# Exhaust leak at waste gate - first trip to the shop



## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

The wastegate is pre-DPF and SCR, so that's pretty typical of how it looks.


----------



## powermax (Jun 3, 2017)

Mine looks exactly the same. I'm at 6600km (4100miles).


----------



## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

MP81 said:


> The wastegate is pre-DPF and SCR, so that's pretty typical of how it looks.


Which raises the question, why isn't the EGR post-DPF?


----------



## HondaTech2016 (Apr 20, 2017)

Ive noticed this for awhile now on mone as well. Currently at 4500 miles, im curious to see what they find and if I need to take mone in or let it ride.


----------



## powermax (Jun 3, 2017)

I'm curious to see what happens since seems like most of us looks the same.


----------



## sledstorm1 (Mar 9, 2017)

Yes same here, i first noticed mine around 3500 miles

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk


----------



## powermax (Jun 3, 2017)

Any updates. Did they get it fixed? 




KyleB said:


> '17 CTD 7k mi. Today I went in for my first oil change and the technician noticed an exhaust leak at the waste gate near the turbo. It's small enough it can't be heard, but big enough it's spewing soot everywhere. Pics below. Obviously it's still under warrantee so the plan is to drop it off next Saturday and drive a loaner until it's fixed.
> My only real question is, why is there so much soot in my exhaust that a small leak sprays it all over? I expected cleaner exhaust. What must the inside of the manifold and turbo look like?


----------



## KyleB (Mar 12, 2017)

I dropped my car off on Saturday. First they told me this was completely normal, because "diesels are dirty". They reassured me that everything seems to be operating within nominal ranges, so the car runs fine. No surprise there. When I expressed surprise that a brand new car would be designed such that the under hood area doesn't stay clean, they changed their mind and decided to send my case in to GM engineering tech support. My car stayed with them through Wednesday with no word back from GM. We decided I'd pick up my car and continue to drive it while my case makes its way through the process. Nothing yet. The foreman told me he'd email me whatever info he gets back, and I'll post what I get here. 

The foreman told me they happen to have a '16 2.0L in while mine was in and he looked at that one for comparison. While the turbo is oriented different so it's harder to see, he said he observed the same soot and dribble on that '16 as is on my '17. 

I will at least give them credit that everyone has been very courteous and helpful through the whole process, from the quick lube tech that noticed it, to the service personnel, and the shop foreman. Mostly I'm chalking this up to being an early adopter of brand new engine. Did I mention that when I went for my first oil change, they had to change it twice because they discovered they didn't have my filter in stock after they drained it? Had to go back a week later to get the filter changed.


----------



## IndyDiesel (May 24, 2015)

KyleB said:


> I dropped my car off on Saturday. First they told me this was completely normal, because "diesels are dirty". They reassured me that everything seems to be operating within nominal ranges, so the car runs fine. No surprise there. When I expressed surprise that a brand new car would be designed such that the under hood area doesn't stay clean, they changed their mind and decided to send my case in to GM engineering tech support. My car stayed with them through Wednesday with no word back from GM. We decided I'd pick up my car and continue to drive it while my case makes its way through the process. Nothing yet. The foreman told me he'd email me whatever info he gets back, and I'll post what I get here.
> 
> The foreman told me they happen to have a '16 2.0L in while mine was in and he looked at that one for comparison. While the turbo is oriented different so it's harder to see, he said he observed the same soot and dribble on that '16 as is on my '17.
> 
> I will at least give them credit that everyone has been very courteous and helpful through the whole process, from the quick lube tech that noticed it, to the service personnel, and the shop foreman. Mostly I'm chalking this up to being an early adopter of brand new engine. Did I mention that when I went for my first oil change, they had to change it twice because they discovered they didn't have my filter in stock after they drained it? Had to go back a week later to get the filter changed.


They didn't make a 16 diesel. Your dealer sounds like idiots to me. Who drains oil and doesn't have the proper filter prior to draining? I would find another dealer.

If they comparing to a gas car that doesn't make much sense either.


----------



## KyleB (Mar 12, 2017)

They probably didn't say '16, I probably remembered wrong, because you're right there was no '16. But it was definitely a previous gen 2.0. 

Who drains the oil before they have a filter? Someone who's never not had a filter. It seemed to really catch them off guard. Like it happens super rarely.


----------



## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

KyleB said:


> Who drains the oil before they have a filter? Someone who's never not had a filter. It seemed to really catch them off guard. Like it happens super rarely.


Somebody who's trying to work efficiently. And somebody who assumes everybody else in the dealership (parts manager) is doing their job efficiently too.

Pull the plug, go to the parts counter and collect your parts while the oil drains, change the filter, replace the plug, lower car and fill. They're not paying him to watch oil drain, they're paying him to work.


----------



## gsbatch (Sep 8, 2017)

Diesel has been available in North America since the 2014 model year.


----------



## Taxman (Aug 10, 2017)

gsbatch said:


> Diesel has been available in North America since the 2014 model year.


...just not continuously. (unless there were still new 2015s on the lots when the 2017s came out, which is entirely possible)

First generation 2014-2015, second generation 2017-2018.


----------



## KyleB (Mar 12, 2017)

Finally heard back about my car. Reportedly my case was discussed in detail. Mine is the first case like this they've seen. Everyone agrees that this causes no codes and no drivability issues but seems wrong. The shaft in question has no seal, but is just tightly toleranced. They could observe exhaust leaking using a bubble test. 
They've decided to replace the turbo and see if the new one does the same. I mentioned that I had posted about this and there were several others that reported the same exact thing, so it's perfectly likely they will see other cases come across their desk. My appointment is one week from today.


----------



## KyleB (Mar 12, 2017)

Got the car back with a new turbo. The foreman is fairly sure the soot will come back. The new turbo fails the bubble test around that shaft. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## johnmo (Mar 2, 2017)

Looks like this is a common feature. Here's mine at almost 17k miles.


----------



## RunninWild (Sep 14, 2017)

I noticed a couple specks on mine as well yesterday. I only have like 2600km. Looks like they may be having a turbo recall in the near future lol. I don't see how they can pass emissions with exhaust leaks pre-emissions. Hopefully they don't change turbos and negatively affect performance. I would think a bushing could be made to seal the leak in a redesign.


----------



## powermax (Jun 3, 2017)

Any update on the new turbo? Did u feel any difference in performance? Is it showing any soot yet?


----------



## KyleB (Mar 12, 2017)

No change in performance. I haven't looked for soot yet, but I'm assuming it will be there. They said it leaks just like the original according to the bubble test.


----------



## RunninWild (Sep 14, 2017)

We should all cause a stink and demand new turbos. When chevy has replaced enough under warranty they will be forced to do a redesign.


----------



## KyleB (Mar 12, 2017)

in case anyone comes to this thread in the future, I found that there was a bulletin issued not long after my turbo was replaced. It states specifically that this is normal operation and NOT to replace the turbo.

Bulletin is #17-NA-334: Information on Diesel Engine Soot Deposits at the Variable Turbine Geometry (VGT) Pin - (Oct 18, 2017)

I would upload a pdf of it, but the file size seems to be much bigger than the forum will allow for a .pdf attachment.


----------



## Binder_Brandon (Jan 20, 2019)

2018 Cruze TD RS with 14,000km... shop on Wednesday! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## BodhiBenz1987 (Jan 13, 2018)

Interesting that this is considered normal. I never had this until I had the DPF replaced due to regen issues after dealer put the wrong oil in ... with the new DPF I noticed a terrible exhaust smell everywhere I drove. At first I thought maybe it was just some residual grease heating up if they had used any in the repair but it kept on going. I looked in there and saw soot like the above photos, though a bit finer layer and more spread out. You could see the clamp between the turbo and DPF was sitting crooked. I took it in to the dealer and they said there was something wrong with the DPF inlet that they couldn't get the clamp seated right, so they had to replace the DPF again. No more soot in there after that, and the powerful smell went away. Though there's still kind of an exhaust smell in the engine bay, I don't see the soot. So in my case it seems the soot was indeed indicative of a leak.


----------

