Chevrolet Equinox Maintenance and Repair

snowman

I like to hear from current owners that what type of problems they have. I know it is little early but I m sure owners have observations...

jedurocher

Snowman,

I know that there are some issues that people are running into. Look in the main board. They are intermingled with other posts. I had one dealing with setting the EQ and received an answer from there.

Thanks
JD

carmen

I RECENTLY GOT MY EQUINOX, AND SOON NOTICE IT DID NOT HAVE THE NICE NEW CAR SMELL. HOWEVER, IT DID AND DOES STILL SMELL. SO BAD THAT MY WIFE KNOWS WHEN I'M HOME BEFORE SHE SEES ME. WHEN I CALLED MY SALES REP HE TOLD ME HE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM BUT DID NOT OFFER A SOLUTION. I HAVE A APPOINTMENT TO BRING THE CAR IN ON 6/14, I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED.

snowman

Give us more details, where it is coming from, AC vents?

Mr_Shiftright

carmen, please turn off your CAPS LOCK. It's very hard for others to read your comments.

Host

carmen

No, it is definitely not coming from the a/c vents. It is just in the car. I have at the dealers today. It is so bad that my family refuses to get in the car. You smell it as soon as you open the door. Whatever it is I hope they solve it.

snowman

I wonder it is the sulfur from gas...

carmen

Thank you for your reply, the only way I can describe the smell is that it is a moldy, mildew type of smell. I had it at the dealer yesterday and they deodorized it. But to tell you the truth, It still smells. I'm going to wait a day or two to see what happens before I bring it back. I also plan on calling GM.

snowman

AC system needs to discharge some water thru a pipe or clear tube, this might be blocked. If the smell is not like rotten egg, it should be definitely AC system which can be addressed easy. Good luck and keep us posted.

reed

We bought a new Equinox about 2 weeks ago. When the engine is hot it gives off a gross odor (smells like a dead animal that's been on the side of the road for a month in the hot sun). We've checked all thru it, took it back to the dealer and they couldn't find anything either. They thought it might be a tiny antifreeze leak but it wasn't. They said to give it a couple of weeks to see if it's a sealant that will burn off with time. You can smell it slightly when the vehicle is sitting but it's nasty when it's been driven and the engine is hot.

noxwannabe

Had no odor problems with mine which I've had for over a month. My only complaint is the air pressure vibration I get when various windows are open. I have to adjust heights and usually open more than one window to compensate. And why don't the back windows go down all the way? Seems like plenty of room for them to do so.

carmen

Thanks for the tip I'm scheduling another appointment. I may have been wrong about it not coming from AC. Yesterday, driving home from work, which is only 10 min., I realized that my shirt smelled really bad.......I had the AC on. So as crazy as it may seem, I took the shirt I had on the previous day out of the hamper to smell it, it didn't smell as bad. I didn't have the AC on that day. Its really frustrating, I have a new car and no one in my family will ride in it.

snowman

It sounds like sulfur smell. It is not uncommon to have sulfur smell in some vehicles but not normal. Needs to be addressed.
The smell caused by bacteria accumulation in air ventilation system can be tolorable but poses health risks and needs to be addressed.
Sulfur smell is like a week old dead animal smell as you describe, this is somewhat related to safety. Mention this to your dealer see what comes behind of it.

jrest

Carmen,

I would think your rear windows aren't going down all the way because of a child safety feature. Read the manual! as there should be a way to disable that. I don't own the equinox (yet). My equinox had to be special ordered so I'm playing the waiting game.

noxwannabe

But I'll check the door panel where the switch is for the child safety door locks and see if it says anything. I know a lot of SUVs have back windows that don't go down all the way I just thought with the long wheel base and the wide back door that there would be plenty of room to put a full size window.

carmen

I took my Equinox back to the dealer on Friday, he said the evaporator wasn't working. The smell is not completely gone. He told me use disenfectant spray and to keep circulating the air, leave the windows open. I still don't see any water coming from the A/C. I'm wondering is that normal since there is a evaporatoring system. Also, just in case, are you familiar with the New Jersey Lemon Law?

snowman

Are you positive that he meant evaporating system for AC. I am still not sure that this is related AC. Fuel systems have evaporating mechanism too and disconnected or improperly routed vapor lines may cause gasoline smell (sulfur smell too) inside the cabin. Make a search in google and you'll see what I mean.

reed

We have discovered that having outside air flowing thru the vehicle without AC or heat on brings this nasty odor into the Nox when going slow or stopped. If on the highway, you can not smell it until you stop. When we park it, the smell is just horrible. We contacted Chevrolet and a rep called us a week ago, was going to contact our dealer and then call us the following evening......never heard from her again. We are definitely following through on this as it's just unacceptable the way it is. When you pay $27,000 for a vehicle, it shouldn't stink.

outdrsman69

Just a heads up for owner's of this great vehicle. I purchased my Equinox LS at the end of April and since put 1700 miles on it. At around 1200, I started noticing a creaking noise coming from the front of the vehicle by the steering rack. The noise only happened at slow speeds when turning the wheels. After 2 trips to my dealer's service dept., they found a bulletin issued by GM to replace both front struts if this same noise was noticed. I'm sure most of the new owners of the truck are getting around that mileage, so keep your ears open for that noise, and if you hear it, contact your dealer & make them aware of this bulletin that was issued June 3rd.

mitzij

The back door windows do only go 1/2 way down.

carmen

I contacted my dealer yesterday and told him the odor is still there. He was going to talk to the Service Mgr. and get back to me. I probably going to have to pursue the Lemon Law. Keep me posted on how you make out with your dealer and I will do the same.

nancys1

Add my Nox to the list of needing strut replacement.
I took mine back to the dealer after 2 weeks of owning it..mine was the first Nox they had to repair.
After being in the shop for 2 days, they told me the left strut needing replacing.
I will get the car back tomorrow..hopefully..other than the steering wheel creaking at slow speeds while turning, I really like the vehicle.

reed

The Chevy Rep finally called back last night and said we were the only ones with the reported odor problem. I told her to check Edmund.com. The Svc Mgr at our dealership is also investigating but we told both to either fix it or we want another vehicle. The Rep. is checking with our Svc Mgr today and will get back to us tonight. Hopefully they can determine what is wrong and take care of it.....it is a sharp vehicle and other than the odor, really like it.

brian4

Wow, I thought I was the only one with Problems. At 500 miles I started heariing a knocking in the front drivers side and a ticking/clicking from the steering wheel. I took it in for service and found I need a new strut on the driver side and I need a new turn signal/switch... 500 miles.. how sad.. OK, here's the problem since it's such a new vehicle they don't make the switch YET. So I've been told I'll just have to deal with the noise until it's made. NO ETA. needless to say.. I'm not happy.

nancys1

The strut problem must be widespread.
I was supposed to get the part in this past week, of course, it hasnt arrived yet.
The dealer is paying for a rental car for me.
Too bad Chevy did not discover the strut problem in the testing stage!!!

reed

Took the Nox to the Svc Mgr at our dealer yesterday and after much waiting they are going to put it on a machine on Tuesday for 24 hours to sanitize it......what that means, I'm not sure but we'll try anything at this point. Another Equinox owner came in for struts while I was there and his Nox did not have any odor but he was amazed at how nasty ours smelled. Keep me informed on other Nox stinkers!

outdrsman69

Well, here's the problem I got now. The struts have been on the Nox since this past tuesday, under a week. Come Saturday, the noise re-appeared, and gradually getting a little worse day by day. Obviously not noticable w/the radio on. But when you drop as much money into a brand new machine, you don't want noises coming from it when it's not supposed to be. I'm hoping to contact a Chevy rep within the next day or 2, and ask him if he has any suggestions.

snowman

The problem is, I think, GM is still using bad design struts.So, they replaced your struts with the same brand, model rather than different desing from different manufacturer.

nancys1

Oh no, I am still waiting on the strut replacement parts to come in, you mean replacing the strut does not fix the creaking noise???
ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reed

Yesterday we got the Equinox back from the dealer after they had it de-ionized (machine on it for 24 hrs). It still has the odor but "maybe" not quite as bad. The lady from Chevrolet called last night...she said to give it a couple of days to see if there was bacteria in the vehicle, it might need a couple of days to take care of it. NOW, on top of that, there is a noise in the front of the Nox when you turn at a slow speed... sounds like we may have the strut problem as well! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tracyh

I posted this on town hall, I will also post it
here, I have 3500 miles on my Equinox, my average
mileage is 19.6 and that is 85% highway miles.
I complained to my dealer at 350 miles he said
there was nothing he could do. Told me to contact
GM customer service, which I did, they tried to
tell me that most people just fill up and never
pay any attention to there mileage, and they make
no guarantees on mileage, tried to blame it on epa
testing, EPA has not even tested this vehicle.
on the GM web site is says 19 and 25 determined by
gm testing, they said they would turn it over the
the BBB, but that nothing would happen. A week later someone from GM called saying they would do
nothing and said I could go thru the BBB process
but they won't do anything. I told him GM is guilty of false advertising. I have always been
a GM person, I have never owned another brand in
40 yrs of driving, I even sold Chevy's for 3 yrs.
a long time ago. No wonder Honda and Toyota are
taking away much of GM's business, they have lost
touch with the buyer, no customer satisfaction and
it takes an act of congress to fight and fight to
get anything fixed at a dealer, doesn't really seam to be the dealers fault, seems like they can't get information or parts from GM.
I do not have the smell problem some of you are
addressing, at least not yet and I have 3500 miles
on it. Some of the other post's talk about the
real bad road noise on rough roads or concrete
roads, yes I have that problem too. GM should know
better putting 60 series tires on a vehicle with
struts and a unibody. The noise just radiates from
the tires to the struts into the one piece body and amplifies it. It is really bad, GM should know
better, that is why pickups ride so good and are
so quite, 70 series tires act as shock absorbers
and with a seperate frame with isolation biscuites
they ride nice and are quite.
The Nox drives good, looks good and has plenty of
power but the short commings make it a looser
unfortunately, If I got 23mpg or so I could live
with it, and almost as bad is GM's lack of concern
as I told them I was just one owner, I am sure there are lots more out there with the same concerns. That they should check with engineering to see if they knew about this problem and if there was
a reprograming change to fix it.

carmen

Tomorrow I will drop it off for the third time to see if they can come up with something. I spoke with GM Customer Service Mgr., she listen and suggested that I bring it in again. I told her I wanted another car. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted.

Mr_Shiftright

Your mileage might very well imrpove after 10,000 miles. Also, after that time you could switch to a synthetic oil, keep a sharp eye on tire pressures and alignment,etc. I bet you'll reach 23 if you do all that and are patient.

tracyh

Thanks to all that have responded to me and I am
sure lots of others that have been very dissapointed by the poor gas mileage. I hope the
mileage improves with more miles, I am at 4000 now, and last tank was 18.8 mpg.
I am thinking about going to synthetic oil, I check my tire pressures and don't drive over 70,
yes I use air conditioning, it's only 100 today.
I have a call into the GM dealer rep.
On another note, kinda funny the vehicle has no
clothes hook on either side of back door, I have
never seen a car or truck that didn't have a place to hang clothes, must be an over site, because they spent so much time working on getting good gas mileage. (ha ha)
Other than these problems I have had no other problems. I bought this Nox May 21st.
Thanks

outdrsman69

Actually, there are hooks in the car. They're in the rear cargo area,on the roof in the corners. They drop down when you pull them towards the center of the vehicle. I guess they figure to hang clothes back there so it wont disrupt the driver's visibility when looking back through the rear door window. As far as the strut problem, the Nox was at the dealer on Monday, and the tech claims the hardware that should've went on w/ the strut replacement,didn't get ordered & obviously, not put on. So I guess I'll have to wait & see what that does, whenever that kit comes in. I also had them check and see if there were any other owner's having the same problem. I must be the guinea pig for them, cause I'm the only one. I also had them see if there were any other service bulletins out for the truck, and there are 4 total now. Reassuring, since the Nox debuted in March, and I got mine at the end of April.

Mr_Shiftright

also keep in mind that using AC is a big gas-eater. You'll lose 10% right there. It takes horsepower to drive an AC compressor, and gas to make horsepower. EPA estimates don't even calculate wind resistance, much less AC use.

nancys1

After 16 days I am still waiting on the new strut part to come in.
ARGHHHH..!!!

carmen

Well I had it back at the dealer again, they discovered there was water getting into the well where the spare tire is stored. Of course I also discovered that the spare tire is not a tire but a donut. My fault I should found that out before I bought the beast. Anyway, I told GM that I want to take steps to get rid of this car. I feel that it has water damage and that the smell in all likelihood would never go away. She checking what needs to be done, it should be interesting to say the lease!

outdrsman69

Since the Nox is a brand new model, obviously, availability of parts dwindle at the corporate warehouses. I work at a GM dealership & have some limited access to see where & how many parts are stocked. When my struts were ordered, there were 19 drivers' sides, and only 4 passenger's located in the Lancing, MI warehouse. I live in Pennsylvania. So i had to wait about a week and a 1/2. I'm sure your dealer has already done this, but call and make sure they have it on a priority order w/ your VIN. With the VIN, you probably can get pushed up on the list of awaiting replacements. I'm a little eaggrivated because I'm the only one out of my dealer that is expierencing this problem. PA has a "lemon law",which basically is a 3 strike attempt to repair the vehicle. If the noise doesn't dissapear after this last time, i hope the vehicle will get replaced. Love the vehicle other wise.

barlo

When I first got my Montana, the carpet was always wet in the back and when I opened the jack department it was full of water. Turns out it was leaking though the hatch where the wire harness was. I now have a leak under the carpet on the passenger side in the front. I am getting quotes on an Equinox as we speak so not too thrilled to here about your water problems in the spare tire well. Can GM not make a water tight vehicle. Has any one else had water in the back tire well of their Equinox?

nancys1

Just picked up my Nox from being in the shop for 17 days waiting on the redesigned strut to be manufactured.
It drives like a dream! NO NOISE or CREAKING anymore!
The service manager gave me a full tank of gas as well..I am pleased, at least I have my car back!

jrest

Damn! I was really under the impression it was a full size spare!!! Don't other SUV's and jeep liberty's come with full size spare? Man, I feel like I got burned yet again. As Lando Calrissian said in Empire Strikes Back, "this deal is getting worse all the time".

nox112

I bought an equinox about a week ago and being the curios person that I am, i looked under the vehicle and noticed that the driveshaft looked rusted (i think thats what its called---aka the big moving rod in the middle). Please excuse me on the lack of knowledge of vehicle parts.I also noticed that one of the other rods connected to the wheels also looked partially rusted. I want to know if anybody else noticed it or if its an isolated incident. Everything else looked fine. So I am requesting that everyone who reads this check their nox.

jedurocher

I have been lucky. I have 3200 Miles on my NOX. I average 20 to 22 mpg (that is intermixed city/hwy driving). I do not have a weird smell. I do not think that I have a leak. I think that I would know with all the rain that we have had hear in Houston to first month I had my NOX. I have not heard the strut noises, that I know of, but I do have the strange noises (due to , I think, the electronic steering)in the steering column. I was wondering, though, if anyone has had a problem with their doors making a huge noise when they open them wide. I have a kid that I put in the back seat and I have to open the door wide. The door makes a loud pulling noise when I open it. It does seem to change dependant on the weather. Has anyone had this issue?
JD

jrest

Nice to hear finally someone doesn't have the problems other's have posted.

noxwannabe

I put a kid in the back of mine too but no noises. I've had mine longer than most but only about 1100 miles on it. I just wish they had wind tested it better with various windows down, anytime you want some air you get air pressure on your eardrums and weird vibrations.

cornejo

I also recently had problem with a rubbing /grinding noise in the wheel well/linkage area which turned out to be a bad strut. The dealer ordered a new part, and it took 16 days to get it here. The new part is in place now and the vehicle drives like new again. Prior to this the ac compressor leaked oil over a short period and finally the AC system was no longer blowing cool air. My service rep obtained a new compressor. That only took 1 day for the part to get here from the midwest. Once the problem was diagnosed the dealership service dept was able to order the parts and make the necessary repairs under warranty. I enjoy this Equinox so it is worth the effort.

magicv8

If I step down hard on the throttle from a standing start, most od the time the Equinox torque steers hard to the right. If I don't hang on to the wheel tightly, it will change lanes. If I attempt to correct it, it may torque steer in the opposite direction.

It appears that the electronic control needs help, but does not like being helped - so it counter attacks.

crg

I bought my Equinox in June. On the 3rd day we had it the battery was stone dead. Had it towed to the dealer who kept asking me if we left a light on or a door open (which we didn't). They decided that the battery was faulty and replaced it. Told us not to let the tow truck driver jump it if it happens again, that is the only way they can figure out what is wrong. 5 weeks later same thing. Have it towed to the dealer and spend 2 days denying that I left any thing on to kill the battery. They couldn't find anything wrong and wanted to charge it up and send it back to me. I told them I didn't want it back until it was fixed. I asked what the point of the built in run down protection was if I could leave a light on and kill the battery. After a week without the car, they figured out that it must be the BCM which was turning the stereo on when the vehicle was off.

pbnox

I have had my Equinox since May and love it. I did notice the rubbing noise coming from the front of the vehicle, especially at slow speeds and when backing out of the driveway. The noise seems to have gone away, though. I am now at about 3500 miles. Does anyone think that I should bother going through the strut replacement ordeal or just be happy that the noise is gone??? Also, does anyone know if the strut problem poses any kind of operational or safety hazard?

bobbi

You think 19 is bad, on my equinox, i get about 12, on a good day. I'm just waiting until 5,000 miles, i have about 2300 now. hopefully it will get better!