A Little-V Blog: The ATS-V purchase and ownership experience

[Hib Halverson]

As usual, GM's pace in addressing this nagging customer satisfaction issue is sloth-like.

Back on the 5th, that's what I said about the seemingly never-ending problems we have in getting Cadillac to fix our two problematic ATS-Vs. In using the term "sloth-like", at that point, I was mixing some humor with my lament, but now, three weeks later, both cars are still not repaired. Typically, this is not a problem with our dealer, Bunnin Cadillac, which bent-over backwards trying to help.orship: It's a problem farther up the food-chain starting with GM's "Technical Assistance Center" or just "TAC" and going up to the minions who make warranty policy decisions at Cadillac.:frown:

With "Pearl" our early 2016 ATS-V Sedan, once it got about 7000 miles on it, my Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, and I began to notice that every so often, after a cold start, the exhaust would blow oil smoke for 10-15-seconds. As the miles went by, the problem became chronic–anytime the car sat more than about 8 hours, right after the next start-up, for 10-15-seconds it would belch a cloud of oil smoke. It took months to get General Motors to agree to repair the car under warranty–in spite of our supplying video footage of numerous oil smoking cold starts which clearly demonstrated the problem. GM insisted on an oil consumption test which showed the car's LF4 engine was not consuming an inordinate amount of oil because (well...duh, it was only burning it for 10-15 seconds after each cold start. Then, because my video footage was not considered credible, GM required our dealer to supply in-house video of the problem and it had them bore scope the engine and send the images from the bore scope session to TAC.

Eventually, GM had our dealer change the cylinder heads. During the head replacement, Bunnin's lead technician discovered liquid oil on the turbine wheels and in the turbine housings of both turbos. He communicated that to TAC and asked if the turbos should also be replaced. TAC ordered the turbos not be replaced. Sadly, two new heads did not solve the problem. Every time we cold started the car–oil smoke. GM asked for a second oil consumption test. After that, at the 27,190-mile mark, it decided to put two new turbos on the car.
Right away, the oil smoke on cold starts stopped and I was doing a happy-dance:blue: but, unfortunately, only for a short while. We drove the car another 4000 miles or so and then began to see the oil smoke problem, again. By 33,000 miles, Pearl was once again blowing smoke after cold starts on a regular basis. I shot more video and gave it to Bunnin's Fixed Ops Manager, Chris Williams, and he forwarded it to GM. Click here to see the footage.

The tech at Bunnin had the exhaust off and could see that, once again, there was oil on the turbine wheels and in the turbine housings. Unfortunately, that was not enough for the folks at the Technical Assistance Center. They told the dealer to replace some parts in the engine's PCV system and monitor the engine's oil use. There was no change in the smoke situation. Then, GM told the dealer to do cold and hot compression tests and forward the results to TAC and, after that, a GM Field Service Engineer (FSE) would visit our dealer to examine the car.

That happened about ten days ago and since then, as of Feb. 4, TAC has not followed up with our dealer. We have the car back and my Wife is driving it but, it's smoking every morning before she goes to work and every evening before she drives home. In fact, we don't dare start the engine with the door open because, if the wind is blowing just the wrong way, the interior ends up full of oil smoke. (cough, cough). We have no idea what GM is going to do nor do we know when.

And then there is our other ATS-V, the late 2016 Coupe, my daily driver. The "Blue BMW Buster" has also had it's share of warranty issues, the most significant of which was, from the time I drove it off the lot with 16 miles on it back on 15JUL2016, in fifth gear at highway speeds, it had a bad vibration that I could feel and hear. It took months to get that repaired. At first, after my repeated visits to Bunnin Cadillac about the issue, GM denied the car had a problem, even going as far as telling Bunnin flatly that it would not approve any warranty work related to my claim that the car had a vibration problem.

I was pissed when I heard that so, I purchased the same "PicoScope" noise and vibration analysis hardware and software dealers have. I learned how to use the equipment, then began logging data and posting the results to this blog. It wasn't too long before GM took notice. At first, because the symptoms seemed to point at propeller shaft with a balance problem, TAC told Bunnin that it would ship out a new prop shaft for them to install in my ATS-V.

A couple weeks later, GM changed it's mind and said the prop shaft shipment had been cancelled and didn't know why the vibration existed. A week or so after that, GM advised Bunnin Cadillac that it was going to take the unusual step of sending a development engineer out to California to work on the car. This person was characterized as the "best driveline noise and vibration engineer" working at General Motors. He was here for almost two weeks and brought with him a crate of expensive equipment with which he instrumented the car and then road tested it for a week.

Then, this engineer had Bunnin's technicians replace the flywheel, clutch, transmission and prop shaft. Viola! The vibration was gone. The bottom line? the transmission was defective and had an unusual internal problem which caused the fifth-gear vibration. I explained the problem in detail in an earlier post to this blog.

If I said that was the limit of the triple-B's problems, but I'd be lying. Since the trans was changed last year, every so often the MIL or "malfunction indicator light" (which many of us know as the "check engine" light) would come on. It would stay on for several cycles then go off. The light usually came on after a 3-4 upshift or 4-3 down shift. I could never get a time when the light was on to get the car into Bunnin to have them verify there was a problem. I knew from scanning the ECM myself that the DTCs setting were P0733 and P0734 which are codes which set then the data being sent to the ECM by the gear shift sensor is not what the ECM is expecting. My understanding is that when these codes set either adjustment or replacement of that sensor is the fix.

Another problem the Blue BMW Buster has is the glove box door won't close properly. If I close the door normally, the right side latch will not engage. To get both door latches to engage I either have t slam the s**t out of the door or close it, then reach way over and push the top right corner of the door forward until it latches. Word from the dealer is there is a "bulletin out on this problem" and that parts have been ordered. When GM will make the parts available is unknown.

Lastly and worstly, my ATS-V Coupe is starting to blow oil smoke after cold starts. Interestingly, the mileage on the car when this began was about the same as that on the Sedan when it began to smoke on a regular basis. Coincidentally, the BMW Buster was at Bunnin Cadillac during the FSE's visit and he witnessed that car's cold start oil smoking. In re: both our smoking ATS-Vs, the FSE told Bunnin's top technician that he would be back-in touch in the future about what actions GM was going to take.

These two ATS-V of ours, which have seldom not had some problem which requires repair under warranty, have become a major annoyance. The whole ATS-V ownership experience has been less then satisfactory because of 1) the number of major warranty problems we have experienced and 2) the decidedly customer unfriendly way in which Cadillac administrates warranty claims made by its customers.

It just fries me to hear about Cadillac President, Johan de Nysschen, telling media, “Our objective of rapidly establishing a second volume hub for the brand to complement our U.S. operations has been attained, as our Chinese business grew exponentially, leaving us well-positioned for sustained growth going forward.”

What Mr. de Nysschen isn't saying is that Cadillac sales in North America have decreased significantly, ie: the 15.5% increase in sales during 2017 was a result of increased sales in China. Maybe if Cadillac had better quality and solved problems resulting in customer warranty claims in a more expeditious manner, the brand would sell better in the U.S. and Canada.

That, also, begs the question: why are Chinese buyers loving Caddys but North American buyers are purchasing Audis, BMWs or Mercedes? Is it because the Chinese are more accepting of cars with made with less quality or are the products Cadillac sells in China manufactured with a higher level of quality and backed by a more customer-friendly warranty administration process than are the Caddys we get here in the U.S.?

I think of all the money that de Nysschen wasted moving Cadillac's headquarters to New York City and opening "Cadillac House" at the corner of Hudson and Charlton in Manhattan then forcing the infamous "Pinnacle Program" on his dealer network.:nono: From my perspective, owing two ATS-Vs which, to date, have demonstrated less-then-satisfactory reliability and durability, watching de Nysschen piss away all that cash is very disheartening. That money should have been spent on enhancing the quality of Cadillac's passenger cars and on improving the experience a customer has when his or her Cadillac needs warranty repairs.

Ironically, an Automotive News' "First Shift" video report this morning, quoted an AlixPartners study which states that the increase in recalls by manufacturers is because, "...some car makers and suppliers are putting bigger focus on innovation and cost reduction than vehicle quality." That sounds like Cadillac to me.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Cool Caddy V Wheels

Recently, I visited Forgeline Motorsports' factory in Dayton, Ohio. These days, that company is my favorite wheel maker. One reason is that I think they have some of the coolest wheel designs on the market right now.

Another reason? Almost all of every Forgeline is made-in-USA. The aluminum foundry work is done in Anaheim, CA. The fasteners are made in Santa Paula, California. The spun aluminum rims for three-piece wheels are made in Los Angeles. The manufacturing and assembly is done in Dayton. The only part that's not domestic is the valve stem and they're only used in wheels not fitted with tire pressure sensors (TPS). Many Forgeline wheels used on road vehicles have a factory-supplied TPSes which combine a valve stem with a pressure sensor. Sources for those sensors depend on the car's manufacturer. Suffice to say: Forgelines are 99% made in America.

A third reason why I like this company's wheels is: from an engineering perspective, there is no difference between race wheels and street wheels. Both are built, using the same materials, to the same specifications and safety standards.


Forgeline's latest offering, the just-released ZH1 one-piece wheel. Image: Forgeline Motorsports.

Forgeline Motorsports is the brainchild of twin brothers, Dave and Steve Schardt. Wheels are in their DNA as their Dad owns famed Dayton Wire Wheels, a company which was founded in 1916. Growing up, they worked for their Dad. "In 1970, Dad took over the plant after it went (bankrupt) and brought it back to a pretty sizable company," Steve Schardt recalls. "That's where we learned a lot of wheel stuff. We were lacing wheels when we were 13. Dad raced a Yenko Stinger (Chevrolet Corvair Corsa, modified by Yenko Chevrolet for SCCA road racing in the old D-Production class) but it had Minilites on it which Dad distributed back then."


The Schardt Bros, Steve (left) and Dave (right). Image: Author.

Later, Dave got into the custom wheel distribution and warehouse business with a company called "Wheel Source". In 1994, Steve founded Forgeline Motorsports making wheels for road racing cars. "Back in the '90s," Steve Schardt stated, "no one in the United States was doing custom-made racing wheels. By 'custom' I mean a wide choice of diameters and offsets with rims that clear brakes (on race cars). In '94, I decided to make a go of it. The business went very well, but I found out I'm a sales person not one who runs a business."

Once the business got going and was a hit amongst road racers, it became obvious that Dave's management acumen in the wheel business would be an advantage so he joined Steve at Forgeline. "That was about the time Dave took over operation of the business," Steve continued.

"I had a wheel distribution business at that point in time," Dave told me, "with three distribution warehouses, one here (Dayton) one in Chicago and one in Atlanta. We sold Momo, Speedline and other performance wheels. I saw the opportunity with Forgeline to do things with wheels that other companies would not or could not do. At first, I had the distribution business and was working at Forgeline at the same time but, eventually, I got rid of 'The Wheel Source'."

'The first racer to run our wheels was P.D. Cunningham who ran a Honda Prelude in World Challenge," Dave continued. "From there, we hit World Challenge pretty hard. We were on Kenny Brown's Mustangs, Lou Gilotti's Mustangs and Bobby Archer and the Vipers. Eventually, almost half the fields in World Challenge back then were using our wheels."

With racers loving Forgeline wheels, it wasn't long before the market wanted one-piece and three-piece wheels for road cars, but built with Forgeline's appealing designs, outstanding quality and race-winning reliability and durability. One would think that Forgeline's street wheel business would be huge compared with motorsports but that's not the case. Dave and Steve told us that, over the years, the two markets have kept about a 50/50 mix of race and street wheels.

In its 22 years, Forgeline has become one of the leading, high-end wheel makers in the World. One reason is their large portfolio of wheel designs. Forgeline wheels come in two flavors: single-piece or "monoblock" and three-piece. The single-piece wheels are typically the lightest and are machined from a single 110-pound forging. Forgeline three-piece wheels have spun aluminum rims and forged centers. Another reason for Forgeline's success is the wide variety of centers, rims and offsets the company has available in its three-piece line.

Yet a third reason Forgeline's products have done well in the market is its wheels are engineered with OE-level reliability and durability. Forgelines undergo the same type of destructive testing to which factory wheels are subjected and because every Forgeline wheel is either a one-piece forging or is a three-piece wheel with a forged center, they can still be lighter than many factory wheels which are cast or press-cast. It doesn't matter if the Forgeline in question is a race wheel or a street wheel–they are all engineered to the same high standards and are manufactured with the same, stringent quality controls.

We asked the Brothers Schardt about their engineering and manufacturing processes. "At lot of other manufacturers make their race wheels thinner because there are no pot holes or other road hazards on a race track," Steve Schardt states. "Those manufacturers would market with a disclaimer: 'These wheels are for racing only.' We never chose to do that because we know someone is going to go off (track into the dirt and rocks) so our race wheels are as strong as our street wheels."


The racer who broke a wheel said, "Oh S**t! I shoulda used Forgelines." The two Stevenson Camaros behind him just kept going to the front because they run Forgelines. Image:Forgeline Motorsports.

"We do that for (racers) who do drive over 'gator strips', bounce off race track curbs or make contact with other cars," Dave agreed. "Over the years, our wheels have earned a reputation for as being light as well as tough. In fact, we're not always the lightest wheel and the reason for that is we made them tough and durable. They were able to finish races when other wheels might fail and, of course, to win a race, first, you have to finish.”

Only after a prototype Forgeline wheel undergoes extensive testing is a new wheel design released for production and sale. "There are several standards for wheels used around the world," Dave Schardt added, "but the one used in the U.S. is the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Standard. Our wheels are built to the SAE Standard"

We do FEA (finite element analysis) on every single wheel we design," Dave continued. "In the case of any new design that's substantially different from another, we'll send (a sample) to a testing lab. They test in three ways. A tire with a load on it tries to spread the wheel (rims) apart, so, first, they mount a tire on the wheel, then run it on a roller for 1,000,000 cycles at three times the wheel's rated load. Then (assuming the wheel passes the load test, of course) they do an impact test which drops a 2120-lb weight on the wheel from 20-feet in the air," Schardt continued. "The toughest test of all is the 'rotary test'. The wheel is bolted on a hub. Then, the rim is heavily loaded with a force pushing the edge of the rim sideways. This test simulates the wheel on a car which is cornering with high lateral acceleration."

Aluminum Precision Products (APP), a foundry in Anaheim California, supplies the raw forgings Forgeline Motorsports uses in its wheels. APP is an industry leader in precision forgings of aluminum and titanium. The company was founded over 50 years ago to supply the aerospace and defense industries. Today, it is the authority on forging practices able to solve the toughest aluminum forging challenges. Its products are found on every major commercial and most military aircraft. The company is respected by every major airframe OEM worldwide. When the Schardt brothers went looking for a foundry to provide their aluminum forgings, their choice was simple: Aluminum Precision Products.

"It's an aerospace company. It's one of those companies which does what they say they are going to do," Dave said about APP. "Every single piece we get from them is exactly what it's supposed to be. We get metal certifications from them on every shipment. They offer full traceability. In short, they do business the way we do business."

Aluminum Precision Products makes Forgeline parts from a proprietary version of 6061 aluminum heat treated to the T6 specification. "We call it '60xx' because they don't want to tell us what it is," Dave Schardt said. "They don't like using the term 'super alloy' but that's kind of what it is. It's about 20% stronger (than 6061)."

The rims used in Forgeline three-piece wheels are "spun aluminum" and are made using a cold-forming process. An aluminum disc is spun at high speed in a CNC forming machine. Rollers cold-form the aluminum into the wheel rim shape. Forgeline spun aluminum rims are made by Triangle Tool Company in California. To better understand this process, look at this YouTube video.


One half of Foregline's machining operations. Image: Author.

All machining operations at Forgeline are done in the company's 11 Haas CNC lathes or CNC machining centers. Even the machines that make Forgeline wheels in the USA are made in America at Haas Automation's huge factory in Oxnard, California. The Haas equipment is divided amongst two sections, one making single-piece wheels and the other making three-piece wheels. The single-piece production process takes a 110-lb forging and removes 85-90-pounds of material, all of which is recycled.



To make a Forgeline single-piece wheel wheel, It takes an hour on the CNC lathe and between an hour and four hours in a CNC machining center depending on what wheel design is being manufactured.


A Forgeline single-piece wheel during milling in a Haas CNC. Image: Author.

Three-piece wheels take less time because the only major on-site machine work required is the center. The forged center and the spun rim are joined with fasteners made by Automotive Racing Products (ARP)


Dave Schardt and a Forgeline three-piece wheel center. Image: Author.

From the machining department, wheel parts go into the grinding-and-polishing section where all the burrs and machining marks are removed and the wheels which are not to be powder coated are polished. Wheels which get powder coated are moved to Forgeline's in-house coating facility. They bead blasted then are shot with whatever color the customer orders. Finally, they are baked for 20-minutes to cure the coating. Next comes wheel assembly and inspection. Last is packaging and shipping to the customer.


A really big Forgeline one-piece wheel getting prep'ed for packaging. Image: Author.

In a few limited cases, Forgeline "private label" wheels for well-known vendors such as Tesla chassis upgrade specialist, Unplugged Performance, Hennessy Performance, Dinan Corp. (BMWs, Mercedes, Mini) or Katech, Inc. "We do that with industry partners which make sense," Steve Schardt states. "For example: Katech is one of those firms which is very well-known, so the fact that they are using our wheel is a good thing for us. It's their design but we make it for them. It looks a little bit like our X1, but it was a design that Jason (Harding, Katech's Aftermarket Manager) picked out. If someone just comes off the street and says, 'I want you to make a wheel brand.' That's a lot more difficult. Then, we're just competing against them."

Both Schardts are racers. Steve's interest has been performance and race driving instruction. Dave did some professional road racing in SCCA World Challenge during the late-'90s and early-'00s. "For a while, I ran a Toyota Supra Turbo with backing from Toyota," Dave told me. "We converted it (from twin) to a single turbo for racing. It got lots of attention. It was bright yellow. It had the exhaust coming out the side. It shot flames out the pipes and made cool turbo sounds. Then, when they stopped making that car (1998) we switched over to a Porsche Cup car. We sold the Toyota, for a significant amount of money, to buy the Porsche. Then two years ago, we saw it on eBay and bought it back. It had every single decal and sticker still on it. It was exactly the way it was when we sold it 20 years ago. We bought it back for a fraction of what we sold it for."

Today, the Brothers Schardt have turned to autocrossing. As is the case with many road racers, this writer included, the transition to autocrossing is not an easy one. "Autocrossing is completely different," Steve admits, "We had to reprogram our brains.
"I'm struggling with autocrossing," Dave quipped.
"We have a C5 (Corvette) we started autocrossing." Steve added.
"We wanted to participate in motorsports," Dave stated, "so we bought a C5 Z06 because it seems like what everybody else is doing."
"It's a great car," Steve said.
"Oh my gosh," Dave beamed, "I had no idea how much I would going to like that car. It's so much fun."
Of course, the Schardts' C5 Z has a set of Forgelines on it.


Dave Schardt and the Forgeline ZO6. Image: Author.

About ten years ago Dave Schardt saw potential in the then-new "pro-touring" movement. Today, Forgeline wheels are almost a standard in that hobby. Some of the biggest names in pro-touring competition, such as perennial Corvette racer, Danny Popp, who drove a much-modified, C3 Vette to three Good Guys Autocrosser of the Year titles, race on Forgelines.

As for late model cars, the two biggest markets for Forgeline Wheels Porsche and Corvette, especially C6 and C7 Z06es. The Forgeline wheels most popular with Cadillac V-Series owners are the SC3C series and the VX1 series. What Forgeline would I like to put on my ATS-V Coupe? I think the new ZH1 (see above) in satin black would look great.


The SC3C Series wheel for Vs. Image: Forgeline Motorsports.


The VX1 Series wheel for Vs. Image: Forgeline Motorsports.

Forgeline is one of a few of companies in the U.S. manufacturing wheels made out of carbon-fiber and aluminum. Forgeline's "Carbon+Forged Series" wheels have carbon fiber "barrels" (the rims) made by Emergent Carbon Wheels and forged aluminum centers manufactured by Forgeline. These parts are assembled in Forgeline's Dayton facility. The CF wheel debuted at the 2016 SEMA Show and its very first application was a Corvette. To date, because of the cost, sales of the Carbon+Forged wheels have grown slowly. Customers so far have put them on Corvette C6es and C7s, Porsche GT3s, Lamborghini Huracáns and, interestingly, Tesla Model Ses.

At 15-16 large per set, Forgeline's CF wheels are a little out of reach for me to use on the Blue Bullet, but I have them on my "wish list"...which, also, includes: a pair of his-and-her CTS-Vs, front-row/50-yard line Superbowl tickets, a beachfront vacation/party house in Maui and a Boeing BBJ so I can fly there in style with 30 or so my BFFs.

 

[Tuna]

Forgeline - they are beautiful wheels and very strong. The problem is that they are too far out of the budget for a street driven car for most people. Guess I'll just have to have to use my factory wheels a while longer.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Forgeline - they are beautiful wheels and very strong. The problem is that they are too far out of the budget for a street driven car for most people. Guess I'll just have to have to use my factory wheels a while longer.

That's certainly the case with their CF wheels but their aluminum one and three piece wheels are not overly expernsive, IMO.

What's a set of stock aluminum wheels for a Cadillac cost from GM?

 

[Hib Halverson]

There was a day last week that was so "perfect" even the people who write tourism copy for the Chambers of Commerce would have been struggling to find the right adjective. I looked out the office window and thought: f**k work. ocker: I'm taking the "Blue BMW Buster" for a little fun run over US 101 to Gaviota and back.

From an onramp near my office, I can get on northbound U.S. 101 which actually runs west–I know, that's wierd, huh–and drive 19 miles right along the coast until you get to Gaviota, where the highway turns north headed to San Francisco.


Just ignore the "24-min" thing. Who drives that slow anyway. Image: Apple Maps

It wasn't long before I was rolling west past the ranches, beaches and State Parks that are on the narrow strip of foothills between the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Ynez Mountains. Off to the left was the deep blue Pacific, above was blue sky, at right were the mountains and ahead, over the hood of my Vector Blue ATS-V, was a four-lane highway with little traffic, so I turned on the Valentine One and set the cruise for 80 then relaxed to enjoy the scenery.

A couple of times, I exited the freeway, then got back on again, just so I could run the Triple B, hard, through first, second and third. At sea level, on this low-70's afternoon, the engine was making a ton of power. If I hammered it from a 5-mph roll in first, I was almost instantly into traction control. rnout: In second and third gears the car was a freakin' rocketship.

As I continued west, there were spots where I could see one of Amtrak's "Pacific Surfliners" paralleling me on the tracks which go along the coast from Goleta, past Gaviota and to the south end of Vandenberg Air Force Base. At various places along the highway where there was beach access, the cars and trucks of surfers were parked end-to-end. In mid-Feb that water had to be colder than a rat's ass in the Yukon. I hoped they all were wearing wetsuits. If you like surfing, swimming, camping or RV'ing, there are some prime spots for that right on the water at El Capitan State Beach, Refugio State Beach and Gaviota State Park.

After turning around at Gaviota and heading east on the way back to (sigh) work, as I cruised at 80-mph in the Blue BMW Buster, I thought about my "love/hate" relationship with these cars. The always-entertaining (to me) and sometimes surprising (to BMW drivers) ATS-V acceleration is just what I like from my daily driver. The car's handling does what I like my everyday car to do: handle almost as well as my ZO6. I especially like the effect the eLSD has on the car behavior on full-on corner exits. The ATS-V is the first car I've driven which has electric power steering which provides steering feel which I generally like except for a level of feedback which is average at best.

A lot of people consider seating and controls as "interior items" but I think, for a car like this, they are part of handing. Hell, you can't drive really fast on curvey roads without good seats, appropriate clutch effort and, with a car like mine which has a six-speed manual, a proper gear shift. The Blue BMW Buster has the Recaro seat option which was an outstanding choice. The seats are comfy, have great adjustability and offer plenty of support when you need it. Clutch action is to my liking. Even the shifter is ok–but if I had a choice and some time, I'd replace it with one of Driveline Specialties' unique shifters which I like for their detent feel coming from bellvue washers rather than springs.

And brakes–the littlest V does well in that department, a feature I needed the other day on a trip into Los Angeles later in the week. I was tooling along with traffic at about 70 when the fast lane suddenly became the slow lane. The guy ahead of me was hard on the brakes. A split second later, I was, too–braking into ABS. Got slowed to about 5-mph with plenty of space between us.

I even like the ATS-V interior but, admittedly, I may be in the minority there. I'm fine with the car's IP which a lot of other ATS-V owners do not care for. The look of the interior trim, which some think is too "cheap and plastic" looking, suits my minimalist comfort zone. If I could change anything, it would be the center stack's use of "touch bars" as controls–give me freakin buttons and knobs, Cadillac. All those controls and the infotainment system should have been the way Chevrolet does in the C7 Vette and in my new Colorado ZR2 pick-up. The other thing I wish for is, when your on cruise control and you touch the clutch pedal, the cruise disables immediately. The '16 ATS-V's cruise control is programmed to require the clutch pedal on the floor for several seconds before the system disables. If there is one feature of the Triple-B I can truly say, I hate; it's that.

Finally, there's the car's exterior. The ATS-V exterior design totally appeals to me. I like the car's subtile rake. I like how the tire fill the wheel openings. Well, ok, the car's sideview might be even better if it was lowered a bit, the effect on handing of adequate ride travel is something I would not want to give-up. I like Cadillac's edgy design "language" as it was applied to the ATS-V exterior. The bigger front splitter and rear deck spoiler which come with the road-racing inspired "Carbon Fiber" package is eye candy which tops off the car's front and rear views.


One of my favorite ATS-V views. Image: Author

In short, my Vector Blue ATS-V just feels and looks "right" to me whenever I drive it. I just really like this car.

So...there I was. Back at my desk at work after playing hooky on a 40-mile run to Gaviota and back.

The phone rings...:frown:

It's my pal Diego, one of the Service Consultants at my dealer, Bunnin Cadillac in Santa Barbara. He's calling to talk about the other ATS-V we own, a Crystal White Tincoat four-door that my Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red drives. "Pearl" has been nothing but trouble for most of the time we've owned it, so a call from the dealer likely another chapter in the smoking cold start saga.

Nothing like harshing my mellow.

For a good part of the two and a half years we've we owned that car, it's blown oil smoke out the exhaust for five or ten seconds after any cold start. Pearl's first bout with this problem ended in May of 2017 with GM replacing the cylinder heads, to no avail, then replacing both turbos, which stopped the smoking. At the time, we hoped that would have been a permanent fix, but about 4000 miles later, it started smoking after cold starts, again, and has been doing it for months. In fact, as I write this, the Fairest Sandra the Red is off to work. She started the car and it immediately put out a huge cloud of oil smoke.

When we last left off in this tale of woe (see post #241) a GM Field Service Engineer visited Bunnin Cadillac in the last week of January to inspect the car's smoking. He left telling Bunnin that GM's Technical Assistance Center would contact it at some time in the near future to tell Bunnin's Lead Technician, Tony Espinoza, what to do next.

Last week, word finally came down from TAC that GM's solution for Pearl's cold start smoking problem would be a new engine. The car's existing engine is going to be returned to GM in Michiga with its Dexos 1 approved engine oil still in it, so the engineers at its Global Propulsion Systems facility in Pontiac can determine exactly from where that oil is leaking.


This will be one expensive warranty claim. Image: GM Global Propulsion Systems.

My bet is the source is the turbocharger shaft seals. To facilitate the leak determination, the engine has already had some dye added to the oil which shows brightly under ultraviolet light.

I will be very interested to hear what the GMGPS engineers find.

Once her Pearl has a new and smoke-free LF4, the Fairest Sandra the Red will be glad to have a car that doesn't expel a smoke screen after she starts the car.

 

[LAROKE]

My feelings are pretty much the same with my velocity red 2017 six-speed coupe "Elvira". I enjoy my time with it so much that I've been neglecting the much needed work on my '37 and '55 Chevy hot rod trucks to get them running again. When Hurricane Irma was pointed at South Florida as a Category 5 storm, I bailed out to visit my relatives in the Pittsburgh area. The car did great in the parking lot that was I-95 between Savanna and North Carolina. No overheating and no clutch malfunctions in the five mph stop-n-go traffic.

At any rate, I've had her now for thirteen months and 9,500 miles. I've noticed smoke only twice but this is South Florida and it doesn't get cold very often. I've had one oil change and it's what the dealer put in it. I don't know what that was. Also, I'm driving the thing about every twelve hours back and forth to work. This is city street driving exclusively and there is only one stretch of straight, four-lane road, about three-eighths mile, with no access on the right (railroad tracks) and limited access on the left (three housing development entrances) where I can exercise the no-lift shifting. As luck would have it the authorities have put one of those speed recording trailers along this stretch to spoil my fun. First time I passed it hellbent for leather, it flashed red and blue across the top and the digital speed readout turned into hyphens.

Thanx again Hib

 

[Hib Halverson]

All it read was a bunch of hyphens?

:laugh:

 

[LAROKE]

All it read was a bunch of hyphens?

:laugh:

Just two big hyphens. I was still in first gear and it is placed near the intersection I start from but I guess getting up to speed so fast is what alarmed the fragile electronics.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Lots to talk about this week....

Smokeless Part Deux
Heard from Bunnin Cadillac, the great dealer I have here in California's south-central coast. The new engine for our four-door, "Pearl", has arrived. Bunnin's Parts Department still has some ancillary parts on order with GM. When those items come in, we'll take the car in for the engine change. My Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red, has not been very happy with her smoke-belching ATS-V. We thought the problem was fixed last year when GM put two new turbos on it, but we were too quick to rejoice–the problem returned after about 4000 miles. This time we're cautiously optimistic, but we'll wait a while before doing a happy dance.

As for our other ATS-V, the "Blue BMW Buster"–or "TripB" as I've come to say–it's also got an oil smoke after cold start problem, too, but it is intermittent. Eventually, I'm going to have to get Cadillac to address that problem, but for now, Sandy and I are just happy that GM's Technical Assistance Center finally decided on a fix for Pearl. Stay tuned on this one.

Cadillac Dependability? Yeah, right.
I have a pal who's a Ford guy. He likes nothing better to give me a ride in his Focus ST (which I affectionately call the "pregnant roller skate") and remind me repeatedly that Fords don't have the chronic QC problems our Caddys are having. We'll go chasing each other on our favorite mountain road north of L.A. I often will pass him on the first long straight to remind him that, while ATS-Vs might not be as reliable, one problem they don't have (at least when they are not being repaired at the dealer) is lack of mid-range torque and top-end power. Ok, ok, blowing the doors off a 257-hp Focus ST with a 464-hp ATS-V might not be a fair fight, but...it's fun.

A couple of weeks ago, J.D. Power released it's 2018 Dependability Study. The good news is that a couple of GM brands, Buick and Chevrolet, did pretty damn well. Buick was third overall, with 99 problems-per-100 vehicles and Chevrolet was sixth with 124-per-100.

Cadillac? Well, they continue to suck as far as dependability, finishing 27th out of 31–way below the industry average and the worst of any GM brand. Of late, Caddy's dependability ratings have been pretty pathetic. In the previous two years, it was 15th. I'm embarrassed to say that my experiences with our two problem-child ATS-V's supports J.D. Power's findings as far as vehicle dependability. Via email, the "Little V-Blog" contacted Cadillac Communications representative, Michael Patrick, who works with entertainment, influencer and social meda, for comment on this Blog post, but he did not reply to our query.

I think it's a freakin' shame that Cadillac President, Johan de Nysschen won't stop trying so hard to make Cadillac an Audi clone and manage his people such that they focused on building good product and supporting it in a manner than doesn't disrespect customers. Forget dumb-assed stuff like the the "Pinnacle Project" which has forced dealers to waste a ton of money to give customers some kind of experience which makes them feel "special".

As a Cadillac customer, sometimes I feel like crap about the brand, regardless of what the Pinnacle Project has done to the dealer experience because the cars have shoddy quality. It just fries me to see de Nysschen flushing big money down the toilet on marketing BS like "Cadillac House" in New York or buying adds during the Academy Awards show when we customers have to put up with the demeaning experience we have to go though to get Cadillac to fix our cars.

Mr. de Nysschen needs to do what he can to get his organization to make cars that don't require their owners be BFFs with the local dealer. Cadillac's PR minions talk about Cadillac having "...renewed core values in a new ethos, called Dare Greatly, that communicates the brand’s mission to consumers." Give me an freakin' break! Cadillac has done anything but "dare greatly" or, even just "dare" l, when it comes to taking care of consumers such as myself, who owns two ATS-Vs which, as reported by the coverage in this Blog, have had lots of dependability problems

I want to see Cadillac re-establish itself as "The Standard of the World". To do that, Mr. de Nysschen needs to get his people to do a hell of a lot more than come up with marketing buzz phrases like "Dare Greatly".

I want a Blacked-Out Grille
I have a new must-have item on my list of personalization items for my ATS-V Coupe. In '17 Cadillac made a black front grille available on some ATS-Vs and in 2018 it's available, again, on selected models. I was standing in the driveway looking at the 3/4ths front fiew of the Trip-B the other morning and decided the Blue BMW Buster is going to look more bad-assed if I swap the chrome front grille for the black one.

I have a subscription to GM Service Information which I got though ACDelco and, after reading the procedure used to swap the upper front grilled, the task looks a little time consuming but not difficult. So, Monday morning, its off to my dealer Bunning Cadillac to see if 1) the black grille is available as a replacement part and 2) if it's got a reasonable price tag.



Let me know what you think.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Well...maybe my black grille idea isn't such a good one. Was down at my Cadillac dealer yesterday and priced the "black chrome" grille which, I come to find, is a GM Accessory for ATSes.

It runs over 600 bucks and the labor to install it is 800.

As cool as it would look, I'm going to have to think about that idea a little more.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Smokeless Part Deux Update

It took a long time for most of the right parts to show up at my dealer, Bunnin Cadillac, but our Sedan, "Pearl" is finally getting its new engine. Bunnin's Lead Technician, Tony Esposito has the powertrain module, consisting of the front subframe, engine and transmission on the ground. The new LF4 is in a crate right near the rack.



I was at Bunnin last week talking a look at both engines along with taking a few images of the scene. It was no surprise to me that inside the two turbocharger outlets was the same oil residue we saw last year before GM changed the two turbo chargers. See post #207 for those pics.


This is the outlet of the passenger side turbo. That shiny stuff is liquid oil. Image: Author


If you dip your finger inside that turbo outlet housing, this is what you get. Yuk! Image: Author

I'm a little puzzled about why GM decided to change the motor this time rather than just putting another set of turbos on the engine. Looking at the turbo charger outlets wet with oil and I'm thinking this problem is not inside the engine, it's a problem with the turbos...a turbocharger shaft sealing problem is my best guess.

As of last last Friday, the new engine and the car's 8-speed had been bolted together. Then Esposito had to take a break because there is, yet another part that needs to be ordered.

And, speaking of parts to be ordered, since excessive oil burning tends to significantly decrease the life of catalytic converters, when the turbos where changed last time, I asked GM to replace the cats. They refused. This time I'm asking again but only to replace the passenger side cat which has seen the most burnt oil flowing through it.


This is the inlet of the driver-side cat. That black shiny stuff is oil. Last time, GM wouldn't replace the cats. This time, I hope they will see it my way. Image: Author.

Hell, for all the trouble we have with these two ATS-Vs of ours, GM ought to replace both cats as a show of good faith and support for a less-than-satisfied customer. My bet is GM will refuse.

My hope is my Wife, the Fairest Sandra the Red will have her Pearl back by the end of next week.

X'ing my fingers for sure.

 

[Hib Halverson]

This just in...

Automotive News has a headline on its web site...

General Motors appointed Steve Carlisle president of Cadillac, replacing Johan de Nysschen, who is leaving the automaker immediately.

I've been advocating for a year or more that GM needed to give de Nysschen the boot and finally...Mrs. Barra saw the light and did it.

ocker:
​

 

[Tuna]

Just wondering - is it possible that the oil feed to the turbos is under too much pressure, causing the oil to bypass the seals there?

 

[Hib Halverson]

I don't think so because the oil leakage does not seem to happen when the engine is running. It seems to be happening after the engine is shut down and it sits for several hours.

 

[Unclevito]

I don't think so because the oil leakage does not seem to happen when the engine is running. It seems to be happening after the engine is shut down and it sits for several hours.

Hib: Admit that GM cars are total garbage. If you refuse to buy BMW then at least buy Audi. Why do you put up with this GM grief.

Editing here. I read an earlier post (#249) by yourself where you essentially said the same thing. Only way that Cadillac comes to terms with its QC problem is by folks NOT buying their cars. Thankfully articles like yours and wussy magazines like Consumer Reports help advertise the sorry QC issues with Cadillac.

 

[Hib Halverson]

I refuse to buy BMWs for a couple of reasons. One, I have little or no experience working on them and lack proper diagnostic equipment to do so if I did have that experience. Secondly, a BMW is a poor choice for a DIY service technician because service information is so difficult to obtain. Third, I tend to keep daily drivers a long time. I have a friend who owns a service shop specializing in Mercedes, BMW and Porsche. Typically, his customers' cars are older and out of warranty. He's told me many times that BMWs are poor choices if the objective is to keep the car for 10-15 years because a) they are not as durable and b) parts costs are obscene. Further, based on what he says about in-warranty BMWs, that brand of car has it's QC troubles, too, but since the amount of German car haters is far less than American car haters, BMW problems don't get as much exposure.

I wouldn't choose an Audi because I've driven a couple of them, most recently a supercharged Audi S4 and compared to the ATS-V they suck as far as ride quality. They're overdamped for normal street use and they are harsh. With only, 354-hp, I'd be unhappy. As for an Audi for a long-term daily driver, I'd be hesitant for the same reasons I'm hesitant with BMW.

That said, it is true it's no secret we have had trouble with both our ATS-Vs–mainly problems with powertrain components–and, in both cases, getting Cadillac's initial attention was difficult. The initial problem with my Coupe, the transmission issue, was clearly a QC failure, however, the oil smoke after cold start problem seems a little different. I'm still at a loss to explain why two '16 ATS-Vs, one early and one late can have similar, but yet not identical, problems. My speculation is that validation testing did no uncover a problem with turbocharger shaft sealing. I'll also speculate that whatever problem there is with those seals, it's not consistent because, clearly, not every LF4 engine has problems with cold start oil use. When GM finally gets the first engine out of our Sedan back to Michigan and tests it, I'm going to try and find out the results of fault analysis it does.

Why am I so persistent? Well...all the problems aside, I really like the ATS-V, especially the Coupe. I like it's power, I like its ride on long trips and I especially like its handing and braking. At this point, the ATS-V's days are numbered. The Sedan is gone and the Coupe has another year. Sadly, once they become part of automotive history, there will be no American car maker which has a high-performance compact sports sedan or sports coupe. Yeah, there is Mustang and Camaro, but I think it's a stretch to call them "compact". Maybe I should have considered a Camaro but, back in early '16 when I decided to order my ATS-V Coupe, I'd been driving an '01 Camaro for 15 years and was ready for something different.

Finally, I guess I'm trying to do my part in shining some light on Cadillac QC problems.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Unclevito]

Your comments are valid. Wife has a 2001 BMW 325ci convertible bought new and we have no unusual problems with it. Of course, we did not buy the M series in that we do not try to race it. Considering that the car is now 17 years old, we have had a new fuel pump and new plastic overflow tank. I do my own oil changes and brake pad changes with new disks every other brake change. I let my wife enjoy it. The low profile tires are a pain because the car hits on bumps in the road.

Since I moved to 4 acres in Atascadero, I drive my Toyota Highlander almost exclusively. I love it and it can carry most all the crap that my location requires. I guess a pickup is what is next required. Still have my 64 vette which is all I need for fun. Not the fastest, but you cannot beat the looks

Wife and I put in a pool for $110,000 which is money I would much better spend on than on fancy cars. Grandkids love it and we travel. I guess we just have different hobbies based on where we live and our interests. Glad you love your Cadillacs. I wish I could get that passionate about something and enjoy it that much!

 

[Hib Halverson]

Your comments are valid. Wife has a 2001 BMW 325ci convertible bought new and we have no unusual problems with it. Of course, we did not buy the M series in that we do not try to race it. Considering that the car is now 17 years old, we have had a new fuel pump and new plastic overflow tank. I do my own oil changes and brake pad changes with new disks every other brake change. I let my wife enjoy it. The low profile tires are a pain because the car hits on bumps in the road.

I do most oil changes and a lot of other work on our cars, too. One of our ATS-Vs has enough miles on it that we're getting close to when the pads will need replacing. When that time comes, I'll mic the brake discs and if they're still above min. thickness, I'll just put new pads in the calipers and bleed. My next shop job is to replace the cats on our '04 Corvette.

Since I moved to 4 acres in Atascadero, I drive my Toyota Highlander almost exclusively.

You're not too far from us. We're in Goleta but on a much smaller piece of property. We used to have a '99 Blazer ZR2 for hauling stuff but the top began to rust through so I sold it and bought new Colorado ZR2. We use that for hauling stuff and off-road trips.

I love it and it can carry most all the crap that my location requires. I guess a pickup is what is next required. Still have my 64 vette which is all I need for fun. Not the fastest, but you cannot beat the looks

Corvette are our go-fast car's to. We have a couple of ZO6es, an '04 and a '12.

Wife and I put in a pool for $110,000 which is money I would much better spend on than on fancy cars.

We don't have a big enough yard for a pool so we put in a spa and spent the rest on fancy cars.

Grandkids love it and we travel.

My Wife travels a lot. I go with her sometimes. We've done a lot of Corvette road trips together. Our next overseas adventure is probably going to be Ireland or Scotland.

I guess we just have different hobbies based on where we live and our interests. Glad you love your Cadillacs. I wish I could get that passionate about something and enjoy it that much!

 

[Hib Halverson]

"Pearl", our ATS-V sedan has gone 949 miles on its new engine and has used ⅓-qt. of oil which I'd expect for a new engine. Nearing 1000 miles on the engine, it was about time for the first oil filter change. I give any new engine a filter change at about 1000 miles. Last weekend in installed a new ACDelco PF63E oil filter.

The best news is so far (can you hear me knocking on wood?) there's been no oil smoke after cold starts.

The old engine still sits at the dealership. Eventually, it will get shipped to Michigan where, so I'm told, GM is going to run some tests on it to see where and why it leaks oil into the turbocharger exhaust housing after shutowns.

 

[Tuna]

I'll knock on a little wood for you also.

I guess GM isn't in any hurry to find out why your engine gets oil in the turbo.