My trax and extreme cold

5831 Views 28 Replies 14 Participants Last post by Phin11, 6 d ago

serenas_love

Discussion Starter · Jan 28, 2022

my husband and I bought a 2018 chevy trax and this is our second winter with it and it does not like the cold. Everytime he takes it on the hwy to go to work the engine light comes on and we have to put it in the shop. Our mechanic has told us it is the turbo that keeps freezing up and the last time we had it in they have informed us that GM knows about the issue but has no solution. They have told us that the car can be only driven around town and he is to use my car to go on the hwy. I do believe they are waiting til the warrenty is up so that we will have to pay.

1 - 20 of 29 Posts

Traxy

· #2 · Jan 28, 2022

Makes no sense, how can the turbo freeze, it's inside the exhaust manifold. In my opinion they placed the boost sensor too close to the intercooler at the bottom. It should be up top same as the Cruze. You never hear of a Cruze with this problem and they have the same engine.

Reactions: 2

ARegier

· #3 · Jan 28, 2022

serenas_love said:
my husband and I bought a 2018 chevy trax and this is our second winter with it and it does not like the cold. Everytime he takes it on the hwy to go to work the engine light comes on and we have to put it in the shop. Our mechanic has told us it is the turbo that keeps freezing up and the last time we had it in they have informed us that GM knows about the issue but has no solution. They have told us that the car can be only driven around town and he is to use my car to go on the hwy. I do believe they are waiting til the warrenty is up so that we will have to pay.

I have found that warming up my 2017 for 15 minutes helps. This morning I only warmed it up for only 10 minutes and had the P0299 code. I stopped and let it warm up more, and didn't have any more problems.

Montkun

· #4 · Jan 29, 2022

I think it's an issue of condensation building as the engine cools and freezing on the boost sensor. Because it's on the "Cold side" of the turbo it takes a bit longer to thaw out than it normally would. If it could be relocated to the Cruze position I think it would practically eliminate the problem because the moisture would mostly fall down before it freezes up.

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

MARCMEKEEL

· #5 · Feb 2, 2022

serenas_love said:
my husband and I bought a 2018 chevy trax and this is our second winter with it and it does not like the cold. Everytime he takes it on the hwy to go to work the engine light comes on and we have to put it in the shop. Our mechanic has told us it is the turbo that keeps freezing up and the last time we had it in they have informed us that GM knows about the issue but has no solution. They have told us that the car can be only driven around town and he is to use my car to go on the hwy. I do believe they are waiting til the warrenty is up so that we will have to pay.

MARCMEKEEL

· #6 · Feb 3, 2022

I just received a letter from the dealership where I bought my 2018 Trax and it appears there is a problem with the evaporative emissions purge valve not fully closing. The symptoms include check engine light illuminating, rough running engine, hesitate or stall at idle

Jessica b

· #7 · Feb 4, 2022

I've had the turbo and catalytic convertor fixed in my 2019 trax, so yes the turbo can freeze

Traxy

· #8 · Feb 4, 2022

If that's what the dealer told you they're lying, the turbo itself cannot freeze, things around it maybe like moisture being blown out of the intercooler onto the boost and (AIT) air intake temperature sensor and freezing on there. PCV hose between valve cover and intake may also freeze up but a turbo that runs @ 900°C will not freeze.

Reactions: 1

Jessica b

· #9 · Feb 4, 2022

Didn't care what was wrong car didn't stay running and I lease so its their problem
No bill for me

MARCMEKEEL

· #10 · Feb 5, 2022

Sorry, the letter I received was not from the dealership as I thought.
It was from the headquarters of GM from Detroit.
I assumed it was from the dealership because that's what the post Mark stated, but the letter was originally sent from Detroit

66steve

· #11 · Mar 15, 2022

ARegier said:
I have found that warming up my 2017 for 15 minutes helps. This morning I only warmed it up for only 10 minutes and had the P0299 code. I stopped and let it warm up more, and didn't have any more problems.

Well sorry to hear. I am having this issue….I have the same code and same issues with power. The only difference is that I’m in Vegas so there’s no freezing up here as well as no need to “warm it up”. Same boat I have no idea what to do.

66steve

· #12 · Mar 15, 2022

66steve said:
Well sorry to hear. I am having this issue….I have the same code and same issues with power. The only difference is that I’m in Vegas so there’s no freezing up here as well as no need to “warm it up”. Same boat I have no idea what to do.

Oh …it only has 70,000 miles with all scheduled oil changes.

Oatmeal

· #13 · 9 mo ago

We bought our Trax new in 2019, and we had it a few weeks around Christmas that year, ours started acting up, ( the engine light stayed on best I recall ), we just didn't allow it to run long enough for the engine to warm up, this caused a thing to go bad ( don't recall what it's called ), but they replaced it free of charge........the guy there told me the engine needs to run a few minutes to warm up, in which we do that now and haven't had anyother issues out of it.....it now has 115000 some miles on it...

Phin11

· #14 · 5 mo ago

My car just broke down last week from extreme cold . -30C last week . it has happened 3 times since new . each time there is a cold snap. on the hiway i had sputtering then loss of power . p0229 code . no visible oil on dipstick . I called roadside assistance up to 12 hour wait for a tow to dealer . ending up going to nearest gas station . addin 3L of oil , head to the dealerships . Service manager tells me today they are replacing a charge air cooler , blown engine seal , shampoo engine of oil .
Whenever its super cold i'm reluctant to drive the car , have no choice my 1988 K2500 is in garage im swapping an engine .
GM dealer gave me a Hyundai Kona for a loaner since the 22nd , nicer car in my opinion .

LPT

· #15 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Phin11 said:
My car just broke down last week from extreme cold . -30C last week . it has happened 3 times since new . each time there is a cold snap. on the hiway i had sputtering then loss of power . p0229 code . no visible oil on dipstick . I called roadside assistance up to 12 hour wait for a tow to dealer . ending up going to nearest gas station . addin 3L of oil , head to the dealerships . Service manager tells me today they are replacing a charge air cooler , blown engine seal , shampoo engine of oil .
Whenever its super cold i'm reluctant to drive the car , have no choice my 1988 K2500 is in garage im swapping an engine .
GM dealer gave me a Hyundai Kona for a loaner since the 22nd , nicer car in my opinion .

Issues with extreme cold and the Trax (along with other gm vehicles) are known and documented the link below lists a recent article posted on this forum and a while back a TSB was shared. A newer TSB is available see post #17 below for that information.

www.traxforum.com

Cold weather reduced power issue II

Just found this article about the Chevy Trax. It's similar to the Buick Encore article I posted last week. Hope it helps. HAPPY HOLIDAY!! Here’s Why Your Chevy Trax 1.4L Engine May Have Performance Issues In Cold Weather BY JONATHAN LOPEZ — OCT 31, 2022 Sponsored Links Some units of...

www.traxforum.com

www.traxforum.com

Phin11

· #16 · 5 mo ago

I printed this off thank you . going to show this to service manager , make sure it has all updates .

LPT

· #17 · 5 mo ago (Edited)

Phin11 said:
I printed this off thank you . going to show this to service manager , make sure it has all updates .

Below is a link to a more current TSB (TSB Number:16NA405)

2019 Chevrolet Trax Turbo and Supercharger Technical Service Bulletins

2019 Chevrolet Trax Turbo and Supercharger Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs).

www.aboutautomobile.com

The statement in the TSB which is listed below

For vehicles that are out of warranty and are identified on the Applicable Warranties
section in the GM Global Warranty Management system, refer to Special Coverage
#17157 or A192272980

appears the cost of the repair work should be covered by gm I would assume under the bumper to bumper than the 5-year power train and after that "Special Coverage".

I would make sure gm pays for the work.

The link below is also related to this issue and it does appear the repair work is covered under the power train warranty not clear if the work in the TSB does fix the issue.

www.traxforum.com

Cold weather reduced power

Driving to the mountains in -25c weather, I could not maintain speed on the the hills. I'd drop from 110km/hr to under 70km/hr, making everyone behind me upset! The check engine light came on after awhile, but the engine was still running normally. On the way home, it was -10c, and it was almost...

www.traxforum.com

www.traxforum.com

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Phin11

· #18 · 5 mo ago

LPT said:
Below is a link to a more current TSB (TSB Number:16NA405)

2019 Chevrolet Trax Turbo and Supercharger Technical Service Bulletins

2019 Chevrolet Trax Turbo and Supercharger Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs).

www.aboutautomobile.com

The statement in the TSB which is listed below

For vehicles that are out of warranty and are identified on the Applicable Warranties
section in the GM Global Warranty Management system, refer to Special Coverage
#17157 or A192272980

appears the cost of the repair work should be covered by gm I would assume under the bumper to bumper than the 5-year power train and after that "Special Coverage".

I would make sure gm pays for the work.

The link below is also related to this issue and it does appear the repair work is covered under the power train warranty not clear if the work in the TSB does fix the issue.

Cold weather reduced power

Driving to the mountains in -25c weather, I could not maintain speed on the the hills. I'd drop from 110km/hr to under 70km/hr, making everyone behind me upset! The check engine light came on after awhile, but the engine was still running normally. On the way home, it was -10c, and it was almost...

www.traxforum.com

Mine is a early 2021 made . i have extended warranty also to 100,000 . service manager texted me this afternoon . say they may be waiting on a shortage of parts .

Phin11

· #19 · 5 mo ago

To update . Got my Trax back Dec 30 . went to Cabelas then lunch . As soon as I got on Hi-way get check engine light and reduced engine power . Get email from Onstar , detected problem with emission system . bring directly back to dealer . They updateded me today . Catalytic convertor is plugged with oil . awaiting parts , unknown ETA . Sent an email to dealership manager . getting fed up.

jpurcha

· #20 · 5 mo ago

LPT said:
Below is a link to a more current TSB (TSB Number:16NA405)

2019 Chevrolet Trax Turbo and Supercharger Technical Service Bulletins

2019 Chevrolet Trax Turbo and Supercharger Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs).

www.aboutautomobile.com

The statement in the TSB which is listed below

For vehicles that are out of warranty and are identified on the Applicable Warranties
section in the GM Global Warranty Management system, refer to Special Coverage
#17157 or A192272980

appears the cost of the repair work should be covered by gm I would assume under the bumper to bumper than the 5-year power train and after that "Special Coverage".

I would make sure gm pays for the work.

The link below is also related to this issue and it does appear the repair work is covered under the power train warranty not clear if the work in the TSB does fix the issue.

Cold weather reduced power

Driving to the mountains in -25c weather, I could not maintain speed on the the hills. I'd drop from 110km/hr to under 70km/hr, making everyone behind me upset! The check engine light came on after awhile, but the engine was still running normally. On the way home, it was -10c, and it was almost...

www.traxforum.com

1 - 20 of 29 Posts