The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while his fiancée was driving 15-20 MPH uphill, the vehicle jolted and stalled. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact's fiancée was able to pull to the side of the road. The contact's fiancée was able to restart the vehicle and continued driving; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the camshaft had fractured, causing the vacuum pump and the solenoid sensor to be fractured. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided because the vehicle was out of Warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.
2018 Chevrolet Equinox engine complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 94, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The brakes in our 2018 chevy equinox have went out three times in the past month. First time the car was parked fully functioning the night before, woke up the next morning for work and there was no brakes. Replaced the vacuum pump and they worked good as new. Second time we are driving down a busy highway and had been for half an hour. 2 minutes from our destination at the ONLY turn we had to make the whole trip, the brakes all of a sudden went out. This could have easily resulted in a fatal crash. Again, the vacuum pump. Now were to today, the third time our brakes have failed and this time it came with the check engine light and “engine power reduced”. GM NEEDS TO RECALL.
Due to mechanical error with the vacuum brake pump that has had millions of vehicles listed in the recall except for the Equinox, it caused $4,000 worth of damage to my vehicle and almost caused a crash on a highway in close proximity to an ambulance that was actively on an emergency run. I was on a major highway traveling at about 60 MPH. I was able to coast enough to wear I could safely get to the shoulder of the highway, take an exit ramp, and coast up the hill out of the way of the ambulance. I contacted GM and have yet to hear anything further back. This incident could have cause a catastrophic crash and further delayed medical treatment for whomever was needing the ambulance. After some research on the matter, I found that 3.4 million vehicles of GM were recalled after this exact issue had resulted in 113 accidents and 13 injuries. 2014-2018 model year Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Sierra and GMC Yukon were all listed under the recall, but not the Equinox. After being forced to have the vehicle towed to a dealership, they confirmed that the vacuum brake pump seizing up is what caused the pedal to lock up and send metal into my engine, which has now cost me upwards of $4,000. General Motors failed to include the Equinox in this recalls and still refuses to do so. I fear this will happen, in time, to other owners of a Chevrolet Equinox. I am reaching out to all possible avenues for what my next options are and attempting to prevent this from happening to someone else. GM needs to be held responsible for this matter and issue a recall for the Equinox as well before something catastrophic happens if it hasn't all ready.
Vacuum pump coming apart internally making it virtually impossible to stop the car using the brakes. This was a known issue on other GM Models the vacuum pump failing caused damage to my camshaft and possibly to my engine.
So where do i begin. There are no leaks on my driveway but I have to add coolant every other day & then when I opened my hood it looks like there’s grease everywhere like over the bolts where the bottom & top meet. At time the car stalls it loses power or doesn’t even pick up power. It just drags. Sometimes a strong odor comes from the vents of the a/c & then it at times doesn’t blow cool air just flat air. Also six months after having the vehicle the 2 TPMS went out & when I took it back to dealer where i purchased it they basically told me that I didn’t even have any TPMS that the machine didn’t pick up any & now the display was showing all 4 empty & the TPMS icon constantly on the display. I found that odd & I didn’t know much about TPMS at the time. I was still bothered so I kept asking other people I would come in contact with being new to the state of Texas & they said the only way it would not come up on the machine would be as if they wouldn’t be inside as they were removed but again I drove in with just 2 marking on the display. Not a big deal. I did purchase the gold package of warranty with the vehicle but I have no idea how to use it. I’m not sure if they even did all the past recalls on this vehicle. I read one of them was a window & I too hear that as I drive
The contact’s girlfriend owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated the girlfriend's vehicle was parked and would not start. The contact utilized a Nickson Industries Engine Heater Oil Product, CAT' Engine Heater 90-Watt Dipstick Heater 24-inch, Part number 15200, to heat the engine oil. However, a part of the dipstick heater melted off into the oil pan. No warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local mechanic who dropped the oil pan and removed the fragment from the dipstick heater. A new battery was installed, and the vehicle was inspected. The contact sent fragments of the dipstick heater to the manufacturer, and it was confirmed as a manufacturing failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
2/20/24 while coming to a stop at a stop light in a busy intersection, the car completely died/shut down. Hazard lights could not be turned on. No lights in car, no error message. no lights at all. RPM gauges remained in the same position as when the vehicle died. I was able to put it in park. After about 5 minutes the car was able to be restarted. It was not clear why it finally restarted. I tried to push break, push start button and push hazards. There have been similar incidents in the past but this incident took much longer to be able to restart the car. Those incidents the RPM gauge dropped into the off position in those other situations. The hazard lights were at least able to be turned on and I still had lights in my dash. This is a dangerous engine error that can not be replicated for service personnel to demonstrate the problem.
My 2018 equinox is not included in any recalls. However, it has been in for engine repair, even though the vehicle only had 70,000 miles on it at the time. After that, the ABS system was acting up, the automatic door locks and locking mechanism failed and went outs, the brakes have been repaired three times and the suspension is worn down. I only have $86,000 mi on it. I am now getting ready to take it in again for transmission issues. My car is not included in any recalls, but seems to have the issues stated and all the recalls
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving at various speeds in cold weather, the message "Caution. Engine Power Reduced" was displayed, and the vehicle failed to exceed 30 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the charge air cooler was replaced, and the CAC shutter, the temperature control valve and the winter grill cover were installed. Additionally, the ECM was reprogrammed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact related the failure to TSB Number: N222372590. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist because the VIN was not included in a recall related to the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the contact noticed that the start of the vehicle was abnormal. The contact drove the vehicle out of the driveway and then into the garage. The contact stated an hour later while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact connected to a jump box to the battery and charged the battery for an hour. The contact attempted to start the vehicle, but the shift to park warning light remained illuminated. The contact purchased a new battery however, the vehicle failed to start. The battery was disconnected to prevent the battery from draining. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided a voucher for the repair of the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000. The VIN was not available.
the vacumm pump grenaded and sent metal chunks into the camshaft knocking the reluctant wheel out of position causing the car to shut down and lose brakes and power steering. There were no prior engine codes or warning. multiple mechanics verified this and it is a known issue. Gm needs to deal with this and should put out a recall. such a new vehicle should not need motor work at 70k miles!!
Vacuum pump for brake booster failed. Lost braking power. Caused debris to be injected in to engine. Caused camshaft failure. Dealership confirmed, and inspected. Check Engine light and Reduced Engine Power message at time of failure. Slight rear brake pulsation 1/2 hour before. I thought it was just moisture/rust on the rotor as the car had been in the body shop for 2 months following a deer collision.
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to remain running after being started. While depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle was slow to respond. The contact stated that his brother used an ODB scanner and retrieved DTC codes: P0017 (Crank shaft Phaser, Exhaust Camshaft, Valve Cover Gasket), P1556 (Variable-Solenoid), P0011 (Camshaft), PO0014 (Engine), and P2227 (Turbo Charger). The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the failure was related to the timing chain, cam shaft, brake booster, and vacuum pump. The contact called the local dealer, who stated that there was no coverage for the repair under recall or warranty. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 182,000.
Car stopped working at 72K miles. sputtered, stopped, cranked but no start. P0017 error - which has a TSB on it. Camshaft position error. Chevy knows about the issue but just hopes it happens outside of warranty, which is not acceptable. Vacuum pump also had catastrophic failure.
The vacuum pump that controls the power brakes broke/went tight, causing the brake pedal to get extremely hard and almost caused us to crash on the interstate. It turns out that this vacuum pump is attached to the camshaft on the 2018 Equinox and it doesn't have a shear pin, so when it goes tight, it destroys the camshaft and timining chain as well. It will cost over $4k to repair. This is a huge safety concern, not to mention the unexcpected costs to the consumer. GM is well aware of this issue, and has issued recalls on the same vacuum pump on different models of Chevrolets/GMCs
Service brake assist
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while at a stop light and releasing the brake pedal, the vehicle shutdown before the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact turned off the vehicle and the vehicle failed to restart. The electrical systems in the vehicle turned on and off and the doors were locking and unlocking independently. Additionally, the instrument cluster warning lights were turning on and off. The contact also stated that the parking brake and traction control functions were engaged. The contact released the brake pedal and the vehicle jolted and turned on and restarted. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred her to the federal safety agency hotline, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 99,400.
Has had 2 codes come up for bad fuel injectors maybe more before it hit 50,000 miles dealer can't recreate cases a bad miss fire really surprised it runs
When backing into my drive way moving the gear from d to r the car will jump. This has made it to where I fear to park where I have to reverse. As well as when I started driving down the road the auto stop start kicked on while doing 30 when the car powered back on in the busy intersection the car was clunking I pulled over asap and took a look under the car to make sure nothing was leaking when started back up it went away. It’s very unsafe to have a car that you can’t disable the auto stop feature from coming on as if the intersection was not a safe place for this to happen
When my cats gets turned on my radio doesn’t turn on so I have to reset it until it turns on meaning I have to press and hold for 20sec to get the volume knob lite but my radio doesn’t work and on top of it the auto stop is tripping when I do auto stop the car turns off and restarts on its own and shows light on dash saying traction control on or off and then it will say brake release and than brake check my steering wheel controls don’t work meaning my auto control isn’t working to set and one day out of nowhere it will all work like nothing happen radio will turn on but I can’t turn volume on or change station and it’s a frozen screen and sometimes it goes all blank black but I can hear music with no screen
The “Check Engine” light is still on regardless of the maintenance done on the vehicle. The oil pump is possibly damaged after pieces from broken vacuum pump may have entered into engine.
The vacuum pump in my 2018 Chevrolet Equinox no longer works. I have a “hard brake” and when I attempt to stop At low speeds there is a grinding sound with my vehicle.
Winter 2020/2021 I had to replace my exhaust manifold and now winter 2021/2022 I am having issues with my turbo/super charger but same code of P0299 for both incidents. Wondering what is going on with my vehicle. I bought it at 42,000 miles and now has 88,000 on it
engine problems
On approximately 11/18/21 3:30 pm I drove my car and the engine just died. Busy street. It took me 30 minutes to restart and pull safely into the first parking lot I could get to. every time I went to start vehicle it would take 3-4 minutes each time, I had to turn car completely to stop the car from trying to start. When it finally started it would only go 10 feet before the engine stopped running. I had to have my car towed to the dealership. On 12/8/21 the dealership called me and said the the pump which is inside the engine failed and that the engine would have to be replaced for $8,500.00 HELP!
62 k Miles car completely shut down and power steering became useless making it extremely hard to even move out of traffic. There were no warning lights Car has always been fully serviced at dealership. Vac pump failed causing camshaft to break , bending pistons New engine required. Car at dealership going into 3 weeks now
Check enginge light keeps coming on. Code says dealer specific, went to go to dealer, light went off. Two weeks later, light comes back on for a few days, goes back off. Had the diesel system cleaned by dealer, light still comes on and off. Car has 42k miles, expertly maintained. Dealer wants $135 to diagnose the problem that their own documents say there is no solution for. On star diagnoses found nothing wrong with the vehicle and didn't even show the 'check engine light' as being on. Similar reports from others online involving the 1.6l diesel. No performance issues with the light on, but chevrolet should be able to fix the issue - even if the car is out of warranty. A two year old car shouldn't be having random check engine light issues.
The oil plug is weak and damaged
While driving on a county highway, the service brake assist light appeared. Upon braking, brakes were extremely hard (like pushing on a brick) to stop. After attempting to brake several times and finally getting stopped, I turned off the vehicle. Upon attempting to restart, car failed to start. Towed from holstein iowa to milford, iowa late on a friday. Next morning, dealer in spirit lake iowa was contacted. A 2nd tow to the dealer happened on saturday. Dealer briefly looked at it and stated it was a camshaft actuator or sensor and they would get to it after the holiday weekend. The gave me a rental to get home (5 hrs south) however, I am still paying on a uhaul trailer rental as the rental van did not have towing capabilities. Tow 1 was $250 and tow 2 was $125. Rental is $50 per day. Parts/labor is expected to be a little over $2200 plus the van rental, plus the uhaul trailer extra days rental, plus the gas to go back and get the vehicle and bring it home with the uhaul trailer. Dealer was advised by me to look at the vacuum pump on tue a.m. Tue p.m. Dealer called back. Verified vacuum pump issue and stated it was defective and that it disintegrated. It was also sitting on the front dual overhead exhaust and that was attached to the camshaft exhaust. Both of those broke away as well. Need to replace those and the timing chain with an oil change to ensure no metal remains in the engine. Gm/chevy should be fixing this at no cost plus paying for the towing charges, extra rentals, and gas. Not having brakes is a major safety issue and putting my life, my family's life and the life of people on the road around us is not what I consider a good product. Photos from the dealer will be asked for, especially the vacuum pump. I will promptly forward bills as soon as they arrive.
10/2019 - while driving on highway, coming into a construction zone, I went to slow down. When I pushed my brakes to slow down, they were very hard and was unable to push them down. Ended up having to drive off the side of the road to avoid collision. Vaccum pump failed which caused a failure in my brake assist system. It was fixed under warranty. 9/2020 - driving on the highway and went to slow down when the same thing happened again and I was unable to slow down. Again had to drive off the side of the road to avoid collision. This time when the vacuum pump failed, it broke a gear causing metal pieces to be sucked in the engine and now my engine is needing replaced. This is a common problem with this car based on the research I have done but my VIN is not included in recall. I feel this is very dangerous to happen twice in less than a year while traveling high speeds and being unable to stop. I have 2 young children that I no longer feel safe putting in this vehicle
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