# I can't take much more of this



## Campuscop2003 (Mar 5, 2011)

On Friday t after the car sat for approximately 8.5 hours, I started the car to go home. After sitting in the parking space for about 30 seconds to one minute the engine started running very rough like only two cylinders were running. A message saying to service the traction control system came on the center DIC as well as the traction control warning light. The check engine light was also blinking at this point. I left the car run for another 45 seconds too see if any of the lights would go out and they did not. I shut the car off, waited about a minute then started the car again. After restarting the car all the lights were off and the car ran completely normal. During the whole incident the car was sitting in a parking space and was not driven. I called onstar to run a diagnostic on the car and they found nothing. I was advised by a GM customer service rep to have the car checked out. 


Today I take it in to get looked at and there telling me that's its due to bad spark plugs. They told me there is a tsb although i could not find it. That when the check engine light comes o the traction control warnings automatically go off. Due to it being spark plugs I was charged $80 to look at it. Is since when do spark plugs stop acting up when you turn the car off and back on? 

This was a different dealer than before. I guess I can trust any dealer. And my power train and GM major guard are completely worthless!

i wish I could afford to get rid of this car. Never ever again will I buy a ChevyChevy


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

Campuscop2003 said:


> i wish I could afford to get rid of this car. Never ever again will I buy a ChevyChevy


Understand, that with a sentence like this, you're not going to get very much support from the other members. You're basically talking crap on our company..

Flashing MIL = misfire. The Traction and Stabilitrak lights come on because they're automatically disabled when a major failure is detected(ie misfire). When MIL is off, the traction and stabilitrak will re-enable.

There is a bulletin on this, thanks to our very own XtremeRevolution, who found out that the spark plug gap specs were wrong on Service Information and on our cars. Thank him.

Spark plugs are not covered under warranty. They are a maintenance component, no maintenance components are covered, like air filter, fuel filter, tires, brake pads, etc.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Campuscop2003 said:


> On Friday t after the car sat for approximately 8.5 hours, I started the car to go home. After sitting in the parking space for about 30 seconds to one minute the engine started running very rough like only two cylinders were running. A message saying to service the traction control system came on the center DIC as well as the traction control warning light. The check engine light was also blinking at this point. I left the car run for another 45 seconds too see if any of the lights would go out and they did not. I shut the car off, waited about a minute then started the car again. After restarting the car all the lights were off and the car ran completely normal. During the whole incident the car was sitting in a parking space and was not driven. I called onstar to run a diagnostic on the car and they found nothing. I was advised by a GM customer service rep to have the car checked out.
> 
> 
> Today I take it in to get looked at and there telling me that's its due to bad spark plugs. They told me there is a tsb although i could not find it. That when the check engine light comes o the traction control warnings automatically go off. Due to it being spark plugs I was charged $80 to look at it. Is since when do spark plugs stop acting up when you turn the car off and back on?
> ...


How many miles? They should not have been charging you to replace spark plugs that new, but since they are maintenance items, I can see why they did. 

I simply don't understand it when people get so worked up over a $80 charge on a maintenance item. Did you seriously expect that you would not have to drop a single dollar into this car for 100k miles?


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## Campuscop2003 (Mar 5, 2011)

My plugs are not bad the car runs a smooth as butter. It only missed for 30 second! and what plug has ever magically stopped missing by simply turning the car off and back on?????? I'm pisses they charged me $80 just to look at it. With all the freaking warranties i have on this thing. And at 49k miles those are some really crappy iridium plugs. If they would have charged me $80.00 for new plugs fine. That $80 was just to freaking hook it to a computer. The plugs were not changed I wasn't about to pay them another $136 to do it. The car has been run since the issue with the same plugs and not a single hiccup!


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## titan2782 (Nov 4, 2011)

I find that if I don't let the fuel system fully pressurize before starting (especially when it's super cold), I'll get a certain CEL.

What I would have said to them was, "If it's the spark plug then why did it start working the 2nd time?". A bad plug is a bad plug. Maybe the controller for the plug is bad. But they won't check anything unless it's physically broken or there's an error code. I find this to be extremely annoying!

However, it doesn't matter if it's Chevy or not. You really think you'll get better service from Dodge, or even BMW? Sorry if you got your hopes up but it just isn't true. When it comes to dealerships and warranties, you're guilty until proven innocent.


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

Campuscop2003 said:


> My plugs are not bad the car runs a smooth as butter. It only missed for 30 second! and what plug has ever magically stopped missing by simply turning the car off and back on?????? I'm pisses they charged me $80 just to look at it. With all the freaking warranties i have on this thing. And at 49k miles those are some really crappy iridium plugs. If they would have charged me $80.00 for new plugs fine. That $80 was just to freaking hook it to a computer. The plugs were not changed I wasn't about to pay them another $136 to do it. The car has been run since the issue with the same plugs and not a single hiccup!


I see. That is strange then.

To be honest, if it only did it for 30 seconds and never again, I would not have bothered taking it in unless it was repetitive.

You cant blame the dealer for charging you. You think a doctor will give you a check up for free? Or a dentist to xray your tooth to see if it cracked for nothing? No way.. it diagnostics. Same thing. Techs gotta make money too.. we get paid by the job just like most professionals do.

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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Campuscop2003 said:


> My plugs are not bad the car runs a smooth as butter. It only missed for 30 second! and what plug has ever magically stopped missing by simply turning the car off and back on?????? I'm pisses they charged me $80 just to look at it. With all the freaking warranties i have on this thing. And at 49k miles those are some really crappy iridium plugs. If they would have charged me $80.00 for new plugs fine. That $80 was just to freaking hook it to a computer. The plugs were not changed I wasn't about to pay them another $136 to do it. The car has been run since the issue with the same plugs and not a single hiccup!


If they charged you to look at it and the diagnosis was incorrect, contact GM and tell them about it and see if you can get a refund. If they tell you the spark plugs are bad but the car is still running just fine, then where's the issue?

That said, 49k miles isn't that bad for an Iridium plug. It depends on how you drive it too. I do not expect to keep my iridium plugs over 60k miles. Just because GM says you can run them for 100k miles doesn't mean they will run well nor that the are guaranteed to last that long. 

Best advice I can give you is to contact GM and report what happened. You shouldn't be paying for an incorrect diagnosis.


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## titan2782 (Nov 4, 2011)

OnlyTaurus said:


> You cant blame the dealer for charging you.


If my teeth were under warranty then **** yes! However, they'd tell me I ate something too hard or some how blame it on me and not their work. 

All you have to do is throw a fit and the manager will be more than happy to assist. This is how I kept Kia from charging me when my tranny started going whacky and they "couldn't find anything". 

So far my Chevy dealer has not charged me for diagnostics.


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## OnlyTaurus (Mar 20, 2012)

titan2782 said:


> If my teeth were under warranty then **** yes! However, they'd tell me I ate something too hard or some how blame it on me and not their work.
> 
> All you have to do is throw a fit and the manager will be more than happy to assist. This is how I kept Kia from charging me when my tranny started going whacky and they "couldn't find anything".
> 
> So far my Chevy dealer has not charged me for diagnostics.


I understand ya man, but unfortunately like I said, spark plugs arent covered. You warranty book explains what isnt covered.

Now that I think about it.. maybe you shouldnt have been charged.. if you walk in and tell them your MIL is on, the diag should be covered, but the replacement would not.

Maybe OP should go talk to the service manager..

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## Campuscop2003 (Mar 5, 2011)

GM customer service told me to take it in Friday after the incident and I had onstar do a diagnostic on it. She started a case Friday and told me to take it it. So I did as told. I talked with her again about the incident and explained to her it's running fine so it can't be the plugs. It's being pushed up to a specialist. I told her I only want my $80.00 back. We will see what happens. If I knew the warranty wasn't going to at least pick up the diagnostic charge I would have said piss on it. But yeah the problem only lasted until I turned the car off and back on. I don't think they even pulled a plug to look at it to back up what they claim. They pull a misfire code and see a tsb and say that has to be the problem. Bull!

also when onstar ran the diag they found nothing, when I plugged my code reader in it said no codes. Why wouldn't they find a code? Where was that code p0300 stored that only the dealer could find it?


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Campuscop2003 said:


> GM customer service told me to take it in Friday after the incident and I had onstar do a diagnostic on it. She started a case Friday and told me to take it it. So I did as told. I talked with her again about the incident and explained to her it's running fine so it can't be the plugs. It's being pushed up to a specialist. I told her I only want my $80.00 back. We will see what happens. If I knew the warranty wasn't going to at least pick up the diagnostic charge I would have said piss on it. But yeah the problem only lasted until I turned the car off and back on. I don't think they even pulled a plug to look at it to back up what they claim. They pull a misfire code and see a tsb and say that has to be the problem. Bull!


Sounds like that dealer tried to rip you off. Just from a superficial understanding of what happened. You can't just pull a code and automatically know what went wrong, especially if the car is running fine. They should have done a more thorough diagnostic. Keep us posted on what happens.


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## Campuscop2003 (Mar 5, 2011)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Sounds like that dealer tried to rip you off. Just from a superficial understanding of what happened. You can't just pull a code and automatically know what went wrong, especially if the car is running fine. They should have done a more thorough diagnostic. Keep us posted on what happens.


 Onstar didn't find any codes and my code reader said no codes stored. But it's my word against theirs. They said it has a code p0300. Where was it stored that onstar and my code reader wouldn't have found it? This is the second dealer that screwed me here. At least the one that forgot to plug all the sensors back in didn't charge me for anything.


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## montess1 (Oct 13, 2012)

I don't think the handheld code reader will bring up stored history codes, just ones while the MIL light is on.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

montess1 said:


> I don't think the handheld code reader will bring up stored history codes, just ones while the MIL light is on.


Depends on which reader you have. I have one I bought for ~$120 that reads history codes as well.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

According to the 2012 Cruze Owner's manual, the spark plugs shouldn't need to be changed until somewhere over 90K miles. Campuscop2003's sig shows 46,000 miles. I wouldn't be happy about paying to replace the spark plugs at 50% of their expected life per the documentation that came with the car.


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

Campuscop2003, 
First off, is this the first "issue" you've had with your Cruze? Because if so, I'd say you're overreacting a lil bit, especially since there is NO warranty that I know of that covers the cost of a diagnostic, UNLESS that test actually finds something that IS covered by the warranty, in which case, the dealership doesn't charge you for it, and you only pay the deductible (if you have one) to cover the repairs under warranty. I would also say that IF this problem presents itself again, leave the car run while you press that wonderful blue button for help.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be nice if EVERYTHING was covered under the warranty, but we're not talking a 70k+ vehicle with regular maintenance included here. I've had a similar issue with one of my other vehicles, and ended up paying for the diag because no warranty covered problem was found. In this age of electronics and computer controlled vehicles, I don't recall a single vehicle that has never had a problem occur. If this is the only problem you've had, I'd say wanting to switch from one manufacturer to another over an 80 dollar diagnostic is pretty radical. 

MOST of the time, if you've got a good relationship with the service department of the dealership you choose to have your vehicle repaired in, they'll waive diagnostic fees, but not always. At the same time, you can't go in guns blazing ready to "fight to the death" and get rid of your car if they don't do what you want. Give them respect, and you will usually get respect in return for the most part. I've already had to replace the struts and water pump on my 2012 Eco, and even though I've NEVER owned a vehicle that had problems like that so soon, I'm still not ready to go out and buy a Dart or Focus ... or any other vehicle for that matter. I expect some things to break these days, because we ALL know ... They DONT build things the way they used to, and that's a fact. We're a throw-away society and cars are included unfortunately. 

Bottom line, I hope you get your problem resolved to your liking, but in the end, I'd say ask yourself this: Has the car been reliable and good to you for the most part other than 30 seconds of trouble and $80?


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## Beaker (Mar 21, 2012)

You were charged because the spark plugs have 45k miles on them.


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## Campuscop2003 (Mar 5, 2011)

This car has not been reliable. It has been in the shop many times for different things. It would be amazingly wonderful if this was the only thing it was in for. And $80 for diagnostics is one thing, getting the wrong diagnosis is the real problem as it only missed for 30 seconds until I turned the car off and back on. No way in heck it's the plugs. I would have had better use by flushing that money down the toilet.


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## Aussie (Sep 16, 2012)

Seems to me it was just a computer glitch, restarting rebooted the engine management and all was good it again. Had the same sort thing happen with the central locking on a previous car. The key would have no effect after work, so I opened the car manually, started it, turned it off again and everything was back to normal.


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## The_Madcat (Oct 6, 2012)

Campuscop2003 said:


> This car has not been reliable. It has been in the shop many times for different things. It would be amazingly wonderful if this was the only thing it was in for. And $80 for diagnostics is one thing, getting the wrong diagnosis is the real problem as it only missed for 30 seconds until I turned the car off and back on. No way in heck it's the plugs. I would have had better use by flushing that money down the toilet.


What else have you had it in for?


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

I think I would take a look at the battery connections. Weird messages on a cold start might be caused by a brief low voltage spike. The rough running could be related. That is only a guess on my part.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I've seen lots of pictures of iridium plugs that have 100-120k miles on them looking immaculate. I really doubt the plugs are the issue.

And, my $70 Autel MS509 scanner can read history codes, and do live data. Well worth it for a modern car owner. 

If the car had been sitting for a few days before getting started, a cold, low-voltage battery can do some funny things. And before folks get their panties in a wad over replacing the battery on a 1.5 to 2 year old car, it's a well-known issue that certain car batteries only last 1.5-2 years. I already went through on our Fit when it was just over 2 years old and just out of warranty. It's well-documented on the Fit boards that the OEM battery is shot after about 2-3 years. And that battery is Honda-dealer-only, and $170. I had to replace the OEM tires on it later that spring, too. Throw another $600 at the car...

If the diagnostic did not find anything to cover under a warranty or service campaign, they're going to charge you. Sucks, but the mechanics have to put food onto the table too. Oh, and buy their own tools to work on your car.


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## silverls (Nov 12, 2011)

Your situation is what I refer to as a Fluke. something I learned from my Father actually and it has happened to me at least once on every vehicle I have ever owned including my LS cruze. Not the eco yet though. 

In my LS I was sitting in bumper to bumper traffic and after about 20 minutes the rpms started to rise and fall rapidly. almost stalling the car. i revved it once or twice but it still went right back into rhythm with the rise and fall. I turned it off, waited a moment and turned it back on. Never saw the problem again. 

I have about 5 or 6 more stories just like this from other vehicles as well. It was a fluke. Hats off to you for trying to get your $80 back.


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

The_Madcat said:


> What else have you had it in for?


I too am curious as to what other problems you've had with your Cruze ... 

On a side note, I had a 2003 GMC Yukon that had "ghost" issues, even though I bought it with 4.6 miles on the odo! Every once in awhile, the radio wouldn't work, as in, no volume, but it was powered on and "functioning" other than volume. the ONLY way I could get it to work was to shut off the truck, arm/disarm the factory alarm system, then start it up again, and it was fixed. 

Ironically, I have an issue with the radio volume on my Eco that pops up once it awhile as well ... where I'll be sitting at idle and the "automatic volume control" apparently thinks I've gone from 0-70 in .2 seconds, then back to 0, so the volume gets really loud for those .2 seconds, then back to normal. :icon_scratch:

Gremlins I tell ya! (and not the actual car)


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## Campuscop2003 (Mar 5, 2011)

Busted shifter bushings at, 4k miles, trip home from Florida 1000 miles missing gears. A heater reprogram after controls quit working and had to ride down the highway with the windows down in winter due to not being able to shut off the heat. A new ac compressor, new ac condenser, new thermostat assembly, antifreeze overflow cap was leaking antifreeze and needed replaced. New window switch panel on drivers side door. I am probably leaving something out still.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Campuscop2003 said:


> Busted shifter bushings at, 4k miles, trip home from Florida 1000 miles missing gears. A heater reprogram after controls quit working and had to ride down the highway with the windows down in winter due to not being able to shut off the heat. A new ac compressor, new ac condenser, new thermostat assembly, antifreeze overflow cap was leaking antifreeze and needed replaced. New window switch panel on drivers side door. I am probably leaving something out still.


Either your LS is a complete lemon or your dealer was really scraping for work when you visited for service. That's a lot of issues and a lot of specious "fixes" that buff the service writer's monthly revenue numbers, and maybe just let the tech who worked on your car to flag a lot of flat-rate hours while spending much less actual time on it. It also sounds like they just shotgunned parts at it instead of diagnosing the car properly.


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## Campuscop2003 (Mar 5, 2011)

sciphi said:


> Either your LS is a complete lemon or your dealer was really scraping for work when you visited for service. That's a lot of issues and a lot of specious "fixes" that buff the service writer's monthly revenue numbers, and maybe just let the tech who worked on your car to flag a lot of flat-rate hours while spending much less actual time on it. It also sounds like they just shotgunned parts at it instead of diagnosing the car properly.


All of those problems were spread over the last year and a half and all of the new parts were definitely needed. This car is a lemon. The shifter bushings for example were completely busted which caused the car to kick out of gear. The thermostat heater failed and caused a mil light so the had to replace the thermostat assembly. I believe all the diagnosis except the one this week about the plugs. Calling this car a lemon would be an insult to lemons!!


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Campuscop2003 said:


> On Friday t after the car sat for approximately 8.5 hours, I started the car to go home. After sitting in the parking space for about 30 seconds to one minute the engine started running very rough like only two cylinders were running. A message saying to service the traction control system came on the center DIC as well as the traction control warning light. The check engine light was also blinking at this point. I left the car run for another 45 seconds too see if any of the lights would go out and they did not. I shut the car off, waited about a minute then started the car again. After restarting the car all the lights were off and the car ran completely normal. During the whole incident the car was sitting in a parking space and was not driven. I called onstar to run a diagnostic on the car and they found nothing. I was advised by a GM customer service rep to have the car checked out.
> 
> 
> Today I take it in to get looked at and there telling me that's its due to bad spark plugs. They told me there is a tsb although i could not find it. That when the check engine light comes o the traction control warnings automatically go off. Due to it being spark plugs I was charged $80 to look at it. Is since when do spark plugs stop acting up when you turn the car off and back on?
> ...




Campuscop2003,
I would like to apologize for the issues that you have experienced with your Cruze. I do understand your concerns as well as frustrations with this. I see that you currently do have a service request open with GM in regards to this. If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me anytime; I am happy to help in any way that I can.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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