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2016 Cadillac CTS-V: Service Bulletin: Diagnostic Tip for Harsh Shifts After Mileage Accumulation

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#16-NA-213: Diagnostic Tip for Harsh Shifts After Mileage Accumulation Without Previous Transmission Repairs and/or Calibration Updates - (Jun 28, 2016)

Subject:Diagnostic Tip for Harsh Shifts After Mileage Accumulation Without Previous Transmission Repairs and/or Calibration Updates

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Brand: Model: Model Year: Transmissions Built Between: Engine: Transmission:
from to from to
Cadillac Escalade Models 2015 2016 July 1, 2015 September 14, 2015 Equipped with 8L90 and 8L45 Automatic Transmission (RPOs M5U, M5T, M5N)
Cadillac ATS, ATS V, CTS, CTS V 2016 2016
Chevrolet Corvette, Silverado 2015 2016
GMC Sierra 2015 2016

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Involved Region or Country North America and N.A. Export Regions
Condition Some customers may comment that the transmission has developed a harsh shift. This harsh shift condition will have developed over mileage accumulation. In many instances the transmission has not had any previous repairs performed. There may be more than one shift that is harsh and may be grouped as follows:

  • 1-2, 5-6 and 7-8
  • 3-4 and Park or Neutral to Reverse
  • 6-7 and 3-1
Performing TSB 16-NA-019: Information on Transmission Adaptive Functions and Correcting Low Mileage Harsh Shifts, Slips, or Flares for 2016 model year vehicles or 14-07-30-001: Information on Transmission Adaptive Functions and Correcting Low Mileage Harsh Shifts for 2015 model year vehicles may correct the condition for a short period or will not improve the condition.
Vehicles that have had a recent transmission replacement, valve body replacement, Service Fast Learn (SFL) or Service Programming event should complete the appropriate drive learn procedure. TSB 16-NA-019: Information on Transmission Adaptive Functions and Correcting Low Mileage Harsh Shifts, Slips, or Flares for 2016 model year vehicles or 14-07-30-001: Information on Transmission Adaptive Functions and Correcting Low Mileage Harsh Shifts for 2015 model year before proceeding with recommendation/instructions.
Note: Any valve body replaced in service would have been produced after the suspect date range.

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<dl><dt>Service Procedure</dt><dd>
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Check the julian date of the transmission by reviewing the TUN number on the side of the transmission. Transmissions built between July 1, 2015 (julian date 182) and Sept 14, 2015 (julian date 257) may have a suspect Clutch Control Solenoid.
TUN decoder See example below:

  • Third and Forth digit – Calendar Year – “15”
  • Fifth, Sixth and Seventh digits – day transmission was produced – “241”
  • This transmission was produced on August 29, 2015
If the transmission julian date is between 182 and 257 the valve body should be replaced.
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Harsh Shifts

I just dropped my 2016 CTS V off at the dealer this morning for harsh shifting from 3rd to 4th gear. After the hard shift it intermittently has a vibration similar to driving over a rumble strip. The car has 7000 miles. The dealer couldn't duplicate but it happens every time I drive it. The first 2 miles it shifts like butter than it starts like clock work. They are performing a GM clutch service bulletin that is supposed to address it. Apparently after the SB is incorporated the car has to sit for 8 hours then driven a specific way to teach the 5 clutches. I'm hoping it fixes it, I love the car but I won't keep it if they can't fix it. It would be ridiculous to pay over $90K and have this type of problem.

DeBob
 
Same here

I was wondering what the outcome was because I'm taking mine into the Dealer on Wednesday, thanks for your time and advice.
 
Good Luck With the Repair - I have a 2016 CTS V - Horrible Tranmission

I have a 2016 CTS-V that started having the transmissionproblems in July 2016 with almost 5K miles on it; I purchased the01/02/2016. There was a regular vibration that ran through the car as Idrove it. I took it in and they said it needed to be reprogrammed. They kept it for 2 weeks, I picked it up and the problem was still there. The shutter/vibration appears to be an inherent problem with the 8 speedtransmission after a few miles accumulate from what I have read about it. The fix is to install a new and improved torch converter. They installedone on my car (took another 2 weeks in the shop) that cured theshutter/vibration. However, the carstarted to shift harder and they blame that on the adaptive transmission thatit needs to learn how you drive. I can tell you my transmission haslearning issues as it has never learned how to shift properly (as it did when Ileased the car) since the torque converter replacement. I keep taking itback complaining about the harsh and inconsistent shifting of the transmissionto the une of 70 days in the shop. Cadillac refuses to fix the transmission. They will tell you it is normal for it toshift like that even though it never shifted like this before the repair. When shifting, my car now delays, surges, over-reacts when driving andjerks when slowing down to a stop with no pressure being applied to the gas orbrake. It is horrible in stop and go traffic. It is getting worsewith accumulation of miles. It also feels like someone bumps you frombehind when coming to a stop a lot of the times. Cadillac/GM has left meno choice but to opened a Lemon Law case on this as I am tired of paying for acar that is miserable to drive. GM/Cadillac does not want to fixthe car and I can't understand that. You buy a $90K car and now youhave to live with their engineering mistake. Love to hear back fromeveryone on this and their experience. Best of luck. <o:p></o:p>



I just dropped my 2016 CTS V off at the dealer this morning for harsh shifting from 3rd to 4th gear. After the hard shift it intermittently has a vibration similar to driving over a rumble strip. The car has 7000 miles. The dealer couldn't duplicate but it happens every time I drive it. The first 2 miles it shifts like butter than it starts like clock work. They are performing a GM clutch service bulletin that is supposed to address it. Apparently after the SB is incorporated the car has to sit for 8 hours then driven a specific way to teach the 5 clutches. I'm hoping it fixes it, I love the car but I won't keep it if they can't fix it. It would be ridiculous to pay over $90K and have this type of problem.

DeBob
 
Whoa!

I have a 2016 CTS-V that started having the transmissionproblems in July 2016 with almost 5K miles on it; I purchased the01/02/2016. There was a regular vibration that ran through the car as Idrove it. I took it in and they said it needed to be reprogrammed. They kept it for 2 weeks, I picked it up and the problem was still there. The shutter/vibration appears to be an inherent problem with the 8 speedtransmission after a few miles accumulate from what I have read about it. The fix is to install a new and improved torch converter. They installedone on my car (took another 2 weeks in the shop) that cured theshutter/vibration. However, the carstarted to shift harder and they blame that on the adaptive transmission thatit needs to learn how you drive. I can tell you my transmission haslearning issues as it has never learned how to shift properly (as it did when Ileased the car) since the torque converter replacement. I keep taking itback complaining about the harsh and inconsistent shifting of the transmissionto the une of 70 days in the shop. Cadillac refuses to fix the transmission. They will tell you it is normal for it toshift like that even though it never shifted like this before the repair. When shifting, my car now delays, surges, over-reacts when driving andjerks when slowing down to a stop with no pressure being applied to the gas orbrake. It is horrible in stop and go traffic. It is getting worsewith accumulation of miles. It also feels like someone bumps you frombehind when coming to a stop a lot of the times. Cadillac/GM has left meno choice but to opened a Lemon Law case on this as I am tired of paying for acar that is miserable to drive. GM/Cadillac does not want to fixthe car and I can't understand that. You buy a $90K car and now youhave to live with their engineering mistake. Love to hear back fromeveryone on this and their experience. Best of luck. <o:p></o:p>
I took my car in a week and a half ago and got it back in two days and so far so good, the harsh shifts still occur from time to time but the shuddering is gone, for now. The tranny still isn't as smooth as the tranny I had in my 2011 V and I attribute that to the claim that Cadillac took apart a Mercedes E63, reversed engineered it and came up with the V3. In my humble opinion they should've left the GM tranny alone and not opt to repeat what Merc did. The AMG tranny is a NIGHTMARE it jerks you around constantly to the point of car sickness (the way you described it is perfect) I had to turn it in and take a big hit on my monthly payments but it was worth it. Merc claimed that since its a F1 transmission nothing could be done to correct it. I feel your pain I too get the hit from the back every now and then but so far I'm happy with the fix, so far. Perhaps another dealer can do a better job of fixing your car, I hope you can get this resolve and I'l be looking for your threads to keep up to date, thanks for sharing and drive safe.
 
Thanks For the Reply Caddy Daddy

Thanks for the response. To be honest, I did take it to another dealership, Sewell Cadillac. It is a great dealership unlike Central Cadillac in Houston. A transmission technician did ride with me as well as drove the car and said he felt he could fix the problem and or make it better. Unfortunately, the Area Cadillac Engineer found out the car was at Sewell to be repaired and went over to the dealership and then told them to just give it back to me as I had started the Lemon law case. If the Area Field Engineer would have allowed Sewell to fixed the car, I would have dropped the lemon law filing. Now I have given up trying to get it repaired as Cadillac appears to have made the final decision not to repair it. AGAIN, VERY DISAPPOINTING as there is a know problem with the 8 speed GM transmission and GM refuses to fix them or don't know how. My car is a lease so one way or another I will be out of it. Unfortunately, I feel you will be punished again with your car as any future purchaser of your car will be reluctant to buy the car once they feel the weird shifting from the transmission. They will not know what is wrong with it other than it is not right. Let me know if the problem gets worse as the miles rack up. Mine continue to get worse the more miles I drive. I never take it to the race track and the car spends about 99% of the time in touring mode and about 1% in sport mode. I have never driven it in track mode. About 90% of my driving is in stop and go traffic as I live 6 miles from work. Stop and go is the worst as that is when all the jerking, lunging, etc. occurs. The car is now 19 months old and has a little over 13K miles on it.

I took my car in a week and a half ago and got it back in two days and so far so good, the harsh shifts still occur from time to time but the shuddering is gone, for now. The tranny still isn't as smooth as the tranny I had in my 2011 V and I attribute that to the claim that Cadillac took apart a Mercedes E63, reversed engineered it and came up with the V3. In my humble opinion they should've left the GM tranny alone and not opt to repeat what Merc did. The AMG tranny is a NIGHTMARE it jerks you around constantly to the point of car sickness (the way you described it is perfect) I had to turn it in and take a big hit on my monthly payments but it was worth it. Merc claimed that since its a F1 transmission nothing could be done to correct it. I feel your pain I too get the hit from the back every now and then but so far I'm happy with the fix, so far. Perhaps another dealer can do a better job of fixing your car, I hope you can get this resolve and I'l be looking for your threads to keep up to date, thanks for sharing and drive safe.
 
Thanks for the response Caddy Daddy - Good Luck with the car

I have a 2016 CTS-V that started having the transmissionproblems in July 2016 with almost 5K miles on it; I purchased the01/02/2016. There was a regular vibration that ran through the car as Idrove it. I took it in and they said it needed to be reprogrammed. They kept it for 2 weeks, I picked it up and the problem was still there. The shutter/vibration appears to be an inherent problem with the 8 speedtransmission after a few miles accumulate from what I have read about it. The fix is to install a new and improved torch converter. They installedone on my car (took another 2 weeks in the shop) that cured theshutter/vibration. However, the carstarted to shift harder and they blame that on the adaptive transmission thatit needs to learn how you drive. I can tell you my transmission haslearning issues as it has never learned how to shift properly (as it did when Ileased the car) since the torque converter replacement. I keep taking itback complaining about the harsh and inconsistent shifting of the transmissionto the une of 70 days in the shop. Cadillac refuses to fix the transmission. They will tell you it is normal for it toshift like that even though it never shifted like this before the repair. When shifting, my car now delays, surges, over-reacts when driving andjerks when slowing down to a stop with no pressure being applied to the gas orbrake. It is horrible in stop and go traffic. It is getting worsewith accumulation of miles. It also feels like someone bumps you frombehind when coming to a stop a lot of the times. Cadillac/GM has left meno choice but to opened a Lemon Law case on this as I am tired of paying for acar that is miserable to drive. GM/Cadillac does not want to fixthe car and I can't understand that. You buy a $90K car and now youhave to live with their engineering mistake. Love to hear back fromeveryone on this and their experience. Best of luck. <o:p></o:p>


I took my car in a week and a half ago and got it back in two days and so far so good, the harsh shifts still occur from time to time but the shuddering is gone, for now. The tranny still isn't as smooth as the tranny I had in my 2011 V and I attribute that to the claim that Cadillac took apart a Mercedes E63, reversed engineered it and came up with the V3. In my humble opinion they should've left the GM tranny alone and not opt to repeat what Merc did. The AMG tranny is a NIGHTMARE it jerks you around constantly to the point of car sickness (the way you described it is perfect) I had to turn it in and take a big hit on my monthly payments but it was worth it. Merc claimed that since its a F1 transmission nothing could be done to correct it. I feel your pain I too get the hit from the back every now and then but so far I'm happy with the fix, so far. Perhaps another dealer can do a better job of fixing your car, I hope you can get this resolve and I'l be looking for your threads to keep up to date, thanks for sharing and drive safe.
 
My sympathies

Thanks for the response. To be honest, I did take it to another dealership, Sewell Cadillac. It is a great dealership unlike Central Cadillac in Houston. A transmission technician did ride with me as well as drove the car and said he felt he could fix the problem and or make it better. Unfortunately, the Area Cadillac Engineer found out the car was at Sewell to be repaired and went over to the dealership and then told them to just give it back to me as I had started the Lemon law case. If the Area Field Engineer would have allowed Sewell to fixed the car, I would have dropped the lemon law filing. Now I have given up trying to get it repaired as Cadillac appears to have made the final decision not to repair it. AGAIN, VERY DISAPPOINTING as there is a know problem with the 8 speed GM transmission and GM refuses to fix them or don't know how. My car is a lease so one way or another I will be out of it. Unfortunately, I feel you will be punished again with your car as any future purchaser of your car will be reluctant to buy the car once they feel the weird shifting from the transmission. They will not know what is wrong with it other than it is not right. Let me know if the problem gets worse as the miles rack up. Mine continue to get worse the more miles I drive. I never take it to the race track and the car spends about 99% of the time in touring mode and about 1% in sport mode. I have never driven it in track mode. About 90% of my driving is in stop and go traffic as I live 6 miles from work. Stop and go is the worst as that is when all the jerking, lunging, etc. occurs. The car is now 19 months old and has a little over 13K miles on it.

I'm sorry that Cadillac has taken the attitude of not even trying to help you considering your the paying customer, you know in the back of my mind I'm sure my tranny problems will reoccur I'm just hoping it won't be until I too turn my car in after the lease is up. I hope that you will go ahead with your law suit and that your win your case. I don't know if this will work for you but when my tranny was acting up I'd use the paddles and downshift a gear or two, it seemed that my car couldn't figure out what I wanted so it shuddered and bucked and gearing down seemed to make life a bit smoother. You might also want to try driving it in track mode with or without manual shifting, in track the gears hold longer maybe it might help. I know how you feel, an unlivable transmission is horrible but drive safe and I wish you luck and hope Caddy does the right thing by you. Note: go on FaceBook (Caddy's Page) and tell your story and you might want to reach out to customer service, in fact if you go on FB with the issue in my own experience someone will reach out to you, they proved invaluable to me when I had issues with a Lincoln, can't hurt and it might help, again good luck.
 
Thanks again caddy daddy

I really appreciate the advice. I hope you continue to enjoy your car the way I did for the first 5K miles. It WAS an amazing car; now I hate it! If they would have fixed my car, I would have leased another CTS-V when this lease was up. No I cannot trust them to fix another one if I got out of this one and leased another. IT IS VERY SAD FOR SURE!

I'm sorry that Cadillac has taken the attitude of not even trying to help you considering your the paying customer, you know in the back of my mind I'm sure my tranny problems will reoccur I'm just hoping it won't be until I too turn my car in after the lease is up. I hope that you will go ahead with your law suit and that your win your case. I don't know if this will work for you but when my tranny was acting up I'd use the paddles and downshift a gear or two, it seemed that my car couldn't figure out what I wanted so it shuddered and bucked and gearing down seemed to make life a bit smoother. You might also want to try driving it in track mode with or without manual shifting, in track the gears hold longer maybe it might help. I know how you feel, an unlivable transmission is horrible but drive safe and I wish you luck and hope Caddy does the right thing by you. Note: go on FaceBook (Caddy's Page) and tell your story and you might want to reach out to customer service, in fact if you go on FB with the issue in my own experience someone will reach out to you, they proved invaluable to me when I had issues with a Lincoln, can't hurt and it might help, again good luck.
 
I really appreciate the advice. I hope you continue to enjoy your car the way I did for the first 5K miles. It WAS an amazing car; now I hate it! If they would have fixed my car, I would have leased another CTS-V when this lease was up. No I cannot trust them to fix another one if I got out of this one and leased another. IT IS VERY SAD FOR SURE!

Cant say I blame you, if one can't be happy with something that they use everyday a change has to be made. Considering what your going through makes me worry about my own car. I hate it when folks get poor or no service at all, to me its inexcusable and unnecessary, what does it take to make sure a good customer is happy and satisfied. I hope Cadillac comes to their senses and repairs your car, take care.
 

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