Bought a Cruze

[malibu795]

IDK if I'm smart or stupid... bought something...
'14 Cruze LT all star addition, with 1.4turbo/ 6sp manual. ~113k under body is fairly damn clean.
Fuel cost savings at current rates between 87/diesel will more than pay for this 16mpg at 5.40 diesel vs 30mpg at 4.00 87 octane though 90 mile round trip with 80 of it freeway will probably get closer to 40

 

[Pure Diesel]

Congrats Adam, but here's my take. My son had the same but an automatic and it was the biggest piece of crap. Good mileage but something was always going wrong and needed repairs. I hope you don't have the same bad luck that he had.

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[malibu795]

Congrats Adam, but here's my take. My son had the same but an automatic and it was the biggest piece of crap. Good mileage but something was always going wrong and needed repairs. I hope you don't have the same bad luck that he had.

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I'm told water pump, thermostat housing tend to crack as they're plastic aftermarket is cast aluminum...
clutch and shocks would be next major things

 

[Pure Diesel]

I'm told water pump, thermostat housing tend to crack as they're plastic aftermarket is cast aluminum...
clutch and shocks would be next major things

Yep, he had to replace the pump, thermo. The turbo has some sensor valve or gate that goes bad. It still would drive but the check engine light would be on .

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[malibu795]

Yep, he had to replace the pump, thermo. The turbo has some sensor valve or gate that goes bad. It still would drive but the check engine light would be on .

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Seams there's some easy fixes, out there, some poor hose routing etc

 

[Pure Diesel]

Well when you're mechanically inclined, like you, those repairs are easy. My son is not so much.
My son is a cheap SOB, and doesn't want to learn how to fix things, and would have a friend mechanic fix things. You get what you pay for.
Again, nice color and I hope you get to enjoy it.

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[malibu795]

I am curious if my current V2 will see the E78 ECM in the cruze

 

[2004LB7]

I am curious if my current V2 will see the E78 ECM in the cruze

Looks like it

 

[malibu795]

Looks like it

View attachment 135462

I couldn't find V2 stuff only V3 stuff
Definitely be a lot cheaper then having to buy V3

 

[TheBac]

Ive had three 1.4 Cruzes. Coolant temp/pressure and PCV blowouts are the two main causes of every single issue with those cars.
GM should've been ashamed of themselves for the stupid things they did to squeeze out another .42 mpg, but some very ingenious people fixed the problems.

1) PCV reroute, along with new valve cover www.cruzekits.com
2) Chevy Volt lower-temp Tstat swapped into Cruze housing and 15lb rad cap. Does NOT affect heat, how engine runs, or mileage.
https://www.cruzetalk.com/threads/1-4-eco-thermostat-swap-221°f-to-176°f.225041/#replies
3) Aluminum hose T on drivers side. Very inexpensive on Amazon.
4) Reseal oil cooler along with new hoses

About $200 in parts and a weekend. Nothing wrong with a 1.4 after those are done.
Water pump only if it needs it. Do tensioner while youre in there.
If you have to replace overflow tank, make sure to get the Dorman with the metal rings in the fittings.

Parts on these cars are dirt cheap, and they are flat-out the easiest cars to work on I ever had.
If I hadnt found the Regal and the 2.0LTG, Id probably have another 1.4 Cruze right now.

Cruzetalk is a great forum. You'll see my username in a lot of threads over there. If you have ???, ask away.

Moved the posts on this to its own thread so we can keep track of it.

 

[malibu795]

There's some good information!!

Yeah I should have made a thread

Found couple companies that sell parts.. ZZP is one of them. Jump in a few FB groups as well

Should be picking the car up next weekend as the still got to go through it.

 

[TheBac]

With proper care, the 1.4 can go well over 200,000 miles. That red one I bought with 225,000 is still alive in Indiana last time I checked. Its got to be well over 300,000 now.

ZZP has some good performance stuff for them. Just use GM replacement parts for regular stuff.

Its a bit involved, but you can even replace the green radio screen with the updated MyLink screen. Like I said, those guys on CruzeTalk have great ideas. XtremeRevolution came up with a lot of it.

 

[1FastBrick]

congrats!

 

[TheBac]

Check the service history on it for valve cover replacement. 113,000 miles isnt much, so as long as the car was taken care of, none of these issues should be there, but like I said, a weekend or two of preventative maintenance can go a long way....

#1 job is address PCV. I can see it doesnt have a cruzekit on it, as the corrugated hose running down the pass side of the engine to the turbo is still there. It gets replaced.
Check turbo area and behind turbo for coolant and/or oil leaks. You can do the oil cooler reseal without removing turbo, but its far easier to simply remove the turbo first.
Cam phasers are easy if they are leaking.
Front main is what it is, but can be done thru the pass wheel arch. Just have to brace the balancer to loosen/tighten the bolt.
Check for oil pan leaks. Oil pan is usually loose bolts. 75 in/lbs is light torque, so they tend to vibrate. I blue-loctited the sob's so they'd stay.
The emissions valve at the back of the intake can fail, but it is readily accessible and an easy fix.
The plastic timing chain bridge between the cams can crack, so if you are replacing the valve cover, do that too.

BTW, the cam timing kits are inexpensive on amazon, but I just used a piece of 1/4" steel from my old cabin filter kits to keep the cams in time when I had to.

 

[malibu795]

Why doesn't the cruzekit come with a catch can?
Sounds like a lot of leaks are related to the PCV failing allowing the crankcase to get pressurized thus blowing out seals and dumping hot oil in the intake and dryrotting intake hoses casing air leaks

Definitely get that lost checked off once I take delivery of the vehicle.
Also looking at intake/exhaust and basic tune, basically if my V2 will do it, pull all the Tq management and BS out/off it.

Hopefully I don't have to do the clutch..

 

[TheBac]

Catch can can be added. I didnt, but others have.
You are exactly right about the PCV. It was a poor design.

 

[malibu795]

Looks like it

View attachment 135462

Got this from THE Mr Paul

V7 does not support the E78.
The older version of V8 may work with the E78, I can't remember if the E78 was added before V8.2.20 (note: E78 support was added around 2015).
I recommend using the latest version of the V8 software and the latest version of the V2 firmware, available

Gues we shall see
FTR I currently have 7.5.24 and 8.2.20

 

[malibu795]

Well deal is complete.. fenders are little tall couldn't open the doors over them

 

[1FastBrick]

Dukes of Hazard!!!! Through the window it is.

 

[malibu795]

Dukes of Hazard!!!! Through the window it is.

Rolled it forward opened the door then shoved it backwards ..
2*12s would fix this problem