The CTS has a noisy interior. It is not a matter of road noise coming in. The CTS is really quiet in that regard. Instead, the interior fixtures, seats, vents, arm rests, etc. are noisy. I've seen this noted on many other web posts, so it's not just my CTS.
The only sound that really bugged me was the air vent, which buzzed on the highest fan settings. The GM mechanics at first couldn't hear it. As an aside, I have found that mechanics often can't hear car noises. I think their work environment is very loud and they tend to have hearing loss, especially on the higher frequencies where many rattles, taps and buzz sounds live.
In any event, once I got the repair manager to hear the sound, he allegedly was able to get the mechanic to hear it (I think he just said he could hear it so as not to admit he couldn't hear it). So, despite my insistence it was a loose blade in the dash board vent, the mechanic insisted it was coming from the AC compressor on the other side of the car.
After that warranty repair was done, replacing the compressor entirely, I drove the car home and, of course, the sound was still there. After messing with the vent controls more, I discovered a very simple solution.
If the vent is at least one notch less-than fully open, enough pressure is on the vent blade to hold it still and quiet. No less air comes out. But, when fully open, there is a tiny bit of play allowing the blades to buzz when the fan is on full.
That solution is a lot easier than convincing a deaf mechanic that I am not hearing things. Plus, with any luck, in a few more years my hearing will be deteriorated enough that I don't hear the little rattles and buzzing sounds either!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Changing battery in Cadillac CTS key fob
I just changed the battery in my CTS key fob, and I won't do that again. Instead I'll take it to the dealer.
The reason is that doing this yourself, and I was very careful, is difficult and damages the fob, which costs about $175 to replace.
Anyway, if you want to try it yourself, you need to get something very thin and very strong to break open the fob along the nearly-invisible line along the edge. It seemed like it had some kind of sealant along the edge that had to be scraped off before I could make any progress. I used a tiny flathead screwdriver made for computer repairs.
This process scored and scratched the fob. It cracked one side of the fob. Opening it broke off the key release button, which is used to release the traditional key hidden in the fob. Once open, the printed circuit board flew out onto the counter. It's not secured in there in any way.
Again I was very careful and all this still happened.
I put in the new battery, pieced it all back together, glued the crack, and it works fine. It now looks horrible and feels loose. So, it's in the cupboard and I switched to the backup. When its battery dies, I'll take it to the dealer to replace.
The reason is that doing this yourself, and I was very careful, is difficult and damages the fob, which costs about $175 to replace.
Anyway, if you want to try it yourself, you need to get something very thin and very strong to break open the fob along the nearly-invisible line along the edge. It seemed like it had some kind of sealant along the edge that had to be scraped off before I could make any progress. I used a tiny flathead screwdriver made for computer repairs.
This process scored and scratched the fob. It cracked one side of the fob. Opening it broke off the key release button, which is used to release the traditional key hidden in the fob. Once open, the printed circuit board flew out onto the counter. It's not secured in there in any way.
Again I was very careful and all this still happened.
I put in the new battery, pieced it all back together, glued the crack, and it works fine. It now looks horrible and feels loose. So, it's in the cupboard and I switched to the backup. When its battery dies, I'll take it to the dealer to replace.
Fixing "unknown" song titles or artists on mp3s for CTS sound system.
If you play mp3s in your Cadillac CTS that came from your computer, either from a CD-r or USB source, you may have some that list the artist, album, title or other information as "unknown." This may be true even though, on your computer, in iTunes for example, the information is there.
The reason is that all that information is part of the mp3's ID Tag, and there are different versions of ID Tags. The Cadillac CTS sound system reads ID Tag version 2.4, but not some of the others.
The solution is to fix the file in your computer before putting it on CD-r, SD card, iPod or whatever you are going to play in the CTS. On Mac, select the song (or album, or just do your entire mp3 library at once -- it goes really fast), hold down the control key, and click on the selected song or songs. A menu will appear; select "convert ID Tags," and choose version 2.4. I think it is "right-click" on a PC to get the menu, but I don't have any PCs.
Now when you take the mp3 files to your CTS to play, however you're doing that, the artists, titles and albums will be just how they are in your iTunes library. Of course, if they are not right there, you'll need to fix that first.
The reason is that all that information is part of the mp3's ID Tag, and there are different versions of ID Tags. The Cadillac CTS sound system reads ID Tag version 2.4, but not some of the others.
The solution is to fix the file in your computer before putting it on CD-r, SD card, iPod or whatever you are going to play in the CTS. On Mac, select the song (or album, or just do your entire mp3 library at once -- it goes really fast), hold down the control key, and click on the selected song or songs. A menu will appear; select "convert ID Tags," and choose version 2.4. I think it is "right-click" on a PC to get the menu, but I don't have any PCs.
Now when you take the mp3 files to your CTS to play, however you're doing that, the artists, titles and albums will be just how they are in your iTunes library. Of course, if they are not right there, you'll need to fix that first.
How many song files can the CTS sound system read from one source?
4000. The CTS sound system can read music files from CD-r disks, and many hard drives and card readers that have a USB connection. For example, I have an SD card-to-USB connector. I can put music on SD cards and then use the adapter to play them from the USB connector in the armrest. I've played music from portable hard drives, iPhone and iPod that way too.
However, I noticed that if I put more than 4000 songs on a hard drive and plug it into the CTS USB port, only the first 4000 songs will ever be accessible through the CTS sound system. I tested this theory on various drives, and it always came out exactly the same. The software in the CTS sound system maxes out at 4000 songs.
Also, before you can access songs on a drive, card or CD-r by artist, album or genre, the CTS sound system must scan all the songs on the source. The more songs the longer this takes and USB sources scan slower than CD-r or DVD-r disks. So, having 4000 songs on a disk can delay your ability to access songs by those sorting categories.
I'm finding my favorite way to keep and play tons of music in my CTS is to put it on 1 or 2 gigabyte SD cards, and play them through the SD-USB adapter. They scan fast, are super small, are big enough to write a short label on the card, like "Beatles," and they're only about $10 each (reusable as much as you want). You only get a few hundred songs on each, but that seems OK.
However, I noticed that if I put more than 4000 songs on a hard drive and plug it into the CTS USB port, only the first 4000 songs will ever be accessible through the CTS sound system. I tested this theory on various drives, and it always came out exactly the same. The software in the CTS sound system maxes out at 4000 songs.
Also, before you can access songs on a drive, card or CD-r by artist, album or genre, the CTS sound system must scan all the songs on the source. The more songs the longer this takes and USB sources scan slower than CD-r or DVD-r disks. So, having 4000 songs on a disk can delay your ability to access songs by those sorting categories.
I'm finding my favorite way to keep and play tons of music in my CTS is to put it on 1 or 2 gigabyte SD cards, and play them through the SD-USB adapter. They scan fast, are super small, are big enough to write a short label on the card, like "Beatles," and they're only about $10 each (reusable as much as you want). You only get a few hundred songs on each, but that seems OK.
Putting songs into the hard drive in a way that sounds good.
If you put a CD into your Cadillac CTS sound system and press record the songs will be encoded into mp3 format and be playable from the hard drive. But, they will sound bad! The reason is that the encoder in the CTS encodes the music in low quality so the songs take up less space on the hard drive and you can fit more songs.
To put relatively good sounding songs into the CTS hard drive, make higher quality mp3s on your computer. I like the highest quality mp3 setting (320 Kbps). Then, put those song files on a CD-r, load that into the CTS sound system and press record to put them on the CTS hard drive. Now when you play the songs directly from the CTS hard drive they will sound pretty darn good. Not CD or vinyl quality, but much better than letting the CTS sound system encode the files.
To put relatively good sounding songs into the CTS hard drive, make higher quality mp3s on your computer. I like the highest quality mp3 setting (320 Kbps). Then, put those song files on a CD-r, load that into the CTS sound system and press record to put them on the CTS hard drive. Now when you play the songs directly from the CTS hard drive they will sound pretty darn good. Not CD or vinyl quality, but much better than letting the CTS sound system encode the files.
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