# 2011 cruze loosing antifreeze and antifreeze smell inside of car



## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Bummer at best. Have you filed a complaint with NHTSA also? You should.

*Update:* Upon some reflection in the porcelain library, I wonder if you could do me a favor. If you have the time and inclination, would you lift the hood on your Cruze and check a couple of things? I'm assuming that is has been a while since your last oil change. Was it done at the dealership?

1. Pull the dipstick and see what is on it. Does the stuff on the stick look like oil (color of black coffee)? Does it look sort of like coffee with cream and sort of soft and gooey?
2. Unscrew the oil filler cap on top of the cam cover. Again, is there anything on the underside of the cap, or up inside the cap? What does it look like?
3. While you have the filler cap off, take a flashlight (don't drop anything down there) and look down inside the opening. There is very little room down there, but you should be able to see if there is any residue other than oil. 

Please let us know what you see if you decide to do these things. I appreciate it.


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## iCruze2 (Dec 16, 2011)

No coolant issue, knock on wood. Sucks man, do what Jim has advised!


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## cruze 2011 (Oct 20, 2010)

ive been having the dealership change the oil since new . i went out in the garage and pulled the dipstick nothing but oil on it nice and clean ...... took off the oil filler cap no residue there either other than oil ,looked down in the engine its clean as can be nothing but oil there . i cant beleive its so hard to figure out where the coolant is going . the only thing they cant check is the heater core without tearing the dash apart they didnt want to do that till chevy tells them what to do next. i have afeeling its the heater core , if you turn the heat control to haflway you dont really smell it . but in the dead of winter here in midwest you can really smell it . i opened a case with chevrolet today .


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

Thanks for the effort. Well, we can rule out the coolant leaking into the oil. When you run the heater and smell that smell, is the carpet or the floor under the heater core damp? I ask because others have had the heater core replaced and it didn't fix the problem. There is also a clamp and hose fix for this. The hose replacement is for one of the heater core hoses. Hopefully when they replace the core, they will do the hose and clamp also. Hang in there and keep us posted. 

I'm betting this is a parts supplier quality issue. I'm thinking that something in the system is coming from a supplier that doesn't always meet Chevy's standards and is doesn't show until the bad part gets used. If it is a faulty part from an outside supplier, it will be random and not all cars will have the problem. It's like the popping struts problem, the missing brake pads on the early Sonics, and likely others. Until they find the culprit, customers will have to endure the smell. It will probably be a process of elimination until the learning curve is run. Unfortunately, there are so many parts to the cooling system, there are many points of failure that can cause the problem. 

*Still, everyone with the problem should be opening a file with GM, contacting the Chevy Social Media Rep., and opening a complaint with NHTSA. The larger the sampling set, the quicker there will be a resolution for this problem. OK, I'm off of the soapbox now.*


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

cruze 2011 said:


> well after owning my 2011 cruze since december 2011 and 22 ooo miles its been back to the dealer several times for the coolant issue and today after the dealer ship told me there is no fix until chevy comes up with one i called chevrolet customer assistance i dont think its right i have to continue to drive this car with the coolant smell in it the dealer has put die in it atlease 2 times and found nothing is leaking. has anybody had their cars fixed yet with this issue? :angry:




cruze 2011,
I would like to look into this for you. Can you please send me a PM with your SR# (Service Request #)? I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## DMac1988 (Oct 3, 2011)

cruze 2011 said:


> well after owning my 2011 cruze since december 2011 and 22 ooo miles its been back to the dealer several times for the coolant issue and today after the dealer ship told me there is no fix until chevy comes up with one i called chevrolet customer assistance i dont think its right i have to continue to drive this car with the coolant smell in it the dealer has put die in it atlease 2 times and found nothing is leaking. has anybody had their cars fixed yet with this issue? :angry:


Tell your dealer to look at the thermostat. Its a recal chevy has. If ur dealer is that stupid u got a problem. Its not that it leaks. But what it does is when theres to much overheating the thermostat senta coolent to cool the car off. But it cant so it releases the pressure by draining the coolent. Head back and tell them look at the thermostat...it a f'in recall. Thats what happened to mine. They couldnt explain y it smelled. No signs of leakage. So searched chevy cruze recalls 2011. N boom thermostat, engine calibration, tranny fix...etc. so ill write it once again. Go to dealer, yell at them " its the thermostat u dumb cunts", and watch as ur car sits there for 2days. Rental should be givin to u. Ita a warrenty covered issue. Dont take its NOT COVERED for an answer!!!


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

DMac1988 said:


> Go to dealer, yell at them " its the thermostat u dumb c__ts", and watch as ur car sits there for 2days.


Call them that and I bet it sits for more than two days. I can't think of a worse way to get service than doing that.


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## DMac1988 (Oct 3, 2011)

I called called the tech a dumb c_nt because he blamed my cai for a code(where he didnt properly tighten the oil cap after a change was done, he also said my hood scoop was causing my tranny for accelerate on its on like others have mentioned about on here recently. Going back this friday to investigate the issue ferther. I love how chevy will do wat they can do void we
arrenties. I was even told by stacy, if they can link the mod to the car error its done for. So i said if i get rust on my bumper they will blame the hood scoop. She said hea, if they can prove the hood scoop rusted the back bumber. Warrenty will not cover it. Like f off chevy if thats the case.


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## sherry (Nov 5, 2012)

Yes my 2011 chev cruze has been in 6 times and still has the smell. Not getting much satisfaction!!!


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## meckelangelo (May 24, 2011)

My 2011 Cruze LT is now in at the dealer. Leaking antifreeze from the radiator, also leaking antifreeze into the engine (I'm guessing through the head gasket). Check engine light never came on. The heat stopped working the other day, so I pulled it over to discover antifreeze leaking. I'm not sure when it started leaking into the engine. I tried reseating the lower radiator hose and refilling the antifreeze, and that's when thick white smoke started billowing out of the exhaust. The dealer isn't sure whether it's covered by the warranty, since I was in an accident 4 months ago, and the radiator was replaced (with a GM OEM radiator). Cue worrying... I asked them to check out the thermostat and water pump, but they said they need to replaced the thermostat first to see if either of those are a problem.


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## loveraylynn (Jan 30, 2013)

My thermostate and heater core and aor conditioning compressor have all been replaced in my 2011 chevy cruze lt ith 30k on it. And my car is still loosing antifreeze and I can smell it inside the car as well. I hope they come up with a solution quick!!! Its really frustrating to buy a new car and have to deal with all this stupid stuff. :'(


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

loveraylynn said:


> My thermostate and heater core and aor conditioning compressor have all been replaced in my 2011 chevy cruze lt ith 30k on it. And my car is still loosing antifreeze and I can smell it inside the car as well. I hope they come up with a solution quick!!! Its really frustrating to buy a new car and have to deal with all this stupid stuff. :'(




loveraylynn,
I would like to apologize for the issues that you have experienced with your Cruze. Have you been in contact with customer service in regards to your concerns? I would be happy to look into this for you. Can you please send me a PM with your VIN? I look forward to your response. 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

meckelangelo said:


> My 2011 Cruze LT is now in at the dealer. Leaking antifreeze from the radiator, also leaking antifreeze into the engine (I'm guessing through the head gasket). Check engine light never came on. The heat stopped working the other day, so I pulled it over to discover antifreeze leaking. I'm not sure when it started leaking into the engine. I tried reseating the lower radiator hose and refilling the antifreeze, and that's when thick white smoke started billowing out of the exhaust. The dealer isn't sure whether it's covered by the warranty, since I was in an accident 4 months ago, and the radiator was replaced (with a GM OEM radiator). Cue worrying... I asked them to check out the thermostat and water pump, but they said they need to replaced the thermostat first to see if either of those are a problem.


Do you have an update? Also, unless GM has changed their repair warranty, this should be covered under the 12 month/12,000 mile repair warranty, even after an accident that triggered the repair.


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## meckelangelo (May 24, 2011)

Yeah, I have an update. Sorry it was so long coming. The radiator had it's own replacement warranty, so that was covered. The other work (labor of cleaning everything out) was not. The problem? My father and THOUGHT we refilled the radiator from the lower radiator hose. We did not. That turned out to be the intercooler hose. We flooded the turbo with antifreeze. The final cost was over $1300, and a massively bruised ego.


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## cruze01 (Mar 25, 2011)

meckelangelo said:


> Yeah, I have an update. Sorry it was so long coming. The radiator had it's own replacement warranty, so that was covered. The other work (labor of cleaning everything out) was not. The problem? My father and THOUGHT we refilled the radiator from the lower radiator hose. We did not. That turned out to be the intercooler hose. We flooded the turbo with antifreeze. The final cost was over $1300, and a massively bruised ego.


Hay, don't take it to hard! We've all done dumb things before. I made a stupid lame brained mistake putting a timing belt on my daughters car last year, cost me 3 grand for a new engine. :banghead:


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

meckelangelo said:


> Yeah, I have an update. Sorry it was so long coming. The radiator had it's own replacement warranty, so that was covered. The other work (labor of cleaning everything out) was not. The problem? My father and THOUGHT we refilled the radiator from the lower radiator hose. We did not. That turned out to be the intercooler hose. We flooded the turbo with antifreeze. The final cost was over $1300, and a massively bruised ego.


Ouch


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## RedChevy (May 22, 2011)

I have a very early 2011 Cruze (bought in Jan. 2011) and I have had to add coolant a few times. What I've noticed is that if I fill it up to the top of the fill line it is down at the lower line a few months later.....if I leave it at the lower line it doesn't seem to go any further down (hopefully it stays this way). I have gotten the coolant 'smell' a few times after pulling in the garage (where the smell is magnified). After reading both 'coolant smell' threads, I believe it is an engineering defect and that some cars suffer worse than others. If mine stays at the lower level (without dropping further), I'll be happy. I plan on bringing it in once again to see if there is a re-flash for my A/T. When I took it in last summer they said there wasn't. The A/T sometimes seems confused at lower speeds (but it's bearable, unlike what some others have reported)...All in all it's a nice car but the MPG's are much lower than the 40mpg advertised (for the Eco)....I get about 32 highway and 27-28 combined. When stuck in traffic the A/T seems confused sometimes causing some hard shifting....I have 19K and have done nothing but oil changes/ tire rotations etc...


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## hawkeye (Mar 31, 2012)

I have a 2011 that had experienced some coolant loss. It seemed to stabilize for a while, so I thought it may have been some air in the system from the factory like another poster suggested in another thread. This summer it started to go down a bit, so I took it in. They said it was leaking from the waterpump bolts and performed the TSB which replaced the pump, seals, and bolts. Interestingly, they didn't do the thermostat and I noticed that the updated TSB does not mention the thermostat. Everything is good, now, but I have a feeling that most of us with 2011's will be replacing the pump and bolts before 100,000 miles. I'm still very happy with this vehicle, and would buy another.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I think the thermostat was added to the TSB because a lot of Cruzen with replaced water pumps had to have their thermostats replaced shortly after the water pump.


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## hawkeye (Mar 31, 2012)

I hope I won't need to go back. I think the latest TSB is the one that took the thermostat OFF. Mine was leaking from the bolts and those were replaced with the pump and seals.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Hi RedChevy

Sorry that you are dealing with this issue. Have you spoken with a Customer Care Agent already to get this issue documented? If not I would like to assist you. Could you send me a private message if you want my help? Look forward to hearing from you.

Jackie
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## ONE4 NADUV (Nov 14, 2012)

Most likely water pump i had same issue dealer replaced free!!! Warranty!!!


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## CRONIN2 (Oct 14, 2016)

*Coolant smell and leak?*

We have had the water pump replaced and the thermostat replaced.
Still the smell and the coolant gradually goes down on my 2012.


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## apcnc (Oct 7, 2013)

If you cannot find the leak and your not finding it on around or below the surge tank you probably have a blown head gasket and the head is most likely warped. It blowing out the exhaust. The cylinders are very thin and too close together. So there isn't much area to seal off especially if you add the boost of the turbo. i would guess the the one mentioning less than 30 mpgs either have a heavy foot or they are losing a little compression between the cylinders. This engine is tempting disaster every time it runs. As long as the ecm stay in control your ok. Any mishaps and you are overheating. 

I would take a piece of a paper towel. Roll it where it will fit into the overflow port on the surge tank. Drive it and see if it ends up wet with coolant. Also make sure the system has pressure on it at operating temperature. Just squeeze the radiator hose going to the water neck. It will be hot so use gloves or do it fast if you can handle the heat. If the hose is not tight and blows a little air out of the vent or overflow in the surge tank. You need a new cap on the tank. If the hose is tight and no coolant on the paper towel. It's probably the head gasket.


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## apcnc (Oct 7, 2013)

Btw just in case. Feel of the radiator hose when it's cold first to give you and idea. The hose will not be high pressure but you can refit tells the difference and the port will be sealed off on the tank.


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