Not all engines are equal when it comes to reliability. Some of them can run past a million miles and others have fatal flaws that make them ticking time bombs. The turbocharged 1.4-liter “LUV” engine from the Chevrolet Cruze and Sonic is a very problematic powerplant. Let this teardown video show you why.<\/p>\n
Even before cracking it open, it’s clear this engine has a story to tell. There’s a sticker on it from a self-service salvage yard and new parts for the intake, valve cover, and water pump. This suggests the mill came out a junked Cruze or Sonic and then received some maintenance before going into another car.<\/p>\n
Taking the valve cover off reveals the first major problem with this engine. Coolant somehow mixed with the oil creating a creamy-looking “forbidden milkshake” substance. The water caused rust to form on the camshafts and rockers, rendering them no more useful than scrap metal.<\/p>\n
While the water pump is new, someone installed it wrong. For some reason, the person used two gaskets and used glue to affix it, ruining a perfectly good part.<\/p>\n
Taking off the cylinder head reveals a hairline crack between one valve and the opening for the spark plug. Oh, and the head is warped. If this were from a more exotic vehicle, an owner could have a machinist fix the issues, but the work would cost more than the piece is worth for this engine.<\/p>\n
There are even more problems as the teardown continues. There’s a lot of water-contaminated oil in the pan. The piston skirts have lots of wear, and there’s matching damage in the cylinders.<\/p>\n
Eric from the I Do Cars<\/em> channel suspects this engine only ran for a short time with water-contaminated oil. There would have been more damage if things were like this for a longer period.<\/p>\n Eric doesn’t recommend buying a car with this turbo 1.4-liter engine because there are so many problems with them. That’s not just his opinion, either. There are forum threads recounting horror stories with this powerplant.<\/p>\n A person on Reddit wrote: “I did preventative maintenance regularly and definitely on schedule. This engine leaks everything eventually so I would not recommend it to anyone. Past owner of 2012 Cruze 1.4. Every weekend was spent changing coolant parts I feel like or changing the valve cover or installing the pcv fix kit.”<\/p>\n A user on Cruze Talk wrote: “I am currently at 67k and I have had a water pump and a turbo replaced. I am not confident in the life of the second turbo. I also have the whining manual transmission, so I am hoping by 70k+ I can get it replaced as well. I plan to ditch this Cruze at the end of my extended warranty. Fun car, but I don’t trust it.”<\/p>\n