RascalMafia
heyyyyyyy girrrrrrrl
As many of you who have been around for a while know, I have had nothing but problems with the emissions system on my Cruze since I bought it new. If memory serves, GM has replaced seven NOx sensors, three 02 sensors, the pre-DPF pyrometer, the pre-turbo pyrometer, the DEF tank, the DEF heater, the DEF injector, and both the actual DPF and SCR twice. One of the DPF replacements was due to an internal explosion which caused a pretty major external hole on the way to SDX, just across the GA/TN line, and spent three weeks at that dealership which is over 3 hours each direction from my house in ideal traffic conditions. When it was towed in, I asked to speak to both the diesel technician and service manager...I started explaining the history of the car, and the response from the technician was "I didn't even know Chevy put a diesel into a Cruze" ... Great.
Melted DEF injector:
Hole in DPF which had been replaced less than 500 miles ago:
Melted pyrometer:
It had gotten to the point where GM was making my car payments for me because the car had spent so much time at 5 different dealers in the southeast area (GA, TN, and KY).
While the last 20k miles or so have been trouble free, I received a recall on a recall for NOx sensor replacement and software update two weeks ago and decided that enough was enough. I ended up with one of the first Cruze diesels to hit the market (number 508 to be exact), and if GM hasn't figured it out their T4F software three and a half years later, I want nothing to do with the update.
So I put in a call to Oz Tuner to get some deletes ordered and an update on my existing AutoCal to support the deletes. The deletes showed up two days later while I was out of town, and I mailed in my AutoCal for the software update, which came back the next day.
Two weeks later, I finally get a chance to get under the car and remove the extra weight and bane of my existence. Removal and install of the DPF and new downpipe was fairly straight forward. The clamp at the DPF / turbo joint is a pain in the azz. The bracket which also hold the DPF up is kind of a b!tch to get out as well. From experience, I'd recommend removing the harness that runs to the AC compressor prior to DPF removal (the replacement pigtail is $35.77).
Alright, so the new, lower backpressure downpipe is installed. Now on the the EGR. When I pulled the throttle valve off, things did not look good inside, especially with only 67k miles. Pulled the TV off and cleaned it. The TV must remain unplugged with the new race software. While the TV is off, it's a good time to pull the EGR pipe and install the plates. The EGR valve also will need to remain unplugged with the installation of the new software.
New downpipe:
TV connector:
EGR connector:
TV:
Extreme oil / soot buildup on the TV blade:
Inside of intake with EGR still in place:
EGR removed:
From inside of the intake:
Following the reassembly, I went ahead and pulled and cleaned my MAP sensor. It looked similar if not worse than @oldestof11's. Plugged in the AutoCal and went to update. Error $50B. Called up OZ Tuner on Saturday at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, he remoted into my friend's PC via TeamViewer and installed the latest version of the stock tune I think. There is some discrepancy on the EFI Live side that does not alert a tuner when an older version of s/w is being used that isn't compatible with the new files (way over my head). Anyway, 10 minutes later, problem solved and off to flash.
Brought the car up to operating temp, but could tell a major difference before I even got there. The trans shifts exponentially better, there is no longer a huge lag between the 1-2-lockup as with the stock tune. Power and torque are GREATLY improved (70 peak whp IIRC), and most of all I never have to worry about being stuck somewhere 500 miles away from home with yet another emissions failure. Still working on the MPG calcs as I worked from home 3 days this week and have been running errands outside of my "normal" weekly travel. Just on my drive home from my friend's house, I netted 57.8mpg over a 5.6 mile stop and go journey through lovely Henry County. Normally, I'd average about 38mpg on the same trip. Car is completely smoke free; you can see a very light haze at WOT at night in the trailing car's headlights, but that's all.
At the end of the day, I wish I would have done this as soon as I bought the car. Seeing the intake alone is still worrisome, I couldn't imagine waiting to see what it looked like at 100k. The power and torque are exponentially improved even over the DPF friendly tunes. The turbo spools instantly, no more 1-2-lockup lag, and the thing hauls azz in comparison to before. Sounds at idle is a slight bit louder, and also around town. Once you hit the road, you'd never even know as road noise overpowers anything you'd hear from the exhaust going over 35 mph. Thanks again to http://www.oztuner.com/chevy-cruze-diesel.html for the support and great product. If you own a Cruze diesel, I'd recommend placing a call ASAP.
Melted DEF injector:
Hole in DPF which had been replaced less than 500 miles ago:
Melted pyrometer:
It had gotten to the point where GM was making my car payments for me because the car had spent so much time at 5 different dealers in the southeast area (GA, TN, and KY).
While the last 20k miles or so have been trouble free, I received a recall on a recall for NOx sensor replacement and software update two weeks ago and decided that enough was enough. I ended up with one of the first Cruze diesels to hit the market (number 508 to be exact), and if GM hasn't figured it out their T4F software three and a half years later, I want nothing to do with the update.
So I put in a call to Oz Tuner to get some deletes ordered and an update on my existing AutoCal to support the deletes. The deletes showed up two days later while I was out of town, and I mailed in my AutoCal for the software update, which came back the next day.
Two weeks later, I finally get a chance to get under the car and remove the extra weight and bane of my existence. Removal and install of the DPF and new downpipe was fairly straight forward. The clamp at the DPF / turbo joint is a pain in the azz. The bracket which also hold the DPF up is kind of a b!tch to get out as well. From experience, I'd recommend removing the harness that runs to the AC compressor prior to DPF removal (the replacement pigtail is $35.77).
Alright, so the new, lower backpressure downpipe is installed. Now on the the EGR. When I pulled the throttle valve off, things did not look good inside, especially with only 67k miles. Pulled the TV off and cleaned it. The TV must remain unplugged with the new race software. While the TV is off, it's a good time to pull the EGR pipe and install the plates. The EGR valve also will need to remain unplugged with the installation of the new software.
New downpipe:
TV connector:
EGR connector:
TV:
Extreme oil / soot buildup on the TV blade:
Inside of intake with EGR still in place:
EGR removed:
From inside of the intake:
Following the reassembly, I went ahead and pulled and cleaned my MAP sensor. It looked similar if not worse than @oldestof11's. Plugged in the AutoCal and went to update. Error $50B. Called up OZ Tuner on Saturday at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, he remoted into my friend's PC via TeamViewer and installed the latest version of the stock tune I think. There is some discrepancy on the EFI Live side that does not alert a tuner when an older version of s/w is being used that isn't compatible with the new files (way over my head). Anyway, 10 minutes later, problem solved and off to flash.
Brought the car up to operating temp, but could tell a major difference before I even got there. The trans shifts exponentially better, there is no longer a huge lag between the 1-2-lockup as with the stock tune. Power and torque are GREATLY improved (70 peak whp IIRC), and most of all I never have to worry about being stuck somewhere 500 miles away from home with yet another emissions failure. Still working on the MPG calcs as I worked from home 3 days this week and have been running errands outside of my "normal" weekly travel. Just on my drive home from my friend's house, I netted 57.8mpg over a 5.6 mile stop and go journey through lovely Henry County. Normally, I'd average about 38mpg on the same trip. Car is completely smoke free; you can see a very light haze at WOT at night in the trailing car's headlights, but that's all.
At the end of the day, I wish I would have done this as soon as I bought the car. Seeing the intake alone is still worrisome, I couldn't imagine waiting to see what it looked like at 100k. The power and torque are exponentially improved even over the DPF friendly tunes. The turbo spools instantly, no more 1-2-lockup lag, and the thing hauls azz in comparison to before. Sounds at idle is a slight bit louder, and also around town. Once you hit the road, you'd never even know as road noise overpowers anything you'd hear from the exhaust going over 35 mph. Thanks again to http://www.oztuner.com/chevy-cruze-diesel.html for the support and great product. If you own a Cruze diesel, I'd recommend placing a call ASAP.
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