# New owner, emissions/DEF with countdown (Code P20E9)



## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

Darress said:


> Hello all and thanks for your posts, I lurked here reading about the diesel Cruze prior to my purchase. I have been leary of late model vehicles in general, especially diesels burdened with complex emissions systems, but I decided to go for it as the car seemed like a good fit otherwise.
> 
> I found my ideal version of the CTD...but it was across the country, in for a penny, in for a pound right? Convinced the wife to make a vacation out of it, flew from Buffalo NY to Seattle WA and the deal was done. I am very excited, less than the first day excitement, but still cautiously happy with the purchase. It is a beautiful white manual hatch with the RS package and Kalahari leather interior. The first 2 days were wonderful, so happy with the car and the drive. From the time we left the dealer a curious notice was intermittently showing on the infotainment screen at shutdown and start-up about servicing the rear camera, but the camera was working just fine so I didn't care.
> 
> ...


Welcome Aboard!:welcome: 

1.4T owner - no help here. I had to break up the paragraphs a bit more for us old folks to read. Now that I was able to read it. I discovered a possible reason



> :stoner: We picked the car up on Friday 4/20 :stoner:


Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## Darress (Apr 29, 2018)

4/20...LOL, we did talk about that on our flight there.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Please identify the model year of your CTD. The build date would also be good to know. 

GM has some internal documentation regarding non-factory changes made to tail lamps that cause problems with the backup camera. It’s a long shot - but do you know if anyone has fiddled with your tail lamps?


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## Darress (Apr 29, 2018)

It is a new 2018 manual hatch diesel. Had 77 miles on it at the dealer so no prior work to my knowledge. Thanks for the reply.


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Darress said:


> It is a new 2018 manual hatch diesel. Had 77 miles on it at the dealer so no prior work to my knowledge. Thanks for the reply.


Can you please check inside the door jamb for a sticker that will include the month and year of assembly?


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## Tomko (Jun 1, 2013)

Sticker looks like this:


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## Darress (Apr 29, 2018)

The date is 7/17


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## HondaTech2016 (Apr 20, 2017)

Mine also started the countdown to DEF death with just over 300 miles. 

Dealership found a broken DEF injector, probably over torqued at the factory and cracked. Over 13,000 miles now and not another issue.


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## Darress (Apr 29, 2018)

Update: The Good: The dealer was able to fix the "service rear camera" intermittent/recurrent message with service bulletin 17-NA-322. Reprogram of the radio using USB.

The Bad: The check engine and DEF emissions warnings continue, along with speed limitations. So far they have found nothing out of specs but are replacing parts in hopes of discovering the cause. They have replaced the entire DEF tank assembly, in order to change the DEF pressure sensor. That attempt lasted 569 miles before all warnings came back on (they stated P20E9/00 this time). Yesterday, they checked it out again. All specs still show normal despite the CEL and emissions warnings with speed limited. They decided to replace the reductant module. 

At this point I have been to the dealership 7 times in one month of new car ownership. They can't accurately diagnose the problem and are throwing parts at it. I can't reliably drive the car and requested a repurchase, that was denied. They want me to keep driving it to see if it is fixed this time. 

I have opened a case with the BBB per the owners manual instruction.


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## Jacque8080 (Oct 31, 2017)

Call one. Tell them your story.

https://www.google.com/search?safe=.....0i67k1j0i131k1j0i131i20i264k1.0.PO3TGifPuug


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## Darress (Apr 29, 2018)

Thanks. As I am in NY I was thinking that as well, but it appears that you have to go this route first. They want you to jump through hoops instead of taking care of a customer. I am only glad it is happening now instead of after the warranty. Can you imagine the cost then? Keep in mind the DEF system is NOT considered part of the extended warranty for emissions. How do you like that? I really feel that this system is one of the final nails in the commuter car diesel engine coffin. Read the trends in Europe.


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## blackbird (Nov 6, 2017)

Sorry to hear your troubles. My '18 6-speed manual diesel didn't even make it a day before settings a P20BF (reductant (DEF) heater circuit voltage low) code and the dealer said they also found a "PH66" code which I think the tech wrote down incorrectly on the work invoice. This caused the under 200-mile to 65 mph limited speed warning.

They cleared the codes and sent me on the way and on the drive home from the dealer the P20BF came back with a new P20E8 code (reductant pressure low). Brought it back and it had also set a P20BD (reductant heater circuit open). I asked if they had a diesel tech who could look and they found the melted DEF fluid line some other owners of early Mexican production diesel hatches have been experiencing.

It's also had a hesitation/stumble/miss when transitioning from in and out of light throttle at cruising speed. They've been happening since the DEF codes were settings, initially primarily when the engine was cold to now every time and continually. Recently is has set a P1476 (EVAP emission control, insufficient vacuum) twice during particularly bad events, clearing after a few drive cycles.

When the 2nd gen Cruze came out in 2016 it did great in Consumer Reports owner surveys and not bad in initial quality metrics. It apparently tanked in 2017, which makes me wonder if that had anything to do with the hatch and some sedan production imported from the plant in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. The build quality on my car is particularly poor and it wouldn't surprise me if there's a simple electrical problem with the wiring harness or sensor as I can see some inconsistent behavior data logging on my scan tool.

GM's "Priority Care" has been about as useless as their social media people on forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc. They're pretty much glorified middle-men for you and the dealer. I gave them my final repair notice and at least in MA can now pursue the lemon law buyback.


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## Darress (Apr 29, 2018)

Blackbird, sorry to hear about your woes as well. I just got home this morning, about 2 miles from home, and again all the lights, warnings and speed limitations are back. It didn't even make it 300 miles after the last repair. I am pushing forward with the BBB. Someone from a legal dept. at GM contacted me Friday, only one day after filing the initial report with the BBB. Will keep you posted.


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## blackbird (Nov 6, 2017)

I'm not too worried about it. As they say, "stuff happens".

It's probably something simple that was incorrectly assembled or damaged during install. Glad to hear you're getting some results through the BBB. Curious to see what GM offers.


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## firehawk618 (Feb 24, 2013)

OP, document it all. Dates, miles, times and exactly what happened at each dealer.

You will need this for a buyback.


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## 91794 (Mar 25, 2015)

Consumer reports sampling/results is skewed, anecdotal, self selected but it is not useless. 

My first 300 mile def countdown was unexpected and at a bad time. I have def range anxiety now!

Def mpg exceeds 1000 mpg. so it seems there is no rational def range worry. Even so, I leave the dic screen constantly on “def level is ok”, awaiting the 30% warning.


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