Proud New XLR owner who was going to wait two introduce until nemesis was running right.

[david22]

I've had many cars and must say I love my (new to me) 05 XLR THE MOST, (when it's running). My last ride was an 03 Porsche carrerra which experienced Internal shaft damage at 53K. Turns out Porsche will be settling a class action for the failure with myself and many others whose VIN falls in the chosen VIN brackets outlined in the suit. After much consternation, research, and finding this Forum prior to my XLR purchase I put down cash and a lil finance & drove Raven home with pride. It was decidedly more comfortable, spiritually pleasing and head turning then any automobile before. I confess there was a little white lie or two on my part putting my wife together on this one. Nothing major, The partial loan payment is a little higher then stated and the warranty on the car is slightly non-existent. I purchased it 5 months ago here in Central California with a clean carfax and a smooth running introduction. It was love at first bite. For sure I love the car. It's been towed into the SLO cadillac dealership 3 times , and after much frustration, guess work, and google diagnostics , I had the 4th tow in to a trusted Independent I know. Cadillac somehow felt, the car won't start was related to the $650 tranny module they installed, Nope . Turns out the won't start syndrome was simply a brake sensor issue, my independent diagnosed in 6 minutes on his magic code reader. I have thoroughly enjoyed the car for 3 of the 5 months I have owned it. My independent (Mark) confessed it may be more then he can take on. Since the sensors are not communicating to each other, he is stymied with ck. speed sensors, ck stabbilitrak again, ck abs, ck everything that lights up on the xmas tree, Check fuel system he discovered is the internal floats in the gas tank. 12 hours, a rear end drop and $1600 to fix. For now I keep the tank topped off always as a short term fix. I'm soul searching a lot and really wondering if i did something wrong to deserve the CARMA! I waited 5 months to introduce myself hoping to merely champagne toast you all instead. I'd love to stay loyal to my new mistress but unless any of you can refer me to a master diagnostician here in Central California my wife will be saying I told you so fairly soon. I admire this forum for it's intellect , passion and knowledge. I look forward to all your suggestions. I WANT TO KEEP HER!!! David

 

[Rob]

David,

Welcome to the XLR Net. I'm sure one of our members will be along to offer some help to you.

-Rob

 

[hawkeye372]

welcome to the best xlr site around

 

[Stella]

Welcome to the site sorry to hear the problems. Their are acouple people here that live in the state. I'm sure they will chime in for some help directing you to the best places to service your baby. Good luck with your repairs.

 

[graytoad]

So sorry to hear you are off to a frustrating start with your new-to-you car. I am from Canada so I certainly can not help with recomendations and I have not had any trouble with my car other than a o2 sensor kicking off the check engine light occasionally in relation to my aftermarket cold air intake, but my hubby seems to think he finally found the problem!

I certainly hope you get things sorted soon and really start to enjoy your car the way you deserve to!
Drive safe and beware of the crazies out there!

 

[b_pappy]

Welcome to the forum.
I can commiserate with your electrical gremlins. I will ask if you have checked in the trunk. Open the trunk lid. In the left rear corner, under the carpet, in the very aft left corner of the trunk is a removable plastic cover. Lift it up. Should be two computers and the hydraulic top pump under there. Check for standing water, or signs of previously standing water. It should be bone dry.
Check and let us know. I do have a really good tech down here, but you have to come to the San Fernando Valley.
Hope you get it fixed, they are fun once you get the planets aligned.
Bruce

 

[david22]

Thanks to all for feedback,

thank you Sandy and Bruce for the recommendation, I look for bone dry in the trunk, it is bone dry and it was first sold in San Diego California. I was talking to another car bud the other day and he mentioned his Caddy displayed check fuel system, and he was advised to change his gas cap, which seemed compromised. Problem solved. Lo and behold my gas cap is loose and doesn't tighten down well.
I called my guy and had him order me an OEM cap pronto. Come monday I will be able to test that theory on mine. Explains why with a full tank there is no issue, there is little air space in the tank.
I hope its that easy this time around
David

 

[WB6BBZ]

David22,

Hello and welcome to the forum.

First, when seeking a mechanic to work on your car, you should make sure he/she is a 'CERTIFIED XLR TRAINED TECH/MECHANIC' and has a TECH-2 and knows how to use it.

I found out back in 2008 that Caddie dealers will not admit they do not have a 'CERTIFIED XLR TRAINED TECH/MECHANIC' working for them, they will say something to the effect that all their tech/mechanics are certified to work on any GM built vehicle. I would suggest you keep searching.
The closet Caddie dealer to me with a certified tech/mechanic is 50 miles in Irvine, CA.

I found that the majority of the problems were due to loose battery terminal connections and weak batteries/shorted cells.
One way to determine if your battery needs to be replaced is to try to open the trunk without the engine running. If you hear the hydro pump running but the latch doesn't release, 9 out of 10 times the battery has gone bad.

I purchased my XLR from a private party on Dec.13, 2007 with 10,250 miles on her and had to have the OEM battery replaced in the summer of 2008 while at the Homecoming in Bowling Green, KY. In the 8 months of ownership, I had all kinds of messages pop up on the DIC. (Electrical Gremlins)
As suggested by the factory engineers, I purchased a Battery Tender and used it EVERY TIME the car was parked in my garage.
The second OEM battery had to be replaced in 2010 but I DID NOT replace it with another OEM, I replaced it with a Sear's Premium Diehard and have had no battery problems since.

A lot of other members of this forum have replaced their OEM batteries with Optima (SP?) batteries but I've always had good luck with the Sear's Diehards.
IMHO, with all the micro-p's within these cars, they will drain the battery to a point that when you start the car, the in-rush of charge current will short out cells in the battery if it isn't topped off with a Battery Tender. I came to this conclusion because both the OEM batteries I had to replace had shorted cells and the Diehards seem to be able to handle it.

Now lets talk about the gasoline I use in my vehicles.

90% of what I use is Chevron with Techtron! Our fuel systems are the same as the Corvette's and if you research this forum AND the Corvette forums you'll see that these cars have the same problems with the fuel systems in reference to internal sending units etc.
I have put 40K miles on my XLR since I purchased it and If I can not locate a Chevron station, I'll stop at a Auto Parts Store and purchased a bottle of Techtron to add to the next tank of fuel. Also, use the highest grade of Octane possible. These Northstar engines are one of the most reliable engines ever built for passenger cars and if cared for properly, will out last the rest of the car. As for oil, I use only Mobil 1.

Another thing you want to do is replace the Lithium batteries in your FOBs (Remotes) with the Medical grade ones and replace them every couple of years and also carry the or a copy of the rear bumper emergency key in your wallet.
My FOB batteries, (yes, both the #1 & #2 FOBs) went dead at the same time while I was parked in my cousin's driveway in Florida last year. Was my face red!

I sure hope this info helps you.
Good luck,

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

I've had many cars and must say I love my (new to me) 05 XLR THE MOST, (when it's running). My last ride was an 03 Porsche carrerra which experienced Internal shaft damage at 53K. Turns out Porsche will be settling a class action for the failure with myself and many others whose VIN falls in the chosen VIN brackets outlined in the suit. After much consternation, research, and finding this Forum prior to my XLR purchase I put down cash and a lil finance & drove Raven home with pride. It was decidedly more comfortable, spiritually pleasing and head turning then any automobile before. I confess there was a little white lie or two on my part putting my wife together on this one. Nothing major, The partial loan payment is a little higher then stated and the warranty on the car is slightly non-existent. I purchased it 5 months ago here in Central California with a clean carfax and a smooth running introduction. It was love at first bite. For sure I love the car. It's been towed into the SLO cadillac dealership 3 times , and after much frustration, guess work, and google diagnostics , I had the 4th tow in to a trusted Independent I know. Cadillac somehow felt, the car won't start was related to the $650 tranny module they installed, Nope . Turns out the won't start syndrome was simply a brake sensor issue, my independent diagnosed in 6 minutes on his magic code reader. I have thoroughly enjoyed the car for 3 of the 5 months I have owned it. My independent (Mark) confessed it may be more then he can take on. Since the sensors are not communicating to each other, he is stymied with ck. speed sensors, ck stabbilitrak again, ck abs, ck everything that lights up on the xmas tree, Check fuel system he discovered is the internal floats in the gas tank. 12 hours, a rear end drop and $1600 to fix. For now I keep the tank topped off always as a short term fix. I'm soul searching a lot and really wondering if i did something wrong to deserve the CARMA! I waited 5 months to introduce myself hoping to merely champagne toast you all instead. I'd love to stay loyal to my new mistress but unless any of you can refer me to a master diagnostician here in Central California my wife will be saying I told you so fairly soon. I admire this forum for it's intellect , passion and knowledge. I look forward to all your suggestions. I WANT TO KEEP HER!!! David

David WELCOME to the forum! I'm sorry to read here all the problems your having. These cars are very advanced with lot of moving parts and computers, not like our older cars that us old timer are not smart enough to work on them I usually need to send by in for repairs. I'm not much help for your problems! Good Luck

 

[XFireXLR]

Congrats and welcome to the forum!!!!

 

[CNC]

Welcome to The Best XLR Site : )

Welcome! --- Sorry to hear of the problems. It appears that at some cost , you presently have them 'sorted'. I would make a suggestion in the future. Post the issue on this site and you will receive really good recommendations. One of the folks here is an Expert Cadillac Tec.

Here is a site where if needed you can also call and talk to this guy on the phone. He's in Texas and really knowledgeable,

http://www.carrollcustomcadillac.com/Pages/default.aspx

One of the most consist themes I've picked up on is low voltage battery issues.

 

[HOMEGAMEROOM]

Welcome, and I'm sorry to hear of your issues as well.

Check a few of the other threads going on right now; I had similar issues before I bought the battery tender...and a new battery. Our cars are pretty sensitive to low voltage. Yes, I leave it plugged in (to the battery tender) all the time when I am not driving it and have not seen the DIC light up since (knocking on wood).

I'm assuming that the car is running fine otherwise, correct?

 

[madcurl]

Welcome, but I'm sorry to hear of you're recent issue with the XLR. Did the new OEM gas cap solve the problems?

 

[david22]

OEM gas cap

I noticed quite an improvement with the new cap. The "check fuel system" light has only appeared twice in the last month of driving. The previous cap did not have a tight seal so I'm sure was a contributing factor. The two times the light came on in the last month i was running at about a half tank of fuel. I filled up right away with techron premium as advised, and the light remains off. I suspect there may be a float issue in the gas tank and at lower levels it triggers.
Until I am certain I'll keep the tank topped as often as feasible.
I still have the "check stabillitrac" light come on occasionally, but if I put the car to bed for the night it is fine the next day for a week or two. One of the tech threads on the site speaks of a steering wheel adjustment fix so if it persists I will have that looked at.
I absolutely love the car, I was babying it quite a bit in the beginning because of the little nuances that kept popping up. I finally said the heck with it, until something BREAKS I'm going to really just drive the car . I have and I push it to it's full capabilities within reason and it sure seems to appreciate the workouts!
Like I said in my first thread I'm liking this ride a whole lot more then I did my Porsche Carrera. Not sure if that's a sign of age or just good judgement, Haha