SureTrack Community Fix: Contaminated Caddy

When your customer inadvertently puts diesel into their gasoline powered car, you start off with cleaning the fuel system but would you expect a problem with the car’s security system as well? SureTrack community member kbarnes had a Cadillac CTS in their shop that wouldn’t start after having the fuel system contaminated with diesel. They posed the question to the community, and with the help of fellow community member dmckemie12, ericsautomotive and others, they were able to resolve the issue quickly.

The following Community Fix summarizes the interaction between members of the community that led to the solution.

Vehicle
2008 Cadillac CTS 3.6L

Title
No start after fuel contamination, performed security system relearn.

Complaint
Customer put diesel in gas tank and vehicle won’t start.

Diagnostic Steps Performed/Parts Replaced
Drained fuel tank and flushed lines out. Car cranks but won’t start. Tried to do injector balance test and it says fuel enable flag not set for theft deterrent system. Unplugged injector connector and checked injector pulse and had no pulse. Checked data display with a scan tool at the theft deterrent PID and found VTD FUEL ENABLE – NO. Can communicate with the BCM.

Best Answer from Community Member dmckemie12
That PID should read YES. If the customer has another key you might give it a try. If not, you may need to do a 30-min relearn of the security system.

Cause
Theft deterrent system keeping engine from starting.

Correction
Performed relearn on security system after cleaning fuel system. Car now starts.

Community member ericsautomotive provided the relearn procedure:
The way I’ve always done it is:

• Hook up battery charger.
• Attempt to start engine leaving key in the run position.
• At exactly 10 minutes, the security lamp should go out.
• Immediately cycle key off and attempt to start again leaving the key in the run position.

This should relearn in 3 times but, I’ve done it a dozen before it learned!