The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox. While the contact's daughter was driving 70 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and the engine shut off. The contact's daughter attempted to restart the vehicle, and the vehicle started. There was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of oil. The contact stated that the oil was topped off every two days. The failure occurred while minor children were inside the vehicle. The failure was a persistent failure. The dealer was contacted by phone and made aware of the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with internal engine failure and timing chain failure. The manufacturer was contacted by phone, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 156,000.
2012 Chevrolet Equinox: engine failure
50 of the 685 complaints about the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox describe engine failure.
- owner complaints
- 50
- of this car's complaints
- 7%
- typical repair cost reported
- $6,000
- typical mileage
- 84,300
- recalls
- 0
Engine failure by model year
What owners say
The underbody of my 2012 Equinox is completely rusted and now not drivable. The KFrame is rotten and the car is not safe to drive. The engine consumes a great amount of oil. I've been told the engine needs to be replaced. I've only had the car for 2 years.
Driving to work at 6:30 am. I slowed down at a stop light. Heard a weird noise I've never heard before from under the hood, headlights dimmed and became bright again, started to accelerate as stop light changed to green. Wouldn't accelerate passed 25 mph causing vehicles behind me to almost rear end me. Got to the next stop light, same thing, weird noise dimmed headlights back to bright but accelerated fine. Got to work 2 miles later and my engine was making a very loud noise (rattling). Shut engine off, checked oil which was full. 2 hours later tried to start it and it would not turn over. Towed to a mechanic shop where they determined my engine blew and will cost $7,500 to replace.
Car is using a quart or more of oil a week. Consistently needing top offs and has shut off while driving before. This is a major safety issue. There is a major possibility I could be driving down the road and my engine explode because it ran out of oil. There is no leak. It is just the oil burning so fast. There is no resolution asides from putting a new engine in it and that is not something I can afford considering I just got the car from a dealership back in November. If there is not a recall on it, there should be. The oil will be full and then suddenly get super black and then next day be empty.
When outside temp is at 60 degrees or below car will stall out after it is put in gear. Letting the car warm up does not stop this problem. Only way to keep it running is by putting it in neutral when coming to a stop. I have previously taken to a dealer (Tom Hesser Chevrolet) who stated it happened to them but they did not have a code come up so they could not fix it. Car also sounds rough at start up. Car previously failed the oil consumption test and had new pistons and solenoids put it. I am concerned from reading about others with this issue that it will be a costly repair of either the drive chain or engine replacement. This has been happening for the past 3 years when the weather gets cold so I deal with this all winter long, October- April. I have no documents to upload as no work has been done due to the lack of a code. Will also note when my car failed the oil consumption test the oil light never came on. I questioned the dealer about this & they stated there is no warning light for low oil but when I turn the car on and all the lights on the dash come on there is a low oil light.
I bought this SUV in 2015, August. I was never told about the issue of poor oil.consumption in this particular make ,year and model. In 2017 the dealer had me.do a monthly oil consumption test which it failed . The dealership never said there was a recall but they offered to rebuild the engine at no cost to me. Now I ha e the SUV in the.secind garage and am.told I need a new engine. I called GM and said the warranty on this seems to be current since it had a 7 year warranty. I was told.that the warranty began in 2012 hence it is no longer in place . Seems like had I known about the issue with this model and year equinox I wouldn't have bought it! I am.waiting on carshield to determine the cause of the failure as to whether they will.civer the $6000 repair or not. Seems unfair .The timing chain was new allegedly when dealership rebuilt this engine in 2017, why is it broken now ?
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving at 35 MPH and approaching a stop light, the vehicle began to hesitate and emitted an abnormal sputtering noise while depressing the brake pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact pulled into a gas station and turned the vehicle off. The contact refueled the vehicle and was able to restart the vehicle after several attempts. As the contact began to exit the gas station, the vehicle lost motive power without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with engine failure. The local dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The vehicle was not repaired and remained in the possession of the independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 121,275.
2012 chevrolet equinox. Constituent writes regarding engine failure due to excessive oil consumption, the consumer was unaware of a recall due to purchasing the vehicle used. The repairs estimated to be nearly $8000.00 which is the price of the vehicle's worth. The manufacturer was conatacted, but denied responsibility due to the class action suit being expired. However, they did offer to pay 1/3 of the cost, which left the consumer with the $8000.00 remaining balance.
Engine light went on in March 2019. I took it to dealer 4.5 quarts low on oil. Oil light never went on. OnStar report said no issues with car. Only 4000 miles since last oil change. Repairs cost me almost $1800. I was told to bring car back after 1000 miles and they’d check it again to see if car was still over consuming oil. 1000 miles later it was still over consuming oil. They repaired it this time at no cost to me. Then in April 2021 my car started making a noise and I took it to the dealer. They said I needed a new engine because my car was still over consuming oil. That cost me $4300. GM picked up an additional $3700. This was a known issue and GM did nothing.
Gauges- oil light does not turn on, when the vehicle is low in motor oil. Which causes internal engine failure, which include, but not limited: timing belts to piston wear. Vehicle was in highway speed and lost vehicle power, which caused safety issues for my vehicle and vehicles behind me. Vehicle also has braking and transmission issues; at full stop on a hill and putting the transmission in "N"eutral the vehicle rolls forward, even when the brakes are fully applied or putting the vehicle back in park.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that her engine would burn excessive oil without warning while driving at various speeds. The contact called her dealer and was informed that her vehicle was out of warranty. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving at an unknown rate of speed, the vehicle shut off. The contact was uncertain if any warning lights illuminated prior to the failure. The contact had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic where they diagnosed the vehicle with engine failure. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
The vehicle began to consume oil at an alarming rate (at least a quart per week). When driving on the highway with two toddler children In the backseat of my car, the vehicle began to shake and I lost the ability to accelerate. The engine completely malfunctioned (blew) and the car became inoperable at that point. I had to cross three lanes of highway traffic to get to the side of the road and was doing so at 15 mph when the engine blew. It appears that this is a known issue with GM and there’s contradicting information about legal settlements. My vehicle also shows 0 recalls, which is also confusing because I have the understanding that GM was court ordered to recall affected vehicles. I’m unclear why my vehicle is not part of this recall. In the meantime, my vehicle sits on the side of the highway.
Service bulletins that may apply
- This service bulletin provides information on replacing the intake manifold when the engine is replaced...
- The service bulletin advises the tech of a normal transmission shift condition and the delay in throttle...
- This bulletin advises the technician to flush the cooling system multiple times if oil has been found in...
- This bulletin advises the dealers to maintain the vehicle stock on hand by doing a full inspection on the...
- This service bulletin provides service information to technicians on guidelines to replace Oil Cooler, Oil...
- This informational bulletin explains Unscheduled Supplemental Services and the importance of GM Simplified...
- This service bulletin provides guidelines and diagnostic/repair information to technicians regarding...
- This service bulletin provides information for maintenance cleaning of the fuel injectors and gasoline...
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox engine failure
Is engine failure a common problem on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox?
50 of 685 owner complaints about the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox (7%) mention engine failure. The model year with the most reports is 2013.
How much does it cost to fix engine failure on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $6,000 (median of 15 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox?
There are 0 recalls and 301 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox
Oil consumption 154Wipers 125Stalling 102Check engine light 94Jerking 35Loss of power 28Knocking 26Fire or smoke 12Fuel pump 11Hesitation 10Won't start 10ABS 9Transmission failure 9Airbag light 8Misfire 8Warning lights 8Fuel smell 7Steering lock-up 7Backup camera 6No deployment 5Harsh shifting 5Headlights 5Shudder 5Tire blowout 5
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