2016 Chevrolet Equinox: engine knocking or ticking

Filed Jul 14, 2026 · Engine · CA

: "I live in my car. The 2016 Equinox 2.4L burned all its oil in 2 weeks with no leaks, failed to give a dashboard warning, and the engine is now knocking, threatening to leave me unsheltered." This ties my vehicle's specific failure to the federal database for future legal payouts.

Filed Mar 6, 2025 · Engine · 94,690 miles · WI

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH, the vehicle started making a ticking noise. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and the mechanic informed the contact that the engine was low by two quarts of engine oil. On another occasion, the vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic for an oil change, and the engine was low by two quarts of engine oil. The following month the vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic, due to the vehicle hesitating to accelerate, the vehicle was diagnosed with excessive oil consumption. The vehicle was not repaired after the most recent failure. The dealer was not made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 94,690.

Filed Feb 8, 2025 · Engine · IL

1. Excessive oil consumption! Adding one quart of oil every two weeks! 2. Timing chain replaced (TWICE) within 2 years! 2022/2023 3. Rear main seal replaced! 2022 4. VVT solenoid replaced because of rapid oil consumption causing metal shavings from engine! 2025 No warning lights just loud ticking all of a sudden and then engine shaking! Camshaft locked up and would not start, had to be towed to repair shop! This is a very dangerous engine (EcoTec 2.4L 4 cylinder) to drive with, as it can lock up or just fail causing an accident!

Filed Jan 26, 2025 · Engine, Transmission · IL

Driving vehicle on two days 1/21-1/22/25 both days had a high of zero degrees, vehicle say for 4 hours at work outside and then was driven the 1 mile home. As pulling down my street car started running rough. Pulled into my garage looked and there was a oil steak up my driveway . My wife called me and when I got home I looked under car and looked like several quarts of oil on floor under car. She said no warning lights came on. I had it towed the next day to a local garage. He inspected the vehicle and said rear seal was blown and that there is knock in engine , so basically shot. We bought the car new in 2016 and it has less the. 90k miles. I contacted Chevy and they said nothing is out about that year. I contacted local Chevy dealer and was told this is a known pvc freeze issue with equinoxes and this engine but it has not been recalled. There is a Chevy bulliten about this issue that is the same engine but the bulliten covers 2010-1014. This is the same exact issue in the same exact engine. On my hat service bulliten they have increased the warranty to 10year 100k and are covering the repairs. But they will do nothing and ignore the issue on every other vehicle with this engine and this flaw. Lucky my wife made it home safe I am having the car towed to a Chevy dealership and am prepared to leave it there and demand it gets fixed.

Filed Oct 1, 2024 · Engine · 159,000 miles · AR

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled, and the contact noticed a loud knocking sound coming from the engine with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with engine failure due to the engine not properly circulating the engine oil. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 159,000.

Filed Feb 28, 2024 · Engine, Fuel system · PA

Oil burns at an alarming rate, no low oil warning. Engine blew up & was rebuilt. A month after engine rebuild, vehicle started to throw the same codes that led to engine failure. I can't keep oil in my vehicle, it has stalled numerous times on busy highway & once at an intersection with my kids in the vehicle. O2 sensors keep frying, catalytic converters keep clogging. Faulty rear main seal valve. Oil is leaking into combustion chamber which has caused manifold issues, spark plugs keep frying. Engine constantly misfires. Frequent engine knocking. My vehicle also seems to have no low oil warning light either. I remember getting an oil change, roughly a month in a half later i checked it again and my dip stick was bone dry. Chevy is aware of defects, but they refuse to do anything for the thousands of customers who have complained about the same exact things I am. There are numerous lawsuits for this exact issue, unfortunately not in my state. The value of my vehicle has dropped substantially to the point I am now upside down with my loan. I've looked into trading it in and my highest offer was $1,500 because of the issues that have been reported. There are so many people dealing with this same exact problem and we are all being ignored. I can't even go trade my vehicle in for something that will actually run without me having to dump hundreds of dollars into it every few months. Not only that, but these defects are extremely dangerous! My vehicle completely shut off while i was driving roughly 60-65mph in crazy/speeding traffic in the middle of rush hour & I had my two little girls with me. When help finally arrived, it was discovered that yet again, there was no oil in my vehicle even though I added roughly 2.5 quarts within a month in a half of this incident occurring. My vehicle over heated... this is absolutely uncalled for and isnt something that happens because of owners negligence. Someone please help!!!

Filed Feb 9, 2024 · Engine · 103,000 miles · OH

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed at the drive-thru, the engine made a knocking sound. The vehicle then lost motive power and failed to restart. No warning light was illuminated. Additionally, after the vehicle had an oil change at the dealer, the engine started consuming an excessive amount of oil, causing frequent oil changes every 3,000 miles. The oil life monitor system displayed 60% of oil remaining; however, when the vehicle was taken to Walmart for an oil change, the contact was informed that there was no oil in the engine. The vehicle also jerked while driving. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

Filed Jan 21, 2024 · Engine · NE

I was driving my teenage daughter’s car in negative temperatures in a snow storm. During the drive home from work I started to hear a tick noise and thought the wheel well must have snow built up in it and the tire was making the noise. I made it about two more miles down the road when it really started making a loud growling noise from the engine. I pulled over in the negative temperatures and looked under the hood and could see engine oil everywhere. I had no warning lights that were on , just oil everywhere and no oil on the dipstick. I had to wait along the highway in the negative freezing temperatures waiting for someone to come pick me up with a car I couldn’t run for any heat. I had the car towed to the nearest Chevy dealer and they said that the PVC port froze which created crankcase pressure and blew out the rear main seal. Luckily, I shut it off in time and it did not blow the engine. They told me on the 2.4L engine this is a common problem and they had three other ones in there for the same thing with the cold weather we were having. This is a flawed design that Chevy knows about that could put people’s safety at risk and they will not do anything about it. These engines need to have a recall on them, but Chevy won’t do it because it is such a money maker for them. It cost close to $3000 to have this fixed and wonder when it will happen again, because it will happen again in cold weather. I would stay away from Chevy products unless you have a big wallet for expensive repairs. I hope they get enough implants to force a recall on this well known problem on the 2.4L engines.

Filed Oct 8, 2023 · Engine · MI

Always changed my oil every 3000-5000 miles. Almost Never had any check engine lights. Replaced a few sensors. A battery. Was a good vehicle until it died in the beginning of January. Stuck on the side of the road with oil coming out of my car According to the mechanic i took it to Engine failure due to "frozen" pcv valve causing front and rear main seals to blow. Lost all my oil. Also have a rod knock now. and they recommended whole engine replacement. For $6000-8000. Stuck with a crappy car and making payments on it. Way to go Chevrolet!

Filed May 4, 2023 · Engine · MO

Without any notification, alert, or code, the engine started making a ticking/knocking noise. When starting the vehicle later that day it completely stalled. Mechanic has said it was very low on oil and that is common with this year/model. The engine has failed and needs replacing/rebuilding.

Filed Feb 8, 2023 · Engine, Fuel system · IL

During my recent travel after a few short miles, oil began to leak and the engine began to knock. After the engine stalled, I was able to restart and begin to drive around 20 miles per hour when the engine stalled and cut off again as I was on my way to the repair shop. I noticed during this time that the car was leaking oil. The following was revealed after receiving a diagnostic test performed by the repair shop that the engine suffers from internal damage/massive oil leak and it is not recommended attempting to repair. Repairs are estimated to be due more than $6K without guarantee that the vehicle will not repeat the same problematic performance. Upon some investigation, it has been revealed that my vehicle is among the many 2014-2017 Chevy Equinox models that are plagued with the same 2.4L engine/oil consumption defect. Coupled with the fact that these vehicles are extremely dangerous as there is no set warning when itay choose to stop working during operation, therefore running the risk of causing a catastrophic accident/s. The failure mileage was at 126,277.

Filed Jul 25, 2022 · Engine · 110,000 miles · NJ

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while changing the engine oil, she noticed that the oil consumption was not normal. The contact stated that approximately two to three quarts of oil needed to be added every week. Additionally, the vehicle had stalled while driving up the driveway. The contact stated no warning lights were illuminated. Additionally, the engine was making a ticking sound while driving. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure and the contact was referred to a dealer to schedule a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.