# 102,000 Mile Update



## rescueswimmer (Mar 28, 2013)

Just wanted to drop a quick note on how the car has been and what we have had to do deal with over the last 2 years or so.

The car has been pretty much 100% reliable with a few hiccups along the way. I'll list them in a minute. The only thing that I have noticed, is that documented MPG has gone down 2-3 MPG over the last year and not sure for the reason, It actually had better MPG when it had 0 miles on it than it does with a 100k Maybe all the Regen update flashes are killing it?

Anyway.

1 Set of tires
1 Turd Handler (AKA wastegate actuator) (Graciously reminded this was replaced too.) 
1 Battery
1 Steering gear box
2 fan blower motors
1 transmission seal gasket (leaking)
1 DEF tank heater
2 NOX sensors 
2 or 3 fuel filters.
10 Oil Changes
1 Timing belt. I just did the timing belt job this weekend. It really is super easy and if you have the tools and mechanical knowledge I think most DIY'ers could do this them selves. Just be careful when re routing the timing belt and torque everything to spec and you should be fine.

Future projects starting this month. Replacing S&S with Billsteins. Brakes are still pretty good but wife says it does not stop like it used to so going to do a brake job as well. I had purchased the Gm extra guard to 100,000 miles so now that we are out of warranty I'm doing the delete kit as well.

Other than that I can't think of anything that would be a deal breaker for us and the car. YMMV

Thanks
RS


----------



## Rivergoer (Mar 30, 2017)

rescueswimmer said:


> Just wanted to drop a quick note on how the car has been and what we have had to do deal with over the last 2 years or so.
> 
> The car has been pretty much 100% reliable with a few hiccups along the way. I'll list them in a minute. The only thing that I have noticed, is that documented MPG has gone down 2-3 MPG over the last year and not sure for the reason, It actually had better MPG when it had 0 miles on it than it does with a 100k Maybe all the Regen update flashes are killing it?
> 
> ...


Great update, thanks @*rescueswimmer*. 

One thing, you didn't mention the infamous Turd Handler...ROFL


----------



## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

rescueswimmer said:


> Brakes are still pretty good but wife says it does not stop like it used to so going to do a brake job as well.
> 
> Thanks
> RS


I recommend Centrex High Carbon rotors.


----------



## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

I recommend putting the exact same ACDelco ones back on that got you 100,000 miles to begin with.

No matter how much I have spent have I ever got a aftermarket brake rotor to last anywhere close to the OEM ones.


----------



## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

BDCCruze said:


> I recommend putting the exact same ACDelco ones back on that got you 100,000 miles to begin with.
> 
> No matter how much I have spent have I ever got a aftermarket brake rotor to last anywhere close to the OEM ones.


This has been my experience as well. But not for the faint-hearted. 

The true factory rotors on my 9C1 Caprice were over $250 a pop back in the day. Also available from GM were service parts at about half that cost and AC Delco parts at even less. Talk about an eye watering brake job - but I didn't want to alter the 9C1 braking characteristics. 

Another consideration for those living in coastal or salt belt regions is that the true factory rotors have the FNC treatment that the service parts or AC Delco parts do not have.


----------



## raffmanlt (Oct 4, 2014)

Good to know. On mpg have you cleaned map sensor? Wondering what was up with steering? I had the notchy steering which turned out to be a software change on computer irqs. What happened to blower?


----------



## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

Well done on making it to 100k miles...


----------



## rescueswimmer (Mar 28, 2013)

raffmanlt said:


> Good to know. On mpg have you cleaned map sensor? Wondering what was up with steering? I had the notchy steering which turned out to be a software change on computer irqs. What happened to blower?


Just saw the post with the Map sensor cleaning. I'll give it a shot, and see what happens. The notchy steering was not able to be fixed with the software, so they replaced the unit. The blower motor started to whine pretty good, on low speed, and the 2nd one just died.


----------



## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Tomko said:


> This has been my experience as well. But not for the faint-hearted.
> 
> The true factory rotors on my 9C1 Caprice were over $250 a pop back in the day. Also available from GM were service parts at about half that cost and AC Delco parts at even less. Talk about an eye watering brake job - but I didn't want to alter the 9C1 braking characteristics.
> 
> Another consideration for those living in coastal or salt belt regions is that the true factory rotors have the FNC treatment that the service parts or AC Delco parts do not have.


Regarding price, I think if you buy "Genuine GM Parts" or "OEM GM" online or at a dealer it just cost more over the ACDelco because GM is marking them up. For the Cruze, the ACDelco rotors are not much more than aftermarket.

I was always curious if the ACDelco Professional grade is the same as the OEM stuff. Can someone correct me if I am wrong about that? If it is, it would be a big saving over the OEM markup.

ACDelco does make "Advantage" series too which is just their cheap line, I would avoid. 

The ACDelco Professional parts have a anti-rust coating on them too.

Thanks.


----------



## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

BDCCruze said:


> Regarding price, I think if you buy "Genuine GM Parts" or "OEM GM" online or at a dealer it just cost more over the ACDelco because GM is marking them up. For the Cruze, the ACDelco rotors are not much more than aftermarket.
> 
> I'd say go for the ACDelco Professional grade. I believe the professional grade are the same thing as the OEM/GM stuff. Can someone correct me if I am wrong about that? ACDelco does make "Advantage" series too which is just their cheap line, I would avoid. The ACDelco Professional parts have a anti-rust coating on them too.
> 
> Thanks.


One of the many sad things that came out of the 2009 bankruptcy is that AC Delco was sold off. It exists today solely as a brand name applied to parts made by others, often in the Far East. 

If you were to order the original factory OEM part and compare it to the AC Delco part, I think you'd notice differences in physical characteristics such as weight and performance characteristics like durability. 

The true OEM parts that the vehicle left the factory with are the originals as designed and specified by the engineers who built your car. Every other part on the market is either a copy of that part - made to a price for which a worthwhile profit can be gained - or an +/- _equivalent _part already used somewhere else. 

As you know from your children, while they may be equivalent: they are not the same. 

Furthermore, while OEM parts only carry a one year warranty, aftermarket ones often carry lifetime warranties. So you have to ask yourself how the aftermarket is selling you a product at a lower price with a better warranty? The answer is that they must be producing a lower quality item.


----------



## dhpnet (Mar 2, 2014)

Was it worth buying the GM warranty? In other words, did you spend more on the warranty than you got in repairs, or would the repairs have cost more than the warranty? Just curious. 

As far as brakes go, the Centric rotors are harder steel and have an electrocoating finish that looks great and should prevent some rust. No matter how great the OEM rotors were for you, these would probably be better, and the cost is similar. Check out Xtremerevolution's brake recommendations. There is some good info there.


----------



## raffmanlt (Oct 4, 2014)

Thanks for the info. Im at 86k with same except blower.


----------



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Post a picture of your odometer and I'll get you a 100,000 mile badge.


----------



## rescueswimmer (Mar 28, 2013)

obermd said:


> Post a picture of your odometer and I'll get you a 100,000 mile badge.












Also here is the Map sensor, Did not look as bad as some of the others I have seen but cleaned it none the less.


----------



## rescueswimmer (Mar 28, 2013)

dhpnet said:


> Was it worth buying the GM warranty? In other words, did you spend more on the warranty than you got in repairs, or would the repairs have cost more than the warranty? Just curious.
> 
> As far as brakes go, the Centric rotors are harder steel and have an electrocoating finish that looks great and should prevent some rust. No matter how great the OEM rotors were for you, these would probably be better, and the cost is similar. Check out Xtremerevolution's brake recommendations. There is some good info there.


I think we paid 560.00 for the GM extra guard through one of the online dealers. IIRC the reason for the cheaper price was it was 100K miles or 3 years, and I knew we would hit the 100K before the 3 year mark. The transmission seal job from GM billed out at 750.00, I had about 2500.00 worth of billable Parts and labor so it was worth it this time. I had purchased one for our Acura about 9 years ago, and it was like 1600.00 and I did not use it once in 5 years. So I look at it as insurance.


----------



## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

dhpnet said:


> Was it worth buying the GM warranty? In other words, did you spend more on the warranty than you got in repairs, or would the repairs have cost more than the warranty? Just curious.
> 
> As far as brakes go, the Centric rotors are harder steel and have an electrocoating finish that looks great and should prevent some rust. No matter how great the OEM rotors were for you, these would probably be better, and the cost is similar. Check out Xtremerevolution's brake recommendations. There is some good info there.


I'm not sure how well known it is, but the stock OEM rotors on the CTD are the same ones that the Cadillac ATS leaves the factory with on the 2.5 engine model.


----------



## mkohan (Dec 19, 2015)

Congrats on the 100K. Great to see more get there, I notice my MPG is dropping too. Was @ 44.6 for the longest time. Had the second recall for the NX sensor & reflash in June. MPG dropping since. But the car is running great with not CEL or other problems.


----------



## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

mkohan said:


> Congrats on the 100K. Great to see more get there, I notice my MPG is dropping too. Was @ 44.6 for the longest time. Had the second recall for the NX sensor & reflash in June. MPG dropping since. But the car is running great with not CEL or other problems.


I was actually recording my MPG for about 3 months prior to the Summer 2017 flash, so afterwords I kept going. I had 10 fills up prior to the flash and 16 after. Obviously 16 is a larger sample size, but I gained 1.3 MPG post-flash. If I reduce the post-flash down to the 10 immediately following to increase margin of error, my gain drops to .9 MPG increase. That's still a 2% uplift. My driving is about 85% highway 15% city. Approximately 600 miles per week.

Bottom line is I think truthfully the .9 MPG increase is margin of error and that the trim flash likely netted no change in MPG.


----------

