First thing I did was check the EGR. Its brand new. I just looked at Live Data on my scanner and all the sensors return reasonable values. I think the codes are "permanent" codes that are cleared and will automatically delete themselves after its driven. Our 2015 gas Cruze saves misfire codes like that too. I suspect the car flippers replaced lots of stuff shotgun style and all those sensors are actually new. Without knowing a clear history I might drain the fuel and focus on the glow plugs next. It sounds like its trying to start when it cranks so I would believe its just disconnected glow plugs.
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I was down for awhile with the car nearly impossible to start. I purchased new glow plugs. It looks like three of the glow plugs were newer than the fourth and it was the dark fourth one that was totally shot. The next problem was that the threads came out very rounded. I was not risking further damage to the threads so I purchased a tap to chase the threads. Its 9mm x 1.0 for the tap. Of course I purchased a 10 x 1.0 tap and die first and putting the die on the old glow plugs proved it was too loose. The second time I got them through NAPA and was pleasantly surprised they are much cheaper and faster for individual tap and dies than Amazon.
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I'll never buy those dang things. I put everything together with old scrap pieces of 12G Romex wire.
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I finally fixed my active shutters today. The previous owner replaced the assembly but the plug has one of the four pins exposed more than the other three. Through the hole you can see heavy green copper oxide and a broken pin jammed inside it. I poured sulfuric acid drain cleaner into a glass shotglass and dunked it for about 30 seconds. When all the green oxide was gone I rinsed it thoroughly. I've used better combinations of cleaning products to etch corroded PCB boards before but this worked okay for this. Its nice bright bare copper all the way inside where I could never reach with a wire brush or file. I was able to dig out the broken pin with tweezers. Its plugged into the motor and fastened to the body separate from the shutter assembly. It worked and did its little startup dance and the code finally cleared. I expect it to last longer without the load of the shutters. The shutters themselves are wired tight in the open position by drilling a hole in the center. I have very little regard for whatever the heck the shutters are meant to accomplish.
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Here's the plug after the acid bath and before digging out the broken pin. Its visible in this picture.
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I also installed the dash camera today. I ran a 10 foot usb extension cable up through the B pillar trim and let it poke out next to the grab handle. From there a short cable is plugged into the dash camera. Its the cheapest camera I could find that supports a 256 gig microSD card. It was $150 at best buy. It has a second camera feed to face rearward to view both front and rear. It is powered on all the time and left recording even when parked. If I was to let the car sit for several days I just unplug it by the grab handle to keep from killing the battery. The plug turns off with the ignition normally but I defeated that by yanking the relay and jamming it shut.
The interior fuse block swivels down to expose three relay slots on top. The plastic cover on the relay isn't hard to pop off. From there I jammed a spoon against the contact. That contact is normally pulled by the electromagnet to make contact then springs away once the electromagnet releases when the ignition turns off. My little chunk of spoon keeps the camera and phone chargers on all the time. The cover pops back on the relay and it looks unmodified so I write a big X on the top to remember which one I've defeated.
The interior fuse block swivels down to expose three relay slots on top. The plastic cover on the relay isn't hard to pop off. From there I jammed a spoon against the contact. That contact is normally pulled by the electromagnet to make contact then springs away once the electromagnet releases when the ignition turns off. My little chunk of spoon keeps the camera and phone chargers on all the time. The cover pops back on the relay and it looks unmodified so I write a big X on the top to remember which one I've defeated.
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This is a good picture to share. The limiting factor for tire size is the Strut to tire clearance. This space stays constant as the strut moves up and down with the spring. I did not need to modify anything at all and there was plenty of space around the tire everywhere else. I used 215/65R17 tires that are nearly 2" bigger than stock and the difference in ride quality is even much bigger than I expected. Its so much nicer with the extra cushion affect of having such tall sidewalls.
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I'm fixing this up for my wife to drive Uber in Philly. She drove 60K miles last year and beat the snot out of the gas Cruze with several flats and a tire unbeaded from the rim. When there are weekend bonus promotions she sticks to the rough areas all day and its all zipping through back alleys and over sidewalks. I've already had to drive my van an hour away and rebead her tire with lighter fluid to get it home among several late night tire repairs. Before COVID I once had to steal a tire off the display rack at a 24 hour Walmart to switch on to her car to get it home.
We welcome the thought that extra sidewall could prevent a repeat event. I saved the stock tires that came off to make some full size spares or to prevent another midnight Walmart raid.
The attached pictures show old versus new. I only replaced two initially to make sure they would clear. I also included the picture of the old tire unbeaded from the rim. That event prompted me to do it sooner than later.
Our driveway is brutal. My family drives SUVs and trucks that make the Cruze feel like a Go-cart so we never care to fix the rough spots. The difference in ride quality is mostly measured in how well it now drives across the same driveway every day that used to be jarring and painful for her.
Happy wife, happy life. It was money well spent.
We welcome the thought that extra sidewall could prevent a repeat event. I saved the stock tires that came off to make some full size spares or to prevent another midnight Walmart raid.
The attached pictures show old versus new. I only replaced two initially to make sure they would clear. I also included the picture of the old tire unbeaded from the rim. That event prompted me to do it sooner than later.
Our driveway is brutal. My family drives SUVs and trucks that make the Cruze feel like a Go-cart so we never care to fix the rough spots. The difference in ride quality is mostly measured in how well it now drives across the same driveway every day that used to be jarring and painful for her.
Happy wife, happy life. It was money well spent.
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