2016 Chevrolet Equinox: misfire or rough idle

Filed May 4, 2025 · Engine · MO

I was driving my vehicle on the highway when all of a sudden I started to lose speed and my car wouldn’t accelerate. When my vehicle wouldn’t accelerate it started to shake significantly and the check engine, abs, traction control, and service stabilitrak light came on all at once. I was able to pull over and get my car towed to the dealership. Once it was at the dealership it was diagnosed that my car had jumped time causing a misfire in cylinder 4. My dealership stated this was due to low oil and my piston had become warped due to making contact with my valve. My car had no check oil warnings or any indication that vehicle was low on oil prior to this happening. My vehicle drove perfectly fine until that point. My vehicle also had no oil leaks (confirmed by myself not seeing any leaks under my vehicle as well as the dealership when they did the diagnostics). Before I bought my vehicle I did research and knew this model vehicle had oil consumption issues, so I made sure to routinely check my oil levels. Even with getting oil changes approximately every 3,000 miles and checking my oil levels and topping off my oil whenever it got less then 5 quarts I still had to get a total engine replacement. This was a huge safely issue since there was no warning that my oil was low and my car lost speed on the highway and was trying to stall out before I had a chance to pull off to safe place.

Filed Feb 17, 2025 · Engine · IL

On January 21st,2025 (a day where temps did not exceed zero degrees driving this vehicle 3/4 of mile home from work, as pulling down my street, engine began to run rough. No warning lights came on. i pulled in my drive and garage and turned off, there was an oil trail up my drive. After about an hour i looked under car and a HUGE puddle of oil was there. I then had it towed to Chevy dealer. They said it was the 3rd car with this same engine brought in that week, and same issue, a blown rear seal, and in my case damaged the engine quickly. we were told by other dealers that fire could have happened. After doing research, models 2004-2015 have the same exact engine and same exact Defect. the PVC intake valve can develop condinsation (the design does not allow this to escape) and on extreme cold days this can freeze, causing the pressure to build quickly and without warning blow the seal and damage the engine. In 2015 GM put out a service bulliten to dealers warning of this issue and fixed at no charge and also extended the warranty to 10 year 125000 miles (we are currently 8 years , 90K) GM did not change the Defect in this engine until the 2018 model years, GM did not contact any owners of 2016-2027 with the same exact engine and defect to fix or make aware it existed. There are hundred if not thousands of these engines with this defect on the road. It is all over GM related forums, the dealership service departments are aware of the issue as well. GM is refusing to fix my vehicle which now needs a new engine at cost close to $10K, For last month I have had to rent a vehicle for $300 per week at my cost while I fight with GM They have offered me a $1500 coupon to buy a new car, and now today offered $2000 towards the fix this is not acceptable to me. They are aware of the issue and have fully paid for and fixed the SAME EXACT issue all except 2016-2017 we think there should be an urgency to this matter

Filed Sep 21, 2024 · Engine · OH

Maintained vehicle with regular oil changes, tire rotations and inspections. Last oil change was June of 2024. Minimal driving throughout summer as both drivers are teachers and home most of the summer. Vehicle engine light illuminated on 9/12/24 with no prior issues or lights illuminating. Vehicle then went into what felt like "limp mode." Vehicle was taken to certified Chevy dealership service center. Initial diagnosis indicated there was little to no oil left in the engine. No visible leaks were seen on driveway where it has been parked, no smell of burning oil occurred prior to engine light illuminating. Oil life monitor stated 65.89% remaining. Visible leak diagnosis passed inspection. Diagnosis of misfire/engine related concerns. While on phone with mechanic it was stated that pistons and rings were malfunctioning. Upon researching issues, I discovered that there is a well known issues within GM of this exact problem existing in which around roughly 90,000 miles (my vehicle is currently at 91,000+) this specific engine starts consuming oil at a massive rate without indicating any leaks or smells of burning oil. Service center quoted between $6500-$10000 to repair. After I provided feedback about what I had discovered, I was told by mechanic that this is a well known problem with this vehicle. Extended warranties for this issue has been issued however, I am being asked to cover the cost to repair a known problem within the 2011-2017 GM engines in the Equinox and Terrain models.

Filed Jun 1, 2024 · Engine · NJ

Vehicle began to run rough and jerk forward at slow speeds or when stopped. This unexpected jerking forward when stopped occurred several times almost causing the vehicle to strike the one in front of it No dashboard warning lights we observed. Check oil and found it was 3 quarts low despite being changed and topped off a few weeks earlier. Had a mechanic inspect the vehicle for signs of leaks and he found none. Added 3 quarts until read full on dipstick and began to monitor oil consumption. Vehicle is consuming approximately 1 quart of oil every 400 miles. This is a well maintained vehicle with only 83,000 miles and should not be consuming this much oil. A quick search shows this is a common problem with this model and year, but not recall has yet been issued

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 Sep 27, 2023 · Engine · NY

Engine started with fuel injectors starting leaking out of injector. Then codes started popping up. Bad fuel rail - misfire - imbalanced below threshold catalyst system efficiency. All caused by crack on exhaust manifold. The cost was substantial. This is known on many equinox. Look on media to see.

Filed Mar 5, 2023 · Engine · CA

Hearing a noise while driving May 2022 took my car to Chevy Dealership they told me my vehicle is consuming Oil no leaks not sure where oil is going. Quoted me over $5k to troubleshoot said it was common and offered me $1k to trade my car. I didn’t agree and continued to check my oil filling my oil weekly when I pumped gas. December 8th i was driving on hwy when my traction control and check engine light came on and running rough. I pulled over had my car towed days later took it to a shop. It was there for over a month cost me $2k they asked for another $2k to continue to research and fix the problem. Engine replacement estimate for refurbished motor cost $10k I didn’t agree had it towed back home still unresolved. it has been there since. Injector 4 is stuck open and it’s misfiring. Still paying it off and without a car.

Filed Nov 21, 2022 · Engine · IN

My 2016 Chevrolet Equinox has under 70k miles. I took it to a mechanic and he told me that the motor was no good. I had it for over 4 months and checked the VIN before I purchased the car. I was told that #3 cylinder misfired checked the compression on # 3 cyclinder and it only came to 50 lbs of pressure while the other cylinders showed 150 lbs of pressure. The oil reservoir was empty and I just filled it about 3 days ago. There was no sign of oil leakage.