2017 CADILLAC XTS ABS

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
INTRODUCTION 3
M:Shown when the owner manual
has additional instructions or
information.
*: Shown when the service manual
has additional instructions or
information.
0: Shown when there is more
information on another page —
“see page.”
Vehicle Symbol Chart
Here are some additional symbols that
may be found on the vehicle and what
they mean. For more information on
the symbol, refer to the Index.
9: Airbag Readiness Light
#:Air Conditioning
!:Antilock Brake System (ABS)
g: Audio Steering Wheel Controls
$:Brake System Warning Light
":Charging System
I: Cruise Control
`:Do Not Puncture
^:Do Not Service
B:Engine Coolant Temperature
O:Exterior Lamps
_:Flame/Fire Prohibited
.:Fuel Gauge
+: Fuses
3:Headlamp High/Low-Beam
Changer
(: Heated Steering Wheel
j:LATCH System Child Restraints
*:Malfunction Indicator Lamp
::Oil Pressure
}:Power
/:Remote Vehicle Start
>:Safety Belt Reminders
7: Tire Pressure Monitor
d:Traction Control/StabiliTrak®
a:Under Pressure
M: Windshield Washer Fluid

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
34 KEYS, DOORS, AND WINDOWS
Keyless Access
If equipped, use the Keyless Access
system to lock and unlock the door.
When the doors are locked and the
RKE transmitter is within 1 m (3 ft) of
the driver door handle, press the lock/
unlock button. When unlocking from
the driver door, the first press unlocks
that door; press again within
five seconds to unlock all passenger
doors. SeeRemote Keyless Entry (RKE)
System Operation 027. Key Cylinder AccessTo access the key cylinder:
1. Pull the door handle (1) to the open position.
2. Insert the key into the slot (3) on the bottom of the cap (2) and
pry outward.
3. Move the cap (2) rearward and remove.
4. Use the key in the cylinder.
To replace the cap:
1. Pull the door handle to the open position.
2. Insert the two tabs (7) at the back of the cap (8) between the
seal (5) and the metal base (6).

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROLS 103
Instruments and
Controls
Controls
Steering Wheel Adjustment . . . . . 104
Steering Wheel Controls . . . . . . . . . 104
Heated Steering Wheel . . . . . . . . . . 104
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Windshield Wiper/Washer . . . . . . . 105
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Power Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Wireless Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Cigarette Lighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Ashtrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Warning Lights, Gauges, and
Indicators
Warning Lights, Gauges, andIndicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Instrument Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Fuel Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Engine Coolant Temperature
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Safety Belt Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Airbag Readiness Light . . . . . . . . . . 119
Passenger Airbag Status
Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Charging System Light . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Malfunction Indicator Lamp (Check Engine Light) . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Brake System Warning Light . . . . 122
Electric Parking Brake Light . . . . . 122
Service Electric Parking Brake Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Antilock Brake System (ABS) Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Lane Departure Warning (LDW) Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Vehicle Ahead Indicator . . . . . . . . . 124
Traction Off Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
StabiliTrak
®OFF Light . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Traction Control System (TCS)/ StabiliTrak
®Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Engine Coolant Temperature Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Tire Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Engine Oil Pressure Light . . . . . . . . 126
Low Fuel Warning Light . . . . . . . . . 126
Security Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL) Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Lamps On Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Cruise Control Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Door Ajar Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Information Displays
Driver Information Center (DIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Head-Up Display (HUD) . . . . . . . . . 131
Vehicle Messages
Vehicle Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Battery Voltage and Charging Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Brake System Messages . . . . . . . . . . 135
Compass Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Cruise Control Messages . . . . . . . . . 135
Door Ajar Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Engine Cooling System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Engine Oil Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Engine Power Messages . . . . . . . . . . 137
Fuel System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Key and Lock Messages . . . . . . . . . . 137
Lamp Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Object Detection System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Ride Control System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Airbag System Messages . . . . . . . . . 141
Security Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Service Vehicle Messages . . . . . . . . 142
Starting the Vehicle Messages . . . 142
Tire Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Transmission Messages . . . . . . . . . . 142
Vehicle Reminder Messages . . . . . 143

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROLS 123
If the light does not come on,
or remains flashing, see your dealer.
Service Electric Parking
Brake Light
On some vehicles the service electric
parking brake light should come on
briefly when the vehicle is in ON/
RUN. If it does not come on, have it
fixed so it will be ready to warn if
there is a problem. For vehicles with
the reconfigurable cluster, this light
may not come on when the vehicle is
in ON/RUN.
If this light stays on, the vehicle
should be taken to a dealer as soon as
possible. SeeElectric Parking Brake
0 186. If a message displays in the
Driver Information Center (DIC), see
Brake System Messages 0135.
Antilock Brake System
(ABS) Warning Light
This light comes on briefly when the
engine is started.
If the light does not come on, have it
fixed so it will be ready to warn if
there is a problem.
If the light comes on while driving,
stop as soon as it is safely possible
and turn off the vehicle. Then start
the engine again to reset the system.
If the ABS light stays on, or comes on
again while driving, the vehicle needs
service. A chime may also sound when
the light comes on steady.
If the ABS light is the only light on,
the vehicle has regular brakes, but the
antilock brakes are not functioning.
If both the ABS and the brake system
warning light are on, the vehicle's
antilock brakes are not functioning and there is a problem with the
regular brakes. See your dealer for
service.
See
Brake System Warning Light 0122
and Brake System Messages 0135.
Lane Departure Warning
(LDW) Light
For some vehicles with the Lane
Departure Warning (LDW) system,
this light comes on briefly while
starting the vehicle. If it does not
come on, have the vehicle serviced.
For vehicles with the uplevel cluster,
this light may not come on when
starting the vehicle.
This light is green if LDW is on and
ready to operate.

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
DRIVING AND OPERATING 167
Driving and
Operating
Driving Information
Distracted Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . . . 171
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
If the Vehicle Is Stuck . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Ignition Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Retained AccessoryPower (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Shifting out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Parking over Things That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Running the Vehicle WhileParked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . . . . . 183
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Drive Systems
All-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Brakes
Antilock Brake System (ABS) . . . . 185
Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Brake Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Hill Start Assist (HSA) . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Ride Control Systems
Traction Control/ElectronicStability Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Magnetic Ride Control . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Limited-Slip Rear Axle . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Automatic Level Control . . . . . . . . . 191
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Adaptive Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . 194
Driver Assistance Systems
Driver Assistance Systems . . . . . . . 201
Assistance Systems for Parking or Backing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Assistance Systems for
Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Forward Collision Alert (FCA) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Forward Automatic
Braking (FAB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Side Blind Zone Alert (SBZA) . . . . 210
Lane Departure Warning (LDW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Fuel
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Fuel Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Filling a Portable FuelContainer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Trailer Towing
General Towing Information . . . . 215
Driving Characteristics andTowing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Trailer Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Towing Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Conversions and Add-Ons
Add-On Electrical Equipment . . . 220

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
170 DRIVING AND OPERATING
.Holding both sides of the steering
wheel allows you to turn
180 degrees without removing
a hand.
. Antilock Brake System (ABS)
allows steering while braking.
Off-Road Recovery
The vehicle's right wheels can drop off
the edge of a road onto the shoulder
while driving. Follow these tips:
1. Ease off the accelerator and then, if there is nothing in the way,
steer the vehicle so that it
straddles the edge of the
pavement. 2. Turn the steering wheel about
one-eighth of a turn, until the
right front tire contacts the
pavement edge.
3. Turn the steering wheel to go straight down the roadway.
Loss of Control
Skidding
There are three types of skids that
correspond to the vehicle's three
control systems:
.Braking Skid —wheels are not
rolling.
. Steering or Cornering Skid —too
much speed or steering in a curve
causes tires to slip and lose
cornering force.
. Acceleration Skid —too much
throttle causes the driving wheels
to spin.
Defensive drivers avoid most skids by
taking reasonable care suited to
existing conditions, and by not
overdriving those conditions. But
skids are always possible. If the vehicle starts to slide, follow
these suggestions:
.
Ease your foot off the accelerator
pedal and steer the way you want
the vehicle to go. The vehicle may
straighten out. Be ready for a
second skid if it occurs.
. Slow down and adjust your driving
according to weather conditions.
Stopping distance can be longer
and vehicle control can be affected
when traction is reduced by water,
snow, ice, gravel, or other material
on the road. Learn to recognize
warning clues —such as enough
water, ice, or packed snow on the
road to make a mirrored surface
— and slow down when you have
any doubt.
. Try to avoid sudden steering,
acceleration, or braking, including
reducing vehicle speed by shifting
to a lower gear. Any sudden
changes could cause the tires to
slide.
Remember: Antilock brakes help avoid
only the braking skid.

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
172 DRIVING AND OPERATING
{Warning
Coasting downhill in N (Neutral) or
with the ignition off is dangerous.
This can cause overheating of the
brakes and loss of steering. Always
have the engine running and the
vehicle in gear.
. Drive at speeds that keep the
vehicle in its own lane. Do not
swing wide or cross the
center line.
. Be alert on top of hills; something
could be in your lane (e.g., stalled
car, accident).
. Pay attention to special road signs
(e.g., falling rocks area, winding
roads, long grades, passing or
no-passing zones) and take
appropriate action.
Winter Driving
Driving on Snow or Ice
Snow or ice between the tires and the
road creates less traction or grip, so
drive carefully. Wet ice can occur at about 0 °C (32 °F) when freezing rain
begins to fall. Avoid driving on wet ice
or in freezing rain until roads can be
treated.
For Slippery Road Driving:
.
Accelerate gently. Accelerating too
quickly causes the wheels to spin
and makes the surface under the
tires slick.
. Turn on Traction Control. See
Traction Control/Electronic Stability
Control 0188.
. Antilock Brake System (ABS)
improves vehicle stability during
hard stops, but the brakes should
be applied sooner than when on
dry pavement. See Antilock Brake
System (ABS) 0185.
. Allow greater following distance
and watch for slippery spots. Icy
patches can occur on otherwise
clear roads in shaded areas. The
surface of a curve or an overpass
can remain icy when the
surrounding roads are clear. Avoid
sudden steering maneuvers and
braking while on ice.
. Turn off cruise control.
Blizzard Conditions
Stop the vehicle in a safe place and
signal for help. Stay with the vehicle
unless there is help nearby. To get
help and keep everyone in the
vehicle safe:
.Turn on the hazard warning
flashers.
. Tie a red cloth to an outside
mirror.
{Warning
Snow can trap engine exhaust
under the vehicle. This may cause
exhaust gases to get inside. Engine
exhaust contains carbon monoxide
(CO), which cannot be seen or
smelled. It can cause
unconsciousness and even death.
If the vehicle is stuck in snow:
. Clear snow from the base of
the vehicle, especially any
blocking the exhaust pipe.
(Continued)

Cadillac XTS Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-MidEast-10292881) - 2017 -
crc - 7/1/16
DRIVING AND OPERATING 185
When accelerating the vehicle from a
stop in snowy and icy conditions, you
may want to shift into 2 (Second) gear.
A higher gear ratio allows you to gain
more traction on slippery surfaces.Drive Systems
All-Wheel Drive
If equipped, this feature transfers
torque to the rear wheels as required.
It is fully automatic, and adjusts itself
as needed for road conditions.
All-Wheel Drive (AWD) performance is
automatically reduced when you use
the compact spare. To restore full
AWD performance, and prevent
excessive wear to the clutch in the
AWD system, replace the compact
spare tire with a full-size tire as soon
as possible. SeeCompact Spare
Tire 0272.
Brakes
Antilock Brake
System (ABS)
This vehicle has an Antilock Brake
System (ABS), an advanced electronic
braking system that helps prevent a
braking skid.
When the vehicle begins to drive
away, ABS checks itself. A momentary
motor or clicking noise may be heard
while this test is going on, and it may
even be noticed that the brake pedal
moves a little. This is normal.
If there is a problem with ABS, this
warning light stays on. See Antilock
Brake System (ABS) Warning
Light 0123.
If driving safely on a wet road and it
becomes necessary to slam on the
brakes and continue braking to avoid