# Check Engine light at 32,000 miles



## Cruzcampo (Oct 10, 2012)

I wonder if that isn't a preset for some scheduled maintenance or something. My Tacoma maintenance light comes on every 3000 miles to remind me to change oil.


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## jdubb11 (Mar 14, 2012)

funny you mention the 100 rpm change with the cruise on. i just took my first long roadie and with the cruise set at 65 mph the car was also surging back and fourth about 200 rpms...annoying


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

UpstateNYBill said:


> Friday while cruising down the NYS Thruway, I noticed the check engine light was lit. It must have come on within the last 30 minutes after I got on the Thruway, because I know it wasn't on before.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My co-worker recently had this job too.. that breather valve (part of PCV system), continuously 'hissed' with what was a constant vacuum leak. Valve itself is not servicable, the whole valve cover needs replaced..


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

OnlyTaurus said:


> My co-worker recently had this job too.. that breather valve (part of PCV system), continuously 'hissed' with what was a constant vacuum leak. Valve itself is not servicable, the whole valve cover needs replaced..


Is the new valve cover a redesigned model that won't fail again at 64k miles?

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## titan2782 (Nov 4, 2011)

onlytaurus said:


> the whole valve cover needs replaced..


 what?!?!


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## Toyotech (Aug 17, 2012)

This is a shame considering my pcv svc was always a small brush and brake clean.time to look 


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Is the new valve cover a redesigned model that won't fail again at 64k miles?


I'll let you know in another 32k miles! 

Actually, I'll ask about this when I pick up my car tomorrow.

BTW, on gmpartsdirect:

ENGINE / ENGINE / TRANSAXLE / ENGINE PARTS / Valve cover  *MSRP*
*Online Price**$69.53*
*$41.22*
 
 View Part Diagram -- Item #6  
 
Includes the valve cover gasket in the listing I found.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

UpstateNYBill said:


> Friday while cruising down the NYS Thruway, I noticed the check engine light was lit. It must have come on within the last 30 minutes after I got on the Thruway, because I know it wasn't on before.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




UpstateNYBill,
Thank you for sharing this. I would like to apologize for this experience; I know this can be frustrating to deal with. I would like you to keep me posted on this. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

This past weekend I had a check engine light on start up. I had a code reader in my glove box. Plugged it in and said bank 1 lean. I cleared the code and so far after about 200 miles it has not returned.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

Got a voice mail this afternoon that my Cruze was done, but I didn't have enough time to get to the dealer to pick it up tonight, so tomorrow morning I will hopefully get some answers to my questions.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Good to know the whole valve cover, including gaskets, is $40 online. Kinda silly to have to replace the whole thing, though. 

IIRC the "PCV valve" is a whole assembly, too. Oh well, pray it doesn't go out any time soon. 

Upstate, out of curiosity, what oil has your Cruze seen in its 32k miles, and how often does it get changed? We know the 1.4T can be hard on some synthetic blends.


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## Cruz (Aug 4, 2012)

Hi,

I am having a similiar problem with my Cruze 2011. In my case the Check Engine Light has turned 5 times after recall 12081 (removal of section of bottom engine shield or belly pan). The 5 times that this situation has occurred is when it is or has rained. I am very sure that the water that is now getting into the engine compartment (because of recall 12081) is what is causing the check engine light to turn on. The car's manual does state that moistue/ water is a probable cause. 

Did you have recal 12081 performed and by any chance was it raining when the check engine indicator went on? Please let me know.

Thanks,
Nelly


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Upstate, out of curiosity, what oil has your Cruze seen in its 32k miles, and how often does it get changed? We know the 1.4T can be hard on some synthetic blends.


Synthetic blend changed every 5k at the dealer.



Cruz said:


> Did you have recal 12081 performed and by any chance was it raining when the check engine indicator went on? Please let me know.
> 
> Thanks,
> Nelly


Yes, I had the engine shield recall done, and no it wasn't raining when my check engine light came on. My problem was caused by a bad pcv valve.

Got my car back this morning. Talking with the service advisor, there is no updated part for the pcv valve/cover. Straight from the work ticket, it reads:

Tech found codes P0171 fuel system lean & P1101 intake air flow system performance. Tech found vehicle running lean at 35%. Tech found fresh oil around cap was tight. Tech also found valve cover leaking air. Tech replaced oil cap and valve cover. Reset fuel trim and drove vehicle. All is ok. Fuel trim at 6%.

Part # 55565877 Cap
Part # 55573746 Cover 

Curious that the cover part number looks different on gmpartsdirect than the one I posted earlier.

*GM PART #* 55573746 
*CATEGORY:* Engine Camshaft & Valve Rocker Hardware 
*PACK QTY:* 1
*CORE CHARGE:* $0.00
 
List Price:*$69.53*Price:$40.42You Save:* $29.11 (42%) *


They also replaced trunk release button including harness. Part # 95474101

I then drove a total of about 200 miles today for work, and could smell an occasional whiff of oil. Checking under the hood showed the new valve cover is spraying a fine mist of oil out of the right rear corner. Either they didn't torque it down properly, or there is a problem with the gasket or cover. Back to Chevy tomorrow for more warranty work.


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## jdubb11 (Mar 14, 2012)

Back to Chevy tomorrow for more warranty work.

so its just not me... sorry to hear about the problems


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I'm wondering if it wasn't partially caused by some oil breakdown from the Delco syn-blend oil the dealer uses. That oil has shown some truly horrible oil analyses in the 1.4T when it's not changed out at 5k miles. Even at 5k miles, it's still not showing to be that great an oil for our engines. On paper, it's a good oil. In practice, it's not measuring up to full synthetic dexos1 oils, at least for the 1.4T application.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

sciphi said:


> I'm wondering if it wasn't partially caused by some oil breakdown from the Delco syn-blend oil the dealer uses. That oil has shown some truly horrible oil analyses in the 1.4T when it's not changed out at 5k miles. Even at 5k miles, it's still not showing to be that great an oil for our engines. On paper, it's a good oil. In practice, it's not measuring up to full synthetic dexos1 oils, at least for the 1.4T application.


I'm having a hard time blaming it on the synthetic blend oil, especially since it's getting changed about every 45 days.

Brought the Cruze back to Chevy for the leak. Turns out the gasket got a bit out of place in the installation process of the new valve cover. All fixed, and I was compensated for my trouble with a $125 Chevy gift card.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Who's your dealership? Mistakes happen and your dealership not only made it right for you but they compensated you for their error to begin with.


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## Buckshot (Oct 7, 2012)

Nice! Wish they all did that...


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Every 45 days? Darn, you drive more than I do! The oil "should" be good for that interval and almost exclusively highway use. I don't like the Delco oil much based on the oil analyses I've seen on it. And, PCV problems are directly related to oil volatility and burnoff.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

obermd said:


> Who's your dealership? Mistakes happen and your dealership not only made it right for you but they compensated you for their error to begin with.


Denooyer Chevrolet. I've bought multiple cars from them over the years, and they've been good to me.



sciphi said:


> Every 45 days? Darn, you drive more than I do! The oil "should" be good for that interval and almost exclusively highway use. I don't like the Delco oil much based on the oil analyses I've seen on it. And, PCV problems are directly related to oil volatility and burnoff.


That, and I don't abuse the gas pedal.

I have never heard that about the pcv valve. Got a source for that information? I used and abused my old '02 Impala with the 3.8L engine, changing the oil every 8 - 10,000 miles if it was lucky, and never had a pcv valve failure. It's still going strong at 270k on the original engine with it's new owner.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

UpstateNYBill said:


> I have never heard that about the pcv valve. Got a source for that information? I used and abused my old '02 Impala with the 3.8L engine, changing the oil every 8 - 10,000 miles if it was lucky, and never had a pcv valve failure. It's still going strong at 270k on the original engine with it's new owner.


Those old 3800's were very easy on oil. 8-10k mile oil changes on them were fine. They were also very clean-burning engines. It was the first V6 to attain ULEV emissions in 2000, and the same engines with some minor updates got SULEV emissions status in 2005. I'm not surprised it never needed a PCV change since it was such a clean-running engine. 

I may have been a little hasty in confusing correlation with causation when attempting to relate the oil to PCV problems. Some of my dislike of the Delco syn-blend oil might have crept in there too.


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## JeffBazell (Jan 24, 2012)

Funny. Mine went bad at 32k also! I got a code P0171, 'lean mixture Bank One." Dealer fixed under warranty but why is this happening so often to so many? There is a production quality issue here and GM should address it. These pvc valve covers apparently are prone to leaking, air and oil at times. I don't care if the fix is free or not, it needs to be addressed by GM/Chevrolet.


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## UpstateNYBill (Jan 14, 2012)

GM changed the design of the pcv valve. Hopefully the new design fixes the problem.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

UpstateNYBill said:


> GM changed the design of the pcv valve. Hopefully the new design fixes the problem.


It may last longer but it doesn't fix it.

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