# Diagnostic software for windows to view live/freeze frame data



## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

Hello all my girlfriend owns a 16 Chevy Cruze with the 1.4t. Lately she has been throwing a lean code and getting a cel. The car also will stall at idle at times or run rough on startup. But after restarting the engine it will run just fine.


My first assumption was that the pcv valve was the culprit but when I was checking it out she stated that the pcv/valve cover had been replaced about a year ago.

So at this point I would like to watch some live data and try to recreate the issue before I go chasing the problem. But I don’t know of any good diagnostic software for gm to do so.

I do have a tactrix openport 2.0 cable and a laptop, so if anyone knows of a cracked version of the gm diagnostic software or a cheap/free software tool that would let me view live and freeze frame data through a j2534 interface that would be awesome! Thank you for your time.

(edit)

The car is fairly low mileage, right around 60k and it’s babied. She definitely takes good care of it. It runs and idles just fine most of the time. But other times she will go to start it and it will start then immediately stall or idle extremely rough. But will run fine once restarted or is driven. Other times it will start and run fine until she stops at a red light, then the car will start to idle extremely rough and lopey or occasionally even stalls out but once again after restarting or driving it runs fine.

The problem is intermittent and I’m worried it could be a fuel pump issue as well.The original pcv/ valve cover had failed and been replaced around the 48k mark so it’s not very old. That is why I am looking for something to read live data. It gives you a solid foundation to work off


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## KyleC1982 (Jul 1, 2021)

Following


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Houser1995 said:


> My first assumption was that the pcv valve was the culprit but when I was checking it out she stated that the pcv/valve cover had been replaced about a year ago.


Good assumption.

Since the PCV system is really a combination of three valves, I would check the valve in the intake manifold next. A red tip should be visible, if it isn't that is probably your issue.

I can't help you with the software, and I hope someone does because I would get it as well. 😊


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

Johnny B said:


> Good assumption.
> 
> Since the PCV system is really a combination of three valves, I would check the valve in the intake manifold next. A red tip should be visible, if it isn't that is probably your issue.
> 
> I can't help you with the software, and I hope someone does because I would get it as well. 😊


Thank you! I’ll look into that when she gets home from work! It’s snowing and about 20 degrees so it ought to be a good time haha. Where is this valve located on the manifold? Is it easily accessible or am I going to have to play contortionist? 

I’m not new to working on vehicles but I don’t know much about gm, I’m a Toyota man myself and I have a cracked version of Toyotas dealer diagnostic software (techstream) so I was hoping I could find something similar but for gm. But so farI can’t find much other than the clone tech 2. I may just pull the trigger on one of those just to have one.

It would be invaluable to be able to read live data fuel trims, maf readings ect. that would make things so much easier when looking for a place to start.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Houser1995 said:


> Where is this valve located on the manifold?


Under this fitting.










First remove the clip. Then work it up, the fitting will likely be hard to remove. Be patient because its an air tight seal that has been sitting for years.

Then look down the tub on the engine side, its about 4 inches down the wall. Should show a red tip, if not clean the goop and look again. No tip, no check valve.

When reinstalling the fitting clean it and then lube it with engine oil, it is very tight fitting. When it is properly seated it will "snap" into place.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

The pcv is a first gen issue. Probably because it runs hot. The second gen don't run hot. If you have it. You'd be the first story I've read for the second gen.

Do the 2 models have the same pcv setup?

How many miles? Mine is a 17 also.

I'd start with a 20 oz. Can of seafoam and non ethanol fuel. That'll clean the injectors and maybe make it idle better. I've done it twice now and both times it smoothed my idle.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

BTW. I've been looking and haven't found ANYTHING yet. The entire 5 years I've owned my car. The only one I found was $5,000 at the time.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Arrg. I didn't even think about if the Gen2s have a different PCV setup.


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## Bvogt (Dec 19, 2021)

Houser1995 said:


> Hello all my girlfriend owns a 17 Chevy Cruze with the 1.4t. Lately she has been throwing a lean code and getting a cel. The car also will stall at idle at times or run rough on startup. But after restarting the engine it will run just fine.
> 
> My first assumption was that the pcv valve was the culprit but when I was checking it out she stated that the pcv/valve cover had been replaced about a year ago.
> 
> ...


OBDwiz is a free app for windows (it may only be free with the purchase of this). It is included with the OBD Link MX+. (Thanks Snipsey)






OBDLink® MX+ - Outstanding Bluetooth-Compatible OBD II Scan Tool


The OBDLink® MX+ is the top-of-the-line OBD II scan tool to use with forscan and comes with bluetooth. Get one here today and gain access to your vehicle!




www.obdlink.com


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Houser1995 said:


> Hello all my girlfriend owns a 17 Chevy Cruze with the 1.4t. Lately she has been throwing a lean code and getting a cel. The car also will stall at idle at times or run rough on startup. But after restarting the engine it will run just fine.
> 
> My first assumption was that the pcv valve was the culprit but when I was checking it out she stated that the pcv/valve cover had been replaced about a year ago.
> 
> ...


Welcome Aboard!

Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

snowwy66 said:


> The pcv is a first gen issue. Probably because it runs hot. The second gen don't run hot. If you have it. You'd be the first story I've read for the second gen.
> 
> Do the 2 models have the same pcv setup?
> 
> ...


Man my mistake! It’s a 2016 so it’s the first gen, and it definitely has the troublesome pcv haha I’ve edited the original post so that it doesn’t cause anymore confusion. My truck is a 2017 so I get our years mixed up sometimes (it is my ol lady’s car) my bad.

But anyways the car is fairly low mileage, right around 60k and it’s babied. She definitely takes good care of it. It runs and idles just fine most of the time. But other times she will go to start it and it will start then immediately stall or idle extremely rough. But will run fine once restarted or is driven. Other times it will start and run fine until she stops at a red light, then the car will start to idle extremely rough and lopey or occasionally even stalls out but once again after restarting or driving it runs fine.

The problem is intermittent and I’m worried it could be a fuel pump issue as well.The original pcv/ valve cover had failed and been replaced around the 48k mark so it’s not very old. That is why I am looking for something to read live data. It gives you a solid foundation to work off.

I am going to edit this information into the original post as well. 



I haven’t had a chance to really look at that check valve in the manifold, I have no garage and there was heavy snow all day. But I will get out there tomorrow and see if that’s the culprit


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

Johnny B said:


> Arrg. I didn't even think about if the Gen2s have a different PCV setup.


it is a first gen haha I’ve updated the og post. Also included more information.


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

Johnny B said:


> Under this fitting.
> 
> View attachment 296422
> 
> ...


Thank you! I will go out and brave the weather to check that out tomorrow, what is the technical term of this valve? Haha I’ve got a good feeling that may bethe issue.


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## Johnny B (Jun 4, 2019)

Houser1995 said:


> what is the technical term of this valve?


I would call it the "intake manifold PCV check valve".


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## Valpo Cruze (Feb 23, 2014)

Our daughters 2011 is having an intermittent P0171 code as well. Idle is fine and I can’t seem to find a vac leak. I need to hook it up to my scanner and watch the live data to see what is going on. From what I remember the fuel trims looked okay and the O2 sensor voltages looked right but not sure. Need to check again. I am using a FOXWELL 640 scanner. I will clear the code and it goes away for about 4 days or so. I changed plugs recently and they mostly looked decent except #3 was a bit white ashen


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

Valpo Cruze said:


> Our daughters 2011 is having an intermittent P0171 code as well. Idle is fine and I can’t seem to find a vac leak. I need to hook it up to my scanner and watch the live data to see what is going on. From what I remember the fuel trims looked okay and the O2 sensor voltages looked right but not sure. Need to check again. I am using a FOXWELL 640 scanner. I will clear the code and it goes away for about 4 days or so. I changed plugs recently and they mostly looked decent except #3 was a bit white ashen


Sounds like the same issue to me, I always clear the code so that she will be able to remote start the car ( remote start is disabled once it throws a cel) and I tell her to let me know as soon as the cel comes on. And how the car is behaving when it happens and whether or not the cel is blinking as it would if a misfire was present. And it always waits about 3-4 days to start acting up. And by that time she has let her gaurd down and doesn’t realize that the light came on so the information I have on how the car is behaving is limited. Besides when it is severe and is idling rough/stalling. She definitely notices that!

She decided to practice driving my truck last night (manual trans) and took it to work today. So I have her car to tinker with all day today. I plan on getting to the bottom of this this afternoon.


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## Valpo Cruze (Feb 23, 2014)

Yeah I need to find a diagnostic list and start working down the list. I have already ruled out the purge solenoid and I was not able to find any obvious vac leaks plus the freeze data indicated that the fuel trim was not maxed out. As I have read a maxed out fuel trim indicates a vac leak.

@Houser1995 if you find your problem please post it up. I will do the same but it’s likely I won’t have time for several days.


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

[update]

The intake manifold check valve has been eaten by the engine. So at this point I’m looking at the v3.4 check valve replacement kit. As it seems like the way to go. IMO gm engineers should have designed the pcv system that way from the factory. It almost seems so me that the system was designed to fail often. Probably to keep dealer repair shops pockets full for years to come.

Has anyone bought the v3.4 pcv kit or has experience with one. It seems a bit pricey for what it is but having everything all there ready to go almost justifies the price. Plus the man deserves some profit for putting a kit together to fix gm’s mess.

Oh also out of curiosity has anyone ever reported any ill effects from the engine eating the rubber check valve? I would imagine that the valves would eat that rubber up easily. But I did notice that her car has a bit of valve noise that wasn’t present before this whole issue started. I checked to see if it was using oil and it isn’t. So I was thinking that maybe a valve closed on that peice of rubber (maybe it folded in half) and suffered a slight bend. Hopefully I’m thinking wrong so if I am feel free to reassure me haha 

Thank you all for the help. And I will update the thread for you once I get the pcv kit installed!


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

Valpo Cruze said:


> Yeah I need to find a diagnostic list and start working down the list. I have already ruled out the purge solenoid and I was not able to find any obvious vac leaks plus the freeze data indicated that the fuel trim was not maxed out. As I have read a maxed out fuel trim indicates a vac leak.
> 
> @Houser1995 if you find your problem please post it up. I will do the same but it’s likely I won’t have time for several days.


I have figured out my issue I beleive (manifold check valve eaten) and my soloution (v3.4 pcv check valve kit) It’s easy to check if your valve is missing and only takes but a few minutes!

Like I said I know everything and anything about my Toyota’s but I’m not too knowledgeable on this little gm product haha but luckily basic principles of efi still apply to almost all vehicles.

While looking at the freeze frame data keep an eye on the throttle position, engine load, vehicle speed ect. So you can determine if it happened under throttle or while letting off. Also look at your maf reading and see how much air it was pulling in and whether or not it’s reading correctly. Say for example if engine load is high and the the throttle is open and your maf is reading a low amount of air coming in that would point to a maf issue.

Maxed fuel trim at any time the throttle is closed will indicate a vac leak. As there is really only vaccum when the throttle plate is closed. The maf isn’t detecting that unmetered air so it isn’t adjusting the fuel trim for it. Then the upstream o2 sensor picks up that the A/F is lean. The ecu then realizes that the maf and o2 readings indicate there is an unmetered air leak so it does the only thing it can to save the engine from running lean. It throws as much fuel as it can at the engine. That is why you will see your fuel trim skyrocket at idle and mellow out while driving when there’s a vac leak.

High fuel trim while driving isn’t as conmen of an issue but would more than likely (but not always) indicate a problem with fuel supply.

All in all while looking at the data if the freeze frame was captured while the throttle was open then your short fuel trim should be around normal range. But you still may have a vac leak. If you don’t mind would you be able to post up a pic of the data so I can have a look see.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

Houser1995 said:


> Man my mistake! It’s a 2016 so it’s the first gen, and it definitely has the troublesome pcv haha I’ve edited the original post so that it doesn’t cause anymore confusion. My truck is a 2017 so I get our years mixed up sometimes (it is my ol lady’s car) my bad.
> 
> But anyways the car is fairly low mileage, right around 60k and it’s babied. She definitely takes good care of it. It runs and idles just fine most of the time. But other times she will go to start it and it will start then immediately stall or idle extremely rough. But will run fine once restarted or is driven. Other times it will start and run fine until she stops at a red light, then the car will start to idle extremely rough and lopey or occasionally even stalls out but once again after restarting or driving it runs fine.
> 
> ...


Both generations were made in 16


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## Houser1995 (10 mo ago)

Blasirl said:


> Welcome Aboard!
> 
> Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


I’m sorry where are my manners haha My name is hunter houser, and I am a Toyota man at heart. I have a few Tacoma’s and an 89 pickup I’ve also owned many Tacoma’s and my first car was actually a 1974 Toyota celica which everyone loved. I was 16 in 2012 so it was rare then. I do not own a cruze unfortunately, well right now fortunately haha but my girlfriend does own a 1st gen


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Houser1995 said:


> I’m sorry where are my manners haha My name is hunter houser, and I am a Toyota man at heart. I have a few Tacoma’s and an 89 pickup I’ve also owned many Tacoma’s and my first car was actually a 1974 Toyota celica which everyone loved. I was 16 in 2012 so it was rare then. I do not own a cruze unfortunately, well right now fortunately haha but my girlfriend does own a 1st gen


Click on the red "here" in my previous post


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## DeerSpotter (11 mo ago)

I can’t find a single iPhone app that shows me freeze frame data. It is always P000


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