NHTSA Complaint #11605021 — 2011 CHEVROLET CRUZE

While driving home on the interstate after work, I was travelling at around 65 miles per hour, with the cruise control set at that speed. In an instant I lost all engine power and began to slow down very rapidly. A quick look to the rearview mirror to ensure nothing was approaching the rear of my vehicle, I found that I could see nothing except grey and white smoke behind me from all three mirrors. I was forced to remove myself from the highway for fear of causing an accident by blinding drivers with the smoke coming from my exhaust, and I was able to use the service road to get to the next fueling station. Upon arrival, I opened the hood and found that oil had sprayed out of every available portal in the engine, it exited through the vacuum lines, pressure sensors onto my alternator, saturated my serpentine belt as well as everything else ion the engine compartment. I noticed most of the oil came from a round hole behind the oil filler cap through a busted vacuum diaphragm that had blown out instead of regulating vacuum, indicating extreme positive pressure in the crankcase. As this was my MOS in the Army, I am experienced with dangers and risks involved in these situations, and I will give warning that if this happens during the right traffic situations, lives will be lost as a result of the smoke screen developimg when the oil hits the catalytic convertors combined with the rapid decline in speed without warning of any kind, and when it does happen, and it will, since there are 8 million of these vehicles on the road and counting, this complaint should serve as proper and fair warning od the damgers and risks with allowing this engine to remain in use without a warning system to indicate the tiny plastic check valve has been released from its position. I was fortunate enough that I only suffered a few curse words and horns blowing and flipping me the bird, but i have to admit I was afraid for my life and someone with less driving experience will have a bad outcom