# Major issues after PCV Bypass / Valve Cover / Water pump repairs



## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

Hello everyone! Looking for some help with my son's 2014 Chevy Cruze with the 1.4 liter turbo engine and 130K miles. The car is throwing lots of codes, has a very rough idle and goes into limp mode after a while requiring to have the codes cleared to get it able to drive faster than 5 mph

Here's the history, car was running fine other than having lots of oil leaks and a slow leak from the water pump. Son had it checked out and was told it needed a valve cover gasket and water pump. I took it to the dealer for the water pump since there is a TSB that extends the warranty for the water pump if it leaks. We swapped out the valve cover. We also did the PCV Bypasss Kit V3. He still had the orange check valve but we thought it would be a good idea to be proactive and do the PCV Bypass Kit V3.

All these repairs were done while my son was home for an extended weekend and the car was running fine. My son started driving back towards school and made it about an hour before the check engine light came on and it started running rough. He turned around and started coming back and shortly later the car went into a limp mode where it could not go faster than 5mph. He got off an exit and used his OBDII scanner to clear the codes. This allowed him to get his car back home. Hei's getting a P0016 and P0017 code that comes back immediately after clearing. These codes are related to the camshaft positioning. There's also a code P0068 related to the MAF sensor and that's the one that seems to cause the car to go into limp mode.

We took the car to the same dealership that did the water pump. I'm not sure I agree with their analysis. They didn't see the P0068 that we did (but cleared out to get the car running) but they also reported codes P0106 and P1101. I haven't hooked up the obdii scanner to confirm. The dealership claims the P0016 and P0017 will require more tear down to fix. They say the say the P0106 and P1101 are caused by a front crank seal being blown out from high crank case pressure. They wanted to start with replacing the seal and intake manifold to fix that. I explained that I had just installed the bypass but they really weren't interested in discussing the issue any more and I wasn't interested in throwing money at the problem since I don't think they really know what's going on. The dealership also claims the real underlying reason could be a worn piston allowing blow by.

I'm very suspicious that two seemingly unrelated issues, the camshaft positioning codes and the codes related to the MAF that cause it to go into limp mode are two separate issues that came up at the same time after these repairs were done. It would seem more likely there is one underlying issue here.

I hope someone smarter than I am can give me some suggestions for things to look at. I haven't spent a lot of time on it yet. I did confirm that the camshaft positioning sensor wiring harness is tightly connected, was concerned that I pulled it off while moving the wiring harness out of the way to remove the valve cover. I also looked over the PCV Bypass and confirmed it was still intact as it should be. Also double checked the alignment of the PCV valve.

Thanks in advance for anybody that has suggestions


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

I have read this three times and still don't have a good direction to try. So lets retrace, what if any issues were happening before all this was done?


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

If you do a compression test, that will tell you if you have a bad piston ring like the dealer suggested.

When you installed the PCV fix kit, did you remove and plug the opening for the orange check valve? I believe that is a prerequisite for installing a fix kit, please correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

Thebigzeus said:


> I have read this three times and still don't have a good direction to try. So lets retrace, what if any issues were happening before all this was done?


Just oil leaks and some coolant loss. There was a code that came up for the evap and my son changed that and the code went away.


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

JLL said:


> If you do a compression test, that will tell you if you have a bad piston ring like the dealer suggested.
> 
> When you installed the PCV fix kit, did you remove and plug the opening for the orange check valve? I believe that is a prerequisite for installing a fix kit, please correct me if I'm wrong.


I'll do that.

When installing the pcv bypass, I did remove the orange check valve and plugged it with epoxy.


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## thebac (Jul 29, 2017)

Could it simply be the shop did not seat the plugs for the cam sensors and maf back in fully? I cant see those codes being related to the PCV fix either.....


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

I'm thinking the PVC fix wasn't done right and I'm still getting flow through the check valve that I removed.


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

JLL said:


> When you installed the PCV fix kit, did you remove and plug the opening for the orange check valve? I believe that is a prerequisite for installing a fix kit, please correct me if I'm wrong.


I had trouble using the plug and resorted to covering the hole with epoxy. I'm afraid this didn't hold up and is leaking. It's hard to see as I applied two layers of epoxy and it dried unevenly.

Any way of testing if air is getting through the old check valve hole?


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

Ohio Dad said:


> I had trouble using the plug and resorted to covering the hole with epoxy. I'm afraid this didn't hold up and is leaking. It's hard to see as I applied two layers of epoxy and it dried unevenly.
> 
> Any way of testing if air is getting through the old check valve hole?


I assume you used the V3 kit? That has been a concern of mine since the kit was released, when it was created, it doesnt account for how hard it is to get that plug shoved in the hole. I haven’t done it, but by watching the video it appears extremely hard to do And I have seen other struggle on here and in the comments. Maybe there will be a revision soon to the kit.

I would personally get a Dorman intake manifold and hope for the best. They have a revised design and should do you better than an OEM. However the fix it is prime when all installed and working correctly. If it doesnt work out, you can always return it if you buy from Amazon for a full refund.


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

Ohio Dad said:


> I had trouble using the plug and resorted to covering the hole with epoxy. I'm afraid this didn't hold up and is leaking. It's hard to see as I applied two layers of epoxy and it dried unevenly.
> 
> Any way of testing if air is getting through the old check valve hole?


That very well could be your issue.


Thebigzeus said:


> I assume you used the V3 kit? That has been a concern of mine since the kit was released, when it was created, it doesnt account for how hard it is to get that plug shoved in the hole. I haven’t done it, but by watching the video it appears extremely hard to do And I have seen other struggle on here and in the comments. Maybe there will be a revision soon to the kit.
> 
> I would personally get a Dorman intake manifold and hope for the best. They have a revised design and should do you better than an OEM. However the fix it is prime when all installed and working correctly. If it doesnt work out, you can always return it if you buy from Amazon for a full refund.


I agree. I'm also leary about the fix kits. Abandon the fix kit for the time being, and go with the Dorman or OEM design intake that you know will work. Even it's only for a time.


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

I texted the guy that sells the kits. He doesn't think air getting past the old check valve would throw the codes I'm seeing. I'm going to try cleaning the MAF sensor and see if that helps. Maybe I only have a MAF sensor issue that's unrelated to any of the other repairs.

It's no longer running rough. I can clear the codes and it drives. Does have inconsistent acceleration like you would get if the MAF was bad.


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

Ohio Dad said:


> I texted the guy that sells the kits. He doesn't think air getting past the old check valve would throw the codes I'm seeing. I'm going to try cleaning the MAF sensor and see if that helps. Maybe I only have a MAF sensor issue that's unrelated to any of the other repairs.
> 
> It's no longer running rough. I can clear the codes and it drives. Does have inconsistent acceleration like you would get if the MAF was bad.


Jerky acceleration? Also, I have a spare used/known good MAF if that’s something you’d like to try. I really dont think its the MAF though.


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

Thebigzeus said:


> Jerky acceleration? Also, I have a spare used/known good MAF if that’s something you’d like to try. I really dont think its the MAF though.


Not jerky. More like delayed acceleration. Give it gas and it seems to take a while and stumbles a bit before it responds.

P1101 is the for MAF sensor and likely the code that causes the car to say "reduced power" and go into limp mode where it drives very slow until I clear the codes.

I've seen P1101 related to PVC issues but I think thats more for a plugged check valve


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

Ohio Dad said:


> I texted the guy that sells the kits. He doesn't think air getting past the old check valve would throw the codes I'm seeing. I'm going to try cleaning the MAF sensor and see if that helps. Maybe I only have a MAF sensor issue that's unrelated to any of the other repairs.
> 
> It's no longer running rough. I can clear the codes and it drives. Does have inconsistent acceleration like you would get if the MAF was bad.


Isn't the guy the sells the kits @XtremeRevolution ?


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

JLL said:


> Isn't the guy the sells the kits @XtremeRevolution ?


yes


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

Cleaned the MAF sensor and took it for a long drive after clearing the codes. Checked codes while I'm driving and the P0016 and P0017 codes come back almost immediately after clearing but don't trigger the check engine light. Car accelerates sluggishly / inconsistenty. After returning home and restarting car, the check engine light comes back on and I see the P1101 again. I have a new code this time, don't recall the exact code but the description was for low boost.

I'm watching dials for the MAF and thottle position sensor. The MAF sensor seems normal compared to what I see on my similar aged Equinox. The throttle position seems whacky. Jumps around a few degrees even when sitting at idle. While accelerating and gently increasing pressure on the pedal, I sometimes see the throttle position sensor readings drop instead of climbing.


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

Ohio Dad said:


> Cleaned the MAF sensor and took it for a long drive after clearing the codes. Checked codes while I'm driving and the P0016 and P0017 codes come back almost immediately after clearing but don't trigger the check engine light. Car accelerates sluggishly / inconsistenty. After returning home and restarting car, the check engine light comes back on and I see the P1101 again. I have a new code this time, don't recall the exact code but the description was for low boost.
> 
> I'm watching dials for the MAF and thottle position sensor. The MAF sensor seems normal compared to what I see on my similar aged Equinox. The throttle position seems whacky. Jumps around a few degrees even when sitting at idle. While accelerating and gently increasing pressure on the pedal, I sometimes see the throttle position sensor readings drop instead of climbing.


Did you remove intake manifold when you did the PCV fix kit?

Also did you ever perform that compression test?


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

I did not remove the intake. I only changed the valve cover. I could not locate my compression gage so I might need to borrow one. It hasn't been running rough the past several test drives.

I don't know if this is normal but when I have the key in accessory mode and press on the gas pedal I hear an electrical buzzing sound coming from the engine compartment


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

P0068 came back and caused the car to go into limp mode. I was looking over that code again and it mentions the throttle position sensor being out of alignment with other sensors. I'm going to focus more on the TPS which seemed to be giving bad values.


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

Ohio Dad said:


> P0068 came back and caused the car to go into limp mode. I was looking over that code again and it mentions the throttle position sensor being out of alignment with other sensors. I'm going to focus more on the TPS which seemed to be giving bad values.


I think it's built into the throttle body on these


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

Ohio Dad said:


> I think it's built into the throttle body on these


That it is.


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

Thanks for the info on the throttle body. I was looking at one on Amazon and noticed a reviewer stated it fixed his limp mode problem. I can't imagine the throttle body being the cause for all my codes but my scanner shows confusing readings when I compare to another properly running car. It does seem to be linked to P0068 and the limp mode so I'll start there.


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## reavisbabe1970 (Jul 18, 2019)

Ohio Dad said:


> Hello everyone! Looking for some help with my son's 2014 Chevy Cruze with the 1.4 liter turbo engine and 130K miles. The car is throwing lots of codes, has a very rough idle and goes into limp mode after a while requiring to have the codes cleared to get it able to drive faster than 5 mph
> 
> Here's the history, car was running fine other than having lots of oil leaks and a slow leak from the water pump. Son had it checked out and was told it needed a valve cover gasket and water pump. I took it to the dealer for the water pump since there is a TSB that extends the warranty for the water pump if it leaks. We swapped out the valve cover. We also did the PCV Bypasss Kit V3. He still had the orange check valve but we thought it would be a good idea to be proactive and do the PCV Bypass Kit V3.
> 
> ...


All I can tell you is that I am now replacing my valve cover for the third time and the pcv hose assembly that connects to the turbo and my intake manifold. These are know problems with the 1.4 turbo cruzes. I have had everything replaced on this from the water pump three times, cooling fan assembly twice, radiator, bypass tube, coolant reservoir twice. Plugs, coil pak. Mass air flow senor. I have a folder full of repairs. I have also had a lemon law claim settled on this pos car. Sorry you are having issue's. But this is one of the worst cars GM has made.


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

reavisbabe1970 said:


> All I can tell you is that I am now replacing my valve cover for the third time and the pcv hose assembly that connects to the turbo and my intake manifold. These are know problems with the 1.4 turbo cruzes. I have had everything replaced on this from the water pump three times, cooling fan assembly twice, radiator, bypass tube, coolant reservoir twice. Plugs, coil pak. Mass air flow senor. I have a folder full of repairs. I have also had a lemon law claim settled on this pos car. Sorry you are having issue's. But this is one of the worst cars GM has made.


Well have you replaced the intake manifold which is the root cause of the valve cover blowing?


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## Cr19812001 (Nov 19, 2020)

Ignition coil issue? Test the ohms on each coil. I had same issue and one of springs was jacked on inside where it goes over spark plug. I installed a new one so I couldn’t figure it out then found out new coil was bad. Also had a purge valve go bad to cause limp mode. Any vacuum leak on manifold will cause it to do that also if seal not seated right. Sorry if any repeated I didn’t read entire thread. Too much early in morning.


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## Ohio Dad (Aug 17, 2020)

Cr19812001 said:


> Ignition coil issue? Test the ohms on each coil. I had same issue and one of springs was jacked on inside where it goes over spark plug. I installed a new one so I couldn’t figure it out then found out new coil was bad. Also had a purge valve go bad to cause limp mode. Any vacuum leak on manifold will cause it to do that also if seal not seated right. Sorry if any repeated I didn’t read entire thread. Too much early in morning.


I've been wanting to check the coil since I had to remove it to change the valve cover. I'm not sure that would throw codes like I have. P1101, P0068, P0106, P0299 (not exactly sure that it's but its the low turbo boost code). Those seem more like a vacuum leak somewhere. Those can be such a pain to track down.


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## Thebigzeus (Dec 2, 2018)

Ohio Dad said:


> I've been wanting to check the coil since I had to remove it to change the valve cover. I'm not sure that would throw codes like I have. P1101, P0068, P0106, P0299 (not exactly sure that it's but its the low turbo boost code). Those seem more like a vacuum leak somewhere. Those can be such a pain to track down.


Not really with a boost leak test kit.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

reavisbabe1970 said:


> All I can tell you is that I am now replacing my valve cover for the third time and the pcv hose assembly that connects to the turbo and my intake manifold. These are know problems with the 1.4 turbo cruzes. I have had everything replaced on this from the water pump three times, cooling fan assembly twice, radiator, bypass tube, coolant reservoir twice. Plugs, coil pak. Mass air flow senor. I have a folder full of repairs. I have also had a lemon law claim settled on this pos car. Sorry you are having issue's. But this is one of the worst cars GM has made.


Read this:

*2011-2016 Cruze 1.4 PCV Valve Cover/Intake Manifold Issues*


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Ohio Dad said:


> I've been wanting to check the coil since I had to remove it to change the valve cover. I'm not sure that would throw codes like I have. P1101, P0068, P0106, P0299 (not exactly sure that it's but its the low turbo boost code). Those seem more like a vacuum leak somewhere. Those can be such a pain to track down.


You can purchase a boost leak tester here, www.cruzekits.com, or build your own.


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## rdlb (Jun 21, 2020)

Thebigzeus said:


> I assume you used the V3 kit? That has been a concern of mine since the kit was released, when it was created, it doesnt account for how hard it is to get that plug shoved in the hole. I haven’t done it, but by watching the video it appears extremely hard to do And I have seen other struggle on here and in the comments. Maybe there will be a revision soon to the kit.
> 
> I would personally get a Dorman intake manifold and hope for the best. They have a revised design and should do you better than an OEM. However the fix it is prime when all installed and working correctly. If it doesnt work out, you can always return it if you buy from Amazon for a full refund.


 Agreed with the above. Unless you are quite a good DYI or a reasonable mechanic, forget the kit and just replace the intake manifold (Dorman). About $160 and less of a headache.


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## JLL (Sep 12, 2017)

rdlb said:


> Agreed with the above. Unless you are quite a good DYI or a reasonable mechanic, forget the kit and just replace the intake manifold (Dorman). About $160 and less of a headache.


Amen.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

rdlb said:


> Agreed with the above. Unless you are quite a good DYI or a reasonable mechanic, forget the kit and just replace the intake manifold (Dorman). About $160 and less of a headache.


Actually, to replace the intake manifold takes almost the same amount of effort. The only addition is to connect the bypass valve and plug the old PCV valve hole. The kit will actually cost less than a new manifold as well.
How-To: Remove 2011-2016 Cruze 1.4L Intake Manifold








Welcome to CruzeKits.com - Home of the PCV Fix Kit


Chevy Cruze Repair/Testing Kits




cruzekits.com




I cannot locate the instructions for V3 or 3.1, but they are similar.


https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/170403e5-73e2-4ff4-b2f5-21ef2428a6ad/downloads/V2.1%20PCV%20Fix%20Kit%20Instructions.pdf?ver=1608145830271


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Just found them:


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