While going 80mph on the highway at 2:00am on or around 10/6/2023, my power braking system went out without warning. I was able to get it off the road and to a shop where they told me it was the vacuum pump and cam shaft. Repair took a week. 7 months later on 5/31/2024, it went out again, luckily in town going 35mph, and involved the vacuum pump, cam shaft, and this time the oil pump as well. Repair took 5 months due to parts availability. The only time the engine light came on, it was for a sensor unrelated to this issue.
2018 Chevrolet Equinox transmission complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 66, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I’ve heard about some recalls and Technical Service Bulletins related to the transmission, especially the start-stop accumulator bolts possibly missing and some transmission lubrication concerns. I checked my VIN on the federal safety agency website, and it shows no open recalls. However, I want to confirm: Whether my vehicle was part of any recall related to the transmission or start-stop accumulator bolts. If the recall was completed or if any transmission-related TSBs apply. Whether there are any service campaigns or software updates for the transmission control module that I should be aware of. Start-stop accumulator bolt missing leading to fluid leaks and possible failure, Missing transmission cup plugs causing lubrication issues, Valve body spacer plate replacement and transmission control module reprogramming. I am currently experiencing significant transmission issues including, symptoms like: rough shifting, slipping, hesitation, noises, fluid leaks, loss of power, which are severely affecting the vehicle’s drivability and safety. This vehicle only has 107K miles which only go over 7K from warranty. I am concerned that my vehicle may be affected by one or more of these issues — even if the recall was marked as closed or VIN was excluded in error. Given the volume of known transmission complaints for this model year and my relatively low mileage, I strongly believe this could be part of a broader safety defect that deserves further investigation. Please review this issue for potential inclusion in an investigation or expanded recall campaign. These transmission issues are not only costly but potentially dangerous, especially if they result in sudden loss of propulsion. This transmission issue is seriously impacting my vehicle’s safety and reliability. This matter is urgent due to the impact on vehicle safety and reliability.
The vehicle calls power module has failed
Loss of propulsion as well as hard shift
The brake booster vacuum pump; available upon request. Yes, the brake assist stopped working while driving on the interstate making it unsafe for my vehicle and others. Problem was confirmed by an inspection at Brakes Plus. The warning light came on after the failure, Service Brake Assist.
No code, no indication of anything wrong, no lights or warnings, no sounds or rough running indications on the vehicle. It just completely died in the middle of the highway while traveling down the road and would not restart. Middle of the night with me and my granddaughter in the vehicle. It ended up being a problem with the timing chain which was not broke. Nor were there any indication there was a problem with it.
1. Drive Shaft fractured while driving my vehicle, yes it is available for inspection. 2. Car made a loud popping noise and part of the car was dragging and the car was shaking and unsafe to drive. 3. Yes, the car is in the shop and the drive shaft fracture has been confirmed. 4. Not at this time. Only AAA and my local garage have inspected the vehicle. 5. No warning lamps/lights were present. 6. I heard a loud pop and immediately pulled over because I thought it was my tire. I saw something hanging and called AAA for a tow because it was unsafe to drivet.
When put in drive it does move when gas pedal is pressed for a couple of seconds, and also when I come to a stop and the start ans stop feature activates it stalls as well with the D flashing. The engine light comes on as well.
P0299. Engine power reduced [XXX] mileage 95617 Charged air cooler needs to be replaced. P0299 [XXX]. Mileage 96101. Turbocharger O.E. REPLACEMENT replace Turbocharger Assembly. P0299 [XXX] engine power reduced. P0299 [XXX] engine power reduced. Mileage 68340. Engine light goes on and off. The code P0299 is a code where my engine light comes on. Then after calling the dealership Miller Brothers Ellicott City, MD With my concerns that the light is on again but by the time I'm given a service appointment the engine light goes back out. I feel that this continues to happen with my vehicle several times while my car was covered by my extended warranty as well as my 100 thousand miles powertrain where in which my Turbocharger is not functioning correctly and should be made part of a recall of All Chevy equinox vehicle which have the 1.5 liter engine where the engine power reduced code P0299 APPEARS the goes out on its own knowingly Even though my car VIN is not part of a recall it remains a safety issue for myself as well as other Equinox owners. It's like I think I am having a heart attack today (reduced engine power) But My local Chevy dealerships want me to make and appointment. This needs to be replaced and repaired by the dealership at no cost. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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
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.
While driving the right front intermediate driveshaft fractured and separate. Took it immediately to a repair shop and they said it rusted for the inside out.
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 that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for a service appointment and while being serviced, the mechanic informed the contact that the DTC code for an open solenoid was retrieved. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was then towed to a transmission specialist where it was pending the repair. The contact stated that the dealer referred her to contact the federal safety agency Hotline for assistance. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,400.
SUV started making weird sounds like winding up on acceleration and winding down slowing down underneath in June 2023. Got it on video. Intermittent. Had appointment for service in August. July 26 driving for vacation driveshaft fell from the front down on the highway. 54000 miles approximately on Equinox. GM said I hit something but nothing in road and no other damage underneath. Since new driveshaft installed, no more noises underneath. I have video of the noises underneath but can't upload them.
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
While accelerating on an onramp, the rear driveshaft, where it connects to the transmission, just disconnected. I had been traveling on an interstate just prior to the event and was getting back on the interstate. This is very concerning since the interstate speed is 75, and with the driveshaft dropping down at that speed it could have been catastrophic. There was no vibration prior to the issue.
Auto stop caused Service Brake Assist warning to pop up on dash. Resolved on its own. A week later, steering assist disabled message pops up while driving and car didn't start after coming to a stop. Service ESC, Traction off, service brake assist messages, all pop up. Car did not restart. Vehicle is currently at Cooley Chevrolet in Irving, TX awaiting results of tests. Obviously, this is a common issue judging from the number of complaints on the Internet about it.
Check Engine Light on Diagnosis (1-2) 1. P171A-00 - transmission surge solenoid valve circuit open 2 - P171B-00 - Transmission surge solenoid valve circuit low
My Equinox loses power, it feels slow and drives sluggishly. If I am driving at 35 mph it suddenly starts reducing speed and whining noises ensue. The hazard lights turn on and off, then the doors lock and unlock. If I reduce speeds below 20mph, then I suddenly have full power again as if nothing ever happened. The check engine light comes and goes after you drive for a while. Highways and offramps are questionable. I can not increase speed to merge properly on the freeway as this would put me at significant risk, I am not willing to gamble to see if I can make 65mph with oncoming traffic. I have ordered and paid for a new transmission from Chevrolet. Back ordered with an unknown delivery date.
Shift to park service bulletin 19-NA-206 Currently equinox is not listed under affected models but it has the same components as similar models. Looking around this is a common issue
On December 26th, unexpectedly, my driveshaft snapped in two. My car was in "all wheel drive" mode as I pulled out of a parking lot onto the road. Fortunately, there was no other cars behind me so I could safely pull to the side of the road. The Driveshaft/prop shaft was replaced. I do have the snapped driveshaft in two pieces in my garage.
I purchased my 2018 Chevrolet equinox on July3rd, 2018 with 2 miles on it. Current mileage 67,900 Stop/start system design defect. I have had to have my vehicle battery replaced 4 times in 4 years of ownership. The battery has failed again at 67,900 miles on 12/13/2022 which will be the 5th battery in its lifetime. My dealership said that due to the climate and road conditions where I live my stop/start system has been killing my battery cell every 16,975 miles causing my battery to fail. Chevrolet originally extended my warranty for 6months/ or 60k miles. They said they can no longer extend my warranty and that I’d be responsible for the next battery and future battery’s.
I have a 2018 chevy equinox that I bought brand new back in December of 2018. The vacuum pump failed therefore breaking the camshaft which in turn caused failure to my brakes. I went to stop at a light and my brake pedal was hard and my car skidded to a stop through the light. No warning that anything was wrong nothing. My brakes worked fine up until I went to stop at the next light. Then out of the blue my brake pedal was hard and I had no brakes. I almost got into a severe accident due to the brake failure. Evidently there have been other people this has happened to. Extremely dangerous and unsafe. There have been lawsuits filed against GM for faulty vacuum pump part although they were for the year of 2020. GM needs to take a look at this issue and also install some kind of warning. I get warnings for a tire being a little low you would think they could put a warning in for the brake system!! The warranty is still good on my car do I do not have to pay for the repair. In addition when the camshaft broke it threw pieces of metal into the top part of the engine!!
We were driving home and the car was losing acceleration power. My husband would press on the pedal and there was no acceleration. the all of a sudden the car would seem to get a connection and lurch forward. Thankfully we were were close to home and there wasn't a lot of traffic as it was scary. It ended up being the O2 sensor and I did see recalls on this part for earlier model years of the same car but not for 2018. It appears the issue has not been resolved in the newer models.
While driving to Tennessee my brakes went out on the car. The vacuum pump broke into pieces and made braking nearly impossible. Had it repaired and less than a week later the same thing happened coming off the interstate no brakes again on the off ramp. We had to glide to a stop for the brakes to kick in a little past the hard brake pedal. Checked the vacuum pump and again no suction so it’s bad again, not only that it appears that the rear main could be leaking but could be something else all together.
I see that this isn't a recall but is affecting many models of chevy from year models 2016-2019 with the gear selector assembly. The issue is the harness, solenoid, or sensor in the gear selector assembly is faulty and when trying to put the vehicle in park, the vehicle thinks it is NOT in park when it IS. Then, when you leave the vehicle, the interior beeps at you and electricals stay on as well as headlights/tail lights and will drain the battery unless you disconnect the battery. I don't see why this hasn't been recalled? I see SOOOO many people with the same issue and I've read that some dealerships are reluctant to fix because they can't "duplicate the problem" The problem is, you can't just buy the gear selector harness assembly wiring harness since it only comes with the whole assembly itself. So this should indeed be a recall because the average person isn't going to be able to figure this out and they shouldn't have to pay since it is happening in what looks like thousands if not tens of thousands or more vehicles.
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 contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that after parking in the driveway and switching the shifter to the park position the driver exited and moments later the vehicle erroneously rolled backward down the driveway. The driver attempted to get back into the moving vehicle and fell causing the vehicle to roll over the driver's body and crash into a tree. During the incident, the contact experienced an injured hip which required medical treatment. The vehicle was towed to a local body shop for repair. The manufacturer was notified of the incident and a manufacturer's engineer examined the vehicle but no problem was found. The cause of the failure was not determined. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 17v516000(Power train). The contact indicated that the vehicle had experienced the same failure listed in the recalls. The failure mileage was 42,000.
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
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