Holden Cruze Engine Problems

The gasket in question is probably the head gasket and when this fails, it can allow the engine oil and coolant to mix, which is why you’re seeing oil in the coolant expansion tank. If you check the engine’s oil dipstick, you may find that coolant has found its way into the sump, mixing with the oil as well, giving the latter a milky quality rather than appearing clear and clean.

This would have been a potential warranty claim back when the car was new, but at 11 years of age – even with your low mileage – it would be a miracle if Holden agreed to fix it as part of a warranty job.

A cracked turbocharger intake pipe is a pretty common problem as this tubing has to withstand high temperatures and the force of the turbo’s boost. You really wouldn’t bother trying to fix this, and a replacement piece of tubing is the proper fix.

Just make sure you get the right piece of tubing as there are different pipes of different shapes that run between the turbocharger and intercooler, and the intercooler and the engine. It’s quite possible to change these yourself, but modern engine bays can be pretty tight and you might find it’s a fiddlier job than you imagined.

While you’re in there, check the condition of the clamps that secure the tubing, too. You may wish to replace them at the same time. I’ve seen replacement pipe kits for anywhere from $200 to $300 for this make and model. Online sellers are plentiful, but conventional parts stores should also be able to help you out.

This model Cruze used a toothed rubber timing belt, rather than a timing chain. Holden recommended the belt be changed at 90,000km intervals. It’s not a job to ignore, either, as a snapped timing belt will often turn the engine to junk in an instant.

Most mechanics would go back to basics for this one. With the engine running, you place the leads of a volt-meter across the terminals of the battery. This will tell you how much power the alternator is putting into the battery to keep the latter charged. You want to see a figure of up to about 14.5 volts, and anything less than about 13 volts suggests the alternator is struggling.

If you get a low reading, try the test with the engine just off idle as this can sometimes wake the alternator up and get it pulling its weight. Don’t forget to do the test with all the lights ad stereo off, and the air-conditioning switched off, too.

You could have an engine problem that is causing the vehicle to lose power. The cause of this could literally be a thousand different things. An electronic scan of the vehicle might shed some light on the root cause of the problem, and most mechanics would carry out such a scan before doing anything else.

If the engine is not at fault, you might find the problem can be traced to a transmission that is not shifting gear properly or is slipping, or perhaps even something as simple as a dragging brake or poorly adjusted park-brake. But before you hit the workshop, you can check simple things like the condition of the engine’s air filter to make sure there’s no obvious cause. If your car is a turbocharged model, check the plastic trunking that carries the boost from the turbo to the engine’s intake. This trunking can split or fall off, leading to a loss of boost pressure and, therefore, performance.

A common cause of overheating can be a failed head gasket which allows the coolant to be consumed by the engine. When this happens, soon there’s not enough coolant remaining to cool the engine and the car overheats.

But it may not be as serious as that. You could simply have a stuck thermostat. This is the component that prevents coolant flowing around the engine when it’s first started, forcing the engine to warm up faster. Then, as the engine gets warmer, the thermostat starts to open to allow the coolant to flow through the engine and do its job, maintaining the correct running temperature in the process.

Other possible causes for overheating include incorrect ignition timing, a slipping fan belt, non-functioning cooling fans, a collapsed radiator hose, blocked radiator, a worn water pump and many others. A good mechanic should be able to make a diagnosis and tackle the problem from there.

I can only hope so. Trying to start an engine with an obvious and large fuel leak like the one you’ve described is really tempting fate. This leak needs to be fixed before attempting to start or drive the vehicle as it’s a major fire hazard.

Even turning on the ignition will have the pump spraying fuel everywhere from the leak, so I’d disconnect the battery until the hose is repaired and the leak stopped. There’s a chance the computer has detected the lack of fuel pressure, but whether that’s what is preventing the engine turning over is another thing. You may have multiple problems.

This is the problem with just replacing parts without knowing the actual cause of the problem. If the third alternator and third battery haven’t solved the charging problem, obviously you need to look elsewhere. If a brand new alternator and a brand new battery aren’t talking to each other, you clearly have a break in communication somewhere in the middle.

Start with the battery terminals and cables. Are they tightly connected to the battery and not frayed or broken beneath the plastic insulation? Sometimes there’s a fusible link (a fuse, basically) built into the battery terminal that will break to protect the electrical system if there’s a short circuit somewhere. That’s worth a check too. The fusible link is usually contained within the battery terminal itself.

The next step is the check all the fuses and relays that connect the battery and alternator with the rest of the car. These can accessed via the fuse-box which is usually located under the glovebox or behind the kick-panel in the footwell, but there’s often also a second fuse-box under the bonnet. Sometimes the cause of non-charging can even be as simple as the little red warning light on the dashboard that has blown its globe, although that’s not often the case with more modern cars like yours.

If you still can’t figure it out, an auto electrician is your next stop, rather than simply throwing more new parts at the car which may or may not fix it.

You’re right that error code P0171 on this car equals an engine that is running too lean. That is, There’s either not enough fuel or too much air in the cylinders. On this engine, many owners have found that the PCV valve can fail, but also that the rocker cover itself can contribute to vacuum leaks. If you can hear air hissing anywhere, then a vacuum leak somewhere around the engine is a pretty good bet.

But let’s not forget that a lean mixture can be caused by not enough fuel, as well as too much air. In which case a check of the fuel filter, fuel pump delivery volume and pressure are warranted. You can also get a lean error code from a faulty or dirty MAF sensor in the engine’s intake system.

The recommended coolant for this model Holden Cruze is the common, red OAT (Organic Acid Technology) coolant. This is actually really important to get right as the wrong type of coolant can damage the engine over time. The red OAT coolant is also a long-life product, so it’s the one to use.

As far as engine oil goes, the recommended grade is a fully-synthetic 5W30. Don’t forget to change the oil filter, too, as putting clean oil back through a dirty filter makes no sense at all.

All these products should be readily available at any decent auto part store, or you can buy them online form a variety of outlets.