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12 Eco 3500rpm stutter/jerk. PCV?

4K views 18 replies 5 participants last post by  Rillywillynilly 
#1 ·
Hey guys.
12 Cruze Eco (so 1.4L)
Manual transmission
62k miles
Maryland, USA

PCV diaphragm failed and valve cover gasket left me sitting the other morning. Throwing P1101 and P015B codes. Engine was smoking like a chimney so I went ahead and replaced the valve cover. Pulled the intake manifold and oil dumped out of the intake tube. I cleaned the intake, gaskets, sealed the hole left behind where the nipple used to be with some jb weld, and put everything back together and test drove it. Ran great.

The next morning, as I got on the interstate, I got a noticeable stutter/jerk at roughly 3500rpm. I commute 75 miles each way, and I pull some relatively steep grades on the interstate. This makes it a little tough to keep the rpm down, but I pulled the hills 20mph slower and a gear lower. Hills that I typically pulled on the higher side of 4th gear were tackled on the lower side of 3rd gear. I commuted back home with the same results this morning.

I checked plugs, they were white/ashy and all around .28. One or two were actually closer to .25 before I adjusted them. I pulled the corrugated hose from the turbo side to find that rubber "check valve" is also gone. I don't have Andrei's kit yet. I'm in the process of ordering it. Planning to just go with the v3. Am I overpressurizing the crankcase as boost backfeeds from that corrugated hose? That is about the only thing I can think of unless maybe the JB weld didn't seal entirely, but I'm fairly sure it did. Still searching. I apologize if it is here, but I'm not seeing it. Thanks in advance
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#3 ·
There is no check valve on either end of the corrugated hose. I used a self tapper covered in jb weld and a nylon washer to seal the hole. For what it's worth, the car hasn't thrown a single code since I cleared them before replacing the valve cover and sealing the hole in the intake. That was roughly 180 miles ago. Idles fine, runs fine below 3500rpm. Hesitant to take it above 3500 because I don't want to put too much pressure on anything.
 
#4 ·
Wellll. I'm not proud to admit this, but I may have made my post too soon. I will update after my commute tomorrow. I'm new to forced induction and perhaps should have considered a boost leak sooner. I checked and found a pretty good leak where the air outlet tube meets the throttle body. Tightened everything up and tried again. Dropped from 20psi to 15 in about 16 seconds. 20-10 in 42 seconds. Some leaks around the oil fill cap. Some sounds like it's coming from the valve cover gasket when I've got the pressure above 15psi. I took the car out and couldn't get it to act up again. 4th and 5th gear, under load, at 3500rpm was the nasty spot. Nothing tonight after tightening a few things up.

Would a boost leak jerk me around and feel that hateful? Or do I have a different symptom that will rear its ugly head tomorrow morning? I wouldn't say it's violent, but it's noticeable. A little like bad fuel. At 3500 it was almost falling on its face, then kicking itself in the butt.
 
#6 ·
Thanks. That's the route that I'm going. The car is still stuttering. Still no codes. I emailed Andrei a few days ago to ask if there is any benefit between the kits, but he may be busy. I plan to keep the car fairly stock. It's my commuter so I'm focused more on mpg than hp. That being said, I don't figure there's much need for the v1. I've already had the manifold off once to plug the hole, and I don't love the idea of messing with gaskets a whole lot without replacing them so unless the check valve on the second version is a lot nicer than the third I figure the third version is the way to go.

When I pulled the intake manifold the other day oil poured out of it. I cleaned it out with a little gas and some cleaner before getting the jb weld mixed up. When I pulled the outlet tube off the intake last night there was another puddle of oil laying in the throttle body and the outlet tube. I wondered if there isn't a good bit down in the intercooler that's getting sucked up a little at a time as the boost builds. It wasn't as jerky today, but it was certainly what I would call a stutter. I'd say it's probably between 68-75mph. It hesitated a couple times under light throttle on level ground (45mph?), but pulling hills is where it's most noticeable. 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear around 3500rpm.
 
#13 ·
Thanks. That's the route that I'm going. The car is still stuttering. Still no codes. I emailed Andrei a few days ago to ask if there is any benefit between the kits, but he may be busy. I plan to keep the car fairly stock. It's my commuter so I'm focused more on mpg than hp. That being said, I don't figure there's much need for the v1. I've already had the manifold off once to plug the hole, and I don't love the idea of messing with gaskets a whole lot without replacing them so unless the check valve on the second version is a lot nicer than the third I figure the third version is the way to go.

When I pulled the intake manifold the other day oil poured out of it. I cleaned it out with a little gas and some cleaner before getting the jb weld mixed up. When I pulled the outlet tube off the intake last night there was another puddle of oil laying in the throttle body and the outlet tube. I wondered if there isn't a good bit down in the intercooler that's getting sucked up a little at a time as the boost builds. It wasn't as jerky today, but it was certainly what I would call a stutter. I'd say it's probably between 68-75mph. It hesitated a couple times under light throttle on level ground (45mph?), but pulling hills is where it's most noticeable. 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear around 3500rpm.
The early versions have a much beefier check valve, but cost more and require the removal of the intake to install it and the latest version has a lesser valve, but is much easier to install and a cheaper.

To piggyback on what J said:



https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2016/MC-10112283-9999.pdf

Tips to ensure no misfires occur:

Remove the coil pack. If the boots are stuck on, use a small screwdriver or pick with some dielectric grease on it to go around the outside of the boot and then possibly the inside of the boot to help aid in removal.

Remember to (p)re-gap your plugs to .028, (0.24 if tuned)

Set gap with the black portion of this tool.



To increase the gap size bend the ground strap up to the desired height. DO NOT LET THE GAPPING TOOL TOUCH THE IRIDIUM CENTER ELECTRODE OR PORCELAIN.

Measure the gap with feeler gauges.



Throw this away.





Torque to 18 ft-lbs with no anti-seize on the threads of a stock type plug.

Ensure the boots have no rips/tears or holes in them, lightly coat them with dielectric/silicone grease and make sure the resister springs are clean and not caught up in the boots when you install them.

If the plugs look bad, consider these:

-BKR8EIX-2668 (iridium plugs), ~$25, expect ~10-15k regaps on these, ~40-50k overall life.
-BKR7E-4644 (nickel/copper plugs), ~$8, expect 15-25K out of these plugs, with a regap or two required at 5-8k intervals on stock tune.

Read Hesitation Gone! for more info on the plugs.



A good replacement coil is the MSD Blaster OEM Replacement Coilpack 8236

How-To: Remove and Replace the Coil Pack and Spark Plugs.

While you are in there, if you have a cheap endoscope, look at the pistons. This can also tell you many things.
 
#8 ·
Well I'm glad mine isn't the only one. I still don't know what the deal is with the stutter. I may just replace the spark plugs for the heck of it. I'm sitting at 62k miles and that number climbs 1,600 miles every month. I don't know if the plugs are factory or not, but I know I've put 16k on them. I never had this stutter before the diaphragm failed. I don't know if the stutter is related to anything that may have happened when the valve cover gasket failed, or if it's unrelated and just happened, coincidently, at the same time.
 
#9 ·
In my experience, stutters at that RPM range are either:

-Plug gap too wide.
-Failing coil pack (they fail left and right on these things, usually with occasional stutters at first, followed by full out flashing CEL).

But yeah, do the PCV fix kit and go from there. Could be related.

You out in the western I-68 part of MD by chance? Beautiful out there.
 
#10 ·
Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for that as well. Yes sir. Off the Friendsville exit. I live in a little town called Deer Park (yeah, the bottled water. That's us) but we just tell everybody we're from Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake. That's an easier landmark. I travel 68 to I-79 to get to work (Fairmont, WV)
 
#12 ·
Nice! That put you about 20 minutes from my front door. Beautiful country, but they do call our area Mountain Maryland for a reason. We sit at about 2500ft elevation, but there is no shortage of hills. West Virginia has its share of hills to pull too. The Mountain State is certainly an appropriate nickname.
 
#14 ·
So my problems have seemed to subside, but I've also not done much interstate driving. This helps support my theory that it seems to only stutter with a warm engine. My pcv kit showed up today. Got it installed.
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When I pulled the corrugated hose it looked like I had a lot of moisture in there. I've done a couple short trips, but we're only talking 4 or 5 short trips of about 5 miles. The rest of the miles are 75 mile trips. I think I may have lost the retainer ring on the corrugated line, but the o-ring seems to still be there.
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I went ahead and pulled the plugs again. Still ashy/coked up. Gap reading about .027 on the feeler gauges. Cleaned them up a little and put them back in. I am going to replace them, just haven't yet.
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I'm seeing oil more places than I like. I went ahead and pulled the heat shield off to check around the turbo. Looks like I've got a little more work to do.
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I'm also losing coolant. Hoping the bulk of it is right by the air outlet tube, but wondering if the dropping coolant level has anything to do with the yucky looking intake. Dipstick looks good. No chocolate milkshake there, but pcv line on the intake doesn't look great. I just finished my 6 day break so in 10 hours I'll be making my first 75 mile trip since Monday morning. That should give me a chance to see how everything is working. Thanks for everything so far. Looks like now I'm about to start lurking in the threads regarding coolant levels. I know the pump/thermostat is an issue. I'll also be ordering some new lines to the turbo. Truly appreciate all the help so far
 

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#15 ·
This morning the car had a subtle surge while cruising on the interstate. Barely enough to see on the tach. Hesitation is a little less violent and I'm not hitting it until around 4000rpm now. If I barely breathe on the throttle it doesn't give me any trouble. At quarter throttle it starts sputtering and gives me the flashing CEL, service stabilitrak, etc. Still no codes though. No problems through the rest of the rpms. Just that 4k range, especially climbing uphill.
 
#17 ·
After seeing what Blasirl posted, I'm thinking that'll be the next investment. Gonna throw new plugs on it and see if that does anything. Combing through posts now to see which way to go. Seeing a lot of people leaning on the copper plugs. I'm running stock and looking for MPGs. Sounding like iridiums might be the way to go for that. I'll continue looking for more recent posts. Surely there's more info than the couple discussions I've found so far.
 
#19 ·
Well I went with the NGK coppers yesterday. Gapped them to. 028. FINALLY got a code about 20 minutes into my commute this morning. P0301. Cylinder 1 misfire.
Additional pending codes:
P2227
P0236
P0106
Idles fine. Gets around town fine, but on the interstate it would stutter when I called for too much throttle. I wondered if a boost leak would give me fits as I was climbed to higher psi, but it stuttered a few times around 2300rpm when I hit the throttle on the interstate. There seemed to be a pattern the other day. These last two mornings have seemed a little more sporadic, and everything is pointing to what you guys are saying. Ordering a coil pack today.
 
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