Dreaded P0101 MAP code

[thu]

I got it this morning climbing from 6200 feet to 8600 feet on a pretty little two-lane road on my way to Church. Power gave out like someone yanked out six of the cylinders. Got to the point where it was in second gear going about 50 mph with the pedal to the carpet.

Got the SES light. Pulled codes, got a bunch of history (including P0101). Many of these were due to the battery dying last week. Cleared it and drove some more. SES light flashed for 30 seconds then disappeared. No codes. Weirdo. On the interstate, to keep 70mph, had to floor it. Car tried to keep up with my demands by shifting down to 2nd to make use of what little power remained. Let off the pedal, got off the interstate. Kept driving - after a while, the SES light came on for good. Checked codes and up came P0101.

Changed fuel filter and air filter to eliminate the simple stuff. Yanked off the intake from air cleaner to throttle body and inspected it - excellent condition. MAF was clean. Problem remains. In Park, will not rev above 3800 RPM, but this may be due to the idle-speed-limiter. On the interstate, it feels like I'm pulling a 12,000 pound trailer - it just won't make power.

Lucky me this car is still under factory warranty. I'll just let the dealer handle it. I'll let y'all know what they find if I see interest in this thread. Otherwise, I'll just let this thread disappear.

[steve6]

Got the SES light. Pulled codes, got a bunch of history (including P0101). Many of these were due to the battery dying last week. Cleared it and drove some more. SES light flashed for 30 seconds then disappeared. No codes. Weirdo. On the interstate, to keep 70mph, had to floor it. Car tried to keep up with my demands by shifting down to 2nd to make use of what little power remained. Let off the pedal, got off the interstate. Kept driving - after a while, the SES light came on for good. Checked codes and up came P0101.

Sucks to hear about problems with only a car a few years old...

The SES flashes when there is excessive fuel build up in the catalytic converter and presents a unsafe situation where damage may occur .... Basically the engine was miss firing like a whore..

Good luck, let us know what they replace.... Maybe the crank sensors or something have gone bad...(I think thats common on a 2003).

[Cadillac Jim]

I'd have to see the new codes to hazard a guess.

[thu]

Fuel buildup in the cat - that could explain the smoke I saw. Dealer was booked today. I'll get the car in tomorrow.

The only other code was one regarding the express-up on the driver-side window.

[thu]

The dealer said that my cat was plugged. I don't know if only one or both were plugged, but it (they) are on the way.

[Ranger]

There is only 1 CAT. The exhaust splits after the CAT to a dual exhaust.

[thu]

Ah...ok. Thanks Ranger.

I hope this fixes everything. It may be week after next before I can get it fixed. Holidays are messing things up.

[thu]

I dropped the car off this AM, got it back this PM to get the cat replaced. They replaced the exhaust system, but I don't know how much of it, maybe the entire thing. The work order said:

"Removed and replaced catalytic converter - part came as complete exhaust assembly with no tips. Tips had to be cut off old exhaust and welded onto the new exhaust".

I also told them I was having a hard time keeping the battery charged. They found a bad cell in the battery, so they replaced the battery for free, too.

All this at no cost to me. Cadillac rocks!

[JimD]

Outstanding result. This has to be a PR landmark for GM/Cadillac.

And your dealer.

[Cadillac Jim]

There are really tons of good Cadillac dealer experiences. As a troubleshooting and problem-solving forum, we get a lot of horror stories, which isn't a good way to judge the user dealer experience. As dealers go, Cadillac dealers are tops, on the whole. That's my experience, and that's my opinion.

[thu]

The local GM/Caddy dealer has seen a huge turnaround in recent times. It used to be it was the absolute worst in the region. Back then, I took my caddy 90 miles to the nearest dealer that gave a rip about me and my car.

For twelve years, I would tell all my friends and colleagues to avoid the local chevy/caddy/gmc/etc dealer because their service was horrible. The dealer in the nearest other city 45 miles away was the same. The service was soooo bad, I was willing to get up in the wee hours of the morning to drive my car 90 miles to a good dealer. That good dealer lent me a free car (usually a brand-new Caddy) to use as long as I needed it. Then I'd drive 90 miles back to get my car. It was well worth it as the service was excellent. The stuff they fixed stayed fixed. I went through two Caddys and twelve years before I gave the local dealer another try.

When I bought my Seville STS, I gave the local dealer another try. I was very pleasantly surprised. Now, I go only to them. Quite a turnaround.

Just a note....my car is still under factory warranty.

[steve6]

Thats good to hear man, Most people are 100% unwilling to give a place another chance for bad rep or bad work done.... sometimes you just get a bad mechanic, or inexperienced.