How-To: Cruze Oil Change - 1.4T

Heck no, I don't mind. That was the whole point! I know many of the new Cruze owners have not gotten a chance to look under her skirt yet so I thought I'd help a little bit. It is easy when you know how!

And If someone has something they would like to add, let me know. If I can add it to the current ppt file I will. If it needs new pics and descriptions I will put them in too. It is open source as far as I'm concerned.

CRUISE-CRUZE said:

Excellent post TSU! Thanks a lot, much easy when you follow somebody who did it! I am surprise to see the drain pug is not magnetic! Or it is?

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It didnt seem to be. I did not notice any magnetic tension on the plug when removing it from the socket. However, my hands were pretty darn cold and I couldnt feel much.
Some of the pics are a little blurry. Probably from my hands shivering and the fact that I was just using my phone. I got it done though, for my Cruze friends!

Paul7893 said:

OP - Great post. What oil filter did you use, and where did you get it?

Autozone sold me an STP S10246.

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http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/10-c...hnical-discussion/489-engine-oil-filters.html

I happened to use the Wix because it is what they had in stock. Got it at O'Reilly auto parts. I think it was ~$8.

Paul7893 said:

Thank you TSURacing!!!! You rock!!

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Wow, way to out us to the Cruze Facebook page, Paul. Now we will have all sorts of riff-raff coming through.

J/K. Thanks for the very public endorsement. The wife and I both "liked" your post.

ChevyPower said:

@TSU would you recommend using oil stabilizer when doing an oil change, or any additives at all?

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I would say since we are already pinned into using a high quality synthetic per the warranty, that should be all we would ever need. I have never been a big fan of additives myself.

I so wish it was that easy to get to!

rlhammon said:

Did I see right, back on the first page, that the plug is a 10mm? Hmm.. I was hoping to find a Quick Valve (http://www.qwikvalve.com/Size-Chart.html) to fit the Cruze, but the smallest I see on their size chart is 12mm.

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The head is a 10mm but the threads are larger, possibly 12mm. I did not measure the thread diameter. I will next oil change, but thats not going to be in time for you .

Eightbelow said:

I'm going to have to do my break in oil change soon but I'm concerned about how I'll fit under the car. I have the sport tuned suspension so it's a little bit lower. I have ramps and a jack but if I use the ramps and try draining it the car wont be level so the oil won't properly drain from the vehicle. Should I perhaps jack it up then remove the bolt then lower it down to let it drain all the way out? And do you guys recommend getting the oild filters online? I"d prefer not going to the stealership.

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Based on where the drain plug is in the pan you should be in good shape if you are up on ramps. The plug is in the back corner of the sump, so if the car is nose up that should work out fine for you. When you are under there double check that, but I'm thinking you're cool on that. Get oil filters where ever you can get them at a good price. I think I paid around $8 for a Wix at Oreilly.
Your target price on Mobil1 is $5 a qt. That is pretty typical for a on-sale price at most retailers. If you can nab it for less, buy for your next oil change too.

I discovered something new the other day doing my 2nd oil change. If you jack up the car on only one side when doing your oil changes, use the RH side. I used the RH side when iI did the write-up. This last time I jacked it up on the LH side and a bunch of oil ended up on the aero shield because of the angle of the car. That was yucky.

If you use ramps or a lift, it is a non-issue as the car will be even across the front wheels. But if you use a jack, and are lazy like me and only do one side, choose the RH side!

Macman said:

I'm hoping to do my first change soon, I'm at about 6k miles, I am still unsure about which filter and oil to use. I saw on your instructions about replacing a cushion or something, what is that?

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On some older drain plugs there was a soft metal (copper) crush washer that you were "supposed" to replace every time you loosened the bolt. The Cruze drain plug has a captured O-ring, so it is good for as long as you treat it nicely.

Ragin Cajun said:

I didn't like how close the guard was to the oil drain plug so I pulled out the trusty hole saw and cut a semi circle right where the drain plug is. No more mess!

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That is a great solution for those who want to keep their aero panels mostly intact vs. the hack job the dealer wants to do.

Another simple thing I have found is that if you jack the car up from the passenger side, the oil flow is a little bit futher away from the edge of the shield. For those that use ramps its not much help, but if you are like me and just put one wheel in the air to get under there, lift the right side.