# Engine failure



## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

If you have the means, please tear down the engine and take a look at the oil pump seal for us. That would go a long way to helping us document the few engine failures we've seen with these engines.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Oil Pump Pick Up Seal


This is to create a stickied thread dedicated to the rubber seal that rests between the metal oil pump mounted on the engine block and the plastic pick up tube that descends into the oil pan. This seal hardens with time and use. Loosing its pliability and causing the oil pump to draw small...




www.cruzetalk.com


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

At 119k one of the connecting rods was sent through the side of the block with very little warning. I was on way home cruise set on highway goin 70 and i got a faint smell of oil. I was passing a semi with the window down and the car started making noise at first i thought it was the semi. By the time i got by him i realized it was my car. I was about 3 miles from home and i was trying to make it home without a tow and when i went up the next hill engine noise got loud and then boom. Rod through block pieces all over highway. I worked last weekend almost got engine out of car found another one to drop in we will see how this engine swap goes.


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## Shroomie (Jan 16, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> At 119k one of the connecting rods was sent through the side of the block with very little warning. I was on way home cruise set on highway goin 70 and i got a faint smell of oil. I was passing a semi with the window down and the car started making noise at first i thought it was the semi. By the time i got by him i realized it was my car. I was about 3 miles from home and i was trying to make it home without a tow and when i went up the next hill engine noise got loud and then boom. Rod through block pieces all over highway. I worked last weekend almost got engine out of car found another one to drop in we will see how this engine swap goes.


that's not normal 🕵️‍♂️🤷‍♂️ sounds like you had rod knock for a short time.. unlucky, but at highway speeds 😑


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Before you put the new one in, take the time to do this bit of preventative maintenance (might be what caused yours to fail?)









Oil Pump Pick Up Seal


This is to create a stickied thread dedicated to the rubber seal that rests between the metal oil pump mounted on the engine block and the plastic pick up tube that descends into the oil pan. This seal hardens with time and use. Loosing its pliability and causing the oil pump to draw small...




www.cruzetalk.com


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

yeah i think is the 4th motor.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

whats your oil change routine? change it when the DIC says or ?

whats you lifetime mpg?

im trying to find a correlation - lower mpg means more regens, more regens is more oil dilution, dunno if the extra fuel/heat from regens causes the seal to fail, or just the dilution itself is enough to reduce lubrication to cause these rods coming thru the block, but i also think if it was oil dilution the turbo would be failing first

or the seal itself is just doomed regardless


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Well i decided to replace the engine myself. The car isn’t worth selling the value is to low on the cruzes. I purchased a used engine with 2 year warranty for 1800. Dropped the new engine in now i got to hook up the electrical. I shoulda taken more time and labeled them coming apart it’s a mess. I should be able to match them up just working on it a little bit at a time seems to keep chiseling away at the project.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Most of my miles are highway i change my oil every 2 cycles of the oil change which i believe puts me at around 6k per oil change. Lifetime mpg I’m not to sure as i have the car torn apart still. But i have done maitenance myself timing chain i drained the transmission twice and filled other then that it’s just been brakes and oil. Been a good car until this.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

When i got the engine out it looks as if two separate rods came through the block different cylinders 3 and 4 maybe the two furthest away from the timing belt. Opposite sides of block too


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

If anybody is reading this a couple i pictures of how the wiring harness sits behind the engine and by the battery tray would be very helpful i shoulda done some more labeling when i took it apart . Maybe a few pictures from all sides of engine would help me hook things up. There are a lot of electrical connectors on this engine let me tell ya


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> Most of my miles are highway i change my oil every 2 cycles of the oil change which i believe puts me at around 6k per oil change. Lifetime mpg I’m not to sure as i have the car torn apart still. But i have done maitenance myself timing chain i drained the transmission twice and filled other then that it’s just been brakes and oil. Been a good car until this.


What do you mean, 2 cycles - like from 100% to 0% then you reset it to 100% and go back to 0%, then change the oil?

If so, that's 15,000 miles per oil change. 100 to 0 is 7,500 miles.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


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## NUMBER2 (May 23, 2019)

That is interesting only 3000 miles 100% to 0%. There are 4 ways the oil life monitor decrease from 100 to 0. 1% per 75 miles, which is what mine does (also in owner's manual, 7500 mile change). Straight to 0% after 365 days. Straight to 0% after an engine overheat. And finally, at a rate I'm unsure of that is based on engine run time. All this info comes straight from the factory service manual.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Mw548 said:


> On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


_Condition/Concern

Since 2010 all GM vehicles have been equipped with the oil life monitor (OLM) system
The monitor calculates the percent of oil life remaining, based on 3 pathways

The OLM starts its calculation for all pathways after the first 50 miles to account for marshalling and time before sale. Subsequently, calculations begin immediately after each reset.

Recommendation/Instructions
Oil Life Monitor Calculation Pathways:
1. Engine revolutions- Oil life starts with a fixed number of revolutions and will decrease with each revolution. Cold / hot coolant temp readings have multipliers that reduce engine revolutions pathway quicker depending on how far from the normal oil temperature the vehicle is operating.
Note: If engine coolant temp gets above 260F, engine overheat condition, the oil life will go to 0%.

2. Mileage from last reset – Starting with MY 2013, the OLM is capped at 7500 miles for all GM powertrains except the Volt. In perfect conditions a vehicle would reach 7500 miles from the last reset and the oil life left would be 0%.

3. Time- This pathway is a liner function, a fixed decrease in oil life for a given time after the oil life is reset. The oil life will drop to 0% after 1 year regardless of the amount of engine revolutions or how many miles since the reset.

Note: The Volt uses a 2 year timer instead of 1 year. It also uses the engine revolution counter. It does not use the mileage pathway to count down._


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## brodie29a (Feb 21, 2021)

i have a side question do the diesel engines have the same blowing a hole in the block like the gas ecosh1ts (i love the cruze but the eco’s have been junk since the early 00’s when they dropped them in the last few years of the caviler). i only ask because i spent a summer doing engine and tranny swaps at a used car dealer and every cruze or cobalt has a hole in the block usually at cyl 1 or 4 and my cruze is on engine #2 because my lil bro had cyl 2 blow out (i bought the car from him after he swaped engines and mostly because it was a manual)


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


Well, you have a US flag on your post indicating you are from the United States and you are talking about the 2.0 Diesel in the 2014-15 Cruze forum. If that is you, then it is 7,500 miles and not 3,000 miles. So yes, I was making some assumptions.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Well idk what to tell ya i reset my monitor and after around the second time it pops up i change the oil. With how much i was driving it i normally change it once over three months i guess if i was doing 15k every three months i would have quite the miles on my car haha.


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## Diesel4Ever (May 30, 2018)

Mine goes off ~ 7500 miles as well. They all should trigger at 7500 or one year. My 2017 Canyon Duramax is the same


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

If you have the means, please tear down the engine and take a look at the oil pump seal for us. That would go a long way to helping us document the few engine failures we've seen with these engines.


----------



## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Oil Pump Pick Up Seal


This is to create a stickied thread dedicated to the rubber seal that rests between the metal oil pump mounted on the engine block and the plastic pick up tube that descends into the oil pan. This seal hardens with time and use. Loosing its pliability and causing the oil pump to draw small...




www.cruzetalk.com


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

At 119k one of the connecting rods was sent through the side of the block with very little warning. I was on way home cruise set on highway goin 70 and i got a faint smell of oil. I was passing a semi with the window down and the car started making noise at first i thought it was the semi. By the time i got by him i realized it was my car. I was about 3 miles from home and i was trying to make it home without a tow and when i went up the next hill engine noise got loud and then boom. Rod through block pieces all over highway. I worked last weekend almost got engine out of car found another one to drop in we will see how this engine swap goes.


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## Shroomie (Jan 16, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> At 119k one of the connecting rods was sent through the side of the block with very little warning. I was on way home cruise set on highway goin 70 and i got a faint smell of oil. I was passing a semi with the window down and the car started making noise at first i thought it was the semi. By the time i got by him i realized it was my car. I was about 3 miles from home and i was trying to make it home without a tow and when i went up the next hill engine noise got loud and then boom. Rod through block pieces all over highway. I worked last weekend almost got engine out of car found another one to drop in we will see how this engine swap goes.


that's not normal 🕵️‍♂️🤷‍♂️ sounds like you had rod knock for a short time.. unlucky, but at highway speeds 😑


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Before you put the new one in, take the time to do this bit of preventative maintenance (might be what caused yours to fail?)









Oil Pump Pick Up Seal


This is to create a stickied thread dedicated to the rubber seal that rests between the metal oil pump mounted on the engine block and the plastic pick up tube that descends into the oil pan. This seal hardens with time and use. Loosing its pliability and causing the oil pump to draw small...




www.cruzetalk.com


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

yeah i think is the 4th motor.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

whats your oil change routine? change it when the DIC says or ?

whats you lifetime mpg?

im trying to find a correlation - lower mpg means more regens, more regens is more oil dilution, dunno if the extra fuel/heat from regens causes the seal to fail, or just the dilution itself is enough to reduce lubrication to cause these rods coming thru the block, but i also think if it was oil dilution the turbo would be failing first

or the seal itself is just doomed regardless


----------



## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Well i decided to replace the engine myself. The car isn’t worth selling the value is to low on the cruzes. I purchased a used engine with 2 year warranty for 1800. Dropped the new engine in now i got to hook up the electrical. I shoulda taken more time and labeled them coming apart it’s a mess. I should be able to match them up just working on it a little bit at a time seems to keep chiseling away at the project.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Most of my miles are highway i change my oil every 2 cycles of the oil change which i believe puts me at around 6k per oil change. Lifetime mpg I’m not to sure as i have the car torn apart still. But i have done maitenance myself timing chain i drained the transmission twice and filled other then that it’s just been brakes and oil. Been a good car until this.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

When i got the engine out it looks as if two separate rods came through the block different cylinders 3 and 4 maybe the two furthest away from the timing belt. Opposite sides of block too


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

If anybody is reading this a couple i pictures of how the wiring harness sits behind the engine and by the battery tray would be very helpful i shoulda done some more labeling when i took it apart . Maybe a few pictures from all sides of engine would help me hook things up. There are a lot of electrical connectors on this engine let me tell ya


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> Most of my miles are highway i change my oil every 2 cycles of the oil change which i believe puts me at around 6k per oil change. Lifetime mpg I’m not to sure as i have the car torn apart still. But i have done maitenance myself timing chain i drained the transmission twice and filled other then that it’s just been brakes and oil. Been a good car until this.


What do you mean, 2 cycles - like from 100% to 0% then you reset it to 100% and go back to 0%, then change the oil?

If so, that's 15,000 miles per oil change. 100 to 0 is 7,500 miles.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


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## NUMBER2 (May 23, 2019)

That is interesting only 3000 miles 100% to 0%. There are 4 ways the oil life monitor decrease from 100 to 0. 1% per 75 miles, which is what mine does (also in owner's manual, 7500 mile change). Straight to 0% after 365 days. Straight to 0% after an engine overheat. And finally, at a rate I'm unsure of that is based on engine run time. All this info comes straight from the factory service manual.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Mw548 said:


> On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


_Condition/Concern

Since 2010 all GM vehicles have been equipped with the oil life monitor (OLM) system
The monitor calculates the percent of oil life remaining, based on 3 pathways

The OLM starts its calculation for all pathways after the first 50 miles to account for marshalling and time before sale. Subsequently, calculations begin immediately after each reset.

Recommendation/Instructions
Oil Life Monitor Calculation Pathways:
1. Engine revolutions- Oil life starts with a fixed number of revolutions and will decrease with each revolution. Cold / hot coolant temp readings have multipliers that reduce engine revolutions pathway quicker depending on how far from the normal oil temperature the vehicle is operating.
Note: If engine coolant temp gets above 260F, engine overheat condition, the oil life will go to 0%.

2. Mileage from last reset – Starting with MY 2013, the OLM is capped at 7500 miles for all GM powertrains except the Volt. In perfect conditions a vehicle would reach 7500 miles from the last reset and the oil life left would be 0%.

3. Time- This pathway is a liner function, a fixed decrease in oil life for a given time after the oil life is reset. The oil life will drop to 0% after 1 year regardless of the amount of engine revolutions or how many miles since the reset.

Note: The Volt uses a 2 year timer instead of 1 year. It also uses the engine revolution counter. It does not use the mileage pathway to count down._


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## brodie29a (Feb 21, 2021)

i have a side question do the diesel engines have the same blowing a hole in the block like the gas ecosh1ts (i love the cruze but the eco’s have been junk since the early 00’s when they dropped them in the last few years of the caviler). i only ask because i spent a summer doing engine and tranny swaps at a used car dealer and every cruze or cobalt has a hole in the block usually at cyl 1 or 4 and my cruze is on engine #2 because my lil bro had cyl 2 blow out (i bought the car from him after he swaped engines and mostly because it was a manual)


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


Well, you have a US flag on your post indicating you are from the United States and you are talking about the 2.0 Diesel in the 2014-15 Cruze forum. If that is you, then it is 7,500 miles and not 3,000 miles. So yes, I was making some assumptions.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Well idk what to tell ya i reset my monitor and after around the second time it pops up i change the oil. With how much i was driving it i normally change it once over three months i guess if i was doing 15k every three months i would have quite the miles on my car haha.


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## Diesel4Ever (May 30, 2018)

Mine goes off ~ 7500 miles as well. They all should trigger at 7500 or one year. My 2017 Canyon Duramax is the same


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

If you have the means, please tear down the engine and take a look at the oil pump seal for us. That would go a long way to helping us document the few engine failures we've seen with these engines.


----------



## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Oil Pump Pick Up Seal


This is to create a stickied thread dedicated to the rubber seal that rests between the metal oil pump mounted on the engine block and the plastic pick up tube that descends into the oil pan. This seal hardens with time and use. Loosing its pliability and causing the oil pump to draw small...




www.cruzetalk.com


----------



## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

At 119k one of the connecting rods was sent through the side of the block with very little warning. I was on way home cruise set on highway goin 70 and i got a faint smell of oil. I was passing a semi with the window down and the car started making noise at first i thought it was the semi. By the time i got by him i realized it was my car. I was about 3 miles from home and i was trying to make it home without a tow and when i went up the next hill engine noise got loud and then boom. Rod through block pieces all over highway. I worked last weekend almost got engine out of car found another one to drop in we will see how this engine swap goes.


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## Shroomie (Jan 16, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> At 119k one of the connecting rods was sent through the side of the block with very little warning. I was on way home cruise set on highway goin 70 and i got a faint smell of oil. I was passing a semi with the window down and the car started making noise at first i thought it was the semi. By the time i got by him i realized it was my car. I was about 3 miles from home and i was trying to make it home without a tow and when i went up the next hill engine noise got loud and then boom. Rod through block pieces all over highway. I worked last weekend almost got engine out of car found another one to drop in we will see how this engine swap goes.


that's not normal 🕵️‍♂️🤷‍♂️ sounds like you had rod knock for a short time.. unlucky, but at highway speeds 😑


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Before you put the new one in, take the time to do this bit of preventative maintenance (might be what caused yours to fail?)









Oil Pump Pick Up Seal


This is to create a stickied thread dedicated to the rubber seal that rests between the metal oil pump mounted on the engine block and the plastic pick up tube that descends into the oil pan. This seal hardens with time and use. Loosing its pliability and causing the oil pump to draw small...




www.cruzetalk.com


----------



## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

yeah i think is the 4th motor.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

whats your oil change routine? change it when the DIC says or ?

whats you lifetime mpg?

im trying to find a correlation - lower mpg means more regens, more regens is more oil dilution, dunno if the extra fuel/heat from regens causes the seal to fail, or just the dilution itself is enough to reduce lubrication to cause these rods coming thru the block, but i also think if it was oil dilution the turbo would be failing first

or the seal itself is just doomed regardless


----------



## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Well i decided to replace the engine myself. The car isn’t worth selling the value is to low on the cruzes. I purchased a used engine with 2 year warranty for 1800. Dropped the new engine in now i got to hook up the electrical. I shoulda taken more time and labeled them coming apart it’s a mess. I should be able to match them up just working on it a little bit at a time seems to keep chiseling away at the project.


----------



## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Most of my miles are highway i change my oil every 2 cycles of the oil change which i believe puts me at around 6k per oil change. Lifetime mpg I’m not to sure as i have the car torn apart still. But i have done maitenance myself timing chain i drained the transmission twice and filled other then that it’s just been brakes and oil. Been a good car until this.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

When i got the engine out it looks as if two separate rods came through the block different cylinders 3 and 4 maybe the two furthest away from the timing belt. Opposite sides of block too


----------



## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

If anybody is reading this a couple i pictures of how the wiring harness sits behind the engine and by the battery tray would be very helpful i shoulda done some more labeling when i took it apart . Maybe a few pictures from all sides of engine would help me hook things up. There are a lot of electrical connectors on this engine let me tell ya


----------



## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> Most of my miles are highway i change my oil every 2 cycles of the oil change which i believe puts me at around 6k per oil change. Lifetime mpg I’m not to sure as i have the car torn apart still. But i have done maitenance myself timing chain i drained the transmission twice and filled other then that it’s just been brakes and oil. Been a good car until this.


What do you mean, 2 cycles - like from 100% to 0% then you reset it to 100% and go back to 0%, then change the oil?

If so, that's 15,000 miles per oil change. 100 to 0 is 7,500 miles.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


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## NUMBER2 (May 23, 2019)

That is interesting only 3000 miles 100% to 0%. There are 4 ways the oil life monitor decrease from 100 to 0. 1% per 75 miles, which is what mine does (also in owner's manual, 7500 mile change). Straight to 0% after 365 days. Straight to 0% after an engine overheat. And finally, at a rate I'm unsure of that is based on engine run time. All this info comes straight from the factory service manual.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Mw548 said:


> On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


_Condition/Concern

Since 2010 all GM vehicles have been equipped with the oil life monitor (OLM) system
The monitor calculates the percent of oil life remaining, based on 3 pathways

The OLM starts its calculation for all pathways after the first 50 miles to account for marshalling and time before sale. Subsequently, calculations begin immediately after each reset.

Recommendation/Instructions
Oil Life Monitor Calculation Pathways:
1. Engine revolutions- Oil life starts with a fixed number of revolutions and will decrease with each revolution. Cold / hot coolant temp readings have multipliers that reduce engine revolutions pathway quicker depending on how far from the normal oil temperature the vehicle is operating.
Note: If engine coolant temp gets above 260F, engine overheat condition, the oil life will go to 0%.

2. Mileage from last reset – Starting with MY 2013, the OLM is capped at 7500 miles for all GM powertrains except the Volt. In perfect conditions a vehicle would reach 7500 miles from the last reset and the oil life left would be 0%.

3. Time- This pathway is a liner function, a fixed decrease in oil life for a given time after the oil life is reset. The oil life will drop to 0% after 1 year regardless of the amount of engine revolutions or how many miles since the reset.

Note: The Volt uses a 2 year timer instead of 1 year. It also uses the engine revolution counter. It does not use the mileage pathway to count down._


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## brodie29a (Feb 21, 2021)

i have a side question do the diesel engines have the same blowing a hole in the block like the gas ecosh1ts (i love the cruze but the eco’s have been junk since the early 00’s when they dropped them in the last few years of the caviler). i only ask because i spent a summer doing engine and tranny swaps at a used car dealer and every cruze or cobalt has a hole in the block usually at cyl 1 or 4 and my cruze is on engine #2 because my lil bro had cyl 2 blow out (i bought the car from him after he swaped engines and mostly because it was a manual)


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## BDCCruze (Jul 12, 2017)

Mw548 said:


> On my Cruze a cycle is 3,000 miles from 100-0. Been that way since i bought it with 30k on it if you took the time to read my post you would see i said around 6k miles then i change the oil. Love how everybody has to get their opinions in and jump to conclusions.


Well, you have a US flag on your post indicating you are from the United States and you are talking about the 2.0 Diesel in the 2014-15 Cruze forum. If that is you, then it is 7,500 miles and not 3,000 miles. So yes, I was making some assumptions.


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## Mw548 (Feb 16, 2017)

Well idk what to tell ya i reset my monitor and after around the second time it pops up i change the oil. With how much i was driving it i normally change it once over three months i guess if i was doing 15k every three months i would have quite the miles on my car haha.


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## Diesel4Ever (May 30, 2018)

Mine goes off ~ 7500 miles as well. They all should trigger at 7500 or one year. My 2017 Canyon Duramax is the same


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