Problems with glow plugs?

7680 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by KpaxFAQ, Apr 28, 2016

starspangled6.0

Discussion Starter · Apr 25, 2016

I just took delivery of my 2014 Cruze Diesel today, and was digging through the service records he provided me. During the test drive, he mentioned something about a problem with the turbo that was dealt with under warranty, and I found this entry (I'm guessing he just got the terminology confused... didn't seem too keen on the technical aspects of his Cruze- the dealership had him going at $85 every 3 months for an oil change!):

Customer states that vehicle made loud rattle noise on startup at idle, seemed to try to accelerate... could not get vehicle to turn off.

Found excessive oil in charge air cooler causing engine over rev condition. Glow plugs high resistance.

So they replaced 2 glow plugs at 18,xxx miles, and cleaned out the CAC and radiator, and that seemed to fix the issue. Any thoughts on this incident? I don't expect to see any further issues regarding this matter, but being brand new to this motor, I wanted to get your opinion(s).

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Robby

· #2 · Apr 25, 2016

starspangled6.0 said:
I just took delivery of my 2014 Cruze Diesel today, and was digging through the service records he provided me. During the test drive, he mentioned something about a problem with the turbo that was dealt with under warranty, and I found this entry (I'm guessing he just got the terminology confused... didn't seem too keen on the technical aspects of his Cruze- the dealership had him going at $85 every 3 months for an oil change!):

Customer states that vehicle made loud rattle noise on startup at idle, seemed to try to accelerate... could not get vehicle to turn off.

Found excessive oil in charge air cooler causing engine over rev condition. Glow plugs high resistance.

So they replaced 2 glow plugs at 18,xxx miles, and cleaned out the CAC and radiator, and that seemed to fix the issue. Any thoughts on this incident? I don't expect to see any further issues regarding this matter, but being brand new to this motor, I wanted to get your opinion(s).

Based on the description and the dealers findings, your, new to you, Cruze had its oil overfilled at least once.
The overfill caused the excessive oil to get 'wipped up' and blown into the crankcase vent, forcing raw oil into the intake charge and depositing it into the intercooler (CAC).
The oil that was accumulated in the CAC was drawn into the throttle.
Since a diesel burns oil, the engine could (and did) run on the oil coming through the intake......this is called a 'runaway'
In this situation, there is no throttle control and the engine runs without the fuel injectors providing any fuel.

The two glow plugs may have shown high resistance because they were oil coated.....they likely would have cleaned up on their own but the dealer chose to exchange them in the interests of avoiding a return of the car with a second problem.

Odds are favorable, no harm done.

To you and all diesel owners: this engine oil spec. is 4.75 Qts. with a filter exchange.......I don't think I can stress enough the need to check the oil level IMMEDIATLY after the car has had a oil change service......there have been far to many owners that had the engine inadvertently overfilled.

Congrats on the 'new to you' car.

Rob

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theonlypheonix

· #3 · Apr 25, 2016

Robby said:
The two glow plugs may have shown high resistance because they were oil coated.....
Congrats on the 'new to you' car.
Rob

Not sure how one figures this, oil is generally an insulator and is used as such in high voltage capacitor and transformer, most likely they were bad glow plugs unless the dealer tech didn't know how to use his meter.

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Robby

· #4 · Apr 25, 2016

theonlypheonix said:
Not sure how one figures this, oil is generally an insulator and is used as such in high voltage capacitor and transformer, most likely they were bad glow plugs unless the dealer tech didn't know how to use his meter.

Wouldn't be the first time parts were needlessly exchanged to support a warranty claim.

Rob

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Tomko

· #5 · Apr 25, 2016

To the best of my knowledge ther has only been one other report on this forum of a glow plug replacement. And that was due to a dealer technician error.

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diesel

· #6 · Apr 25, 2016

I am on my original glow plugs at 165K miles and never had any issues like what you mention. I second the notion that the engine oil was overfilled. If it was truly a case of a runaway diesel, I would be a little scared since what basically happens is that the engine will run on its own oil until it has none left. Maybe they found a way to stop it in time. If it's running fine now, you are probably OK but keep an eye on oil consumption. Mine doesn't use any oil in between my 15K mile changes. Also, I suggest going with 4.5 quarts of oil. I never had any issues using 4.75, but it always was a little high on the dipstick when I used 4.75.

How does it run and drive? Any check engine light?

Welcome to the forum and may you have many happy miles in your diesel!

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boraz

· #7 · Apr 25, 2016

Tomko said:
To the best of my knowledge ther has only been one other report on this forum of a glow plug replacement. And that was due to a dealer technician error.

no

the plug was bad

during replacement, dealer broke it and they had to remove the engine from the car to fix it, lol

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starspangled6.0

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 26, 2016

diesel said:
I am on my original glow plugs at 165K miles and never had any issues like what you mention. I second the notion that the engine oil was overfilled. If it was truly a case of a runaway diesel, I would be a little scared since what basically happens is that the engine will run on its own oil until it has none left. Maybe they found a way to stop it in time. If it's running fine now, you are probably OK but keep an eye on oil consumption. Mine doesn't use any oil in between my 15K mile changes. Also, I suggest going with 4.5 quarts of oil. I never had any issues using 4.75, but it always was a little high on the dipstick when I used 4.75.

How does it run and drive? Any check engine light?

Welcome to the forum and may you have many happy miles in your diesel!

Thanks for the info guys. I hadn't thought of an overfill, but that makes perfect sense. I plan on taking over all the maintenance for this car, and only letting them touch the car if I need warranty work done.

Car runs great- smooth idle, smooth power, great MPG (50+ MPG on a 3 hour loop yesterday), and I even got it up to 110 MPH on the TX backroads. No CEL or anything, either. I'll try to get the oil changed in a few weeks- none of that crappy dealership crap for me, AMSOIL or Mobil 1 are my oils of choice.

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diesel

· #9 · Apr 27, 2016

starspangled6.0 said:
Thanks for the info guys. I hadn't thought of an overfill, but that makes perfect sense. I plan on taking over all the maintenance for this car, and only letting them touch the car if I need warranty work done.

Car runs great- smooth idle, smooth power, great MPG (50+ MPG on a 3 hour loop yesterday), and I even got it up to 110 MPH on the TX backroads. No CEL or anything, either. I'll try to get the oil changed in a few weeks- none of that crappy dealership crap for me, AMSOIL or Mobil 1 are my oils of choice.

Good to hear it runs well. Just to be safe, I would do an oil change ASAP to make sure you have good clean oil in there. You might also consider sending a sample of the existing oil off for analysis.

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Aussie

· #10 · Apr 27, 2016

Robby said:
To you and all diesel owners: this engine oil spec. is 4.75 Qts. with a filter exchange.......I don't think I can stress enough the need to check the oil level IMMEDIATLY after the car has had a oil change service......there have been far to many owners that had the engine

This is what can happen when the oil is overfilled in a diesel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLzf3ItkbOE

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KpaxFAQ

· #11 · Apr 28, 2016

I had a bad glow plug replaced under warranty around 25k. Tripped a code but no other sign of a problem.

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