# 2013 Cruze Eco..turns off completely while at red light or doesn't turn on at all



## EcoDave (Mar 7, 2013)

I'm no mechanic but my best guess is the Alternator is shot. 
A long time ago, my dad had similar problems to what you are describing and he walked to Autozone, bought a new alternator, put it in and everything was back to normal.

I hope they can figure out your problem sooner than later. Good luck man, keep us updated!


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Sounds like a bad battery cable connection.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I'm going to guess it's the control system that drives the fuel injectors at idle. Something didn't get plugged back in and properly secured after the accident repair.


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## CruzeDFB (Mar 3, 2013)

Do these problems occur when the car is warm or cold?


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

echogemini said:


> I really love my new 2013 Cruze Eco:wub: however running into an issue that has had the car at the shop for a week unable to reproduce the issue I reported. Background, got my car on the 3/8 and on 3/11 a lady decided not to yield and hit my brand new car. Bummer because we all know that the car will never be the same after the accident and it is very true! It was slow enough that no airbags deployed however drivers front/side impact.
> We finally picked up our car on 4/5 and that's when all the fun started. We jumped into our car, put the key in the ignition and turned... nothing... no sound... nothing. Tried again, and it turned on.. didn't really think anything of it since 3rd time a charm. My husband was a stop light and the car and pressed the gas petal and it died/stalled/turned off completely, whatever term rocks your boat, he turned the key in the ignition and it started. On 4/8, we get in the car to get to work and put the key in the ignition and turned...nothing, nothing, we tried for half an hour and the car would not start. No sound at all.
> Took it to the dealer and they could not find anything wrong, nothing on the computer system of the car showed any issues. Very strange. So we pick up the car on 4/12 and what do you know it stalls at a red light on the way home. Ok, maybe just a ghost in the machine. It stalled on Saturday at a red light just like the last time and it started after turning the key again.
> On my way to work today, it turned off again, and I have had it with this car!!! I called the dealer service center and they said bring it in, AGAIN! Which really gets me is that I am a developer and understand computer systems! Why isn't there better tracking of the car for troubleshooting? Either sloppy code or lazy engineers at this point.:angry:
> Has anyone had this issue? I have read posts from last year with earlier models having this issue from others who have posted however not as recent as 2013.:angry:


Hi echogemini, 

I am really sorry to hear about the issues with your Cruze. I would like to take a look into this for you. [FONT=&quot]Can you private message me your full name, address, phone number, Vehicle Identification number, and approximate mileage on your vehicle please? I look forward to hearing from you.

Crystal L - Gm Customer Care


[/FONT]


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## jdubb11 (Mar 14, 2012)

We finally picked up our car on 4/5 and that's when all the fun started. We jumped into our car, put the key in the ignition and turned... nothing... no sound... nothing. Tried again, and it turned on.. didn't really think anything of it since 3rd time a charm.

you didnt think anything about taking 3 times to start your car right after having it "at the shop". sorry this sounds like a made up story to me. if its not i cant really feel sorry for you or help you out on this one. why wouldnt you go straight back into the shop and say something. also, we all dont know " the car will never be the same again". if its fixed right from your little fender bender then is should be just fine.


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## echogemini (Apr 15, 2013)

Look it happen on a Saturday after the car was picked up and with all the issues of not having the car and having the car..we had our fill of BS from the Service Center. Not made up and not looking for your sympathies with our issue. Your post has no substance and you needed to vent..it's ok we all have days like that and there are other forums where they may actually care.


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## jdubb11 (Mar 14, 2012)

echogemini said:


> Look it happen on a Saturday after the car was picked up and with all the issues of not having the car and having the car..we had our fill of BS from the Service Center. Not made up and not looking for your sympathies with our issue. Your post has no substance and you needed to vent..it's ok we all have days like that and there are other forums where they may actually care.


yeah ok. this story has too many holes in it for me to view this thread anymore...good luck


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

echogemini said:


> Look it happen on a Saturday after the car was picked up and with all the issues of not having the car and having the car..we had our fill of BS from the Service Center. Not made up and not looking for your sympathies with our issue. Your post has no substance and you needed to vent..it's ok we all have days like that and there are other forums where they may actually care.


While we do care about the problems people report here, there is no way we can actually troubleshoot them without direct access to the car. This is why there are actually several suggested issues that may be causing this problem. The fact that it took three tries to start the car is a big clue and the service department should start there.

Yes, we all need to vent sometimes but since OP has been looking forward to their new Cruze they shouldn't be having issues unless something was missed and/or not properly reattached after the accident repair.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

It's the dealer/auto body shop's baby, let them fix it. Also, start complaining to your auto insurance, and let them know you are having issues if it does not get solved soon. 

It sounds like something didn't get tightened down enough, or is working loose intermittently. I had issues on my old Buick when the battery cables were on tight enough to make the interior lights/electronics work normally, but not crank the engine. Other times they would be tight enough to crank the engine once, then leave it dead. A new battery and new terminals solved the issue for the rest of the time I had the car.


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## echogemini (Apr 15, 2013)

Actually, the other posts were most helpful as you can see. My Cruze didn't start again, and we had to call OnStar to tow it in and the best part was the remote start didn't work either. Nothing. We captured video of what issue for our Service Center to view and they called this morning and said it was a ground wire that needed to be moved related to the battery. Now the questions was the ground wire moved because of the accident during repair or not. Amazing that they couldn't find it for over a week Not sure if this is standard baffle the customer with BS or not so savvy mechanics. Either way the Service has not been stellar and will not be recommending a Cruze to family,friends or social networks.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Good car, terrible service departments that make you jump through hoops to get anything fixed.

Sounds like my experience with both of our new cars (Chevy AND Toyota). Chrysler dealers have been equally terrible when I had to deal with them for my dad too. 

It amazes me that dealers are able to stay in service at all with their level of incompetence.

Glad they found your issue, and I hope you are now able to enjoy your car trouble-free for a few years.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

echogemini said:


> Either way the Service has not been stellar and will not be recommending a Cruze to family,friends or social networks.


Your car was damaged in an accident and somehow this causes you to give the car a negative review? Seems you should bad mouth the poor service at a specific shop/dealer. 

It also sounds like they did keep digging and find the cause and fix things eventually so even that would not be bad service.


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## echogemini (Apr 15, 2013)

Bad service is bad service and to say it doesn't affect the brand is naive. Dealers are the ones that can turn a bad experience into a positive, just like flight attendants, Customer Service Reps, and those who are customer focused goods and services. The ads for how "Customer Centric" one car brand is over another is money ill spent if not delivered.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

echogemini said:


> Bad service is bad service and to say it doesn't affect the brand is naive. Dealers are the ones that can turn a bad experience into a positive, just like flight attendants, Customer Service Reps, and those who are customer focused goods and services. The ads for how "Customer Centric" one car brand is over another is money ill spent if not delivered.


True to a certain extent. There are two former Pontiac dealerships in Denver that I will never take a car to again. Both are still open as they sold other GM brands besides Pontiac, Saturn, and Oldsmobile. In most cities there are enough dealerships that if you run across a bad one you can switch to another one, which is why you will see frequent recommendations here for people who have the same problem reoccur change dealerships. Face it - going to an out of the way dealership once to get a problem fixed is a lot less hassle than going to the convenient dealership multiple times for the same problem.

My recommendation, with your apparent attitude, is that you also recommend no Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Kia, Hyundai, BMW, Lexus, etc. vehicles either. All the major brands are unfortunately subject to the same dealership issues to one extent or another. In the 28 years I've owned GM products, I have only run across two dealerships I won't go back to. There is a dealership chain here in Denver that covers GM, Toyota, Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Hyndai, Kia, and a few other brands - I wouldn't go to any of his dealerships to purchase wiper blades, much less get any sort of service. One of his dealerships told me that all performance cars need to have their rack & pinon steering replaced after 40K miles. Another (I didn't know he owned this one at the time of purchase) charged me an extra $10 to finance through USAA vs. their in-house finance company. My wife and I don't own either of those cars anymore.


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## Robby (Mar 1, 2013)

I fail to see a problem at the dealer level.....How can the dealer be faulted if they couldn't reproduce a problem that, evidently, was caused at the body shop level.
They would not have known what was disturbed, what was moved, what was damaged......yada yada.

We are in crystal ball territory here and the dealer mechanic doesn't have one.

Once the car came to the dealer and finally displayed the problem, and it sounds like it was correctly diagnosed, the car is now operating as designed.

So, close the book on a lousy body shop experience and take the car and the dealer off the hook......

Rob


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## Meancop (Apr 22, 2013)

I am experiencing the same issues with our 2012 Cruze. Also occurs while driving down the highway. I have talked to numerous Cruze owners and they have experienced electrical issues also. Not to mention to lack of the 42 mpg. There is also a transmission slippage going on with the stalls and the engine dying. Incompetent mechanics (technicians) at the dealership have been unable to fix it after numerous trips to them. I feel ur pain


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## Clump (Oct 22, 2012)

It's amazing/sad how many bad service departments there are out there. I agree that poor dealer service taints the brand. They could be building so much positive, instead of all this negative.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Meancop said:


> I am experiencing the same issues with our 2012 Cruze. Also occurs while driving down the highway. I have talked to numerous Cruze owners and they have experienced electrical issues also. Not to mention to lack of the 42 mpg. There is also a transmission slippage going on with the stalls and the engine dying. Incompetent mechanics (technicians) at the dealership have been unable to fix it after numerous trips to them. I feel ur pain


Only the ECO Manual Transmission is rated for 42 MPG highway. No Cruze is rated higher than 33 MPG combined, but many of us get over that number and the ECO MT drivers here tend to get in the 40s for combined MPG.

If you are having transmission slippage and stalls in an automatic, definitely take it to your dealership. If they can't figure it out (or come back with the dreaded "could not duplicate/no codes") contact GM customer service and open a service ticket. Then find a different dealership and take your Cruze there. Make sure the new dealership has the GM ticket number and that GM knows where you're taking your car.

In the manual, many other things can feel like transmission slippage. Also, be aware that 2nd gear in the manuals is very touchy and will NOT allow you to recover from a stall condition like almost every other manual on the road. 

Bottom line - we need more information on what you're experiencing and what has been done to try to fix it for us to help you help your dealership find and fix the problem.


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## Epickphale (Jan 30, 2013)

Really is too bad that the dealers are having such a negative effect.... the dealers that I have dealt with have been most excellent. The real problem is all the plausible deniability going on. Body shop says its the dealer, dealer says its the body shop, nobody ends up fixing anything. Result: sadface.


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## iKermit (Dec 13, 2010)

So far no issues with Dealer.

OP, if you are mad at a dealer, you are more than capable of going to a different one. My cars engine was overhauled completely, brand new engine... And before i left i drove it, i floored it, i drove that thing like i stole it from the dealer.

It kept turning off, so i drove it back and it was also a ground wire. No issues to this date. But why be mad at a Cruze? They crashed it, cars aren't meant to be crashed


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## Jim Frye (Mar 16, 2011)

iKermit said:


> cars aren't meant to be crashed


Well, yes they are. Repairing them properly afterwards is a whole new set of skills. I got rear ended once and it took the body shop three tries to get it all right. The last two trips were small things, but things that should have been checked before releasing it to me.


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## demo (Sep 9, 2016)

I have a 2013 Cruze LS 1.8L L4 (134,000 miles) that is randomly shutting off at idle at a light. Also, it shuts off sometimes just starting car cold before I can put it in gear. The blog fixes I have heard are: new alternator, new battery and/or battery cables, and fix control system that drives fuel injectors at idle. I have changed plugs, oil changed, engine air filter change, and inspected battery cables. The relatively new battery only has a thousand miles on it. Any fixes I should try first?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

demo said:


> I have a 2013 Cruze LS 1.8L L4 (134,000 miles) that is randomly shutting off at idle at a light. Also, it shuts off sometimes just starting car cold before I can put it in gear. The blog fixes I have heard are: new alternator, new battery and/or battery cables, and fix control system that drives fuel injectors at idle. I have changed plugs, oil changed, engine air filter change, and inspected battery cables. The relatively new battery only has a thousand miles on it. Any fixes I should try first?


Try a purge valve. Common failure on these, will make them hard to start after filling the tank, and can cause them to stall out randomly.


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## demo (Sep 9, 2016)

jblackburn said:


> Try a purge valve. Common failure on these, will make them hard to start after filling the tank, and can cause them to stall out randomly.


Thanks and I will try the purge valve.


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## demo (Sep 9, 2016)

Thank you. I put in a new purge valve and it works like a charm.


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