AWD?

[Geo-TH,In]

I rarely use my AWD on 2023 XT5. Yesterday Day US40 was covered with 2 inches of snow Temp was 29 and under the snow was black Ice,. I turned on the AWD and it
sounded like a truck with mud and snow tires . When I get to feeling better I'll take it to the dealer. It is still under warranty, Do all AWD vehicles make a high pitched growling sound like the car has snow tires? This is the first car for me with AWD, Last year we got 8 inches of snow and I was glad i had AWD

 

[620 John]

Been kinda wondering the same thing with my new to me 2012 AWD Ford escape. Just sounds growly to me. Maybe it's normal for this car I don't know??? I'm going to go through and change all the drive train fluids and see if there's any excessive metal in anything. If I don't find anything bad I guess I'll just keep running it.

 

[Richard G.]

I rarely use my AWD on 2023 XT5. Yesterday Day US40 was covered with 2 inches of snow Temp was 29 and under the snow was black Ice,. I turned on the AWD and it
sounded like a truck with mud and snow tires . When I get to feeling better I'll take it to the dealer. It is still under warranty, Do all AWD vehicles make a high pitched growling sound like the car has snow tires? This is the first car for me with AWD, Last year we got 8 inches of snow and I was glad i had AWD

I really don't hear much different in my wife's 2004 Grand Cherokee in 4 WD.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

I'm no exert on 4WD or AWD but I think they are 2 different systems. I can't imagine the cost to repair one of those AWD.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

I rarely use my AWD on 2023 XT5. Yesterday Day US40 was covered with 2 inches of snow Temp was 29 and under the snow was black Ice,. I turned on the AWD and it
sounded like a truck with mud and snow tires . When I get to feeling better I'll take it to the dealer. It is still under warranty, Do all AWD vehicles make a high pitched growling sound like the car has snow tires? This is the first car for me with AWD, Last year we got 8 inches of snow and I was glad i had AWD

We have had multiple AWD and 4WD vehicles. No noises from any of them.
You say you rarely employ it. What is your vehicle then, 2 WD? Any AWD vehicle we have had was always at a minimum AWD, but could be locked in 4WD.

 

[cjunrau]

I rarely use my AWD on 2023 XT5. Yesterday Day US40 was covered with 2 inches of snow Temp was 29 and under the snow was black Ice,. I turned on the AWD and it
sounded like a truck with mud and snow tires . When I get to feeling better I'll take it to the dealer. It is still under warranty, Do all AWD vehicles make a high pitched growling sound like the car has snow tires? This is the first car for me with AWD, Last year we got 8 inches of snow and I was glad i had AWD

something wrong if it starts to growl. Mine never make any noise and not sure if there on unless i purposely spin the tires.

 

[scootergmc]

We have had multiple AWD and 4WD vehicles. No noises from any of them.
You say you rarely employ it. What is your vehicle then, 2 WD? Any AWD vehicle we have had was always at a minimum AWD, but could be locked in 4WD.

In normal tour mode, the XT5 has a true AWD disconnect.

 

[Goose]

FWIW, a few years ago, our daughter had a Hyundai "Kona" in AWD, You really couldn't tell the difference between running in 2WD or AWD.

 

[Richard Nixon]

I rarely use my AWD on 2023 XT5. Yesterday Day US40 was covered with 2 inches of snow Temp was 29 and under the snow was black Ice,. I turned on the AWD and it
sounded like a truck with mud and snow tires . When I get to feeling better I'll take it to the dealer. It is still under warranty, Do all AWD vehicles make a high pitched growling sound like the car has snow tires? This is the first car for me with AWD, Last year we got 8 inches of snow and I was glad i had AWD

George. There is, I believe, something wrong with your understanding of All Wheel Drive (AWD). In all the AWD systems I'm familiar with, and a am not a Cadillac or GM owner, the AWD is automatic and decides for itself when it needs to be in true all wheel drive. You don't get to decide that. I believe, you probably locked the axles with your select switch which should only be done in extremely slippery, severe conditions. If you encounter any dry road spots while locked up you can experience unstable driving control and certainly noises from the tires complaining about having essentially no differential.

 

[Watthour]

I had two Astro vans with AWD, and they never made any noise. I also have a half-truck (S10) and 2500 HD with the same series transfer case (NPG) and they are quiet in 4WD.

The current '23 Traverse in AWD or forced 4WD mode only made a little noise, once, and for the first 50 feet or so when I first engaged it at about 50 miles on the odometer. It hasn't made a noise since, going into its second winter. I believe the XT5 uses the same PTO (that's what they call the transfer case now) as the Lambda platform Traverse. If there is a noise, it might be good to check in at the warranty service department.

 

[john in la]

As said you can turn off the AWD in a XT5 and run in just two wheel drive for better fuel efficiency. Its called touring mode.

1) George you admit to using the AWD last year with no additional noise so it stands to reason something is wrong now.
2) Do you really think people would be satisfied paying what a XT5 cost if it sounded like what a 4 wheel drive jacked up pickup sounds.

 

[Richard Nixon]

I rarely use my AWD on 2023 XT5. Yesterday Day US40 was covered with 2 inches of snow Temp was 29 and under the snow was black Ice,. I turned on the AWD and it
sounded like a truck with mud and snow tires . When I get to feeling better I'll take it to the dealer. It is still under warranty, Do all AWD vehicles make a high pitched growling sound like the car has snow tires? This is the first car for me with AWD, Last year we got 8 inches of snow and I was glad i had AWD

To carry on with this. I just checked in case I was wrong, but no, I was right. At least according to AI info online. A Cadillac XTS driver cannot select AWD or 2WD. It's automatic.

 

[Watthour]

The Astros I had were the same way - Fully automatic engagement of the AWD, which was completely seamless and unnoticeable. Despite that, the transfer case engagement should be silent, whether manual or automatic.

 

[buickanddeere]

Some AWD lack a center transfer case. 4WD and in particular AWD are sensitive to tires with different diameters . There are some people here real proud of being cheap and too smart to let problems occur. The TPS sensors get tossed in the trash and a piece of tape applied over the dash warning lights. when was the last time the oil changed and proper oil installed?

 

[DavyH]

According to this article it can be turned off: https://www.torquenews.com/1083/2023-cadillac-xt5-sport-awd-get-all-options

On the road, we loved the comfort and visibility the XT5 offered. With two-wheel drive Touring mode offering ample power and grip, we tested the Sport mode, but felt that in our typical driving, we would not need it often. AWD is great for any wet or snowy days or the rare dirt road. Being able to turn off AWD to save a bit of fuel is a sensible design feature.

I wouldn't expect any sound difference with AWD enabled. In both 2wd and AWD all four wheels are turning just not the transfer case & extra two diffs, If you haven't used it for a long time maybe it's not engaging properly?

On my 4WD I had an issue where a vacuum hose started leaking and it was trying to engage the front diff and making a huge noise when it was suppose to be in 2WD.

 

[ss55]

I rarely use my AWD on 2023 XT5. Yesterday Day US40 was covered with 2 inches of snow Temp was 29 and under the snow was black Ice,. I turned on the AWD and it
sounded like a truck with mud and snow tires . When I get to feeling better I'll take it to the dealer. It is still under warranty, Do all AWD vehicles make a high pitched growling sound like the car has snow tires? This is the first car for me with AWD, Last year we got 8 inches of snow and I was glad i had AWD

Traction control will growl the same as anti lock brakes, but that was on a much older vehicle where traction control was an add-on feature to the anti-lock brake system.

The first thing I would do is read the AWD section of the owner's manual to get re-familiar with the car.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cadillac/comments/1ag3md8/cadillac_xt5_making_a_grouling_noise_when_i

Sounds like a dealer inspection would be worthwhile.

 

[MarkB_MI]

George, that's not the case with our AWD vehicles, either the 2012 GMC Acadia or the 2019 Buick Enclave. But I'm pretty sure your Caddy has a totally different drivetrain. The Acadia is always in AWD, while you can select it on the Enclave. I usually leave the Enclave in AWD because it eliminates wheel spin on gravel or wet pavement.

I found this bit of info on Wikipedia: "The AWD system, provided by GKN Driveline, is completely new for this model and utilizes features like twin-clutch differential at rear axle with active torque vectoring, allowing the system to distribute 100% of torque to either front or rear axle as well as to either left or right rear wheel." There's a bit more info in this article.

Yeah, I'd take it into the dealer and have the folks there explain why your beloved Caddy sounds worse than the knobby tires on your neighbor's jacked-up mud truck. You ought to be able to leave it in AWD 24/7, since that's really its "normal" mode. The only reason to put in in FWD is to squeeze a bit more mileage out of it, and who worries about gas mileage when they're driving a Cadillac?

 

[Fred Werring]

Been kinda wondering the same thing with my new to me 2012 AWD Ford escape. Just sounds growly to me. Maybe it's normal for this car I don't know??? I'm going to go through and change all the drive train fluids and see if there's any excessive metal in anything. If I don't find anything bad I guess I'll just keep running it.

I've got a 2011 Escape AWD.
Doesn't sound growly EXCEPT on this 2 mile stretch of St Rt 125.
Don't know why just it's that stretch, can't see anything different in the road, but sounds like a bearing going out.
Firestone Destination tires, fwiw

 

[MarkB_MI]

To carry on with this. I just checked in case I was wrong, but no, I was right. At least according to AI info online. A Cadillac XTS driver cannot select AWD or 2WD. It's automatic.

XT5, not XTS.

 

[MarkB_MI]

I'd leave it in AWD for a few days. It's possible the clutches got sticky from lack of use.

Also, do you still get the noise when you're driving straight on dry pavement? It's possible you'll only get the noise under slippery conditions when everything is locked up.

On a humorous note, the automatic 4WD mode on my son's Silverado was sticking, making it hard to turn unless you put it in 2WD. I told him he needed to change the fluid in the transfer case. So we rolled it into my shop and pulled the plug. Exactly one drop of oil came out. Topped off the transfer case and the problem was fixed.