[robbinsbl27]

I have a 2014 Cruze Diesel, 68,000 miles. The DEF heater check engine light came on, so I ordered the heater. No drive-ability issues so I continued to drive to work for a few days. Last weekend I had a wedding in Kansas City (Im from Wisconsin). I drove the 8 hours in the Cruze. Saturday at about 4pm I get another light to service diesel exhaust system. I have 100 miles before speed is limited to 65mph. Considering I have an 8 hour drive home ahead of me the next day, that isnt good. Local Chevy dealers are closed so I call Chevy Roadside assistance....

First I ask if they can do some sort of OnStar magic and simply increase the amount of miles I have until speed limiting kicks in, "Give me 800 miles so I can get home and get it serviced". That cant happen.

Roadside wants to tow it, explained thats not necessary. Chevy dealership is literally 3 blocks from the wedding I am going to. Car drives fine now (97 miles until speed limiting at this point). They say they cannot get me a rental car to get home, unless they set up a tow. I try talk about how this would all work: Do I get a rental for a day and drive home? Chevy wanted me to stay in KC and wait for it to be fixed. Explained I already had the part on order, and it's on back order. We are not going to see the part for at least a few days. This is not possible (4 adults, all have jobs and cannot all take a week off of work). We set up the tow, I get it towed the 3 blocks to the dealership. Roadside calls me back and informs me they cannot get me a rental, as their network of rental companies are all closed. "Im sorry there is nothing more I can do". Great. They did email me a form I could fill out if I rent my own car for reimbursement.

So family takes us to the airport we rent a car (chose the chrysler 300 over the impala at this point) and drove home.

Monday I call the dealer, really nice people there, they have to order parts should be in at the end of the week. Today is now Friday. No parts (good thing I didn't stay in KC).

Now I am trying to figure out how to get the Cruze back to me, and who is going to pay for this cost. I called Roadside, they want to set up a tow, 160 bucks plus $3 a mile. Thats about 2500 and they want me to cover it. No thanks.

Any help? There has to be some duramax owners out there who have ran into this issue on a Sunday. This is frustrating as the Cruze runs fine. It is a computer that is purposely limiting my driving (I understand it's so you can drive around polluting everything (VW)). Still, if there is no where to get the vehicle fixed (on a sunday) there should be an ability to override this constraint.

 

[Tomko]

I once received the countdown but then after about an hour on the highway to Montreal the error cleared itself and never came back again.

Did you contemplate driving through to see if it would clear on its own?

 

[ChevyGuy]

speed is limited to 65mph.

While that wouldn't be fun, I'd think living with the limitation would be better than any of the other options.

 

[NickD]

Really not that familiar with Diesel Exhaust Fluid, did read if that tank runs dry, the Cruze won't run anymore. Sounded a bit crazy to me, if on the interstate, runs dry, kills the engine and causes a mile long pile up.

Again, strictly an after the fact EPA required emission control device like having a cat that can plug up and cause similar problems.

So was your DEF tank full, or enough to get home on? But you got a code stating your DEF heater was defective, was it really or some kind of electronic fluke? Also like this crazy fuel evaporative system, put that carbon canister back by the fuel tank to save a couple of cents on a hose, snow slush gets it all wet, gets into the vent solenoid valve freezes it up and pops on the CEL. But as far as the driver is concerned, have no idea why the CEL is on, and miles away from home.

Or with this crazy TPMS, same thing can happen to anybody with a blow out and past bankers hour car tire dealers have, that can also leave you stranded. If you do have a compact spare, only good for 50 miles, a tad short of 800. So really doesn't have to be a DEF heater.

But can stop at a convenience gas station and buy a case of beer and get plastered.

Never was this way before, sure is now. I do carry 200 mile towing insurance, but get a bit tense if outside of that range. I don't even want to think of those millions of transistors just to fire a spark plug or open an injector where if only one transistor goes bad, can leave me stranded.

Can to some preventative maintenance in a single drive belt, but if the idler bearing in the AC compressor decides to seize, also will be stranded in some God forsaken place out of cell phone range.

But putting emissions ahead of your life is getting a bit ridiculous.

 

[LiveTrash]

Really not that familiar with Diesel Exhaust Fluid, did read if that tank runs dry, the Cruze won't run anymore. Sounded a bit crazy to me, if on the interstate, runs dry, kills the engine and causes a mile long pile up.

More than enough warning is given to fill up the DEF fluid tank. You'd have to severely neglect the warnings to have this happen. I'm at 22,000km and still on my factory filled tank of DEF.

 

[oilburner]

While that wouldn't be fun, I'd think living with the limitation would be better than any of the other options.

that's the first limitation then gets slower from there, if ignored. had it happen to me then I discovered the countdown would start over from the beginning if you turned it off for a minute an started again. drove it this way for 5 weeks till exhaust temp sensor showed up.

 

[tunes]

that's the first limitation then gets slower from there, if ignored. had it happen to me then I discovered the countdown would start over from the beginning if you turned it off for a minute an started again. drove it this way for 5 weeks till exhaust temp sensor showed up.

Do you mean the beginning of normal or the beginning of the 65 mph countdown?

 

[ChevyGuy]

had it happen to me then I discovered the countdown would start over from the beginning if you turned it off for a minute an started again.

So, rest stop every 90 miles. That might mess up the time table, but that's do-able.

 

[NickD]

Did get the urge to buy a diesel a couple of years ago when my Chevy dealer was knocking off 5,000 bucks from the sticker price. One thing that stopped me, was at the gas pumps, price of diesel fuel was much higher than gas, so wouldn't see any economical gains.

But see the price did finally drop down to that of gas, my crystal ball has a crack in it.

One plus I learned, I could keep that DEF tank filled myself, heck, my dealer can't even replace the engine oil without missing that hole where the oil should be poured into, would really make a mess in the trunk. With my experiences with the Cavalier, were charging me for a new oil filter and not even replacing this. Made an issue out of this with my new Cruze, I will be changing the oil myself.

But a negative was no place for a spare tire with that tank in there.

But what about the OP with that heater thing? Never looked into this, is this heater only needed in subzero weather? And was his DEF tank low?

And now he is suppose to lay out 2,500 bucks to get his car back? Does it really need to be towed? This doesn't make any sense either, will probably pay a kid a couple of bucks to drive it back and rod it.

Also the way things are today, have to plan your trips, in out two trips up north, planned on doing the driving a during daylight hours on a weekday. Doesn't have to be some weird electronic problem, can be just a blown out tire.

 

[oilburner]

Do you mean the beginning of normal or the beginning of the 65 mph countdown?

start out normal for maybe a mile then the first warning your speed would be reduced to 65 . as I said 5 weeks driving this way but didn`t care as I just went to work an back 50 mile return drive.
you could of got killed trying to pass a car, that part did suck.

 

[NickD]

Has to be an end to this story, what happened to the OP?

 

[spacedout]

Has to be an end to this story, what happened to the OP?

It's only been a couple days, from the sounds of things the OP has a wait ahead for the dealer to get parts and then find a way to get his car home.

 

[Aussie]

The DEF seems to cause a lot of problems. I sure am glad I don't have it in my diesel, the only warning light I have ever had come on is the DPF keep driving at min of 2,000rpm till it goes out. Only ever came on once at 6,000km and went out in about 10 minutes. At 41,000 now and it never came on again.

 

[NickD]

Tried a net search on that DEF heater for the Cruze, came up with zero, but other vehicles seem to be having a problem with it as well.

Do you really need a DEF heater when driving through Death Valley or in those desserts in Australia? Darn stuff is boiling already.

 

[robbinsbl27]

...still waiting on GM. Car is still in KC (Im in Wi). Luckily my wife and I car pool. Relying on our truck every day (14mpg is much different than 50). GM wanted me to use a tow truck to get the car back to me. $160 +$3 a mile. It would be about $2500. No thanks. GM says ask the dealer to figure it out, Dealer says talk to GM. It's not the dealers fault. I wish I would have known about the mileage reset, I would have just driven it home at 65 MPH. It was the eventual 4mph the manual talks about which had me scared.

For the people who commented that I was out of DEF, I was not. I filled up before the trip. The DEF was good, there were two parts which were bad, the heater and something else, the something else is what put it into limp mode.

 

[ChevyGuy]

I'm not sure as there's going to be a happy ending to this. I don't know as GM warranty would cover getting the car back to you after you voluntarily separated yourself from it. There are limits to the warranty.

Rather than a tow truck, have you checked with a car hauler? Given the distance, they might be a lot cheaper. Otherwise, this weekend is likely as good as any to go retrieve it.

 

[spacedout]

If your more than 150 miles from home GM will pay for your hotel when your car is being fixed, seems they should pony of for a tow or at a minimum pay for your gas or flight to go get your car.

A friend had his rear axle fail towing his camper on a trip, GM brought out a truck and towed his camper to a local campground and paid for his week there.