This vehicle is a joke, I already put money down on it and have only had it a little over 2 weeks. 5 days it was actually in my possession but not able to drive it much. The rest of the time it was at the car lots mechanic, it dies driving down the road, it is hard to start and sometimes won't start after 10 tries, it is shifting hard and not when it is necessary( down shifting when speeding up) and it has a horrible noise coming from the front driver side which the mechanic can't figure out. Not to mention that the fuel pump will need to be replaced thanks to the fuel gauge not working properly... I feel like I just made a very costly mistake( I still owe 6900 on this vehicle... ) chevy should be ashamed of this vehicle and should be fixing these problems.
2005 Chevrolet Equinox engine complaints
Page 3 of 7: complaints 41 to 70 of 165, newest first, as owners wrote them.
My chevy has a blown head gasket after only 112k. From what chevy mechanics have told me it's because of the faulty egr valve on the vehicles because gm failed to notify the owners of said vehicles to have them replaced. I've had nothing but problems with this car from the start. Window motors have gone bad after only 45k miles, blown gasket, the non starting, no AC unless I'm traveling down the highway, having to pullover and stop turn car off and then back on to get the heat to kick on in the winter. I've contacted gm because of the mileage they refuse to do anything at all about it. The cheapest I could find for my car was 3000 to replace the gaskets. I might as well drop a new engine in the car for that but why pay the 3000 to replace engine for it to crap out once again! Wander if I could put an 08 engine in it?? Never will I buy an equinox again not in a million years.
Bought a new 2005. 2 months after warranty went out the ignition messed. Have to wiggle the key to get it to turn. Two months later the heat/AC blower control switch went out. At 120,000 miles leaking lower intake manifold gasket, fixed that. 3 months later blown head gasket, found bad fuel injector while fixing that. 6 days after all that was fixed the PCM/ECM went out, still at shop as I type. Wonder what is next. I have always owned gm products, but I believe this is my last one. I have been told by two mechanics that the bearing in motor will now go bad since water got in oil twice from leaking gaskets. 3 mechanics told me this motor is known for blown head gaskets and leaking lowing intake manifold gaskets. Online there is talk of a recall on the PCM/ECM but dealership says no recall.
Car started overheating and was diagnosed as a bad head gasket and repaired. After the head gasket was repaired the equinox started overheating again and this time it was diagnosed as a cracked cylinder head. The motor was replaced. The replacement motor lasted 3 weeks before it failed as well with the same diagnosis as before, a bad head gasket. I contacted gm. They offered no solutions, offered no help in repairing or replacing the engine. The car is dangerous to drive and they know the engines in the 2005 and 2006 (VIN f) are bad engines suffering from a poor design. They didn't make the engines only for 2 years because they worked so well. Numerous reports about the bad engines with gm's response simply to spend more money on a car that won't last past 100k miles.
This vehicle take 4qt of oil ,but the book said 4.5 qt that will over fill dip stick show over a qt full check with part dept at chevrolet and was told that it only take 4qt with filter included other service manual also say 4qt with filter 'because of this different in manual capacity this has cause engine damage over the years.
Seems to be the same problems a lot of equinox owners are experiencing. Blown headgasket w/ a price tag of 1800.00 to fix.
Blown head gasket at 101,000 miles. I noticed that coolant was disappearing and temperature gauge was slightly above normal. I mentioned this to the technician when I took the car in for an oil change. The technician indicated that the coolant was mixing with the oil and I should have it checked out by a mechanic immediately. I brought the car to my mechanic who diagnosed it as blown head gasket.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The contact had to continuously depress the accelerated pedal to start the vehicle, causing the engine to flood. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer for diagnostic testing however, the dealer was unable to identify the issue. The contact did not call the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 110,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated that the head gaskets failed without warning. The dealer stated that anti-freeze leaked into the motor and caused the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 92,000. Updated 02/20/13*lj updated 02/21/2013
With only 36,212 miles on this vehicle, there is now a rear head gasket leaking. Now, as a senior citizen with a fixed income, I need to pay for this repair. It seems to me with this low mileage an engine should last longer!! Poor workmanship!!!! I sincerely hope this information is shared with the manufacturer.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated that the egr valve that was offered by the manufacturer would not fit securely on the vehicle. An authorized dealer was contacted in regard to the issue and the contact was advised to purchase the part elsewhere. The manufacturer was also contacted who advised that the part was previously recalled by the manufacturer. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 100,000.
We purchased a 2005 equinox a few months ago and have only put about 1600 miles on it. We have been having problems with the engine getting hot, and the coolant being a strange orange-brown color and disappearing from the overflow tank. Took it to a repair shop on oct. 2, 2012 and found out it has a blown head gasket. Estimate for getting it fixed is a little over $1400, and more if the head is cracked. The repair shop informed us that this vehicle has a good engine and they are very surprised that it has a blown head gasket with only 85,700 miles. We're very disappointed seeing all the complaints of other owners having the same problem and that gm is not doing anything. We will be contacting them next, even though it won't matter.
My equinox has trouble starting and it will turn over until you give it some gas, I've been reading on consumer reports and this is a common occurrence with most equinox's. I was at the grocery store the other day and heard the same problem with another that was parked some what close to mine as well.
While stopped in heavy traffic in a construction zone on I-80, car started to run very hot, fan kicked on and it finally cooled off. Upon arrival home, coolant was low, my husband refilled coolant. Called johnson motors and scheduled a check and oil change. Johnson motors service performed a compression check and informed my husband that engine was damaged and needed replaced for price of approximately $6,000 dollars (wow). Of note, in december 2010 header gaskets were replaced to a price of $1,200 dollars, I went on line to find multiple complaints from many equinox owners concerning the same issues of header gaskets going bad and causing engine damage. This vehicle has been on a regularly scheduled maintenance care schedule with only gmc service technicians. I am shocked that with regular oil changes etc that this happened. This situation is dangerous and really needs a thorough investigation. Apparently the v6 engine used in the equinox vehicles is a problem engine that gmc is well aware of, time for someone to make a change. Thank you.
My car A/C blows hot air unless I am travelling long distances down the road, heat sometimes does not work in the winter and I have to pull off the road, turn the vehicle off and then back on to get heater to work. Also while cranking the car it doesn't want to turn over at times unless I stomp on the gas pedal. This happens around twice a week. Freon is ok in my car and nobody can find the problem for A/C or the reason it sometimes won't turn over without giving it gas first. Its highly unsafe to have an air temp door not work properly as it won't defrost during the winter and won't blow cold during the summer.
Driving down the highway at about 55-60mph when the car dies. Started running again a few seconds later but then died again. Pulled over could not get it started, but started to smell something burning. Popped the hood to find the main fuse box bellowing smoke, thankfully it was raining so I let the rain cool it down. I figured this was better than it eventually catching the entire vehicle on fire as my wife and 3 kids were in the car. After the smoke stopped, the car repeatedly tried to start itself without the key being present in the ignition. It eventually stopped doing this but the dash lights would randomly flicker in unison. All electrical components were still operational (radio, lights, signals, wipers, etc...) but again no key was present in the ignition.
Vehicle has an engine miss, coolant is disappearing and was taken to repair shop. Diagnosed as needing head gaskets. Repairs to cost approximately $1700.00. This has happened to many other owners of 2005 chevy equinox's.
Exhaust gas recirculation tube rusted and came apart.
This complaint is about my equinox, my air conditioner compressor, is bad also I have heard a noise sent the day I purchased the truck and the dealership can not tell me what it is. I purchased my chevy equinox 2005 (new) from the dealership. The truck has less than 55,000 miles, the mechanic told me I could not drive it ......because it would lock up- the engine.........it's costing me over a $1000.00 to have it repaired........(called the dealership to let them know of this problem....refused to listen........ I believe that this is an ongoing problem in these vehicles and costing consumers lots of money they should not have to put out.....please check into this and correct the problem.......make the consumers happy check out this website for more complaints on the 2005 chevy equinox www.aboutautomobile.com/complaint/2005/chevrolet/equinox/cooling+system.
I purchased this 2005 chevy equinox in may 2006 with 26k miles on it. In may of 2008 with less than 60k miles on it the head gaskets blew! Gm refused to repair or do anything to assist financially in the repair. I took it to another mechanic (I cannot afford gm labor rates) who did in fact repair the head gaskets and the vehicle ran again. In november 2009 the head gaskets blew again. I again called gm with an answer of no, I filed a complaint but heard nothing about it. I again took the vehicle to another non gm dealer and had it repaired. Yesterday 1/4/2011 with 130,000 miles and a motor that has been overhauled twice, the head gasket blew again. I am quite sure the federal safety agency is not going to do anything to assist in this; however, one quick search of "2005 equinox and head gasket" and you will find that this problem is happening over and over and over again, and gm quite simply refuses to take responsibility. I have spoken to a person at gm in the past and was told they were aware of the problem but not enough had been reported to warrant a recall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated that the engine failed to start while the vehicle was parked in the driveway. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 61,400 and the current mileage was 61,743.
All problems arose when the brake from the driver's side would shake when braking. We had the shoes and the pads changed and the problem seemed to be solved for about a year. Then the problem began again but this time the brakes would squeak when braking and then they began to tighten and the brake would lock itself and began to smoke because of the friction the pad and the brake disc were creating since the brake would remain locked. This was only on the drivers side. When this occurred the friction made the whole wheel rim get hot and began producing a burning smell from the brake pad. The caliber, shoes, pad and disc had to be replaced for both front brakes. The brakes continue to squeak when breaking. Now, the motor heats up to the red zone, the check engine light comes on even if their is anti-freeze in the engine. When accelerating the motor cools down, but if the speed is less than 35mph the motor heats up more. Based on other comments from drivers with the same make, model and year they noticed that the problem has come up to be the head gaskets. This problem has created many problems with the engine and is becoming a safety hazard when their is still a possibility that the breaks will lock up again and possibly spark fire if the problem is not fixed. We have not used our vehicle because of these issues we fear that not fixing the costly problem may damage other parts of the vehicle. We know we are not alone and that other drivers have the same problem with the chevy equinox 2005.
Temperature gauge never used to go over 50% mark, and was always well under and never moved. About three months ago, the vehicle temperature gauge started to climb after highway driving, then idling. Recently, the temperature light came on. I experienced a coolant odor and the vehicle had a rough idle on cold start. Dealer said that it was bad head gaskets. Dealer machined heads, replaced gaskets, replaced plugs and flushed/filled coolant system, all for $2450. Reading some of the websites, it seems like this is a very high amount compared to what some other people are paying at their dealerships. Reading information provided on mycarstats.com and many other forums/news groups, there are hundreds if not thousands of people who have the same head gasket issue with the '05 equinox. It seems to be a known issue with the red dexcool coolant that eats away at the hoses and head gaskets, causing gasket failure, as well as heater core failure. There needs to be some recourse to recuperate money for this problem. Head gaskets don't typically fail in most cars.
During normal driving operations the vehicle engine began to overheat with only 60,000 miles. Auto repair shop states it is a combination of broken head gasket and cracked egr valve. Chevy upgraded the egr valve and the new part does not fit on the existing egr component. Now have to pay $280 for a new egr assembly as well. Total cost of repair from overheating is $1900.
I received my vehicle back on 8.2.11 it had been in the repair shop since 5.14.11. The repair man replaced and reprogrammed the transmission modulator. He noted that it did "act up" for him, however it had not acted up since his last attempt at fixing it. It was raining when I picked up my car. In the first 10 miles I noticed the steering pulled to the left a couple of times. After I hit dry road this did not occur. After about 30-60 miles of driving the vehicle since getting it back, the speedometer started failing and the vehicle while going 55mph starts to feel like it is going to cease to operate and stutters. It is also noted that it feels like it is not going to automatically shift to the appropriate gear. The vehicle is going to chevrolet dealership on friday 8.5.11.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated every time he started the vehicle, the check engine lamp illuminated and the engine would stall. The contact mentioned that in order to turn the vehicle back on he had to depress the gas pedal several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnosed the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000. The current mileage was 87,500.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated that smoke was coming from under the hood of the vehicle, the vehicle would stall at anytime and the check engine light would illuminate on the instrument panel. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000 and the current mileage was 37,000. Sm.
I have a 2005 chevy equinox lt- after several years of driving it with no problems the head cracked. Gm is taking no action to try and remedy this situation.
Took my equinox in for an oil change. Then comes the bad news. Lower intake valve gaskets leaking. What!! Only 50000 miles on vehicle this should not be happening. $725.00 later it is fixed. I have ready many complaints about gm knowing these were defective gaskets and something should be done about this.
I have a 2005 equinox and had to put the car in the shop 3 times now in 3 weeks! The thermostat went out, then the radiator had to be replaced, and now they say the head gasket needs to be replaced. Bubbling sound can be heard when you take off from a stop. I'm also having problems with the brakes making acting strangely.. The front shakes when brakes are applied.
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