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Chevy Equinox No Start Problems

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Comments

  • tomwalttomwalt Member Posts: 14
    More and more I'm thinking BCM. Does anyone know if a new BCM needs to be programmed prior to use? Do they have an internal battery to maintain memory (a volatile memory)? Can I take it to Chevy garage to be tested? Any other ideas?
    Car was purchased new - this is the 1st real problem and it happened during a simple battery replacement.
  • sebasscharmomsebasscharmom Member Posts: 1
    I have had this car for less than two months and I have jumpstarted it three times. And twice I had my two little baby boys in the car in this freezing weather! The "battery saver active" message has popped up too. And now the radio screen is fuzzy and has no sound along with the blinker click sound gone. Will the dealership cover this in my warranty and will it be actually be fixed?
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Many auto parts stores will load test a battery for you for free. That would rule out whether you just need a new battery or not.
  • shep66shep66 Member Posts: 1
    Bought it new in Oct 2010. All was good until Nov. 28, 2013 then had the no start problem. On the 27th drove around town, filled with fuel, ran through car wash, drove home and parked it in garage overnight. 1PM the next day loaded up to go to son's for Thanksgiving. Guess what? No start. Charged batt. and got it to dealer on Fri. around 12:30 PM. Dealer called 4:30 PM. Said they didn't have time to look at that day. "Wife upset." Picked it up at 5PM. It did start but starter sounded sluggish.
    My questions are, if I change the battery myself will there be a problem with loss of the program in any of the computers? Does this need to be done by the dealer? Is it hard to get the BCM off the top of the battery? I have changed plenty of car and truck batteries before but nothing with this setup.
  • tomwalttomwalt Member Posts: 14
    It was the Body Control Module (BCM) - A Chevy Garage needs to install and program these. $770 - a very expensive battery charge.
  • catereriicatererii Member Posts: 3

    I'm having this problem as we speak!!!!!!!
    Yesterday Morning, I remote started my car, but noticed the remote sound was low. Went out to garage and was unable to disarm remote, hate to use key in door / ignition / while clicking unlock -bypass method. Turned key, dashboard lit up, radio came on, but no cranking or headlights. Could not get key out ignition. Stuck in Accessory position. Tried charging car for nearly 24hrs, still nothing. This morning I was about to have it towed to Pep Boys for a new $85 Battery, but because the "Service Engine Soon & Service Anti-Theft Deterrent System" messages came up on dashboard, they said take it to Chevy. Towed to Chevy, who calls me later and says In order to get the car started and determine what's wrong #1) I need to purchase a battery for $125 #2) Pay $275 for a new cable that runs from the Negative Pole on the battery down thru the ENGINE, because it was "Corroded" ?!?!?! Total Cost is going to be $725.00 just to get it started. I Had them put the job on hold while they check with my "Mickey Mouse " extended warranty called "PALMER". Still waiting for dealership to get back with me on the end result. Before I AUTHORIZE the work, has anyone ever heard of such nonsense????

  • catereriicatererii Member Posts: 3
    edited April 2014

    Car still in the shop 1 week later, numerous wasted useless calls to GM and CHEVY saying it's not the battery & Negative Pole cable, but the BCM, ONLY to have my CHEVY ADVISOR call me this morning to say it's now going to cost $1,200 to repair the car, because it's the BCM !?!?!?! SERIOUSLY.......you people have got to be FRIGGIN kidding me!!!!!!! Is this not what I have called both GM and Chevy's corporates about for the last week only for them to be pretending to be working on the issue??? Their idea of working on the issue is to send emails to the dealer's customer experience mgr. and wait 48hrs for a response, the send another!! As soon as I get this car out the shop, I'm trading it for ANYTHING but a GM product. After owing Chevy's since 1972, THIS IS ONE CUSTOMER THAT'S NOT COMING BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • seano44seano44 Member Posts: 2
    I haven't read all of the comments on here yet, but I really felt this could help out with some people if they have some startup issues.
    Situation: I drove my car last last night and got home around 7P.M. with no issues. Parked the car and went to bed. The next morning I went out to the car to take a drive and it didnt start.
    Issues: Electronics would start but engine would not. The car didnt make any noises when trying to start. Only thing that would turn on was the electronics.
    Troubleshooting: I first took the battery out and had it tested. Battery worked fine. Then, I tested the fuses with the multimeter, everything worked fine. I even swapped a few out with others. I removed the Starter and had it tested, that worked fine as well.
    The Fix: I read over the manual and found out that the ignition has a sensor built in that recognizes the key and a small microchip inside of the key housing. If the key or that chip is damaged, the car WILL NOT START or turnover. This can be predetermined if your dashboard has a symbol that has a Car w/ Lock lit up. I just inserted my spare key and it worked just fine. Even just inserting the key and turning on the electronics and giving it a second, that light will disappear. So, if your problem sounds anything like mine, give your spare key a try OR take the key to the dealership and have them test it for any problems before forking out HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of dollars to have it diagnosed and have fake repairs done.
  • seano44seano44 Member Posts: 2
    Also, this is on the Chevy Equinox 2011 model.
  • rachoracho Member Posts: 1
    How do I get more info regarding the service bulletin 02-06--03-008d
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Try this pdf link.
  • 2007equinox12007equinox1 Member Posts: 2
    edited July 2015
    I have a 2007 Equinox- bought it from my mom at 14,000 miles. I've been having the no-start-in-the-morning issue for over two years, to where every morning I would get up earlier and go out to "not" start the car so that it would actually start an hour later when I was ready to go to work. This all started 48 hours after I bought the car after Best Buy installed a GPS unit and was later found to be directly wired into the BCM. I finally had the BCM replaced and it fixed the issue. Then it started happening again two months ago, and I've once again been told the BCM is bad. In the interim they've also replaced other electrical components. They said the BCM took out the Junction Block and the Transmission Control Module. Today I was told by another dealership the TCM is fine, but something about the break module is damaged and is the reason for the Stabilitrack errors. Oh, and I have the spark plug defect and I have a plug cracked in half. It never ends.
  • charcimcharcim Member Posts: 1
    I am having similar problems. I bought my Equinox one year ago new 2014. It was cold and raining last Sunday morning and it was a hard start when it did start the hazards turned on, the wipers turned on and squirted water and my fm radio didn't work. It is still a hard start first thing in the morning when it's chilly but it's fine throughout the day. The hazards have turned on a few more times when starting, the radio problems and once I couldn't work my heat at all. Just wouldn't turn on. It was like 25 degrees out which is nothing compared to what's to come I live in New England! Did anyone get to the bottom of this? My last car was a RAV4 I put 200,000 miles on that bad Larry and nothing like this ever happened. It scares me.
  • brianu1brianu1 Member Posts: 1
    The no start on my Equinox was caused by a simple dirty MAF sensor. I cleaned it and trouble was gone. This should have been the first thing any decent mechanic would have checked.
  • noxisjunknoxisjunk Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2011 Chevy equinox and it’s been having some starting issues. There is some days it will start and go just fine and then it will have days that it won’t start. It’s been 3 days now that it won’t start. When we try to start it, all the lights on the dashboard come on the headlights come on, the radio comes on. But when you turn to key over to start it, there’s no noise. All the lights on the dashboard go out except the engine light and the radio goes off. Also when I go to lock or unlock my car using the key fob half the time it doesn’t want to work either with either locking the car or unlocking. What could be the problem? 
  • ray80ray80 Member Posts: 1,655
    noxisjunk said:

    I have a 2011 Chevy equinox and it’s been having some starting issues. There is some days it will start and go just fine and then it will have days that it won’t start. It’s been 3 days now that it won’t start. When we try to start it, all the lights on the dashboard come on the headlights come on, the radio comes on. But when you turn to key over to start it, there’s no noise. All the lights on the dashboard go out except the engine light and the radio goes off. Also when I go to lock or unlock my car using the key fob half the time it doesn’t want to work either with either locking the car or unlocking. What could be the problem? 

    First thought is battery issue, takes a lot of power to start vehicle, much more then lighting up dash ETC. Also might want check on charging system (although a 6 year old vehicle could be due for battery change)
  • nitaw2002nitaw2002 Member Posts: 1
    I have a 2012 Equinox and have problems with it losing oil replacing s quart about every 800 to 1000 miles, after having it about a year the rear main blew in it, also have had issues with battery discharging with out warning, replaced battery and have not had the issue since. I am at 123,366 miles and am pretty sure timing chain has broke now without warning was at store after driving from work to the store went got what I needed came out and only sounds like half the motor is turning. replaced battery even though battery was only 1 year old. Still only sounds like half the motor turning. I love this car but if I can get it going it is going to the lot will not do a Chevy again. so tired of all the issues this car has had
  • ray80ray80 Member Posts: 1,655
    nitaw2002 said:

    I have a 2012 Equinox and have problems with it losing oil replacing s quart about every 800 to 1000 miles, after having it about a year the rear main blew in it, also have had issues with battery discharging with out warning, replaced battery and have not had the issue since. I am at 123,366 miles and am pretty sure timing chain has broke now without warning was at store after driving from work to the store went got what I needed came out and only sounds like half the motor is turning. replaced battery even though battery was only 1 year old. Still only sounds like half the motor turning. I love this car but if I can get it going it is going to the lot will not do a Chevy again. so tired of all the issues this car has had

    Did you take it to GM dealer to get the oil consumption problem fixed, or just kept adding oil?

  • bmasse_1958bmasse_1958 Member Posts: 4
    I have a 2012 Equinox I have put in a new Battery & a new Starter. But it still isn't starting. I had it at a repair shop & they said it was the starter so we replaced it & it still doesn't start. What could else be wrong? When you turn the key all it does is click. Someone please help I need to go back to work.
  • Happyness1212Happyness1212 Member Posts: 1
    lady08 said:

    As I went to drive my new 2011 Chevy Equinox for the first time (it had not been driven for 10 days since driving it home from the dealer, though I did move it once just to drive it into my garage), I first noticed the doors did not unlock using the keyless entry. I then unlocked the door using the key, then once inside I tried to start the ignition but everything was 'locked up', no lights, no nothing. Also, the key could not be released from the ignition. I'm thinking it has to do with the security system because I did see red flashing lights inside on the dash when I tried to open the locked door. After discussing this with the dealer service guy, he said the car needs to be towed back to the dealer. I also called the toll free Chevy number hoping they could tell me how to resolve this problem without the car being towed, but they could not so they connected me with Roadside Assistance who has scheduled a tow in a few days. Has anyone else had this problem?

    I am having the same exact issue and the dealership told me the same thing as above word for word.

    Has anyone figured out the root cause of the issue in order to resolve it yet?
  • LararstarLararstar Member Posts: 1
    I am also having this problem with my 2013 Chevy Equinox. My key wouldn't electronically click open the door, so I manually opened it and then the key got stuck in the ignition and wouldn't come out. Nothing turned on, I couldn't get it into Neutral and it took 5 min to jump. Then, it came on, I drove it a half mile to the mechanic and he ran tests on it that showed at least 15 issues with the BCM and other codes came up. I have had no problems with it up until now, except for the radio dash turning off randomly once in awhile.The battery is fine. The mechanic is stumped.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,147
    I would replace the battery as a first move, despite its having "tested" as okay. It's old enough if it's the original for replacement.

    I would have all the main connections in the positive red cable from the battery to the fuse/relay box loosened
    and cleaned then retightened. I am not sure how the cables run on your Equinox, but connections of main power lines may oxidize and lose the connection. I'd also have the negative cable checked.

    The key not coming out is because the main power that moves a solenoid to allow the key to come out when you put the car in Park is missing. There may be a small opening plate underneath the steering column in that area that can be popped off and you can look inside where there's spot on the mechanism that releases the key that you push that allows the key to come out normally. It may be mentioned in the owners manual. Those are on some others of that era GM vehicles.

    On my Cobalt the postive line runs to a connection on the fuse box where there's a post for jump starting the car since the battery is in the trunk. Two connectors are screwed down under that post to provide power to the fuse/relay and on to the starter. Those oxide because they're aluminum I think. That's why I'm suggesting you check yours. I also tightened the connection at the battery when this happened to me. One of those connections was not conducting.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • raeragnoraeragno Member Posts: 1
    seano44 said:

    I haven't read all of the comments on here yet, but I really felt this could help out with some people if they have some startup issues.
    Situation: I drove my car last last night and got home around 7P.M. with no issues. Parked the car and went to bed. The next morning I went out to the car to take a drive and it didnt start.
    Issues: Electronics would start but engine would not. The car didnt make any noises when trying to start. Only thing that would turn on was the electronics.
    Troubleshooting: I first took the battery out and had it tested. Battery worked fine. Then, I tested the fuses with the multimeter, everything worked fine. I even swapped a few out with others. I removed the Starter and had it tested, that worked fine as well.
    The Fix: I read over the manual and found out that the ignition has a sensor built in that recognizes the key and a small microchip inside of the key housing. If the key or that chip is damaged, the car WILL NOT START or turnover. This can be predetermined if your dashboard has a symbol that has a Car w/ Lock lit up. I just inserted my spare key and it worked just fine. Even just inserting the key and turning on the electronics and giving it a second, that light will disappear. So, if your problem sounds anything like mine, give your spare key a try OR take the key to the dealership and have them test it for any problems before forking out HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS of dollars to have it diagnosed and have fake repairs done.

    Thanks for the info!!! I dropped my keys last night and my Equinox wouldn't start this morning. My dashboard does have the symbol with the car w/lock lit up! I tried my spare key and it started up and light went out! Tried original set and car now started but light back on. Tried alternate set again and light disappeared again. I will have to figure out how to get other key fixed but car is fine with my spare key! Thanks again!
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