GM halts sale of some Cadillac CTS models over switch issue

DETROIT -- General Motors ordered Cadillac dealers to stop selling some versions of the CTS because the automaker does not have a fix yet for cars recalled in late June over an issue where engines can be shut off if the driver's knee bumps the ignition key, the company said on Saturday.

Details of incidents leading up to the June 30 recall, including three occasions where GM employees bumped the keys and shut off the engines in 2012 CTS models, were made public on Saturday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

GM, in the notice, told dealers not to sell 2003-13 models of the CTS and 2004-06 models of the Cadillac SRX from their used-car inventories.

The stop sale order to Cadillac dealers on the 2003-14 CTS and 2004-06 SRX was issued July 2 and updated July 8, according to GM documents posted by NHTSA. The recall involved about 554,000 Cadillacs in the United States.

The order "is still in effect for the foreseeable future," GM spokesman Alan Adler said Saturday. GM engineers are "looking at one common solution" for all the recalled Cadillacs, "but they don't have it yet," Adler said.

GM so far this year has recalled about 14.7 million vehicles worldwide with switch-related issues and has linked at least 16 deaths to those issues.

Cadillac changed to a push-button starter switch on the redesigned 2014 CTS, which does not share the problem with older models. Some versions of the older CTS, including the wagon, were carried over for model year 2014 and were included in the recall.

GM in documents provided to NHTSA, said the main problem with the SRX and the earlier versions of the CTS involved the potential for heavy key rings or a "jarring event" such as a pothole to turn the ignition key out of the run position.

If that happens, the engine can shut off, causing loss of power steering and failure of air bags to deploy in a crash, NHTSA said.

GM intends to remedy that issue by giving owners a new key with a small hole instead of a slot, which GM says makes it more difficult to pull or jar the key out of position.

GM has a different problem with second-generation CTSs from model years 2008-2014, which use a different ignition switch than earlier models. Even after GM shifted to keys with the small hole in late 2010, the cars still displayed a susceptibility to being switched off because of a knee bump.

GM in late June recalled 2010-2014 Chevrolet Camaros for a similar problem, where knee bumps could switch the key out of position and turn off the engine. The solution was to replace the switchblade-type key and fob with a single, lighter key.

GM urged owners of the recalled cars to remove all items from key rings, including the key fob, leaving only the ignition key. It also warned drivers to adjust seats and steering columns "to allow clearance between their knee and the ignition key."