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Comments
Any suggestions?
Should I change the rotors completely?
HOW CAN ONE BLAME THE VEHICLE FOR RUNNING OVER AN ISLAND.
American companies have been out sourcing consumer goods for ages.
Whats wrong with GM saving some money by out sourcing the assembly of their V6?
The 3.4L engine in the Equinox is a proven GM design which is assembled overseas.
My family have easily put 200,000 miles on these engines.
It is a reliable engine design, thats easy to assemble, and has a timing chain which lasts the life of the engine.
I also save $400+ every 60,000 miles, since I don't have replace a timingbelt/waterpump, like you have to, on those so-called reliable "Hi tech" foreign engines.
I also had a problem with the vehicle not starting last week. It took about 5 tries and it finally started. Also, I'm still getting the clunk, clunk clunk in rear when I first start the vehicle occasionally. I would appreciate some help from someone.
And check the spot welds if you haven't already:
jacciarri, "Chevrolet Equinox Maintenance and Repair" #956, 16 Dec 2006 10:10 am
And yes what's with that gas consumption I think it's very bad, I had the venture before, we thought it would be the same since it's also 3.4L and yet it's not.
Fortunately, I do not have the starting problem. Also,the hesitation issue seems to happen more coming from a steady cruising about 50-60 mph, slowing down , then pressing the gas pedal slowly to regain speed. If I press the pedal harder to give the engine more gas , the hesitation issue does not come into play.
Has your service dealership been able to fix your Equinox to your satisfaction or are you still having the same problems? If fixed , can you please post the service details ? Thanks.
As far as the front suspension goes, I had the NOX in a few weeks ago for the knocking in the front end and was told that it was a stablizer bushing in th esteering. Dealer replaced it and it was fine for about 4 miles then it started again. Today my service reciept states that they had to replace the entire electronic steering assembly. Dorve it home(about 10 miles) with no knocking, but the steering is extremely tight and very responsive. The NOX has never driven like this so we shall see how long it lasts. :P
Good luck with your 'nox.
I wouldn't try anything less than 35 psi, always set them to what the manufacture says, and when the tires are cold.
problem is, tires are not all alike. the sidewall rating on a mini-van or suv or cuv tire made by bridgestone isn't likely to have the same rating as that on a michelin.
so, what do ya do?
Uh, not exactly.
Tires are standardized and the key is the size. If you use the same size, then the pressure listed on the placard is appropriate from a load carrying capacity point of view. Will you get exactly the same ride and handling characterisitics? Pretty close, but these 2 properties can be changed without a change in inflation pressure.
It is not true that changing from the original tire changes the appropriateness of the inflation pressure. At that pressure, a tire - regardless of who manufacturers it - will still have the same load carrying capacity - and of all the things a tire does, that is the most important.
you're telling me i should be running both tires to the same inflation pressure; i.e. the value on the vehicle placard?
The air in the tire does not know what companie built the tire its in. P.S.I=(pressior/square inch). It doesn't matter if its a Goodyear, Bridgestone, Firestone ect or if it's on a car, suv, van. It's calculated by pressior per square inch.
i'm just trying to understand your points.
here's a rhetorical question in response to the questions you're asking of me:
how does a run-flat tire manage to support itself when the pressure inside the tire vs. atmospheric pressure outside the tire are essentially the same?
Max pressure on the sidewall? This is controlled by a government regulation and not some technical property. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be an agreement as to what the regulation really says is supposed to be there, so you'll get different pressures, even though the tires are designed to the same basic standard.
RunFlat tires? What holds the tires up in regular tires is, of course, the air pressure. What the pressure really does is pretension the casing and prevents the casing from going into compression.
In a RunFlat, the casing goes into compression when operated without inflation pressure and a very stiff and thick column of rubber then supports the weight of the vehicle. The obvious disadvantages to this column of rubber is the additional weight (the wrong direction for both ride and handling), the sidewall stiffness (hurts ride), and the cost - and there is a limit as to how far you can travel un-inflated - and how fast.
my other point was, tires are not all designed to have the same max inflation pressure. at least they did not have the same inflation pressure on the two different tires i mentioned (Bridgestone Potenza RE90 and Michelin Symmetry). i'm thinking, and i could be wrong, the placard on the vehicle indicates recommended pressure (for OEM tires) to achieve optimal handling and/or fuel economy.
Now, are you telling me that both tires should be inflated (maximally) to the rating on the sidewall, or maximally to the specification on the placard of the door jam, or are you telling me something different like inflate both tires (optimally) to the rating on the vehicle placard?
I'm still confused.
I'm not quite sure what point you are trying to make.
If it is that is doesn't matter what inflation pressure is in the tires for durability purposes, allow me to point out that a non-Runflat tire will only last a few hundred feet with no pressure, and that even RunFlat tires have an allowable limit before the durability is not assured by the tire manufacturer. I think the limit is pretty much 50 miles.
The same is true if there is inflation pressure. Operating a tire with low pressures causes heat build up in the tire and that can cause the rubber to lose integrity over time. Obviously the lower the pressure, the faster that occurs.
".......my other point was, tires are not all designed to have the same max inflation pressure......"
That isn't quite accurate. A given size tire has the same load curve regardless of who manufactures the tire. And the maximum pressure listed on the sidewall is not a function of the design per se. It is more a function of how folks read the government regulation.
"......at least they did not have the same inflation pressure on the two different tires i mentioned (Bridgestone Potenza RE90 and Michelin Symmetry)......"
I am aware the Michelin reads the government regulation differently than pretty much anyone else. I think the comparison you are making is TRULY all about the government regulation.
"......I'm thinking, and i could be wrong, the placard on the vehicle indicates recommended pressure (for OEM tires) to achieve optimal handling and/or fuel economy......"
My experience says that both handling and fuel economy are enhanced by just a bit more pressure, however the ride degrades a bit - and based on that experience, I take the position that the pressure is more geared towards ride.
".......Now, are you telling me that both tires should be inflated (maximally) to the rating on the sidewall......"
No, that is clearly a usage maximum - independent of the vehicle the tire is on, and colored by the reading of the government regulation.
"........or maximally to the specification on the placard of the door jam...."
Not maximally, but the pressure on the placard is at least appropriate from a load carrying point of view - and IMHO a minimal value - a few more psi won't hurt - with a few exceptions.
"......or are you telling me something different like inflate both tires (optimally) to the rating on the vehicle placard?....."
In a way, that's what I am saying. Read this post over again, and I think you'll get what I am driving at.
My understanding is max inflation pressure on the sidewall is the tire mfg statement of the max pressure that should be put into the tire, period.
Door placard is the auto mfg recommended inflation pressure for the OEM size tire.
I think I agree that placard inflation pressure is slanted toward ride comfort, but that is only my opinion.
With Regard To.
You may also be interested in the Tires, tires, tires discussion.
I'm glad we are back to the original point.
It is the tire size that is important, not what is printed on the sidewall for maximum pressure.
and is it not true that different tires have different sidewall stiffness, possibly even differing sidewall construction (type and number of belts) and yet be of the same dimensions / size?
that door placard located recommendation - it's degree of optimality is gonna change with tire brand IMHO.
i would think you wouldn't want to go below the setting on the vehicle placard correct?
...which brings us to the Ford Explorer tire issue. Ford was saying inflate to X, and Firestone to Y, where X<Y, and we know what happened. do i recollect history incorrectly?
If we confine the discussion to a given size - generally, and I really want to emphasize generally, no, the sidewall construction (number of plies) will be the same regardless of who manufactures the tire. There are several reasons for this, but it boils down to Physics and the fact the ply material comes in discreet increments, so tire manufacturers naturally tend to use the same stuff.
BTW, belts are not part of the sidewall and don't enter into the picture with regard to the load carrying capability of the tire.
"......that door placard located recommendation - it's degree of optimality is gonna change with tire brand IMHO.
i would think you wouldn't want to go below the setting on the vehicle placard correct?....."
Yes, and I am looking at it strictly from a load carrying capacity point of view.
Obviously, there will be some differences between tires that could be "tuned" by inflation pressure to deliver the same ride or handling properties (one or the other), but that doesn't change the validity of the placard pressure and load carrying capacity.
"......which brings us to the Ford Explorer tire issue. Ford was saying inflate to X, and Firestone to Y, where X<Y, and we know what happened. do i recollect history incorrectly?......"
What this historical discussion was all about was what we Tire Engineers refer to as "Reserve Capacity" - the difference between the actual load on the tire and what the load carrying capacity of the tire is at the specified inflation pressure. Ford specified a pressure that resulted in no extra capacity when the vehicle was in its max load condition. Firestone correctly pointed out that this was poor engineering practice, especially considering the average person's tendancy to ignore inflation maintenance which eventually results in badly underinflated tires.
However, it is clear that Firestone had a problem - which they identified. Actually, they identified several problems, but one of them was a combination design / manufacturing problem - and a peculiar one at that! This peculiar problem was of interest to those of us in the engineering community and we took a lesson from it.
I don't know if you have noticed, but many of the SUV's and trucks now come with larger tires - a result of the arguement that Firestone made - Reserve Capacity.