2016 Trax, replaced valve cover.

[ssspencerjr]

I just had to replace the valve cover my wife’s 2016 Chevy Trax due to the horrible PCV design. Here’s a peek into the engine as I pulled off the cover. It has 113k miles with 5-6k synthetic oil changes. Since around 70 or 80k it’s been fed a steady diet of Rotella gas truck 5w-30. Not exactly sure was what put in it before as dealership where she worked took care of it.

 

[KGMtech]

Looks good, is the replacement valve cover redesigned for the better?

 

[92saturnsl2]

How is the PCV / valve cover flawed?

On the bright side, looks like a good sealing design (other than the joint at the front cover which probably can't be avoided) that should make for easy replacement. I like how they segregate the spark plugs--- no tube seals to mess with.

 

[The Critic]

Looks good, is the replacement valve cover redesigned for the better?

Nope.

 

[ssspencerjr]

Looks good, is the replacement valve cover redesigned for the better?

There really is no fix other than to bypass the system altogether by modding the intake. A doorman was the only one I could get my hands on quick. Drove yesterday and today and no leaks and pcv system is working correctly.

 

[bbhero]

Looks quite darn good man. Cam lobes look to be in rather good shape.

 

[jstert]

ssspencerjr, how has your wife’s chevy trax been as a daily driver?

 

[gregk24]

That looks very clean. How has the turbo held up? Seems you either get a good or bad one.

 

[GMBoy]

I always keep a valve cover and intake in stock because every month I'll get a Cruze/Sonic or other vehicle with that 1.4T motor and the terrible PCV design. Just remember to always look into the port on the intake - if you don't see a small red part sticking out - the bypass is bad in the intake and you will keep blowing the valve cover PCV.

 

[ssspencerjr]

I always keep a valve cover and intake in stock because every month I'll get a Cruze/Sonic or other vehicle with that 1.4T motor and the terrible PCV design. Just remember to always look into the port on the intake - if you don't see a small red part sticking out - the bypass is bad in the intake and you will keep blowing the valve cover PCV.

I did check and the valve is intact. It was dirty as hell but using a q tip I was able to wipe the dirt away and see it. I dread the day I have to replace the intake. I might do the aftermarket mod and just bypass it altogether.

 

[ssspencerjr]

ssspencerjr, how has your wife’s chevy trax been as a daily driver?

She likes it. I knew it was going to be too small when she bought it but it’s what she wanted. It’s a lower end LT model I think we paid around 18 for it brand new. It’s had a few issues along the way. Worst thing was 2-3 years ago the turbo had a coolant leak. I was less inclined to work on my own stuff back then so we paid a dealership to fix it. Parts and labor were around 1k . If that happened today I’d be tearing it apart.

 

[ssspencerjr]

That looks very clean. How has the turbo held up? Seems you either get a good or bad one.

The turbo itself has been ok. We’ve had a coolant leak in the past. See above for more details. Also the purge valve (canister design) had gone bad. It was an original Bosch part replaced with same one. Went bad a again about a year later. Replaced under warranty but now it’s a no name part. We'll see how long this one lasts. Probably been another year since then.

Oh I almost forgot about the crappy ignition system in this car. The end plugs (1 and 4) get corroded for some reason. When I replaced the plugs around 80k I didn’t notice all the corrosion that had built up in the single piece coil. This led to it constantly arcing and destroying all of the plastic inside that fits over the plugs and springs that keeps them in place. Had to replace the coil. When I did that I made sure to slather the dielectric grease in the boots. Even to this day the base of the plugs have a little rust on them but the plugs and boots are ok. I think the plugs and boots never had any dielectric grease on them from the factory. They were bone dry when I replaced them.

 

[ssspencerjr]

Looks quite darn good man. Cam lobes look to be in rather good shape.

I figured it would be clean since we’ve had the car since new but you never know I suppose. When looking up the torque and sequence specs for the valve cover I ran across a video showing it. This was under his valve cover. Needless to say I feel really good about how ours looks.

 

[Texcl2]

We had the valve cover and the oil pan leak on our 2017 trax with a little over 60k miles on it. Chevy fixed it under warranty even though it was over the 60k factory warranty timeframe I think we paid $35 out of pocket. Other than that we have had no issues ( fingers crossed). I change the oil every 4K miles to keep the varnish down.