[Jondaytona]

It's been awhile, to be honest, even lost interest in the ol' Cruze TD....until fuel prices went crazy. Last November I bought an Audi Q7 TDI and been lovin it so much that I parked the Cruze. Now I figure I'll drive the Cruze to and from work and keep the Audi for leisure. The Audi is nice, but won't get over 30mpg while the Cruze is capable of over 40 the way I drive. Anyways, before I parked the Cruze I noticed it would sometimes smoke on startup until it warmed up, but not all the time. Now that I'm driving it everyday again, it's happening every start-up. It's acting EXACTLY like an old carbureted car with the choke on. It will chug a bit until a certain rpm and then it's fine, otherwise it will completely clear up after the coolant temp reaches at least 160 degrees. No more smoke and it runs perfectly. I figured on starting with an EGR cleaning, but curious to know if anyone else has experienced this.

Backstory: I bought the car at 94k miles all stock and had the same experience with the chugging on cold starts, but never experienced smoke because of the emissions. Dealership couldn't find anything wrong with drive-ability at the time, but suggested a replacement ECM(which I did). Now that the car has been tuned 40k miles later, I've been seeing the smoke on start-up. I now have 165k miles on the car and it still runs strong without issues, just the annoying blueish smoke that will make your eyes water due to the raw unburnt diesel on cold starts. The engine only goes through about a half quart of oil throughout an 8k mile oil change, so not bad really. I'm thinking I've always had this problem but it's getting worse and now notice the smoke because of the tune.

 

[MP81]

You know, I can't remember when it was but I'm pretty sure I saw your car on M53 a good while back - just figured I'd mention that, haha.

Now, onto the issue - are you deleted, or still with the full emissions? An EGR cleaning is never a bad thing if you still have all the systems in-place and active - that's something I usually do about every 40k miles since it's easy enough.

 

[boraz]

leaky injector

 

[Jondaytona]

You know, I can't remember when it was but I'm pretty sure I saw your car on M53 a good while back - just figured I'd mention that, haha.

Now, onto the issue - are you deleted, or still with the full emissions? An EGR cleaning is never a bad thing if you still have all the systems in-place and active - that's something I usually do about every 40k miles since it's easy enough.

Oh yeah, 53 is my daily commute and all my vehicles stick out like a sore thumb, then again I do drive like an ass so maybe that's why you noticed...lol. How them tail lights holding up for ya??

Yeah, it's tuned and deleted BUT egr is still intact. Never did the delete for that. That's where I'm going to start since it's NEVER been done and I'm at 165k miles now. Just gotta set aside the time...

 

[Jondaytona]

leaky injector

I'm not going to deny that, but a couple things I question....wouldn't a leaky injector be leaking all the time? This only happens on a cold start then goes away at operating temp, or otherwise off-idle(i.e. driving).

Also, it's been code free since about 96k miles. I would think that would trigger something over the course of 60k miles of driving??

I will have to do some more research on your suggestion, thanks for the reply!

 

[MP81]

Oh yeah, 53 is my daily commute and all my vehicles stick out like a sore thumb, then again I do drive like an ass so maybe that's why you noticed...lol. How them tail lights holding up for ya??

Yeah, it's tuned and deleted BUT egr is still intact. Never did the delete for that. That's where I'm going to start since it's NEVER been done and I'm at 165k miles now. Just gotta set aside the time...

Nah, I could tell because of your taillights (I'd say black wheels, but we also have a Black Cruze diesel with black wheels, haha).

They are holding up deliciously, especially now that we have the trunk trim painted black granite metallic to match the body after the accident:

So with your delete tune, is your EGR also tuned out? If so, you can probably just install a block-off plate.

 

[Jondaytona]

Nah, I could tell because of your taillights (I'd say black wheels, but we also have a Black Cruze diesel with black wheels, haha).

They are holding up deliciously, especially now that we have the trunk trim painted black granite metallic to match the body after the accident:

So with your delete tune, is your EGR also tuned out? If so, you can probably just install a block-off plate.

Oh nice, I like it! I always wondered if I could take that trim off and apply 5% window tint to achieve a black chrome look, never did it though. Yeah, those taillights bugged me because they were too dim so I upgraded to a different design that are definitely brighter now.

You know, I forgot about the EGR being tuned out. I think you're right. I'm getting confused with my Audi because I just tuned that diesel and kept the emissions intact but had a dynamic EGR tune added for a modified operation. Either way, you're right, I need to remove the EGR on the **** Cruze entirely.

 

[MP81]

You probably could do that! I figured body color would "blend in" the best, and I'm super happy with how it came out, especially with the blacked out tails.

And yes...they were so dim haha.

 

[Jondaytona]

You probably could do that! I figured body color would "blend in" the best, and I'm super happy with how it came out, especially with the blacked out tails.

And yes...they were so dim haha.

"FOR SALE, MERCEDES STYLE LED TAILLIGHTS, MINT....CHEAP" any interest?? Lol kidding

 

[Bvogt]

A puff of smoke at start up is normal for a deleted car. Mine does it with 108k.

no need to clean or remove the EGR. It essentially doesn’t “exist” now anyway. With that said, I’m going to contradict myself here. There is a possibility (seeing that the issue has been there since the delete) that the EGR was gunked up at deletion and is not in the fully closed position. Not sure how the temperature change would effect it running better after warm up. It is only two bolts to take off and see if it is fully closed.

Injector could be a possibility as well as bad/contaminated fuel filter (please god I hope no one brings that other post into this one…). Try running some decent injector cleaner through it and swap out the filter.

 

[snowwy66]

The chugging is the blue smoke clearing itself out.

Blue smoke is oil.

All motors act like that when oil is leaking through the valve guide in to the cylinder. Once the oil clears out it's fine.

I've seen quite a few semis do the same thing.

 

[Bvogt]

The chugging is the blue smoke clearing itself out.

Blue smoke is oil.

All motors act like that when oil is leaking through the valve guide in to the cylinder. Once the oil clears out it's fine.

I've seen quite a few semis do the same thing.

Very true, but leaky valve guides won’t lead to it running rough until the engine warms up. Best bet: it’s a high mileage diesel in an economy car lol. Thing will chug along on three cylinders if you want it to…just run her til she wants to retire…that’s my plan any way

 

[snowwy66]

Your leaking oil while the motor sits.
Running rough is immediate. Not when it warms up. And cleared out.

 

[Bvogt]

I know, built enough motors, all gassers thou. Running rough until at least 160 degrees is what throws me off. Maybe it’s a diesel thing with the valve guides creating a rough throttle response. Regardless, leaky valve guides are nothing to be worried about with these little motors with high mileage. Keep checking the oil and run it.