OZ Tuned 2014 Cruze Diesel (Opel A20DTH) - RLI Biosyn HD SHP 10w30 - 13K Mile OCI

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Nov 8, 2017
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OZ AKA Fleece tuned Cruze 2.0 Diesel with the Opel A20 DTH engine and Aisin AF40 automatic. 200 bhp and 320 lb/ft. Fuel Economy averages 38-41 MPGs per tank on 18" wheels and 225/50R18 Z-rated tires.

Slowly pushing this oil to 15k miles is my goal. Always with AcDelco filters.

-Silicon is likely from the oil pan RTV re-seal after the oil pump pickup seal was replaced with an aftermarket solution. The pickup seal failure is common and will kill the engine. Major design failure by GM on an otherwise awesome powertrain.

-Manganese and low soot @ < 0.1% is from Amalgamated TDR-FL. This tune burns super clean with quality CARB diesel + additive.

Viscosity increased, interesting considering the oxidation value is the same as the virgin sample.

Otherwise, boring UOA.

Refilled with RLI Biosyn HD SHP SAE 30, next sample in 14K miles.

T4wfhHM.jpg
 
Interesting, any relation to a VM engine, or the Fiat JTD (I quickly looked online and didn't find anything conclusive)?

The engine was made by Opel in Germany. The drivetrain is common in Europe and known as the 2.0 CDTI and A20DTH / AF40. It was offered in SAAB, FIAT, Vauxhall, Opel possibly more.

GM has discontinued many of the engine/drivetrain parts for these cars including the timing belt tensioner, which must now be sourced from Europe.
 
Interesting, any relation to a VM engine, or the Fiat JTD (I quickly looked online and didn't find anything conclusive)?

The US-market first-gen Cruze diesel got the JTD. The rest of the world got either a GM/Daewoo diesel or a VM Motori. Article on Road and Track

The engine was made by Opel in Germany. The drivetrain is common in Europe and known as the 2.0 CDTI and A20DTH / AF40. It was offered in SAAB, FIAT, Vauxhall, Opel possibly more.

GM has discontinued many of the engine/drivetrain parts for these cars including the timing belt tensioner, which must now be sourced from Europe.

It was made in Germany but was of a Fiat design.
 
Hopefully your's is deleted.I owned one,stock,and they had to pull the head at 35000 miles due to carbon buildup.If not under warranty it would have cost me $4k.
It has the emissions intact tune that OZ offered for us on the west coast.

Poor fuel quality will cause those issues you experienced however good fuel and additive will virtually eliminate them. The extremely low oil soot % shows clean combustion is occurring.
 
OZ AKA Fleece tuned Cruze 2.0 Diesel with the Opel A20 DTH engine and Aisin AF40 automatic. 200 bhp and 320 lb/ft. Fuel Economy averages 38-41 MPGs per tank on 18" wheels and 225/50R18 Z-rated tires.

Slowly pushing this oil to 15k miles is my goal. Always with AcDelco filters.

-Silicon is likely from the oil pan RTV re-seal after the oil pump pickup seal was replaced with an aftermarket solution. The pickup seal failure is common and will kill the engine. Major design failure by GM on an otherwise awesome powertrain.

-Manganese and low soot @ < 0.1% is from Amalgamated TDR-FL. This tune burns super clean with quality CARB diesel + additive.

Viscosity increased, interesting considering the oxidation value is the same as the virgin sample.

Otherwise, boring UOA.

Refilled with RLI Biosyn HD SHP SAE 30, next sample in 14K miles.

T4wfhHM.jpg
OZ AKA Fleece tuned Cruze 2.0 Diesel with the Opel A20 DTH engine and Aisin AF40 automatic. 200 bhp and 320 lb/ft. Fuel Economy averages 38-41 MPGs per tank on 18" wheels and 225/50R18 Z-rated tires.

Slowly pushing this oil to 15k miles is my goal. Always with AcDelco filters.

-Silicon is likely from the oil pan RTV re-seal after the oil pump pickup seal was replaced with an aftermarket solution. The pickup seal failure is common and will kill the engine. Major design failure by GM on an otherwise awesome powertrain.

-Manganese and low soot @ < 0.1% is from Amalgamated TDR-FL. This tune burns super clean with quality CARB diesel + additive.

Viscosity increased, interesting considering the oxidation value is the same as the virgin sample.

Otherwise, boring UOA.

Refilled with RLI Biosyn HD SHP SAE 30, next sample in 14K miles.

T4wfhHM.jpg
Just wondering why you are "slowly pushing" you OCI to 15K? Oil is cheap insurance especially in an engine like yours that has been tweaked and is essentially unable to source parts. The out of pocket $ difference between a 15K change vice as 7500 mile change may be twice as much for the parts and oil, but essentially that means $50 vs $25. Just me, but I change my MB Bluetec oil at 5K and realize it may be overkill but good oil never hurt a thing. Good luck to you sir.
 
It has the emissions intact tune that OZ offered for us on the west coast.

Poor fuel quality will cause those issues you experienced however good fuel and additive will virtually eliminate them. The extremely low oil soot % shows clean combustion is occurring.
I used named brand fuel,shell,Esso etc. I don't think they sell junk fuel here in Canada.The carbon was from a poorly designed EGR system and strict emissions requirements.Chevy had all kinds of emissions issues,fouled sensors,software updates etc. Lots of people on the Cruze forum had issues that started cropping up,the big indicator was engine missing and stumbling when cold.
 
Just wondering why you are "slowly pushing" you OCI to 15K? Oil is cheap insurance especially in an engine like yours that has been tweaked and is essentially unable to source parts. The out of pocket $ difference between a 15K change vice as 7500 mile change may be twice as much for the parts and oil, but essentially that means $50 vs $25. Just me, but I change my MB Bluetec oil at 5K and realize it may be overkill but good oil never hurt a thing. Good luck to you sir.

The engine is stock except for the tuning and oil pickup system. It's about $75 per oil change. The oil filter location makes changing the oil a major PITA so doing it less often is a win-win for me.

The oil report shows it doesn't need to be changed at 13K, which means it also doesn't need to be changed at 7500 miles which is the OEM service interval. I'm using CJ-4 oil so it should last 2x as long as Dexos 2 without degrading. So far so good.
I used named brand fuel,shell,Esso etc. I don't think they sell junk fuel here in Canada.The carbon was from a poorly designed EGR system and strict emissions requirements.Chevy had all kinds of emissions issues,fouled sensors,software updates etc. Lots of people on the Cruze forum had issues that started cropping up,the big indicator was engine missing and stumbling when cold.

It's all about fuel quality with these emissions systems. We have Diesel here in CA that burns really, really clean, cetane rating from the pump is 53-56 CN per state law. Adding the fuel additive makes it burn even cleaner. When I got this car a few years ago with 51K miles I opened up the intake to clean the EGR and there was very little soot present. Your issues were caused by ULSD that met minimum standards which you could have avoided by using Top Tier fuel with Cetane of 50+ and supplementing with an additive like TDR-FL.

The DEF system sucks on these cars and is a warranty item, mine was replaced shortly before I got it. I haven't had any issues with any of the sensors or DPF at 82K miles.

The other issue with this car is the general cheapness of the build materials and interior. Typical GM value engineering.
 
Interesting thread ! I too am curious about extended OCIs, as RLI is famous as calling for short OCIs. Something about the "plant esters ?"

15k is not an "extended" OCI. I've never read anything that said RLI diesel oils weren't suitable for a "Normal" synthetic oil change interval like 15k miles.

If you find something let me know otherwise I'll keep progressing to the next milestone.
 
15k is not an "extended" OCI. I've never read anything that said RLI diesel oils weren't suitable for a "Normal" synthetic oil change interval like 15k miles.

If you find something let me know otherwise I'll keep progressing to the next milestone.
I am not challenging your maintenance plan. There was something about RLI having excellent wear protection, but rapidly depleted TBN, as a result of the corn derived base stocks.
 
15k is not an "extended" OCI. I've never read anything that said RLI diesel oils weren't suitable for a "Normal" synthetic oil change interval like 15k miles.

If you find something let me know otherwise I'll keep progressing to the next milestone.
The UOA looks good. Iron is low. Still plenty of TBN. You should be able to make 15k miles.
 
The US-market first-gen Cruze diesel got the JTD. The rest of the world got either a GM/Daewoo diesel or a VM Motori. Article on Road and Track



It was made in Germany but was of a Fiat design.

Yes the earlier gen cruze in europe had a VM engine as was used in some Opels (Antara for example) and hyundai/kia. The later ones also used the fiat engine.
 
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