[Cruzin' USA]

How's it going?

I bought a dark blue Cruze LT 1.4T about 3 weeks ago. It's the first car I've bought in a long time, so I did a bit of research and found this forum. There seems to be a lot of good info and members here so why not sign up?

The car has just over 102,000 miles on it. I'm happy with it so far, except the last week or so I've had a really low idle and that's when my lights start flickering and the car kinda sputters like it wants to die at a stop. Also, the "service traction control" and "service stabiltrak(sp?)" lights have been popping up everyday. Once last week, a "service charging system" (I think that's what it said) popped up but I haven't seen it since, except the "check engine light" has been on ever since (I'm pretty sure that's why I can't remote start my car anymore!). I also smell a bit of something burning when the heat is on (oil?).

None of this happened when I took it for a test drive. I didn't get the warranty in my contract, but I'm starting to think I'm going to regret it! I asked the dealer if I could still get a warranty (service contract?) and they said yeah but just not in my contract.

I saw a few Youtube vids before I found this forum, and a lot of them talked about the negative battery cable and the valve cover. I'm hoping one of those is the problem, because they both are fairly cheap. I'm thinking of going to Autozone and seeing what codes pop up.

With all that said, I like the car. I like the way it handles and it's pretty good on gas, which is a good thing because my girlfriend lives about 35-40 miles away so that adds up pretty fast. The interior and exterior are in really good condition. I like the tinted windows.

Anyway, I figured I'd say hi to everyone here and I hope you all have a good day!

 

[Cruzin' USA]

Welcome first, and the negative battery cable is most likely an issue you're having for part of those symptoms, and is a free replacement at dealers up to 150,000 miles (even out of warranty). The smell you're having could possibly be coolant as these cars are known for that for various reasons. Keep an eye on your coolant levels. If after you have the negative cable replaced and you still have those warning lightsd come up, then I would look into the PCV system, if it isn't either of those things the "service traction & stabilitrak" warnings are a typical warning that means you're misfiring. Engine light does cause remote start to stop working, so fix that issue and remote start should function again.

Unfortunately as a new member I hate to break it to you being a new owner, but 2011 Cruzes were the worst model year for reliability and had a lot of issues that were ironed out by 2013 and 2014 model years...not to say that ALL 2011 are bad, but they are the most likely to have the most issues.

Thanks for the info (and heads up) about the issues. I have my fingers crossed, lol. Nice to know that it's a free replacement even out of warranty.

It's been so cold where I'm at lately that I haven't really looked under the hood as much as I would have liked. I noticed a bit of corrosion at the negative terminal where the cable connects to. I'll take a look soon and see if the cable has already been replaced with the newer one. I need to research the differences between the old and new cable beforehand. You'd think at 102,000 miles it would've been replaced by now, lol.

I got a Haynes Repair Manual in the mail the other day which should come in handy.

Thanks again!

 

[Cruzin' USA]

Welcome and glad to have you here. Glad we were able to provide some assistance with the negative battery cable. I know what you mean with . I just bought a 2013 LT in May and like you when driving it all was OK. Then after getting it home it makes a noise at 40 MPH, but my knowledge of these cars and the mileage put on by most the members here, I am confident we have a good long lasting car!

BTW You wouldn't happen to be the guy I talked to at the YMCA the other day? I was at the "Y" and happened to talk to some guy that had a 2011 LT. We didn't get into details but....... If you are maybe run into you again..... LOL

No it wasn't me! Lol.

What wound up causing that noise in your Cruze?

I hear ya, I hope all our cars last a long time! If I have to get my hands dirty, then so be it, lol.

 

[Cruzin' USA]

If the RPMs drop too low, I'd expect the alternator to be turned off to prevent stalling the engine. That's maybe what's causing the lights to flicker. I'd be more concerned about why the RPMs are dropping low. When that happens, you might want to switch the transmission to manual mode and see if it goes away. If it does, then you're looking at a transmission problem (not switching to neutral).

I hope it's not the transmission that's for sure. I don't have a warranty on it. Not sure really what options I'd have other than bite the bullet at that point.

All I know is that once the car is warmed up (been cold) it'll drop to maybe 700-800 rpm eventually, so before I even get into it I'll notice the headlights flicker a bit when walking up to it. It'll do the same at a stop sign or if I put it in park while waiting on food in the drive-thru. It seems to be fine right at start up since the rpms are higher, just once it's warmed up a bit. Then I have the random "service stabilitrak/traction control" lights, along with the check engine light that's been on for a couple weeks.

My girlfriend and I both noticed one day that when driving down the road at 45mph or so, the brights were flickering a bit. I thought that was strange. I can't say I've noticed that, while actually driving down the road, since then and that was a couple weeks ago. Other than that it's been happening at a stop or while parked.

I can describe it exactly like this guys first post here (not sure I'd describe it as "severe"), which I'm hoping it's the pcv/valve cover. I'm pretty confident in doing that myself. The tranny? Not so much, lol.

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/10-g...stumbling-shaking-idle-flickering-lights.html

I will check and see how the car acts when switching to manual though. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Cruzin' USA]

I took my car down to Autozone and had them scan it to check for codes. I had 8 codes, some were repeats. It seems these are similar to the PCV problem. Maybe the negative battery cable, too? They seem to have really similar symptopms from what I've read, lol.

P0171 System Too Lean (Bank 1)
P0106 Manifold Absolute Pressure/BARO Sensor Range/Performance
P0300 Random Misfire Detected
P1101 Intake Air Flow System Performance
P0171 System Too Lean (Bank 1)
P1101 Intake Air Flow System Performance
P0171 System Too Lean (Bank 1)
P1101 Intake Air Flow System Performance

Welcome Aboard!:welcome:

http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/25-g...al-coverage-14311-negative-battery-cable.html

Thanks for the link! I still need to find a good comparison pic/vid between the old vs new connectors on the cable, to see if it's already been replaced. I'll see if I can find that tonight. Unless I'm just looking for a bolt on the connector?

I guess I'll just go down to the dealer and have them replace the cable, no questions asked?

 

[Cruzin' USA]

Well I took it down to a local dealer and explained the symptoms, and made them aware of the special coverage for the neg battery cable. I drop the car off this Thursday to get it taken care of. The battery cable still had a 2011 tag on it, so hopefully this will take care of the problem. Thanks for everyone's input!