# 2016 Cruze Brake/vacuum pump/new engine



## txcruze26 (Jul 7, 2015)

Wow, sorry to hear about your car troubles 😬

I have a 2014 and have not had that issue, hoping our resident experts can answer this for you


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

The pump failing is not unheard of but I've never heard of it causing camshaft damage. But it can definitely happen with a catastrophic failure.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

We have never seen this at all on the forum if that helps. What a weird one.

It sounds like this was a "Gen 2" Cruze?


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

What’s the difference between a Gen1 and a Gen2


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Tdavis348 said:


> What’s the difference between a Gen1 and a Gen2


Gen 1 in black, Gen 2 in blue.

2016 was a split year, which makes it sort of confusing. The old car (Gen 1) was called the 2016 Cruze Limited; the new car (Gen 2) was the just the 2016 Cruze.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Sounds like a gen2 with the LE2 to me as well. Yes, I've seen the vacuum pumps fail, and when they do they usually break the drive tangs off, those tangs engage into the exhaust camshaft. You usually need a camshaft and a new pump. I've done numerous repairs but never had one damage the engine.

Vacuum pumps failing is an issue most busy dealer techs will have seen. I don't know that killing the engine is common at all. I've yet to see one do that, on Cruze, Malibu, Equinox, Terrain, or Encore


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

Yes mine must be Gen 2 as it looks like the blue one on the pic. And according to the tech at the dealership. When the pump seized it a stopped the camshaft enough to jump time. Which to me seems weird as it has the 1.4 in it which has as timing chain not a timing belt like the 1.8’s. Seems less likely it would be able to jump time on a chain than a belt which would be easier to snap the belt.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

Tdavis348 said:


> Yes mine must be Gen 2 as it looks like the blue one on the pic. And according to the tech at the dealership. When the pump seized it a stopped the camshaft enough to jump time. Which to me seems weird as it has the 1.4 in it which has as timing chain not a timing belt like the 1.8’s. Seems less likely it would be able to jump time on a chain than a belt which would be easier to snap the belt.


The chains have a lot of slack from factory... It’s not even really a tension thing iirc the only way to not have the slack is to get a whole new crankshaft gear.

Combined with guide rails wearing down its pretty easy to see them jumping out of place.


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

Thanks that’s good to know just curious to see what happens. Talked to GM corporate yesterday. They are looking into it. Dealership called and asked me to provide the oil change maintenance records. So dropped that info off today to them.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

It's a good sign they are asking for oil receipts. Means they are likely to fix it. If they were gonna say no, they'd have said it


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

Ma v e n said:


> It's a good sign they are asking for oil receipts. Means they are likely to fix it. If they were gonna say no, they'd have said it





Ma v e n said:


> It's a good sign they are asking for oil receipts. Means they are likely to fix it. If they were gonna say no, they'd have said it


well just talked to the executive department and they aren’t fixing the issue. Even after supplying maintenance records they are saying it was a lack of maintenance. Smh so having the car towed back here today will upload some pics as soon as I can.


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## WillL84 (Aug 5, 2019)

Lack of maintenance when you provided proof of maintenance. That's so messed up. I'd be on the phone to GM about that.


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

WillL84 said:


> Lack of maintenance when you provided proof of maintenance. That's so messed up. I'd be on the phone to GM about that.


That is what the GM corporate office executive department told me this morning. Which also makes me question the diagnosis. If I'm not mistaken the 1.4L gm engine is a non interference engine. So how would the pistons have done any damage to the valves or the pistons themselves.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Tdavis348 said:


> That is what the GM corporate office executive department told me this morning. Which also makes me question the diagnosis. If I'm not mistaken the 1.4L gm engine is a non interference engine. So how would the pistons have done any damage to the valves or the pistons themselves.


All modern GM engines are interference, as is 99.9% of the current market.

There might be something ancient still out there that isn't (Toyota Tacoma 2.7?), but it's basically required for modern emissions and power output.


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## goochman (Mar 20, 2015)

Just curious - what oil change intervals did you have receipts for? Would be good for others to know where GM drew the line with you.


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

jblackburn said:


> All modern GM engines are interference, as is 99.9% of the current market.
> 
> There might be something ancient still out there that isn't (Toyota Tacoma 2.7?), but it's basically required for modern emissions and power output.


Where did you get that info just curious cause this is what im finding 
*GM and Saturn*
• 1.0L Interference
• 1.3L Interference
• 1.4L Non-Interference
• 1.5L Interference
• 1.6L (Chevette & 1000) Non-Interference
• 1.6L (LeMans) Non-Interference
• 1.6L (Tracker 16 Valve) Interference
• 1.6L DOHC (Aveo) Interference
• 1.6L DOHC (Nova) Non-Interference
• 1.6L SOHC (Nova) Non-Interference
• 1.8L Diesel Interference
• 1.8L Gasoline Non-Interference
1.9L Ecotec SOHC Intereference
1.9L Ecotec DOHC Intereference
• 2.0L Non-Interference
• 2.2L Diesel Interference
• 2.3L Non-Interference
• 3.0L Interference
• 3.2L Interference
• 3.4L Non-Interference
• 3.5L Non-Interference
3.6L Intereference


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

goochman said:


> Just curious - what oil change intervals did you have receipts for? Would be good for others to know where GM drew the line with you.


Oil changes every 3,000 miles and always used full synthetic. We bought the car with 36,000 on it used. The owners manual Shows standard maintenance every 7500. Guess some old habits are hard to break when it comes to maintenance


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## WillL84 (Aug 5, 2019)

Tdavis348 said:


> Oil changes every 3,000 miles and always used full synthetic. We bought the car with 36,000 on it used. The owners manual Shows standard maintenance every 7500. Guess some old habits are hard to break when it comes to maintenance


So you did oil changes twice as often as required and they still said you didn't do it enough 🤦‍♂️


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

WillL84 said:


> So you did oil changes twice as often as required and they still said you didn't do it enough 🤦‍♂️


Yep exactly.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Tdavis348 said:


> Where did you get that info just curious cause this is what im finding
> *GM and Saturn*
> • 1.0L Interference
> • 1.3L Interference
> ...


Modern. Most of that stuff is ancient. I have no idea what 1.4 is referenced there, but it isn't the Cruze.


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

So got the car back home. Here is the vacuum pump that caused this whole issue


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)




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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)




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## WillL84 (Aug 5, 2019)

Ouch 😪


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

Yup, that's it. First pic shows the drive tangs I was mentioning. 

I'm still curious about your records for maintenance. We're you using proper viscocity and a dexos1 spec oil? Proper spec filter? What did they say you were lacking? I've seen people bring in clearly fabricated receipts, showing oil changes on Christmas or Easter Sundays because they just made them up, so I'm very curious what yours were like that they were confident they could decline you. 

Now to be fair, your 20k miles out of warranty, but GM offers repair assistance ALL THE TIME. it's something the dealer can calculate on site on a website, with no GM intervention at all. To have GM corporate deny yours makes me very curious


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## goochman (Mar 20, 2015)

From what Ive seen with GM over the years is if you are the 2nd owner they tend to not provide assistance out of warranty. I saw this on the Enclaves where the tranny waveplates were failing. GM was pretty good to original owners out of warranty but 2nd owners typically got the shaft. Obviously 3k oil changes would give GM no reason to pause. I wonder if they had a record of the original owner going over 7500 miles?


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

Tdavis348 said:


> When the pump seized it a stopped the camshaft enough to jump time.


Help me out. What am I missing here?

The LE2 1.4T has electric solenoids controlling the cam phasing, right? Vacuum is not used for that, right?

And, the 1.4T's vacuum pump is electrically driven, not turned by the camshaft, right?

So how does loss of vacuum cause the cam timing to get so far out of time to cause the valves to interfere with the pistons?

How did the pump seizing stop the camshaft?

I may embarrass myself on this one, but danged if see the connection.

Furthermore, I would think the variable cam timing would have limits designed into it to prevent interference. No?

Doug

.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

plano-doug said:


> Help me out. What am I missing here?
> 
> Both the 1.4T and 1.8 have electric solenoids controlling the cam phasing, right? Vacuum is not used for that, right?
> 
> ...


It's like a timing belt-driven water pump where a bearing fails...pump seizes [from lack of lubrication], timing chain jumps, bad things happen.


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## plano-doug (Jul 1, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> It's like a timing belt-driven water pump where a bearing fails...pump seizes [from lack of lubrication], timing chain jumps, bad things happen.


I updated my post while you were replying. Sorry about that.

Are you saying the LE2's vacuum pump is driven by the timing chain? Or that the water pump is what failed, not the vacuum pump?

Thanks.
Doug

.


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

Ma v e n said:


> Yup, that's it. First pic shows the drive tangs I was mentioning.
> 
> I'm still curious about your records for maintenance. We're you using proper viscocity and a dexos1 spec oil? Proper spec filter? What did they say you were lacking? I've seen people bring in clearly fabricated receipts, showing oil changes on Christmas or Easter Sundays because they just made them up, so I'm very curious what yours were like that they were confident they could decline you.
> 
> Now to be fair, your 20k miles out of warranty, but GM offers repair assistance ALL THE TIME. it's something the dealer can calculate on site on a website, with no GM intervention at all. To have GM corporate deny yours makes me very curious


Soon as I get home I will take some pics of the receipts and upload them. There claim was that there was oil build up saying that because I took the vehicle to a 3rd party there was no way to tell if they used the correct oil that was on the receipts. You're right It was out of the power train warranty. I can't argue that point but if you look at the 2nd picture there isn't any oil buildup and if it was a lack of maintenance seems like there would a lot more marring and sign of lack of lubrication. At least in my opinion


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

plano-doug said:


> I updated my post while you were replying. Sorry about that.
> 
> Are you saying the LE2's vacuum pump is driven by the timing chain? Or that the water pump is what failed, not the vacuum pump?
> 
> ...


the vacuum pump is driven by the exhaust Camshaft.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Heh...there's your problem. 

Joking aside, it looks like they've updated the part/part number when looking it up, so maybe they are becoming more prevalent.


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## Tdavis348 (Jul 6, 2020)

jblackburn said:


> Heh...there's your problem.
> 
> Joking aside, it looks like they've updated the part/part number when looking it up, so maybe they are becoming more prevalent.
> View attachment 287873


That could be the case. I’m not so worried about the vacuum pump failure I mean a am becuase it caused everything but more concerned now about if the pistons and valves are actually bent or damaged. I actually called the dealership and asked for a print out of the tests he preformed. To determine the valves and pistons where damaged. Says he preformed a leak down test and all cylinders failed. Then said he used a bore scope to look at the pistons and valves. Now that throws some red flags to me. I approved the 438 dollars to take the engine down to find the issue. 
Before tearing down Why would you start with a leak down test and not a compression test. 
Second using a bore scope only requires removing the spark plugs. If that test determined the valves where bent and there was damage to the pistons then why would you need to take the engine down. Which apparently taking down a engine to them is removing the valve cover. Cause that’s all that was done.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

Tdavis348 said:


> That could be the case. I’m not so worried about the vacuum pump failure I mean a am becuase it caused everything but more concerned now about if the pistons and valves are actually bent or damaged. I actually called the dealership and asked for a print out of the tests he preformed. To determine the valves and pistons where damaged. Says he preformed a leak down test and all cylinders failed. Then said he used a bore scope to look at the pistons and valves. Now that throws some red flags to me. I approved the 438 dollars to take the engine down to find the issue.
> Before tearing down Why would you start with a leak down test and not a compression test.
> Second using a bore scope only requires removing the spark plugs. If that test determined the valves where bent and there was damage to the pistons then why would you need to take the engine down. Which apparently taking down a engine to them is removing the valve cover. Cause that’s all that was done.


Well jumping a few links usually isn’t enough to cause impact but can be enough that the valves will be leaking if you follow the service manual test.

I’m not entirely sure how tight the tolerances are on the LE2. It also may have pre bored slots for the valves which some techs misidentify as piston damage.


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## WillL84 (Aug 5, 2019)

If there's engine damage doing a compression test will make it worse. You don't need to crank the engine over with the starter for a leakdown test


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

LE2 is for sure interference engine.
Tolerances are pretty tight, they are in all direct injected engines due to the need for sculpted pistons for fuel swirl.
$438 to remove (and reinstall?) The camshaft cover sounds about right. It's pretty involved.
I've not seen one of these engines hit valves when a pump goes, HOWEVER...the carnage that happens does have a tendency to damage/move the exhaust cam position wheel. With this wheel out of time, the engine won't run often. Camshaft replacement is required fix.

(Assuming you're fixing/diagnosing this on your own now)If you have access to a borescope I'd check for signs of valve impact on the pistons, shiny witness marks, or missing carbon in crescent moons shapes are basic indicators. If you don't see anything or don't have one, turn the engine over by hand with the plugs out. It should turn smoothly 720degrees. If it does, I'd do a compression test. If you've got good even compression, you most likely just need a cam (and pump)

Be aware that if they removed camshaft cover that the high pressure fuel pipe and injector combustion seals are one time use items. You'll need to replace them during repair. Pipe is no big deal. Seals require special( and expensive/rare) tools or loads of patience and ingenuity, and luck.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

WillL84 said:


> If there's engine damage doing a compression test will make it worse. You don't need to crank the engine over with the starter for a leakdown test


Yeah, but if there damage, the difference between trying a compression test and not is minimal in dollars. Valves are cheap, and if it was gonna bend valves it already bent as many as it was going to unless this happened at start up and it only cranked once.

A leakdown test requires being able to rotate engine 720degrees, and honestly compression test is first, running a leak down first isn't SOP


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## JmeD (Nov 29, 2020)

Tdavis348 said:


> Ok My first time posting,
> So here I go me and my wife purchased a 2016 Chevy Cruze LT 1.4 turbo not even 2 years ago. car currently has 81k on it. Have had absolutely no issues. Until last week. Was driving my son to soccer and going to pick my wife up from work on the way.
> While Driving coming up to a stop light and getting into the turn lane. When I apply the brakes the pedal started pulsating as if the ABS was activated the service brake assist warning comes on and the peddle goes hard asa rock to where I couldn't even press the pedal in and I had no brakes what so ever. Had to put into Neutral and apply the emergency brake to stop the car. finally coming to a stop the car stalled out and stopped running.
> Put it in park and tried restarting no start. Got it off the road called a tow truck. towed back to my house as the dealership was closed. next day had it towed to the dealership to figure out what the issue was. Following day I get a video explaining that the vacuum pump seized up and broke causing the camshaft to stop and the engine to jump time and caused piston and valve damage. Car needs a new engine. I have called GM waiting on a call back from the executive department.
> ...


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## JmeD (Nov 29, 2020)

Ma v e n said:


> Yeah, but if there damage, the difference between trying a compression test and not is minimal in dollars. Valves are cheap, and if it was gonna bend valves it already bent as many as it was going to unless this happened at start up and it only cranked once.
> 
> A leakdown test requires being able to rotate engine 720degrees, and honestly compression test is first, running a leak down first isn't SOP


Yep, same with my 2016 2nd gen. Brakes went out getting off the interstate. Vacuum pump broke off & tore part of the cam, metal pieces in block, had to clean the whole thing. Injector ORings tore during removal, they are $20 each, unreal! Loud clicking in motor when put back together. Idk if it’s my pulley or something with the timing chain at this point. 
Last year it rained in my battery bay, that was a recall issue, GM towed & repaired after several calls & prayers! (How does that even happen?!)


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

The injector seals are really important and under a lot more stress on these direct injected engines than on the Gen1 1.4L where they just deal with some vacuum, and boost pressure. LE2 injector seals actually have to deal in combustion and exhaust


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## Shroomie (Jan 16, 2017)

plano-doug said:


> Help me out. What am I missing here?
> 
> The LE2 1.4T has electric solenoids controlling the cam phasing, right? Vacuum is not used for that, right?
> 
> ...


lmao, I was thinking the same as you. definitely not like the gen 1.

that's some bad luck


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## Drewtheall (Dec 8, 2020)

Tdavis348 said:


> Ok My first time posting,
> So here I go me and my wife purchased a 2016 Chevy Cruze LT 1.4 turbo not even 2 years ago. car currently has 81k on it. Have had absolutely no issues. Until last week. Was driving my son to soccer and going to pick my wife up from work on the way.
> While Driving coming up to a stop light and getting into the turn lane. When I apply the brakes the pedal started pulsating as if the ABS was activated the service brake assist warning comes on and the peddle goes hard asa rock to where I couldn't even press the pedal in and I had no brakes what so ever. Had to put into Neutral and apply the emergency brake to stop the car. finally coming to a stop the car stalled out and stopped running.
> Put it in park and tried restarting no start. Got it off the road called a tow truck. towed back to my house as the dealership was closed. next day had it towed to the dealership to figure out what the issue was. Following day I get a video explaining that the vacuum pump seized up and broke causing the camshaft to stop and the engine to jump time and caused piston and valve damage. Car needs a new engine. I have called GM waiting on a call back from the executive department.
> ...





Ma v e n said:


> Sounds like a gen2 with the LE2 to me as well. Yes, I've seen the vacuum pumps fail, and when they do they usually break the drive tangs off, those tangs engage into the exhaust camshaft. You usually need a camshaft and a new pump. I've done numerous repairs but never had one damage the engine.
> 
> Vacuum pumps failing is an issue most busy dealer techs will have seen. I don't know that killing the engine is common at all. I've yet to see one do that, on Cruze, Malibu, Equinox, Terrain, or Encore


I have a gen 2 cruze lt 1.4 turbo and my brakes went out and I couldn't push the brake in at all and engine won't start and oil everywhere only 63k miles not sure how it happend but it did anyone else hear about this


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

I didn't hear it happened to you until just now... 

Yes I've seen vacuum pumps fail in this family of engine before, and the Carnage cause oil leaks and/or no starts. It's usually on cars that don't use quality oil, or go too long between oil changes.


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