# Engine groan



## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

In April 2012 we purchased a new Chevrolet Cruze LT with the 1.4L Turbo Engine for my wife. A few weeks after getting the car we went out of town and on the way back home I noticed this groan coming from the engine when we were cruising on the interstate. It sounded like the car was working extra hard just to keep up with traffic. If she would let off the accelerator it would stop. My wife said she noticed it when she was driving to work one day and she thought that it was making that sound because she was running the air conditioning, but later noticed that it was making that sound all the time. 

A coworker of mine has a 2011 Cruze with a 1.4 turbo engine so I brought my wife's car into work one day and my coworker and I drove both vehicles to see if there was a difference. His car was very quiet by comparison and while you could hear the turbo kicking in under hard acceleration, there was never any loud sounds when driving at a constant speed. 

My wife took her car in to have it looked at and the dealership's response was that the sound was "normal" and there wasn't anything wrong. One of the reasons that we bought this car is so that we'd have something with a great fuel economy for short trips (3-4 hours) but it's to the point where I can't stand to be in her car because of the noise. 

Recently I was in my coworker's Cruze for a short trip out of town (20 miles) and never once heard the engine groan that we have in ours. I've owned several new cars and engine noise has never been a problem. I think I'm going to take it to another Chevy dealer to get a second opinion but I wanted to post here to see if anyone else has observed the same sound in their Cruze.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

"Groan" is kind of vague. We need as many details as you can provide. Things like exact speeds it occurs at, whether it occurs only when the car is warm or cold, RPM's it occurs at, and what makes it go away.


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## Beachernaut (Mar 27, 2012)

I haven't noticed anything like this in my Cruze. You may see if your dealership has any other 1.4 Cruzes on the lot that you can drive with the service guy and compare with your car. 

Also, I wouldn't discount the transmission in this instance either. In my experience, a groan or vibration noise at constant speed is more likely trans/axle issue.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Videos always help diagnose noises if you have a phone/camera that can take one!


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

I wonder if there is something in the intake ducting that has a loose connection? I have a shop built SRI on my '97 Civic and when you plant your foot in it, the engine makes this loud "moan or groan" sound. It's loud enough to hear inside and outside the car. I've actually had a guy on a Harley turn around to look once when I punched it to pass him.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Jim Frye said:


> I wonder if there is something in the intake ducting that has a loose connection? I have a shop built SRI on my '97 Civic and when you plant your foot in it, the engine makes this loud "moan or groan" sound. It's loud enough to hear inside and outside the car. I've actually had a guy on a Harley turn around to look once when I punched it to pass him.


That's loud if a Harley rider could hear it.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

I dated a girl with a '96 Integra. HOLY CRAP - that thing was louder on the highway than my mom's BMW 2002. Flooring it made a lot of noise when you wanted to pass someone, but didn't really do much.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

jblackburn said:


> Videos always help diagnose noises if you have a phone/camera that can take one!


Thanks for the advice. I did take several videos tonight but when I played them back on my phone the noise was hard to distinguish from the road noise and wind. I had the phone mounted with a suction cup on the windshield.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

Beachernaut said:


> I haven't noticed anything like this in my Cruze. You may see if your dealership has any other 1.4 Cruzes on the lot that you can drive with the service guy and compare with your car.
> 
> Also, I wouldn't discount the transmission in this instance either. In my experience, a groan or vibration noise at constant speed is more likely trans/axle issue.


The salesman that we bought it from was supposed to call my wife back when they had a comparable Cruze so that they could compare the two, but we never heard from him.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

Here are a couple of videos that I managed to upload. Hopefully you can hear what I'm talking about. If not I may have to go out and try again another day.


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## rustinn (Jun 7, 2012)

Interesting. From listening to those videos, that's the sound my Cruze makes when the engine is faced with a lot of load like when I'm pushing the throttle in deep while the RPMs are low and the A/C is on.


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## rustinn (Jun 7, 2012)

The engine tone sounds like when a vacuum cleaner sucks carpet up to where it covers the whole intake of the vacuum.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

That's a pretty good description. LOL. I was the only one in the car and I had the AC off. I think after I get up past 45 mph it's more difficult to hear in the video, but if you listen close enough it's still there. I think I'm going take it into a different Chevy dealer on Friday and see what they have to say. I guess if I get another dealer who tells me that it's "normal" then at least I can move on. I think my wife is tired of hearing me gripe about anyway. Haha.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

It sounds like an exhaust leak from that to be quite honest. I don't remember an automatic Cruze sounding that deep-throated, and I know mine doesn't. 


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

That is certainly not normal. I have driven several Cruzes and none of them made that kind of sound, unless modified. 

If your dealership tries to tell you that it's normal, I would recommend contacting Chevy customer support and filing a case with them. Dealerships treat you differently when "big brother" from GM is watching what they do. You may have to find a more competent dealer if your dealer cannot find anything wrong.


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## Beachernaut (Mar 27, 2012)

That sounds a lot like my Blazer did with a K&N intake on it, but a stock Cruze shouldn't make that much noise. Especially when you're up to speed and not loading the engine hard.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

Thank you all for the feedback. I'm taking it in on Friday and I'll keep you posted.


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## Toyotech (Aug 17, 2012)

When you go in, insist on roadtested with the technician. If the technician states that everything is normal insist on using another cruze for a road test to compare.


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

Here is my guess, lol - a squirrel has made a nest in your air cleaner. He has gnawed a hole in the plastic resonator tube and put a boatload of crap at the filter, which clogs it up and kills the power. I want a prize if this turns out to be right, ha.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

kwhaley29 said:


> Thank you all for the feedback. I'm taking it in on Friday and I'll keep you posted.




kwhaley29,
Please keep me posted on the progress with your dealer. If you have any questions or would like my assistance please feel free to contact me; I am always happy to help!!
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

Update - the dealership acknowledged that there is a noise but could not find anything wrong with the vehicle.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

That's a start. Make sure it's on the service ticket so you have documentation.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

I have to go back next week to have a sensor for the Stabilitrack replaced. They said that they might "dig a little deeper" then. I'm starting to have flashbacks from when I had a Chevy Colorado. I think I went through 4 or 5 blower motors for the HVAC before I finally ended that continual headache by trading it off. We decided to give Chevrolet another chance because we thought that they had stepped up their game in terms of quality but I think at this point I've decided that after this car no GM product will ever be in our garage again.


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## Toyotech (Aug 17, 2012)

i'm sure its difficult to diagnose. help them a bit with diagnosis.

Today while driving in I noticed a groan at 60mph, very minor but i will always try a few different things in terms of diagnosis.

When traveling at that speed of the groan put the vehicle in neutral and see if the noise is eliminated that way your eliminating drivetrain concern's and focusing on body/chassis. It may be something as wind noise and the frequency at a set speed causing the light groan/vibration.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Toyotech said:


> i'm sure its difficult to diagnose. help them a bit with diagnosis.
> 
> Today while driving in I noticed a groan at 60mph, very minor but i will always try a few different things in terms of diagnosis.
> 
> When traveling at that speed of the groan put the vehicle in neutral and see if the noise is eliminated that way your eliminating drivetrain concern's and focusing on body/chassis. It may be something as wind noise and the frequency at a set speed causing the light groan/vibration.


I always try to give clear symptom reports to the service departments. When you have intermittent problems this may be all they have to go on. If you can identify if it's road speed related, engine speed (RPM) related, etc., it will really help your service manager and techs troubleshooting.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

When I dropped the vehicle off I took the service writer out for a road test and he was able to hear the noise that I had described and it appears in the description on the printout of the work done to the vehicle. I was told that they checked for exhaust leaks, looked at the bearings, and came to the conclusion that "everything was ok". I don't think it's a matter of of needing to explain the noise in further detail...I think it's a matter of them not wanting to spend the time to find the cause of the noise.

"Customer reports a low moan sound on acceleration. The sound can be heard at lower RPMs. As they get higher the sound almost goes away. Returns when trans shifts again. Tech found nothing abnormal at this time. Everything ok at this time."


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Does the pitch change as you accelerate?


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

With your foot on the accelerator and travelling at a constant speed the noise can be heard and deepens when you push down further on the pedal. I think the videos that I posted on the first page will probably give you the best description of the sound.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

I still think it sounds like an exhaust leak somewhere, perhaps a gasket mating surface somewhere. With the car idling, hover around any joints in the exhaust pipe with the back of your hand to see if you feel hot air. Near the turbocharger, at the cat. converter, etc.


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## Toyotech (Aug 17, 2012)

jblackburn said:


> I still think it sounds like an exhaust leak somewhere, perhaps a gasket mating surface somewhere. With the car idling, hover around any joints in the exhaust pipe with the back of your hand to see if you feel hot air. Near the turbocharger, at the cat. converter, etc.


if thats the case it should be not just at a certain speed but under the same engine load per each gear. 

Not saying can't be, but i would think it would be something else being at a set speed not coordinated with engine speed.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> "Customer reports a low moan sound on acceleration. The sound can be heard at lower RPMs. As they get higher the sound almost goes away. Returns when trans shifts again."


It sounds like it is at a set engine speed/load...


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## Toyotech (Aug 17, 2012)

My apologies, i missed that. failure on my part.


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## titan2782 (Nov 4, 2011)

I feel your pain. I complained about a fluttering noise but all they could do is say everything was ok and after grilling them they said it must be the fuel injectors. Every time I take it in, they magically can't find anything wrong. I assume they don't want to play detective because it takes time.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

titan2782 said:


> I feel your pain. I complained about a fluttering noise but all they could do is say everything was ok and after grilling them they said it must be the fuel injectors. Every time I take it in, they magically can't find anything wrong. I assume they don't want to play detective because it takes time.


I'd recommend finding another dealer that doesn't keep giving you the run-around every time you have a problem.


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## kwhaley29 (Sep 10, 2012)

It only happens under load and seems to be isolated to the 1,500 - 2,500 RPM range. Someone suggested that maybe there's an issue with the turbo.


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## EvilRaven33 (Jun 10, 2021)

2014 Chevy Cruze 1.8 eco boost engine, noise on acceleration from stop







youtube.com





This is what mine does, any ideas on what it is.


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