[Omnisoul]

Hello,

I'm writing here to see if you could give me some sound advice. I have read the forums in search for my specific problem for my car but nothing is exactly the same. So this is why i'm posting.

1 year ago I bought a 2009 Chevy Cruze LS 1.6 it only had 60000 KM and seemed perfect during the test drive and inspection.
After some time i noticed that the vehicle on some day's the car had more power and response on the throttle than other days.
And after a while the engine light turned so i went to my personal mechanic to check the problem and it resulted that the air sensor is the problem.
We fixed the problem by changing the sensor but the loss of power was still there. After a while i went to a Chevy dealer ship and they told me that the problem may be that some gears that control the fuel/air system might be damaged but they are not sure. I explained that the problem is not always there that depending on the weather and day the engine works differently but they did not listen. They said that the only thing they can try is to change those parts which are 2 gears each about 250€ plus the work 500€ so all in all 1000€ but that may not solve the problem.
Here is then my dilemma do i spend 1000€ on a "maybe" when i bought the car for 2500€.

Also I have read something about the spark plug gaping if this could cause the loss of power in my engine but I doubt it since it is so inconsistent.

If you need any more information please ask i will supply.

P.S.
I always use 100 octane unleaded fuel.

 

[Cruzen Vegas]

try putting in new spark plugs first...What country you in?

 

[obermd]

I'd go for new spark plugs gapped between .64 and .70 mm. Use the OEM plugs listed in your owners manual. Also, check to ensure your engine air filter is clean.

 

[Kalpazan]

I believe you have faulty MAP sensor. You also need to reset ECU after you change that sensor. How are the idle rpms ? Steady or fluctuating ?

 

[NickD]

€ is euros, take your choice for which euro country he is from. European Cruze LS 1.6L has variable valve timing, and doesn't have a thing to do the the air fuel ratio with the only engine component that has gears in it. And even with one notch off, engine wouldn't run at all or barely.

Must be the air intake temperature sensor, and depends upon which set of codes were read, if by itself, could be corroded terminals, code is only set with a complete open circuit, out of tolerance codes go along with other engine parameters. Are you in wet Great Britain?

Agree with obermd, spark reliability can vary considerably with engine loading conditions, even worse on a windy day and is the simplest and cheapest thing to try. Daughter has the same symptoms as you and was her spark plugs, now she thinks she is driving a Ferrari. Threads should be cleaned and torqued at 18 ft-lbs, many here had loose plugs causing blowby.

 

[Omnisoul]

Ok so first off I'm from Slovenia near the sea, so weather is mediterranean so mostly dry and a bit of wind. The RPM while idle are steady at 800 RPM. I just cheked the user/owner manual and there is no information regarding which type of spark plugs i can instal. Regarding the sensors could you be more specific so i can relay the info to my mechanic.
Once agian thank you very much for the help.

 

[Cruzen Vegas]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GPUpODtK5w

 

[Kalpazan]

I have always said.... Don't waste your money on changing this and that based on asumptions and gut feelings. Find someone to run proper diagnostics on the car and you can save a lot of money. There can be few reasons for engine lacking power. I would start from MAP sensor and continue investigating from there but.... you mention engine light tuned on. What was the error code exactly ?

 

[Omnisoul]

Kalpazan i would agree with you regarding the proper diagnostics but we ran first a diagnostic with my mechanic and then he went to an official dealership to confirm the problem. My mechanic said that the diagnostic tool said there was a problem with the sensor for air flow but the official dealer ship then said that the error code we got could mean several things from sensors of air intake\outtake to the gears i mention in my first post an seeing that every diagnosis at the Chevy dealership costs around 60$ just to hook up the diagnosis machine. I will get back to you with the precise error code.

EDIT:
So I have looked and could not find where I have the error code written down. :S
But i found this post: http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/9-ge...ngine-light-p0101-keeps-turning-off-help.html
Which describes the problem quite well i had the engine light turn of and on a few times until it became solid and did not turn off.

 

[NickD]

Air intake sensor problems show up more in open loop mode that you are in when the engine is cold, O2 sensor is worthless at this point, has to be at least 350*F before it can start regulating the air fuel ratios.

Also helps to describe the circumstances that started this problem. Around here with all this rain we had, fist question I ask, did this problem first start after you filled the gas tank? Water in the fuel became a major problem, but doesn't sound like your problem. Another for low power had nothing to do with the engine, road salt jamming up the brake pads so they always made contact.

Kind of got a kick when reading an owners manual, use only unleaded gas, leaded gas around here wasn't available for the last 30 years?

In some cases, dumping a can of Seafoam in the fuel tank solves problems. Did look at an European shop manual, your vehicles are much different than ours in the US.

With all the newer electronic stuff, the basics of an engine has not changed, compression, fuel, proper vacuum, and ignition occurring at the right time. Still burning carbon, builds up on the face of the intake valves so they don't close properly, already lost compression. All these can be tested. Also builds up on that center electrode insulation providing a direct path to ground.

Ha, back in the not so good old days, also had lead build up, to keep an engine running in top performance, had to clean or replace the spark plugs every 3,000 miles. Unleaded gas created different problems, high combustion chamber temperatures, first the EGR valve had to be added, putting exhaust crap back into the engine, another is PCV, more crap that builds up on the face of injectors causing spray problems. And sure a lot of BS today.

 

[Omnisoul]

The problem started out of the blue one day and now sometimes the engine works great when it is raining other times when it's hot or when it's windy so i have no clue what affects the engine.
Regarding the salt clogging the brakes here we do not use salt on roads since we barley get 1 inch of snow every five years.
The Seafoam seem to be a good idea at least to try since the last owner drove it only from his house to work about 2,5 miles of 30MPH driving.

 

[NickD]

Use to say in the USA, I gotta to take my rod out to the highway to blow out the carbon.

Seafoam does work a little better.

(Rod is short for hot rod.)