[TeckyWalla]

Two quotes from another site!
T.W..

"Work at a GM dealership, we replace AT LEAST 3-4 of these a week. Don't get to angry with your mechanic, probably wasn't his fault, it's GM's fault."

" Not the oil guys fault. Worlds most POS oil plug that is ALWAYS stripped. Blame the gm engineers".

 

[Ma v e n]

It's the techs fault. These drain bolts have a 10mm head because they are only meant to to be tightened to 14nm. (About 10lbft..) this is NOT very tight, it's less force than "snug" with a typical modern long reach ratchet or wrench is. Also removing using 12 point sockets on them exacerbates the issue of them being over tightened and easily strips the heads

 

[TeckyWalla]

It's the techs fault. These drain bolts have a 10mm head because they are only meant to to be tightened to 14nm.

Well I much prefer the after-market version with the torx/socket head, having changed my own for more decades than I care to remember, I have never come across a drain plug that was close to being stripped, by looking at some of the YouTube videos on it, the originals don't last that long at all.
Very puny looking!
Plus if tightening to the spec, just as easy to use a torque wrench on a decent socket head.

 

[Iamantman]

Dude it has nothing to do with the bolt. This is very clearly user error. A drain bolt is a drain bolt. You tighten it until it's snug.

Just changed mine over thanksgiving. No pf64 in stock (you'd think I'd learn my lesson by now and order some haha) so used the mobil 1 equivalent for the first time. Looked like an oil filter!

 

[TeckyWalla]

Don't agree!
When a 1y 2y old auto has sheared drain plug heads when the service is done by a dealership and one dealer ship alone admits they change/replace up to 4 a week, something is wrong!
The after market replacement is like night and day in appearance!

 

[jblackburn]

Are we talking about a Gen 1 bolt or a Gen 2?

The Gen 2 has a MUCH bigger head on it than the 10mm Gen 1 (and a Torx socket if you mess that up), and I don't honestly see how you could strip the thing unless you're hammering the thing down with an impact like there's no tomorrow.

 

[TeckyWalla]

The one I have is a 2yr old gen 2, it had the puny head version, the replacement had the Torx-Hex head version.
Great improvement.

 

[jblackburn]

The one I have is a 2yr old gen 2, it had the puny head version, the replacement had the Torx-Hex head version.
Great improvement.

Interesting considering mine's the first production year (and bought new).

 

[CRUZE-66]

The drain plug on my '17 is a 15mm hex head with the intergrated and replaceable O-ring. There's no torx socket either. It also appears to be steel with some anti-corrosion plating. My particular car would have been on the lot when the TSB came out for the Dexos 1 Gen 2 oil replacement so maybe the dealer changed the drain plug from the more problematic factory one?

Considering the the lower pan that the oil plug screws into is stamped steel, I'd figure if you decently snugged it down, even reasonably over its 14nm rating, it's not going to have any negative effect... unless the engineering and execution of the pan and plug are really screwed up. Unfortunately with GM that looks like what might have happened with certain drain plugs.

 

[HBCRUZE2017]

gonna use this stuff tomorrow car has 85k now gonna try some 91 tomorrow and some lucas injector cleaner also!

Torco SX-8 100% Synthetic Engine Oil

Torco SX-8 is a 100% synthetic motor oil designed to address Low Speed Pre-Ignition (LSPI) Best for modern high performance street car. Meets dexos1 Gen2, API SN Plus. Available in 0W20, 5W20 and 5W30.

torcousa.com

 

[Barry Allen]

gonna use this stuff tomorrow car has 85k now gonna try some 91 tomorrow and some lucas injector cleaner also!

Torco SX-8 100% Synthetic Engine Oil

Torco SX-8 is a 100% synthetic motor oil designed to address Low Speed Pre-Ignition (LSPI) Best for modern high performance street car. Meets dexos1 Gen2, API SN Plus. Available in 0W20, 5W20 and 5W30.

torcousa.com

You can't just find a Wal-Mart or any auto parts store and buy regular oil? You have to purposely seek out the weirdest stuff ever found to try?

 

[HBCRUZE2017]

why is this the weirdest stuff to buy? my friend works for them and its all i use in my camaro but the race oil...its some of the best out there on the market

 

[Ma v e n]

The drain plug on my '17 is a 15mm hex head with the intergrated and replaceable O-ring. There's no torx socket either. It also appears to be steel with some anti-corrosion plating. My particular car would have been on the lot when the TSB came out for the Dexos 1 Gen 2 oil replacement so maybe the dealer changed the drain plug from the more problematic factory one?

Considering the the lower pan that the oil plug screws into is stamped steel, I'd figure if you decently snugged it down, even reasonably over its 14nm rating, it's not going to have any negative effect... unless the engineering and execution of the pan and plug are really screwed up. Unfortunately with GM that looks like what might have happened with certain drain plugs.

No, you have an LE2 it came with the 15mm hex plug, and a steel pan, they don't have the issues the earlier Cruzes with alloy pans and 10mm hex did

 

[Ma v e n]

why is this the weirdest stuff to buy? my friend works for them and its all i use in my camaro but the race oil...its some of the best out there on the market

Their race oil may be, but that 0w20 swill seems like just a run of the mill Dexos. They don't even claim a specific NOACK, just ">13%". Well it HAS to be less than 13 or it can't be Dexos. It's also listed as an SN+ spec, SP is the current spec. And of you're paying anywhere near $8 a quart there's many oils with better NOACK that are Dexos.

It's also not listed on the Dexos site, but it clearly wears a Dexos logo on the bottle. Who wrong?

 

[HBCRUZE2017]

i used the 5w30 torco sx8 well see how it does but has to be better than the oem gm synthetic mix they normally use at the dealer

 

[Barry Allen]

has to be better than the oem gm synthetic mix they normally use at the dealer

I believe dexos1 has been updated (the "Generation 2" oils) and the spec now require full synthetic oil.

The AC Delco synthetic oils are quite good - just as good as lots of others out there on the shelf. I use the dexos2 oil for my diesel and it's AC Delco that the dealership puts in the car. It's a full synthetic oil.

 

[Ma v e n]

i used the 5w30 torco sx8 well see how it does but has to be better than the oem gm synthetic mix they normally use at the dealer

As Barry mentioned, ACDelco D1G2 is full synthetic. I'd be calling up Torco and asking what their Dexos license # is, or seeing if it's on the bottle and verifying it's still a current license before I ran that too long. Since on paper it doesn't seem like an oil with desirable traits.

 

[Barry Allen]

why is this the weirdest stuff to buy? my friend works for them and its all i use in my camaro but the race oil...its some of the best out there on the market

What will the oil do that other oils don't? What will you do with the oil?

If all you are going to do is change the engine oil at the regular intervals (is the gasoline engine a 7,500 mile interval?), it's easiest to find a good synthetic oil (Mobil 1, Pennzoil, AC Delco, etc.) at the auto parts stores or Chevy parts counters and just use that.

After looking at what it takes for me to "do my own oil changes" on my diesel Cruze, it's not worth it. I live in an apartment and I don't have a lift, so my efforts consist of finding Pennzoil at Wal-mart for about $23 and then I've got some K&N oil filters for $6 each. Then, I go to the cheapest oil change place in town and it's $20 for them to drain and fill with my own supplies. OR, I can take the car to the dealership and an oil change is $40 with AC Delco synthetic oil (which I believe is made by Mobil) and the OEM oil filter. Another $10 gets me a tire rotation, and the people doing the oil change have the tool to reset the tire pressure monitor so the pressure in the tires reads correctly on the display. I'm in and out in about 15 minutes from the dealer for $50, and they give me the 6th quart of oil to have for topping up if I need it.

 

[6speedTi]

From the 2018 manual.