CT4-V BW - LOW OIL PRESSURE - METAL IN OIL

[bl4ck_wng]

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen,

I may have blown up my Blackwing. I was in traffic last Thursday (in my mode- completely behaving for the whole 15-minute drive) when I received my first ever warning message in my BW. Low oil pressure, turn vehicle off immediately. I was in traffic, but right around the corner from my house, so I rolled it the rest of the way to my neighborhood and limped it up the driveway. Within 10-15 seconds of that message appearing (and before I could cut the engine power out) it disappeared on its own. The car ran and drove like it was just a sensor malfunction in that immediate 45 seconds after the message (although this really doesn't mean anything). Immediately, and at the recommendation of my dealer, I flat bedded the vehicle from my driveway out of an abundance of caution.

On a preliminary 3-mile diagnosis drive, the Caddy tech got the light to go on and stay on for good... Four days of investigation later, and the tech has now located metal shavings in the engine oil. Major, major problem. I purchased this car as to commute in, and have made sure to do everything possible to keep her absolutely perfect. I had the first service performed early at 2,000 miles- which is way early for GM's Dexos algorithm (it's an old Bimmer habit), and absolutely babied this car during the first 750-1,000 miles. Never ever abused, overheated, street raced, or brought to the track/road course. Seriously, I have used launch control only three or four times total in my 5,000 miles. I can genuinely say that I have spent more time detailing this car than driving it! In all honesty I am rather young (25y/o), and I have absolutely ZERO experience dealing with something like this. Older guys on the forums - Is there anything I can do to protect myself as a consumer in this situation? Or will my new car warranty protect me as a consumer? (My vehicle is bone stock under the hood- never modified aside from some mirror puddle lamps) - I am beyond scared they are going to tell me I am on the hook for a new engine, which I don't feel I have done anything to compromise in any way, particularly given my neurotic car care tendencies.

Any advice for a terrified young lad would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance and my apologies for writing a novel on the matter,
-AR

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

Is it a manual car?

I'd be curious to know, I assume BW's have the same kind of data logging that Porsche does in their DME to check for overrevs and more specifically, 'money shifts'. So long as you didn't do that, and didn't modify anything related to the engine, I would have to assume you're covered by warranty.

 

[Bigfx]

You should be ok, unless you did something really wild for something to pop in the first 5k is usually a manufacturer anomaly. They will fix it

 

[bl4ck_wng]

Is it a manual car?

I'd be curious to know, I assume BW's have the same kind of data logging that Porsche does in their DME to check for overrevs and more specifically, 'money shifts'. So long as you didn't do that, and didn't modify anything related to the engine, I would have to assume you're covered by warranty.

Thanks NorCal, you raise a great point. My car is an automatic, and as far as over-revs, I believe that I have only had one such instance in my time with the car. That being said, it was a one-time first to second shift in which I must have forgotten that I was in manual mode, but I let off and shifted into second immediately (roughly 2000 miles ago when it happened if I had to guess). No issues or warning lights with that one-off event, but hey, you never know right? I'd imagine that one single instance was way less traumatic than how some of the guys are redlining the manual versions in videos on Youtube. Those guys drive the hell out of those cars!

 

[NorCal Blackwing]

You should be safe if it's in an automatic... even in manual mode I would expect it'll deny a shift that puts you beyond redline.

 

[jonnywaffles11]

you likely will be ok with an easy warranty fix, a few other unfortunate people have had some one off crazy issues and while timing will stink to get it fixed, it'll be fixed.

The biggest thing you should do is ensure you have thorough documentation and proof of any communication. be detailed in emails with the dealer, if on the phone be clear about next steps or anything going on and followup via email to get a paper trail of what is going on.

I would be pushing for warranty work plus extended warranty on power train on the car if you are "hopefully" planning on keeping it long term. others have also had Cadillac make a payment or two on the car from what I recall for those that were unfortunate enough to be wingless for an extended period of time.

 

[jonnywaffles11]

also documentation means that right now you should write down EXACTLY what you recall the situation to be that led up to the oil light coming on. be truthful as data logs will corroborate or void your story but have a written story that is thorough and documents anything that goes on. Stick to this story and even have it up if you're on the phone so you can reference it if techs or service writers are asking questions. Warranty work is usually pretty easy to be approved and the dealer wants to take it on cuz they bill GM and get paid w/o arguing pricing to a customer, but a hefty bill for total engine replacement could trigger some GM accountants reviewing what happened to ensure you didn't get the keys and immediately go full send in search of V-TEC for the next 5,000 miles.

 

[Tall Steve]

I thought these cars were designed to be driven hard? Please correct me if I'm wrong but the BW's have a rev limiter right? Yes they do because I bounced it off the limiter at SM several time by accident.......

I think you will be ok...

 

[seattlecubes]

you’re probably fine. You have service receipts. You haven’t abused it. Probably just a fluke that this happened…

 

[raptor5244]

I thought these cars were designed to be driven hard? Please correct me if I'm wrong but the BW's have a rev limiter right? Yes they do because I bounced it off the limiter at SM several time by accident.......

I think you will be ok...

Exactly. These cars are built and advertised to be run at the track so I hope they can handle the daily commute and a highway onramp blast every once in a while.

 

[Bigfx]

Any updates?

 

[Nadnerb]

Dont worry OP. I'm 23 and popped my 5BW motor and they replaced it pretty quickly. They're gonna ask if you money shifted or did any beating on it but at the end of the day they're gonna be sending you a new motor. That's what a new car warranty is for. Things happen, it is what it is. As long as you're in a loaner car and/or they're taking care of you, that's all that matters. If not then get on the horn with customer support. Hopefully they get you a motor quick and you're back to enjoying the car

 

[CBH]

Manuals over-rev the engine with a bad downshift (6-2 instead of 6-4). Rev limiters protect autos and manuals from going to far during acceleration.

Best of luck - keep us posted.

 

[Hawt Wing]

What does everybody’s oil pressure sit at during idling? I’ve seen 70s during start up and low 20s maybe even lower during idle (when warmed up). I understand the basic physics behind it but just wanted to compare and see what others have seen.

 

[Nadnerb]

What does everybody’s oil pressure sit at during idling? I’ve seen 70s during start up and low 20s maybe even lower during idle (when warmed up). I understand the basic physics behind it but just wanted to compare and see what others have seen.

Typically the 5s idle around 38 or so and on the freeway in 6th I’ve seen mine at 42-46 depending on if I just accelerated or just been cruising for a while. I remember someone saying that the oil pump is a variable vein system or something like that and oil pressure can fluctuate quite a bit normally thru that system. When my rod bearings spun on my 5 it was sitting at about 31 PSI oil pressure. I think on the freeway it was sub 40 and then when it spun it dropped drastically

 

[Kanetch]

My 4 idles at 20-21 when fully warm. With older oil (5000+ miles) I saw 19 a few times.

 

[Daijoubu]

Manuals over-rev the engine with a bad downshift (6-2 instead of 6-4). Rev limiters protect autos and manuals from going to far during acceleration.

Best of luck - keep us posted.

The real money shift in a manual is a missed 2-3 UPSHIFT. Going 1-2-1 will zing you right into buying yourself a new motor.

 

[Throat Yogurt]

The real money shift in a manual is a missed 2-3 UPSHIFT. Going 1-2-1 will zing you right into buying yourself a new motor.

Yes, or even more easily a 3-4 upshift where you grab 2 instead of 4.

 

[pmsteinm]

I had the courage to do a no-lift shift in my 09 V a couple times at VIR from 2-3 and 3-4. After that session I thought to myself that if I had missed those shifts it would have been bad. Chickened out every time after that.

 

[raptor5244]

The real money shift in a manual is a missed 2-3 UPSHIFT. Going 1-2-1 will zing you right into buying yourself a new motor.

Yes, but this is a bit harder to pull off since the 1st gear synchros don't like to all line up when you are at speed. On the 4BW, it is hard to downshift into first unless you are at a very low speed. The gates naturally take you from 2nd to 3rd, silky smooth.