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How Much My Cruze Has Cost Me

589 Views 20 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  Blasirl
So I have owned my Cruze for 2 years. It was my first actual car besides a Chevy impala I got from my dad but I ended up throwing a rod in that so I went to shop for a car. I stumbled along this amazing white 2012 turbo Chevy Cruze. I took it for a test drive and fell in love. I bought the car with roughly 107,000 miles for around $10,000. For the first few months it was great. After a while I would park on the street and see small coolant puddles. I took it to the dealer 4 times before they found the coolant leake which was coming from my water pump. Luckily it was covered from the 30 day warranty.

After that I decided i would start to modify it. I quickly bought a Spectre Cold Air Intake. It made the turbo sound nice and crispy. I loved it! After a few months of saving I ordered a Flash Tuner From BNR once I received the tuner I really saw what the car could do the first few weeks were great! But then things took a turn. My intake manifold died but that was expected with high mileage. I then got a catless downpipe and mid pipe and ran it out the side. Got the crackle and race tunes and was off. The car ran great after I got a new ported intake manifold but then the valve cover died as well so that was another $500 to have a mechanic fix it. Then I was finally at peace of mind. My car was fixed.

A few months later my Cruze began misfiring on hard acceleration. I emailed the tuner and they said it was not showing on the datalogs so I continued to drive. After a while I started to loosed boost pressure but this whole time had no check engine lights. So I continued driving.

Maybe 3 months ago I got an oil change from our “family mechanic” and he pointed out that there was oil spraying out of the head gasket. Oh no. I drove it for a few more months before I Had enough to repair it, and saying that a mechanic quoted me 1500 for a head gasket repair I decided I would do it on my own. I got the head and timing cover off and sent the head to the machine shop. Got a call about 4 days ago and found out it is cracked at every single exhaust valve port. So now I need a new head :/ on top of that my turbos wastegate was cracked in 4 places so that’s another hit. At this point I am basically rebuilding the motor. I am doing the head, all gaskets, turbo and supporting accessories. Along with the timing chain and guides as they seem worn out.

But over all this time I have done the math and just alone from the head gasket repair along with the turbo I’m 2097$ deep and I’m doing the work myself. On top of the valve cover. A coolant line failing, the intake failing, and the 3rd water pump.

I am around 5 thousand dollars into my Cruze after owning it for two years. And that doesn’t include the $100 oil changes and the gas and car washes. I’m total I am gonna guess I have spent roughly $7000 after owning this car for two years and am kinda discouraged from keeping it after these repairs
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Does any one have any ideas of how the head would even crack like this?
Hey,
The head cracking issue could be a casting issue, but I would also consider that the turbine design plays a significant role as well. The car chokes. It cant get the exhaust gasses out fast enough. Bernoulis principle states an increase in speed of fluid reduces pressure and potential energy. Now opposite is true as well. If the pressure through the exit increases the speed decreases and potential energy(temp) goes up. So maybe the heat is backed up in the manifold and cylinder head temps are high causing the cast iron of the turbine housing to fail at the highest point of heat, ie the small exit of the wastegate opening. Maybe if it was made of incolnel 617 or 625 it would hold up lol. In cast iron heat distortion plays a huge role in its abillity to keep its properties after repeated heat cycles. If it gets hotter in some places than others, the crystaline structure will change causing failure. Aluminum and steel will do the samethings at differnt temps so I just think heat backed up in the turbine is causing many of the issues. I had to do all the work you are doing 1 month after owning my cruze. New head, turbo and gaskets. It is a pita like most things but you can do it.
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Nice writeup and photos, thank you!
Cruze owned for 2 years at the expense of 17 grand. If you sell it for 7.. thats 5 grand a year.. You got a pay to play!
Catless downpipe and mid pipe ran out the side. Crackle and Race tunes ported intake.. How many ponies was that making at 22? psi nearing 200 HP ?
Hey,
The head cracking issue could be a casting issue, but I would also consider that the turbine design plays a significant role as well. The car chokes. It cant get the exhaust gasses out fast enough. Bernoulis principle states an increase in speed of fluid reduces pressure and potential energy. Now opposite is true as well. If the pressure through the exit increases the speed decreases and potential energy(temp) goes up. So maybe the heat is backed up in the manifold and cylinder head temps are high causing the cast iron of the turbine housing to fail at the highest point of heat, ie the small exit of the wastegate opening. Maybe if it was made of incolnel 617 or 625 it would hold up lol. In cast iron heat distortion plays a huge role in its abillity to keep its properties after repeated heat cycles. If it gets hotter in some places than others, the crystaline structure will change causing failure. Aluminum and steel will do the samethings at differnt temps so I just think heat backed up in the turbine is causing many of the issues. I had to do all the work you are doing 1 month after owning my cruze. New head, turbo and gaskets. It is a pita like most things but you can do it.
Thank you for the input. I was kinda worried the crackle tune was a contributing factor to the cracking of the head. I guess I will find out when I run it and crack it again lol:)
Nice writeup and photos, thank you!
Cruze owned for 2 years at the expense of 17 grand. If you sell it for 7.. thats 5 grand a year.. You got a pay to play!
Catless downpipe and mid pipe ran out the side. Crackle and Race tunes ported intake.. How many ponies was that making at 22? psi nearing 200 HP ?
I have never had it dyno ran. But I would like to think around 200-220. I have been able to keep but with plenty of stock or tuned Honda civics tho:) It’s been a good 9 months since my car was actually pushing 22psi but when it did it was a MONSTER
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Some Aftermarket tunes actually throttle the VGT guide vanes under high load to increase exhaust gas drive pressure on the turbocharger to speed up the turbo and create more boost. This extra drive pressure also adds heat to the head, exhaust and Turbo.

If you want a reliable car, don’t mod it at all. The law of thermodynamics applies and the higher you push the power above design the shorter lifespan parts it will have.
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A coolant line failing, the intake failing, and the 3rd water pump. I am around 5 thousand dollars into my Cruze after owning it for two years. And that doesn’t include the $100 oil changes and the gas and car washes. I’m total I am gonna guess I have spent roughly $7000 after owning this car for two years and am kinda discouraged from keeping it after these repairs
I mean, you'd still lose if you try to sell it I guess, so maybe keeping it and praying that it keeps performing well is the play. Definitely got pretty unlucky with how much issues happened over small time frame, but it is what it is...
The crack on the turbo is completely normal, and that turbo is still good.

Cracks in the head are unfortunately becoming more common, and GM has released a revised cylinder head design for these motors. P/N 55576728
Been to the parts site, and there are other 1.4T options as well :unsure:..
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Cracked cylinder heads now as well? Precisely why I would not dream of doing performance mods to this fragile POS car!
Been to the parts site, and there are other 1.4T options as well :unsure:.. View attachment 302532
Yeah I ended up ordering one for 850 bucks says it’s gonna be delayed for a month. Sad but atleast it is a factory refurbished head and will be good to go:)
Cracked cylinder heads now as well? Precisely why I would not dream of doing performance mods to this fragile POS car!
Yes yes yes, I was pushing very very much boost also got a few over boost codes that threw up to 30PSI so I have learned my mistakes and will calm the boost but I will never stop upgrading my Cruze. It is such a fun and lovable car. With every mod it gets more reliable and more fun:) I am gonna keep it under 250-300 because the trans will snap in half but I might have a guy for that ;)
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The crack on the turbo is completely normal, and that turbo is still good.

Cracks in the head are unfortunately becoming more common, and GM has released a revised cylinder head design for these motors. P/N 55576728
I can promise you unless I replace the entire housing the turbo is done. The props are bent and disfigured as well. They spin freely but not in good shape. I just ordered a new one off rock auto. Came with all the exhaust studs as well as a new oil fill tube and gaskets so it will be good to go once the head arrives
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Been to the parts site, and there are other 1.4T options as well :unsure:.. View attachment 302532
You are correct, sorry. They have updated the 555 PN to this one as the latest revision.
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Modded it, it broke, and now you're discouraged from keeping it. hmm 😯
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Modded it, it broke, and now you're discouraged from keeping it. hmm 😯
I don’t personally think the mods helped with reliability but overall I love my Cruze. With the miles it’s at around 147,000 some repair was expected but not the 2500 in parts expected
Mine is stock and blew up. I plan to replace turbo to the k04. Seems like a reliable option. A bit more fuel and a tune. Want the car to live at 200 wheel indef. My 6.7 psd is modded and has been great to me. 45k miles on a 150 horse tune. I probably just jinxed myself lol

Edit: my car had 67k miles when it let go.
Sorry to hear about the expenses. I had a similar deal with my traverse. Bought for $9k motor blew after 3 months and spent another $7500 to replace.

bought my Cruze in 2015 for $7200. Not including regular maintenance I’ve spent roughly $2000 in repairs in the last 8 years.
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