While indulging in some rare quiet alone time while parked in a strip mall, I heard a strange sound coming from the center stack of our long-term Cadillac CTS. It was like a tiny, long-forgotten sound effect from Tron, played by a tiny Eddie Van Halen on a tiny electric guitar. It's a lot like bad sci-fi movie robot noises. Deetledeetledootledeetledeetledoodleedeetle. It just kept going.
It actually took me a while to figure out where it was coming from. I had to really lean in close to the navigation controls to confirm where it was coming from. I didn't think of it again until the next day when I was driving around without the sound system on and heard it again. It was quite faint, but it was there. For the rest of my time in the CTS this weekend, I found myself constantly straining to catch an auditory wisp of the frantic notes. Anyone else every experienced this in a CTS? In another vehicle?
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com @ 15,520 miles
joebar says:
01:46 PM, 11/11/08
Do you have a GSM cell phone?
I get intermittent interference in my Silverado from my phone due to the frequency GSM uses. It may be a lack of proper shielding in GM electronics as it doesn't happen in our Chrysler.
speeder31 says:
01:59 PM, 11/11/08
Could it be the spinning disks/read-write head of the hard drive as it accesses Nav info? Although I would have thought that automotive HDs were solid-state by now...
ahightower says:
02:10 PM, 11/11/08
Nav DVD spinning?
banhugh says:
03:47 PM, 11/11/08
Is it a Decepticon or Autobot? In any case its alive!
zoomzoom22 says:
03:48 PM, 11/11/08
Could be cell phone or other electronic interference with the speakers...maybe you have a specific cell phone type that causes the electronics interface in the car to pick up on its frequency.
zoomzoom22 says:
03:49 PM, 11/11/08
Next thing you know, this caddy's steering wheel will eat you, like the Escalade in Transformers.
anilpunjabi says:
04:01 PM, 11/11/08
I have a 01 lex gs430 with the amplifier for the mark levinson sterioe in the back - it makes a similar noise - It is either the harddrive turning, the amplifier blowing off some steam or the computer they use to manage all the electronics.
robs249 says:
05:11 PM, 11/11/08
My tahoe does that too whenever you unlock it or put it in accessory mode...it comes from the nav screen so we assume its just the disk loading because it does it only for a couple seconds
dderosa says:
05:13 PM, 11/11/08
I've noticed this in the CTS, too.
desmolicious says:
05:39 PM, 11/11/08
I don't notice anything like this in my 02 Wrangler...
altimadude00 says:
06:12 PM, 11/11/08
I've noticed my '05 Altima also picks up interference from my cellphone, even when the radio is turned completely off. It's exactly the same kind of interference that you would get if your cell phone was near computer speakers.
greenpony says:
08:00 PM, 11/11/08
Those HVAC vents are hideous. Vertical = fugly.
estreka says:
11:14 PM, 11/11/08
While 'Deetledeetledootledeetledeetledoodleedeetle' is a fantastic usage of onomatopoeia, I'm afraid I cannot help you.
dougtheeng says:
05:53 AM, 11/12/08
"Those HVAC vents are hideous. Vertical = fugly."
I have to agree actually. This shot makes it look worse then it is, because overall I quite like the interior on this CTS.
I'm guessing its the read/write spin of the Nav.
bimmerjay says:
06:54 AM, 11/12/08
"Those HVAC vents are hideous. Vertical = fugly."
They are like that because of that "brilliant" retractable nav screen that slides vertically into the dash. The M-B C-Class design where it folds flat would allow greater freedom in the vent placement.
skid666 says:
07:00 AM, 11/12/08
My guess, GSM RFi
feelingcingular.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cingular_gsm_rfi_ringtone.mp3
kurtamaxxxguy says:
07:20 AM, 11/12/08
Some switching power supplies, which are becoming common in auto electronics (especially for driving LCD displays), will sing / make audible noise under various load or temperature conditions. I've heard these in my Malibu Maxx.
stingray454 says:
08:35 AM, 11/12/08
My office telephones makes the same noises sometimes when not in use. They are IP-based Avaya units, and it is definitely some sort of interference from cell phones. Weird though considering a wired telephone is getting interference from a wireless device. Must be some form of electromagnetic interference.
vvk says:
08:39 AM, 11/12/08
The clock ticking?
misterfusion says:
09:37 AM, 11/12/08
At 1900 hours, this car and everything in it will automatically de-rez.
cts24 says:
02:24 PM, 11/12/08
I, too, own a 2008 CTS identical to your LT tester. I have heard the same noise in my car. I thought it may have been my cell, or even my ipod. I removed everything from inside--and the weirdness is still there. Not a big deal at all, just odd. I have also noticed the xenon lights emit a strange hum when on as well.(louder than my previous car) For the record, I traded in my '07 IS350 for this car--and I would do it many times over again..robot noises or not.
actualsize says:
08:42 PM, 11/12/08
Exactly, cts24
I've removed all phones from the CTS, all iPods--everything. And it isn't the even close to the disc access noises I've heard in our Tahoe, Enclave, or any other GM product we've had with navi. But I have heard the exact same robot on more than one CTS.
It's not annoying--it's just weird and endearing in an anime sort of way. Besides, you've got to have really good hearing and a stone-silent background to hear it. We'll try to record the sound and amplify it so everyone can hear.