap with fiberglass building insulation, then sealed the surface with duct tape.

This reduced the level of engine noise in the cabin dramatically!

photo-36.jpg

Happiness is owning a Cadillac with no codes.

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The noise is from wheel road contact and wind/windshield noise. Trying to listen to music in the car is disturbed by these outside noises. It does not seem to be a bad seal, just noise coming through the side windows and windshield

My '99 STS sounds the same way, so you are not imagining anything. For me it's the biggest dissapointment for this car, and I must admit, at times it has made me question the quality of the entire Cadillac line. I hope you find the source of this noise, then maybe we can both be satisfied customers.

One of the things that I found out about my car after I purchased it used was that it was wrecked....apparently pretty bad hit in the front right judging from some of the things that I found (tie rod end lock nuts loose) and a list of some of the parts that were changed at a Cadillac dealership (steering rack @ under 27,000 mi.).

Some things that I have tried to help aleviate the noise was to check the windshield for bad seals or leaks (there were none) and to seal all chrome trim and any gaps between the trim and body or glass. This helped some, but not just right yet. I also tucked the wiper arms as low as possible under the cowl of the hood....this also helped a little, but I need to go further yet.

I do think that there may be an opening in the firewall that needs to be sealed better, but in my case it would be high up in the dash, somewhere under the top cover and someplace I'm not able to explore on my own. (bad back right now..surgery in 3 weeks)

Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed.

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My '99 STS sounds the same way...at times it has made me question the quality of the entire Cadillac line.

One of the things that I found out about my car after I purchased it used was that it was wrecked....apparently pretty bad hit in the front right...

In my humble opinion, those two statements don't belong together AT ALL (questioning Cadillac quality and then saying the car was wrecked). If your car was involved in an accident, no matter how big or small, they're NEVER the same. After a major accident, you're no longer driving a Cadillac. You're driving a Cadillac plus a reconstruction using parts from various sources and in this case, the result is ALWAYS less than the sum of the two parts. In general, I don't like judging a car based on my experience with it if it's a used car (always questionable past), and especially when you know it's been through a major accident.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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My '99 STS sounds the same way...at times it has made me question the quality of the entire Cadillac line.

One of the things that I found out about my car after I purchased it used was that it was wrecked....apparently pretty bad hit in the front right...

In my humble opinion, those two statements don't belong together AT ALL (questioning Cadillac quality and then saying the car was wrecked). If your car was involved in an accident, no matter how big or small, they're NEVER the same. After a major accident, you're no longer driving a Cadillac. You're driving a Cadillac plus a reconstruction using parts from various sources and in this case, the result is ALWAYS less than the sum of the two parts. In general, I don't like judging a car based on my experience with it if it's a used car (always questionable past), and especially when you know it's been through a major accident.

Good Point...... My wife had $2300 in work done on the door hinge area and it sounds like the DOOR IS OPEN.....I am very unhappy with the repair and you are right the car is never the same. Maybe TOMMY'S car was in a serious accident? :blink: Look at the noise that Poobah solved, a very small air leak caused noise....

But to go to this extreme >> at times it has made me question the quality of the entire Cadillac line << on a car that was "wrecked....apparently pretty bad" is pretty unfair IN MY HUMBLE OPINION ALSO.... I have a lot of respect for you JohnnyG but I lost a little bit of respect for you with that comment...

PS, good luck with the surgery!

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 should also mention windshields get replaced more often than you think, a chip, small crack, they get changed out and you can almost always guarantee there will be some wind noise after the change because their truly is no OEM glass, the companies change all the time. Plus there is alot that can be problematic with the seals.

The Green's Machines

1998 Deville - high mileage, keeps on going, custom cat-back exhaust

2003 Seville - stock low mileage goodness!

2004 Grand Prix GTP CompG - Smaller supercharger pulley, Ported Exhaust Manifolds, Dyno tune, etc

1998 Firebird Formula - 408 LQ9 Stroker motor swap and all sorts of go fast stuff

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You have all heard my references to wind noise in the past, so none of this should come as a very big surprise. Further, the car was sold as Cadillac Certified Used, which to me means that if YOUR responses are correct, Caddy has bigger problems than we realize.

Naturally the damage was not shown to me at the time, but was gleaned from the odd things that I found wrong with it, such as the right rear brake rotor being the wrong size....now just HOW does that happen if the car wasn't wrecked? And just the other day I discovered the paint mismatch, artfully done I might add...especially for Diamond White.

Keep in mind also that I have owned this car since 2001, and in all other respects it has been about as perfect as possible, no unusual tire wear, minimal oil usage, 25 - 27 mpg highway, you know, a GOOD used car.

Unfortunately, none of the recent comments do anything to solve the wind noise issues that I and the original poster have.

OOPS! Sorry Body, didn't see your comment about the surgery. Thank You. It's been scheduled for March 1, so I'll have PLENTY of time to pester you guys while I recover!

Never underestimate the amount of a persons greed.

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My wife had $2300 in work done on the door hinge area and it sounds like the DOOR IS OPEN.....

BBF,

It sounds like the weatherstripping is either missing or not properly sealing the crack in the area where the repair was made. If it's missing, the problem will be easy to find. If it's not sealing, you should be able to find out where by putting a strip of paper (like bond copy paper) in the crack then closing the door. If the weatherstripping is sealing properly, it will grab the paper so you can't easily pull it out. If there isn't a good seal, you will be able to pull the paper throught the crack quite easily. You should also be able to work the paper along the door seam to find the limits of the gap. Having done this, you can stick a thin strip of rubber weatherstripping along the metal side of the gap to close it up and stop the noise.

photo-36.jpg

Happiness is owning a Cadillac with no codes.

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...the car was sold as Cadillac Certified Used, which to me means that if YOUR responses are correct, Caddy has bigger problems than we realize.

Now THAT I would agree with, but I would wager that the problem is potentially with an unscrupulous dealer rather than Cadillac itself. As we know, the dealers are rather removed from the home division, for better or for worse, and are relatively free to operate without micromanagement. Either that dealer didn't do his research on that particular car, or knew the issue and passed it through.

I don't know about other states, but North Carolina has a 25% damage claim on every vehicle sold through a dealer (I guess it's every vehicle). The dealer had to sign for both our van and the '01 STS that there was no damage beyond 25% of the value of the vehicle. I wonder how severe that previous accident really was...and I wonder if the dealer gave you a signed slip stating the vehicle was free of such damage. Water under the bridge now, I know, but it's gotten me curious.

Jason(2001 STS, White Diamond)

"When you turn your car on...does it return the favor?"

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To me... having bought a 2002 Monte Carlo that was GM Certified, GM Certified only means that the car is aestetically perfect, the mechanical condition is not delved into IMHO...it needed a hub bearing and had the intermediate steering shaft noise right off the lot...so who inspected it?

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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