Do new Cadillacs have transmission problems?

[denise 20352]

   This article from wikipedia claims that new Cadillacs have fragile transmissions.

Ce qui paraît surprenant pour une marque imbue dun style aussi fort, Cadillac na pas cédé à la tentation de produire un modèle « rétro » comme par exemple la nouvelle Ford Thunderbird ou la VW New Beetle ; au contraire la firme sest lancée dans la fabrication de véhicules aux lignes anguleuses, comme taillées à la serpe, et qui incorporent certaines composantes de la gamme Opel.

   That part translates to: "Cadillac is making Japanese econoboxes".  I had already noticed that, but this is what caught my eye:

 Ils pourraient cependant bénéficier dune boîte de vitesses automatique un peu moins fragile.

    "They could benefit from a transmission that was a little less fragile".  Is there any truth to this?

-denise

[Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397]

Id say recent Cadillacs definitely dont have problems with transmissions. All FWD Northstar Cadillacs since the first ones have been equipped with the 4T80 Hydramatic transaxle which is a heavy-duty unit with the highest torque capacity of any FWD transaxle in the world.  The RWD CTS has the same 5 speed Hydramatic that GM sells to BMW and the SRX crossover has a heavier-duty version of that unit to handle its much heavier weight and carrying capacity. Im not sure which unit or units the STS gets, but it would be either the CTS or SRX one and may depend on V-6 or V-8.  Either way, theyve got a good transmission, too.    

[TJ H 20664]

Also isnt the 4T80 the same guts as the 4L80 which is the standard transmission in the 1/2 & 3/4 ton trucks?  Didnt the 80 come out about the time the Northstar did?  One of my friends said its alot like the 400 in design and size of the parts.  I have not heard of transmission problems in cads since the 200s of the late 70s and early-mid 80s, and even those were not that bad as long as you didnt abuse them.

TJ H
20664

[Bill Burton #19057]

The engine and transmission assembly are being bought or taken from wrecked cars and remounted in offroad vehicles.  Often the engines are worked over considerably for more power.  Ive never heard of a transmission giving way under the increased workload, although the body weight is reduce by probably 80percent.  In that kind of treatment, a weak transmission would be quickly evident.  Best wishes and Happy New Year.  Bill Burton

[Pat]

My friend just purchased a 03 Seville SLS and it doesnt have a slap-stick auto/manual transmission. What gives with that?  I also stopped to see the long past due Lincoln MKX today...NO slap-stick auto/manual transmission and the MKZ formerly known as the ZEPHYR has NO slap-stick auto/manual transmission???

Seems to support your theory on weak transmissions!

[David King #22014]

If your buying a new (used later on) Cadillac or any other GM product, your powertrain is covered for 100K or 5 years.  So the company is backing these better than anybody else.

Here the link:  

http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewmonthlyreleasedetail.do?domain=74&docid=28433 TARGET=_blank>http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet?target=http://image.emerald.gm.com/gmnews/viewmonthlyreleasede

David

[Rusty Shepherd CLC 6397]

Pat, I dont know where you got the idea that what you refer to as the slap-stick auto/manual shifter (which I would guess the majority of drivers never use anyway) would somehow indicate that a transmission was strong and the lack of it would indicate that it was weak, but its just not true any more than an automatic transmission with five, six, or seven speeds would automatically be more heavy-duty/durable than one with only four (or three or two, for that matter).  Any modern transmission, with or without sturdy internal components (the real measure of its durability), can easily be adapted to auto/manual as Cadillac did with the CTS beginning in 2006.