My 13 Cruze Turbo LT 'died' on the interstate yesterday and I had to leave it 75 miles away. I had the head-gasket replaced about 2 weeks ago. And I had recently been getting strange electrical activity, (Service StabiliTrak, etc.) including rough idle and stalling, (also present before the gasket replacement) with online advice causing me to clean the MAF and the Turbo boost sensor. It seemed to help, but only temporarily. Or the electrical problems would stop or change to something else just as strange. But yesterday everything seemed normal so I took the car to pick up my daughter from college. Halfway home I started getting ringing tones and an indicator about oil problems and to shut off car. Well, I was in single-lane construction, (and had been doing 5mph for several miles with A/C on) and it took a few minutes to pull over. Then it died. Temp gauge seemed normal. I pulled oil cap and it was wet with oil and dipstick looked normal except for smoke being emitted. It wouldn't restart. And then the battery was dead. Nothing worked. Once tow-truck got me to a parking lot I asked for a jump just to get the windows up. While I did this I tried to restart it. It did, but I was afraid of other possible damage so I shut it off. Then after the driver left I realized I couldn't get my key out, so I locked it up inside.
So my question is this. Could it have been just a weak battery or alternator causing all the strange electrical issues over the last couple of weeks? It's not been overheated since, but I have been losing water (no evidence under the car.) I've read where fuse boxes are a commonly replaced item that can cause these issues. Do I buy a $200 battery in the hopes that it's the only problem? There are no garages / mechanics in the little town where I left it. It'll cost $400 to tow it home. Renting a tow dolly seems a viable option, but seems a waste of money if it's just a dead battery.
I've seen online that the Chevy Cruze is famous for strange electrical issues, and lots of different 'fixes'.
So my question is this. Could it have been just a weak battery or alternator causing all the strange electrical issues over the last couple of weeks? It's not been overheated since, but I have been losing water (no evidence under the car.) I've read where fuse boxes are a commonly replaced item that can cause these issues. Do I buy a $200 battery in the hopes that it's the only problem? There are no garages / mechanics in the little town where I left it. It'll cost $400 to tow it home. Renting a tow dolly seems a viable option, but seems a waste of money if it's just a dead battery.
I've seen online that the Chevy Cruze is famous for strange electrical issues, and lots of different 'fixes'.