# Cruze shut off mid highway 3x before making it home



## Jchaavez (Dec 5, 2019)

Hello all! I was driving back home after Thanksgiving in my 2012 Cruze and after driving for about 30 minutes and sitting in some traffic for another 30I finally switch onto the open freeway and as I go to accelerate when switching lanes my car Stutters/jolts very heavily once and I noticed I was losing power. I had enough time to pull to the side but when I tried to pull even closer off the shoulder I noticed my steering wheel had locked and the car shut off.

at first I sat there dumbfounded as to why my car jolted and turned off like that when I was already going 60 mph. Initially I tried to turn the car back on but it would crank and not start. Pushing gas did nothing for it either. Luckily I had OBD on me and read code P0171 running lean but it was pending not confirmed. There were no other codes and the car was not overheating to my knowledge.
I disconnected the car neg battery for 20 minutes and then the car started right back up. When I tried to drive away however and hit 50mph the car shut off again and would only crank. So I repeat the battery trick and this time drive very slowly trying to get to an exit. I was able to get up to 40mph before exiting and parking at a gas station.
(I took a quick break to eat) then came back to test the car and see how fast is could go before shut off. It went 75+ no issue so I get back on the freeway and drive. Another 50 miles later, the car shuts off. So I disconnect the battery yet again and wait twenty minutes and drive off again. It was 47 miles left to home so I made it and checked the car at home and don’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
It doesn’t seem I have a clear vacuum leak. Next day I tested car voltage and it was fine for 40 minutes (stationary). According to my dash and my OBD the temperature was higher in the OBD app (210) than the dash displayed (180) not sure if it was overheated and I had no idea but I’ve been driving this car for a few months with random misfires 

I did swap out the coil the day before the drive with an after market product but switched it back when car shut off and it still did again so I don’t think that was it. The car does jolt when I’m stopped as well at a light which I thought was from misfires. There seems there might be a coolant leak (mechanic said bad thermostat housing but I’m not too sure I trust him) and there were no other codes so I don’t think it’s the MAF.
Anyone else experience anything like this at all or have any suggestions?
I’ve heard to switch neg battery cable out but I’m unsure it will solve my issue since this just happened so suddenly and no other warning lights 
Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance!!


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Very strange, but does sound electrical to me, and the negative battery cable is the best place to start on these cars because it is so common.



> The car does jolt when I’m stopped as well at a light which I thought was from misfires.


Knock it into manual mode at a stop and see if it stops. If so, this is a transmission clutch pack issue grabbing when the car is supposed to be in neutral at a stop, which was common for some 6T40's built in the 2012-2014 model year.


----------



## Jchaavez (Dec 5, 2019)

Hey thank you for your reply! So I tried switching my car to neutral at stop and it still did the issue and it actually seemed to do it even more. However, my car also did just throw up a p0420 unfortunately that catalytic efficiency was too low. Not sure if this was caused by the misfires however I’ve been driving it no more than 20 miles at a time the past few days and it has not shut off again or thrown out any other codes.
I think I will go ahead and replace that negative cable but I’m also going to check the gap of the spark plug.
There’s a yard nearby with a new Chevy that I may go get a MAF from but I don’t want to just throw parts at the car if the ecu is just bad. Is there a way to tell if it’s the ecu?


----------



## Ravenkeeper (Sep 10, 2017)

My '14 Eco use to do that. Since then, we've topped-off & later changed the oil, replaced the (#1 was cracked in two places) spark plugs, replaced a heater hose, replaced both O2 sensors, and have not had it happen since. What fixed it? We still don't know, it never popped any codes for stalling. Seem to remember that it quit stalling after we topped off the oil and coolant, both were leaking around the same time.


----------



## Jchaavez (Dec 5, 2019)

That is interesting. I changed my oil not too long ago because it was a quarter low and then noticed this past weekend it seemed a bit low again. However I have checked and checked for leaks and not really found a source. The coolant also was low so I topped it off but after that was when I stalled for the first time. It hasn’t done it again but I have not driven more than 20 miles at a time


----------



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Jchaavez said:


> That is interesting. I changed my oil not too long ago because it was a quarter low and then noticed this past weekend it seemed a bit low again. However I have checked and checked for leaks and not really found a source. The coolant also was low so I topped it off but after that was when I stalled for the first time. It hasn’t done it again but I have not driven more than 20 miles at a time


Look for the PCV check valve if you're losing oil.


----------

