5.2

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
18,262 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2004 Cadillac CTS drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2004 Cadillac CTS Owner Comments (Page 2 of 2)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #12

Feb 052006

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 6,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Vehicle has excessive wheel hop, causing rear differential failure. I've gone 2 times for differential bushing replacements and 1 rear end replaced. The vehicle has gone through a tsb which was supposed to correct axle wheel hop. Still no fix the vehicle still wheel hops.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #11

Jun 012004

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 1,000 miles
Rear differential whines.

- Oceanside, CA, USA

problem #10

Mar 052005

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 4,800 miles
Two differential failures in the first year and under 10,000 miles of ownership. Currently on the 3rd differential and it is whining/leaking. Have read several reports of failed differential's causing substantial damage to the vehicle on Cts/srx platform vehicles. Cadillac denies there is an issue. Dealership unwilling to accept the defect either.

- Reno, NV, USA

problem #9

Jan 172006

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 4,900 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Failure of a second rear differential I was on the highway doing 55 mph in the center lane when the rear went. The car shut down forcing me to pull to the right in traffic without power. The car had to be towed as it would no longer move.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

problem #8

Dec 272005

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
I own a 2004 Cadillac Cts-V. after owning the vehicle for a few months, with approximately 6,000 miles on the car, I began to experience an extreme whining noise from the rear-end of the car. I took the car to the dealership and they said the noise was normal for my vehicle. I continued driving the vehicle and about 5 weeks ago I took my car in for excessive noise coming from the rear of my car. The dealership found that the rear differential unit had excessive play and needed to be replaced under warranty. This concerned me so I did some research. My research found that many, many Cts-V owners are having the exact same problem and that my problem was in no way isolated. I also found that the differential unit used in the Cts-V is underrated and is not designed to handle the power produced by the engine from the factory. I am concerned that a failure in the near future will cause serious injury to someone if no action is taken.

- Massillon, OH, USA

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problem #7

Dec 082005

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 3,220 miles
I purchased the car new on 1/08/05. The car started to make a howling noise after several thousand miles, GM tech's indicated that it was coming from the rear differential. The original rear differential was replaced at 3220 (7/1/05) miles due to internal failure of differential assembly. The howling noise occurred again at 5.565 ( 12/08/05) miles. Again, the rear differential was replaced and the repair order noted that it was also leaking differential fluid. I contacted several other owners of the same type of car and they have the exact same problem. I'm concerned that this is a re-occurring problem due to a under rated differential.

- Mount Airy, MD, USA

problem #6

Apr 112005

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 22,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Premature rear end differential failure.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

problem #5

Mar 012005

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 19,000 miles
Rear end differential assembly underrated for vehicle. The differential whined up until failure. The differential was replaced under warranty.

- Cleveland, OH, USA

problem #4

Apr 052005

(reported on)

CTS

  • miles
2004 Cadillac Cts having problems with rear differential. The rear differential has been replaced twice. The manufacturerindicated that the loud humming noise coming from the rear diffeential was normal.

- Unknown, DC, USA

problem #3

Apr 102005

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 2,800 miles
Rear differential failure/half driveshaft failure. Rear differential case fracture dand broke in half shafts.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

problem #2

Nov 172004

CTS 8-cyl

  • Manual transmission
  • 1,500 miles
This vehicle exibits excessive wheel hop, when under har accleration, the rear suspension carriage assembly hit the frame. The wheels jump up and down violently. Some cars have broken axles or damaged the rear differential. This could also cause loss of control.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

problem #1

Jan 012004

CTS 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 12,000 miles
Rear differential whine from 45 mph after vehicle has driven at least 5 miles.

- Allen, TX, USA

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