[XtremeRevolution]

2011-2016 Cruze 1.4L PCV Valve Cover/Intake Manifold Issues​

Video:
I made a video to help better explain how this whole PCV system works to supplement this article.

Overview
I find myself having to explain this issue to someone almost daily, so in the interest of brevity, I'm creating a thread specifically for people to reference quickly if they have an issue.

The Cruze 1.4L Turbo engine has a terrible PCV check valve design that afflicts 100% of cars I have come across. It's not a matter of if, but when, it will fail. There are three primary components to this system that frequently fail: the PCV regulator diaphragm (some people call it a check valve) on the valve cover, the check valve in the intake manifold, and the corrugated hose going from the intake manifold to the turbo. We will focus on the first two, which are the most likely failures.


Symptoms
Depending on how long you've had this issue, your vehicle may throw a check engine light with any or all of the following codes (DTCs):
P0171
P0106
P1101
P0507
P0299
P2096

Note: lack of check engine light does not mean everything is operating correctly!

Your vehicle may also exhibit any or all of the following symptoms:

• Elevated oil consumption
• Smoke blowing through the tail pipe
• A hissing sound in the engine bay
• A rough/stumbling idle
• Loss of power
• Reduced fuel economy

Diagnosis
Valve Cover
With the engine running, inspect the vent on the PCV regulator diaphragm. The PCV regulator diaphragm has a round non-removable cap on the driver side of the valve cover. Remove the cosmetic cover off of the valve cover:

Underneath, you'll find the cap that covers the PCV regulator diaphragm. If this has failed, the engine will be sucking in air from here, and creating a hissing sound. Place your finger over this hole to cover it. If the engine RPMs change or the hissing stops, the valve cover needs to be replaced.

DON'T STOP THERE! Failure of the valve cover PCV regulator diaphragm may only be a symptom of a greater problem: the PCV check valve in the intake manifold. If the intake manifold PCV check valve has failed and you only replace the valve cover, you will find yourself replacing valve covers every few months not knowing why.


Intake Manifold PCV Check Valve
With the engine off, locate the corrugated hose coming out of the top of the PCV check valve:

With tightly gripped pliers, remove the clip holding the hose off by pulling it out:

Pull the corrugated hose off from the base, taking care not to pull from the hose itself as it may crack or tear. Using a flashlight, look inside the hole. If you are facing the engine bay from the front, there should be an orange/pink/peach nipple/valve on the "back" of that hole that looks like this:

If you don't see that check valve, use q-tips and rubbing alcohol to clean that area and check again. If you still don't see it, this must be addressed.

There's one final part that needs to be checked:


PCV Hose/Valve
In the last section, you need to remove a hose from the intake manifold. That hose has another check valve at the other end of it; at the turbo inlet. To verify its functionality, blow into the hose; it should blow freely. Suck air back through the hose; it should completely block airflow. If it doesn't do either of these, the whole thing needs to be replaced. Those hose also has a tendency to become brittle and crack, at which point it will also need replacing. Be sure to check this hose everywhere if you suspect it is leaking or are hearing a hissing sound in the engine bay.


Repair Solutions
Both of the above components are covered under your powertrain warranty. If your car is still under powertrain warranty, bring your car to the dealer and tell your dealer you are experiencing oil consumption of one quart per 1,000 miles and to reference GM Bulletin PIP5197C.

If the PCV regulator diaphragm on the valve cover has failed, replacement is required and will cost ~$60. Refer to this tutorial for replacing the valve cover. How-To: Replace the Valve/Camshaft Cover (1.4L Turbo)

If the check valve on the intake manifold is missing, you have three options:
1. You can replace the intake manifold with a new one. As of late early 2018, GM is phasing out the intake manifold that ships with all accessories and is selling a bare intake manifold. I don't yet have the part number for that.
2. Dorman has begun releasing an option. However, this option has the same check valve design as the GM manifold, meaning it will be prone to failure and boost leaks, and is not serviceable. The part number is 615-380, but availability is currently limited.
3. You can install one of my Intake Manifold PCV check valve fix kits for as little as $75, which is much cheaper than the Dorman intake (after shipping) while providing you a more robust, leak-free, and durable check valve. My external check valve design allows for easy (doesn't require removal of the intake manifold) servicing and cleaning, and inexpensive replacement. Details are in this thread: GM 1.4L Turbo Intake Manifold PCV Valve Fix Kits

A tutorial for removing the intake manifold is located here: How-To: Remove 2011-2016 Cruze 1.4L Intake Manifold

If the check valve at the turbo inlet has malfunctioned or the hose is cracked, you will need to replace it: ACDelco 25193343 PCV Pipe with Valve


Resources
To learn more about this engine's PCV system, refer to the following thread: 2011-2016 Cruze Limited 1.4L PCV System Explained

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Oh good, a link I can save to send to the 3 people a day that ask about it.

Same here. As these cars age and people start buying them out of warranty, we will be getting asked about this one very often.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I noticed that the design of the intake manifold kit on Amazon that you reference looks a little different and says "Designs are enhanced and amended to incorporate updates, upgrades, and Technical Service Bulletins" I wonder if they corrected the week parts and made it better?

Nope. Even people with replacement intakes have been reporting failures. I have a nearly new intake manifold here (GM replaced it spring of last year). I ran my fix on a manifold I got for someone for free for testing. They didn't change anything about this area.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

That's a shame, knowing what they do you'd think they would change the design to make it better or at least incorporate a changeable PCV valve!

Yeah you'd think. That would make too much sense.

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[XtremeRevolution]

"If you don't see that check valve, use q-tips and rubbing alcohol to clean that area and check again. If you still don't see it, this must be addressed. "

When I check to see if the check valve is still there I clean it with a q tip and Amsoil power foam. Do you think I am hurting anything? I wouldn't think I am because I use Amsoil power foam to clean the throttle body but who knows.

You are neither hurting nor helping anything by cleaning it. I've seen people clean it and still had it fail. Seen people not know it's there, and still had it fail. Both were in large numbers.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I take it GM has still no real fix for all this mess? I had three replaced under warranty , but am now out of warranty. Knock on wood, I'm still going... but as near as I know it's a matter of time before it fails again... Presumably after the check valve has failed... Last replacement I had was just before it went off warranty and they replaced the intake and the valve cover... I haven't looked at the intake in a while to see if the check valve is still there or not.

No fix. I still see intake manifolds and valve covers fail all the time. Now, the corrugated hoses are cracking more frequently too. It's a **** shame.

I spent many hours designing the kit to fix the intake manifold issue, so at least there's a cheaper solution. GM could have done the same.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Agreed! And I thank you for what you have done so far. My daughters will be out of warranty in October, if it has not failed by then, your fix will be inevitable for me. I keep a check on it, and fail or not, after warranty is out I will do your fix. She will be going off to college, and I do not want to be worried about this while she is gone. Thanks again.

Sounds like a good approach, and one that I inadvertently took for my own car. I had my intake manifold replaced last year around this time, so I swapped out the still good manifold with only 5k miles on it for a broken one with the fix installed. I don't plan to swap back.

For me... the more likely route might be just to sell the car and move on to something that might be better. Is there any reason to believe these issues have been addressed with the newer model years?

Every car has issues. It just seems that GM dropped the ball on a few components where they could have put a bit more time and built in a bit more reliability and serviceability. No reason to sell the car over it; you'll lose a lot more than the $220 it costs to fix the manifold and replace the valve cover. The critical parts of the vehicle seem to be fairly reliable.

Just had my valve cover and intake replaced not long ago. First dealer tired to fight me and say my air intake caused the failure. Put my stock airbox back on, went to another dealer 10 miles away and it all was replaced no questions asked. Really lost faith in GM build quality.

Unfortunately, all you can do is find another dealer. I lost a bit of faith in GM build quality as well, which was discouraging given how much I liked the Cruze the first 3 years I owned it. Still, it could have been much worse. All in all, it's still a good vehicle.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

PCV VALVE - GM (25193343)
Is this the part you are talking about in the second part of your post? The one that you stated could not be bought separately? Not trying to call you out or anything, just making sure I get the right part.

No, that is the other check valve that is connected at the turbo Inlet. The check valve I'm referring to resides inside the intake manifold and cannot be replaced as there's no way to reach inside to put a new one in.

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[XtremeRevolution]

I never met a pcv system that I liked. Have to take off the intake manifold to get the pcv valve on our 2007 mazda 3s - hasn't failed yet with 110,000 miles.

Not to bad on the cruze if you can catch it before it gunks up the turbo.

Only thing you can do for pcv system is run good oil and fuel and hope for the best. I guess an occasional throttle body cleaning could not hurt.

Keeping everything gunk free helps in the long term. PCV systems suck on all cars IMO.

On this car, even maintenance won't save you. The PCV check valve and the pressure regulator diaphragm are made of rubber that gets brittle and breaks. If anything, trying to clean it with a solvent might accelerate that process.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I pulled off the corrugated hose PCV check valve as described and saw I have the valve still in there... now I can't get the dang plug back on. It comes close but the last few cm don't wanna go down. When I pulled it off, which took some doing, there was a plastic spacer on the manifold male end, and an o-ring at the tip of the plug on the hose end. I left the spacer on the metal end and put the oring on top of it. I confirmed the spacer isn't getting crooked but i can't seem to force it back down. Any tips?

Took some force to get mine to fit back on. It snaps in the place.

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[XtremeRevolution]

Any chances that this issue could have lead to a P0299? My Cruze went out of warranty 2 months ago and it threw the P0299 this weekend. The dealership addressed the PCV and intake gasket issue awhile back under warranty.

Hate to know what the dealership wants to charge to fix the P0299...just seeing if I have any room to argue with GM on this?

My dealership is good and will go to bat for me - I just like to provide them with the info upfront and they have been good about making sure things are addressed....my issue is now that I am out of warranty...

Either the intake manifold or the valve cover failure can trigger a P0299. Without further diagnosis on your part or that of the dealer, we can't make a determination.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I guess my question is more general at this point....knowing I already had the intake issue addressed by the dealership - they have it documented. Just wondered if I show up with the P0299 if the dealership and I would have any leg to stand on, to say that the turbo issue was "caused" by the intake issue when it was under warranty but the turbo issue is just now throwing a code after I am just out of warranty?

It's hard to say. GM never redesigned either of these components so they can fail again. The turbo failure may or may not be related to either of them, if it did in fact fail. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to make a solid case unless the dealer's diagnosis shows a related failure.

Most our P0299 underboost conditions are caused by the use of low quality engine oils, not PCV related issues, but a bad enough PCV issue can result in enough of a boost leak to trigger that code.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Most P0299 codes are from the pivot pin wearing out on the wastegate. Tolerances become too much for the actuator to compensate for and it flags the underboost code. That condition would be totally unrelated to PCV or oil used.

Naturally, but there are some occasions where the bearings are shot and there's excessive play in the compressor wheel, which is the condition I'm referring to.

I'm honestly not sure which source is more prevalent. I've seen both.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Having my intake manifold and cover replaced right now. Of course my car is just out of warranty so it is costing me around $1100 to fix. 2012 LT with 55,600 Miles. Seems to be around the mileage that this happens from the research I've done.

You really could have done all of that yourself for $200 plus the cost of tools. I have tutorials up for everything on this forum to empower people to do their own work on their vehicles and save some money in the process.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Thank you for the great post XtremeRevolution!

My 2011 Cruze is missing the check valve in the intake manifold. I went to buy the one you suggested on Amazon (ACDELCO 5581014 GM Intake Manifold Kit) but it shows that it isn't a fit for my 2011 Cruze LT. They suggest the more expensive ACDelco 55577314 GM Intake Manifold kit (of course it is more money).

Do you know what the difference is or which is actually right for a 2011 Cruze LT?

It's possible that the 2011 had a different intake manifold. It appears that 55577314 is in fact the correct part number for your 2011 as that's what also shows up on RockAuto.com. 2012+ models had 55581014.

Frankly, I'd recommend just installing my PCV kit, which costs half as much and addresses the flawed design of the OE manifold, which will inevitably fail again.

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/34-g...urbo-intake-manifold-pcv-check-valve-fix.html

 

[XtremeRevolution]

Get a compression test done next.

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[XtremeRevolution]

Any guess on how far the car can travel with this fault? I'm about a week away from having to drive 1,000 miles. Vehicle is out of powertrain warranty, so going to go the DIY route. Time isn't on my side for me to wait around on parts to come in, so since the car thinks it's running too lean is it possible to go that distance?

It's possible, but you'll be burning oil the whole time. I have a solution. Pull the intake manifold, and use the screw and nylon washer and plug up the hole where the check valve used to be, as instructed on page 1. That will at least address your oil consumption and your vacuum leak. Then, you can install the rest of the kit when you get back. This will have a negligible effect on the car in the short term.

Either order the kit now and I can have it to you by Wednesday or Thursday, or go out and buy the screw and washer yourself at the local hardware store.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

I took my 2014 with 61000 miles into the dealership because my check engine light and it was reading p0171. They said it was the purge valve and it wasn't covered under warranty. I know it's my pcv valve because I did all of your test. Can you give me any information on how to handle this situation?

Go back in and complain about oil consumption. Tell them you put in half a quart in the last 1000 miles. Tell them to reference PIP5197C. Assuming your intake manifold check valve is indeed gone, they will diagnose it as failed and will replace the whole thing.

 

[XtremeRevolution]

And never mind...... The guy at the dealership said it was the 1.8 but I just punched in the VIN and it is a 1.4. Go figure huh? I don't have a lot of faith in this dealer right now.

The good news is you can do this for a lot cheaper. Just order my PCV kit and you'll save a good $150 on the intake manifold cost. Order a valve cover from one of the links around here for about $60 and you can fix it all yourself for a lot less than the dealer is charging. These are all very common failures but they're also very well documented and there are tutorials for both so you can do it yourself.

I've shipped 104 of these PCV kits and nobody has had any issues installing these in their cars with some basic tools, so I'm sure you'll be able to do it just fine.

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[XtremeRevolution]

My oil consumption (through the PCV system) was high before the check valve went AWOL. It left at around 48,000. I noticed a "squealing" when in boost.
Anyway, I plugged the hole by first cleaning it with carb cleaner while the engine was running, Then wiping up with some q-tips, then I used plastic epoxy applied with a clean q-tip. No removal of intake and it took about 20 min.
New problem is now with no vacuum on crankcase, oil is leaking from the front main seal. The seal and dampener have been replaced with no change. Already lost one belt on the freeway from the oil being spun everywhere. Next, I am going to switch from the low friction seal to standard spring-loaded one from O'Reilly.

Moral of the story is to get it fixed sooner rather than later so it does not lead to other bad things.

Why don't you just install my kit to address the lack of pcv vacuum so you don't have to keep replacing seals? This makes no sense to me.

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