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Did they check the engine code that was stored from the engine light coming on?
My car had the same stalling problem yours does...that was back in July. The engine codes mine showed were P0011 and P0014. Light came on a total of three times, the first two times it was just the 11 code, then the third time it was both 11 and 14. These codes are for the Cam solenoid Valves. There is a recall for this. RECALL 11195!! Ask them to look up to see if your vehicle qualifies for this recall.
Also, as far as I know, Dexos oil is only "recommended", it's not required. Double check the owner's manual on that though, but I'm pretty sure it just says it's required. As long as you've always used the correct viscosity, then it shouldn't void your warranty if it's not necessarily "Dexos" oil.
The Recall will be done free of charge, they may have to order the parts, but the entire repair includes replacement of BOTH solenoid valves AND update of the ECM. **BOTH steps must be done at the same time, vital to the effectiveness!!**
What is your build date? Mine was 2/11, Feb 23rd, to be exact. I bought mine on 3/31. Unfortunately, they've now done 4 attempted repairs. Each one corrected the problem for a certain amount of time, the third repair kept the problem at bay for 3 months (about 4500 miles) but it came back. I have a start-up noise, horrible mpg (about 17 mpg, whereas I was getting 24 under exact same driving conditions). I've been trying to work with GM, rather than contacting a lemon lawyer, GM agreed to replace my Equinox. They gave me that approval yesterday, so I haven't seen the final details in writing yet, but they will be replacing it.
Let me know if you have any questions, I've been through your situation so I should at least be able to give you a little insight. Good luck.
GM has finally agreed to replace my Equinox. Haven't seen the final details in writing yet, but they are on their way. Just hoping there aren't any strings attached, otherwise I'll be going through a lemon lawyer.
Good luck, look a few posts above and below this post, and you'll see more details that I've posted.
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.
Important bulletins:
Recall 11195 - Recall applies to certain vehicles, ask your dealer if yours qualifies. Covers the replacement of the Cam Shaft Solenoid Valves (two of them) AND an ECM update. BOTH MUST BE DONE AT THE SAME TIME.
PI0562 - This is intended to correct the start-up noise. If the Recall applies, that work must be completed first. If that work does not correct the problem, then the next step is to replace the Cam Shaft Actuators.
The parts in the Recall ARE DIFFERENT than the parts in PI0562, sometimes they are referred to by the same name, actuators, however the part numbers in each bulletin are definitely different, they are different parts.
I am disabled and my husband is in the last stage of heart failure. I have contacted GM and filed a complaint . I am contacted by GM at least once a week . With an update on my case. I am hoping to have this nightmare over before Christmas. I agree the lemon law should take care of this issue .Everyone should be compensated for the inconveince. On a side note the dealer has been really nice and helpful. Their service department is the best I have ever been to.
My reading of this is that you can use something other than Dexos but, GM will have the final say on if it is equivalent or if it voids your warranty.
It also says that using a non-Dexos oil of the proper viscosity grade is OK to keep engine oil filled but doing so will degrade engine performance. Also in 10-13 it says you must always use an oil that meets the 'Specification, Dexos.'
I just read your post about the " loud engine start up". We've had the same complaint. Took it into dealer a who said that was normal. Turns out it isn't. The car is now at dealer B who is telling us we need a new engine due to low oil. Apparently the Equinoxes don't have a low oil light/indicator and they are burning oil at the rate of 1qt per 1-2,000 miles.
We are waiting to see what the dealer/GM is going to do.
Are you still having the same problem?
My 2011 Nox has been in the shop twice in 2 weeks for new actuautors. The last few days they had to replace the valve actuators which controls the flow of oil. This is after they changed the timing chain and gear and the actuators there. It seems they shipped the 2.4L engine with defective parts. Oil pressure and oil flow are issues Chevy knows about. Keep the threads going because I think we are uncovering major engineering flaws.
Now they are providing us with a rental car. (We were told we should expect the repairs to take a week to ten days. No word on what needs to be replaced, but it sounds like they will be replacing the engine.
I think you are right this might be a GM defect as there are many posts from people complaining their Equinox engine sounds like it doesn’t have any oil or sounds like a diesel engine.
Do not waste your time waiting for GM's next try. The lemon laws only cover the first year of ownership
good luck
If you have any questions regarding this complaint, please contact ODI:
• By phone: 1-888-327-4236 8:00AM to 10:00PM Monday-Friday
TTY: 1-888-424-9153
Have your ODI Number available.
(Spanish-speaking operators available)
• By e-mail: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/contact.cfm
Indicate your ODI Number in the contact form.
Thank you,
Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)
________________________________________
Your situation sounds very close to the one I went through with my 2011 Terrain,you should know the Terrain and Equinox are basically the same vehicle except for the shell.There is an extensive thread in relation to these problems at
http://www.terrainforum.net/index.php?topic=2834.0
With all of your time in the shop you should most certainly qualify for a Lemon Law case (as I did) and I suggest you do that as going these other routes adds just more aggravation to your situation.In most casses if not all you can find a Lemon Law attorney for your state by googling it and they handle your case for free.I am in New Jersey and the firm I used handles other states if you let me know what state you are in I can lead you to them.
The final straw for me was when my Terrain also stalled on the highway as my case was still ongoing,the very next day after stalling GM agreed to replace the vehicle as that is a safety hazard FOR SURE!.
Good luck and if you find the time shoot over to that link and you will see many casses just like yours.
I am now trying to work with GM to get them to replace my vehicle. They originally agreed to replace it, but tried to get me to work with a dealer that had previously LIED to me SEVERAL times on work that had supposedly been done (but was NOT done), then they damaged parts on my car and neglected to tell me, AND THEN it was later discovered that dealer LOST my engine cover. Needless to say, I refuse to have anything to do with that dealer if at all possible. The GM Action Team told me that it was no problem at all for me to switch to a dealer that I had a very positive experience with.. However, one week later, they told me that they are currently undecided on whether or not they will replace the vehicle EVEN THOUGH they previously agreed that they would!! I have to take it in on Monday to let the dealership drive it for a few days and verify the problems at hand - they aren't requiring a repair, they are just requiring the dealership to verify the problems.
I'm a 24 yr old blonde woman, so I 100% understand how you feel, like you're being taken advantage of. All I can say, is that I don't take sh*t from anybody, and when I was having such a hard time with the other dealership, I walked in every day and asked for a report on the vehicle. I called the Service Manager on those days that I couldn't walk in myself. Be persistent, be thorough, and document EVERY little thing. EVERY detail. And no matter what, each time your car goes in for service, make sure that EVERY detail about that visit is typed on that service write-up they give you when you pick up your car. If they experienced the problems themselves, make sure it's written on there - if they found engine codes, make sure that is indicated on that write-up...EVERY DETAIL needs to be noted in writing. This will be HUGE help to you in the future, if you need it.
Good luck. Call the GM Action Team and set up a case if you need to. 1-866-790-5700...they can set up a case with you and they help with communication between you and the dealership...and if you're at that point of considering lemon law case with your vehicle, they can do a little bit to try to avoid having to deal with your lawyer.
I'm trying to get GM to replace it, rather than filing for lemon law with a lawyer. One week ago, they fully agreed to replace the vehicle, but now they are saying that they are undecided and that I have to take it into the dealership for them to verify the problems at hand.
Let me know how yours is turning out. I'm having an aboslutely horrible time with mine. The dealership is on my side, they are ready for this to all come to an end for me, but they also just have to wait for GM to give a firm response.
DOCUMENT EVERYTHING AS IT HAPPENS. And as soon as you are able to file for lemon law, seriously consider doing so. Unfortunately, those that I've spoken with in this forum and another forum, all of the people that have experienced the stalling are STILL unresolved. NONE of these cases have had solid, effective repairs that PERMANENTLY took care of the problem. So, beware that it may not be fixable, and arm yourself accordingly, with information, documentation, and if needed, a lawyer.
Good luck, and please post back when you have an update.
The service advisor at the dealership told us GM has discovered a defect in the Equinox’s engine. She said a part in the engine was under designed and is preventing oil from reaching parts of the engine and that’s why it sounds like a diesel. The poor oil flowing is actually ruining the engine over time. Once it sounds like a diesel the engine’s ruined and has to be replaced. GM will replace the engine at their expense and provide a rental car free of charge.
GM has told the dealership owner (even had him ride with me) and me that it was designed this way. That is utter BS as no engineer (I'm one as is a brother and a brother-in-law who worked for Delphi) would purposefully design in a significant hesitation. It obviously is a design flaw.
The dealership owner also found that a couple of new Equinoxes on his lot also exhibited this issue.
What concerns me mostly are two things (besides being told it is "operating as designed"). First is that the hesitation presents a safety issue when needing to accelerate somewhat aggressively to get into a flow of traffic. Second that this design flaw will lead to premature, but after 100k miles, problems with the transmission. The shop supervisor when I first took it in, about 5 days after I purchased it, said something to the effect that the hesitation/then kicking in can't be good for the transmission in the long term.
I asked the dealership owner to give me an extension on drive-train warranty and he said he had no way of doing that.
Hopefully if enough complaints get posted, GM will see fit to find a fix that engineers this hesitation out of the transmission operation.
I have never owned a new Chevy before, and would NEVER again.
I had to fight with GM, BBB and the dealership for about 5 months, but I ended up with a new 2012 Equinox worth about $5K more (with a minimal usage charge).
Unfortunetly, problems are now developing on the 2012 that has about 1500 miles.... What a mess!
Our Equinox has been at the dealer for over two weeks now. They immediately blamed us for not properly maintain the car telling us we would have to buy a new engine. When we showed them the service records they immediately became apologetic and provided us with a loaner car. Now they are telling us GM knows of a defect in the engine and there’s a run on the replacement parts so they don’t know when the repairs will be completed.
Someone else posted the dealer repaired the engine in their Equinox and they got two blocks from the dealership and the engine failed.
This is the first GM car I purchased. I know GM made terrible cars in the past as in 20 years ago. Are GM cars still that bad? Or is this a result of GM going bankrupt and the government bailing them out?
Mine is still hard shifting pretty badly but too inconsistant to have it do it "on demand" which is what the dealership requires. Love my car but not the headaches that came with it and never feeling confident that it is going to get me from point A to point B. Pretty sad when you pay out with interest almost $30k and don't know if it is going to be trustworthy or not from one day to the next. As I mentioned, should have bought the Honda CRV.....
Cars are complicated and I am not surprised when there are poor design decisions made. What has angered me for years is the "First time we have heard of that problem" BS you get when you go to the dealer. I gave up on Ford years ago when I and 3 of my friends all had AC leaks on Taurus and Explorers with in 6 months of each other. And we were all told by same dealer "First time they had that problem." Have had a Vibe for 150,000 miles with virtually no problems... of course under the skin is Toyota product. So I either bravely or foolishly decided to try the Equinox. Almost immediately found I had been mislead on MPG, Onstar phone is for those with perfect dictation, have occasionally heard the start-up diesel rattle, and now I have to warn my wife to watch for the check engine light and tell me immediately any strange noises she hears on her 6000 mile old car. Then there is the RECALL some owners have received while others of us are ignored? So far the only remedy I see GM using is to have a Customer Rep trolling sites like Edmunds to offer "assistance." My local dealer should be my Customer Rep... they do not sell that many Equinoxs. Guess they do not expect to sell me another car for 5 years so who cares. BTW Don't forget the GM Card Rebate scam they took me for... sent me a "Top Off" deal but "oops, your rebates expired 2 weeks before you bought your car." I wanted to support GM and my local dealer but I am now SO SORRY I did not do more to check out Toyota & Kia deals.
If you have not heard the start-up 'low oil-diesel" sound you are indeed fortunate. What has me most concerned now is if I start getting the check engine light... that seems to start the down cycle...
Can you imagine getting check engine light on your $28000 vehicle with say less than 10,000 miles on it? Hell, even if it had 30,000 miles I wouldn't be happy. I have prepared my wife... if we get the check engine light, we get it fixed once... and trade it! And no it will not be for another US product!
They're made of aluminium so any abnormal oil flow and wear will beat them up pretty quickly. An out of spec cylinder bore should be totally unacceptable.
Anyone else remember the Vega alum engines...
I nursed mine along for years...
My personal take is this is a oil issue not a alum block issue...
Hasn't this engine been in use worldwide for a long time?
Or was that just another of the sales pitches I fell for?
As for the 'bad' gas I don't buy that either...
There are a lot of people using off brand gas with zero problems!
BTW a golfing friend's wife just had Check Engine light come on twice...
Her's is a Lucerne (engine?) about 2 years old....
I doubt if it has even 20000 miles on it. Not a good sign.
And no it was not the gas cap... Dealer's first repair. Back on 2 days later.
How's your vehicle repairs going? How's your vehicle running?
Firstly, aluminum engines need to be carefully warmed up before driving.
Secondly, the valve timing arrangement is very sensitive to clean oil because oil pressure is used as hydraulic fluid to operate the system. To ensure reliability some manufacturers recommend changing the oil every three months or 3750 miles which ever occurs first.
Gas sold in the United States if federally regulated and is approved use in all cars sold in the US. (Take a look in your owner’s manual.) I hope they didn’t tell you to purchase premium gas, as all cars sold in the US are federally required to run on regular gas. Use regular and your gas millage will improve as there is more energy in gallon of regular gas then in a gallon of premium.
Although fuel standards are improving, in the US and Canada some gasoline may have high sulphur levels that can cause additional oil contamination and fuel injector problems on these engines.
1st time the car was in the shop was for the loud noise upon engine startup. At that time I was told they had to order the camshaft actuators.
2nd brought it back for the camshaft actuators to be installed to fix loud engine noise.
I have been told multiple things by the dealership.
This is the way the engine is suppose to sound. Wrong answer. No new car I have ever sounds like a loud muffler.
I just had a technician come back from Chicago and all the techs at this conference said to use heavier oil.
They now want to put a insulator on some part so that you cannot hear it. To me that is a bandaid fix. There is an engine problem here.
The problem is they do not know how to fix and neither does GM and GM will not step up to the plate and admit it.
3rd time back to the dealership. Cam shaft actuators were put on and still continuing to get loud noise on cold start. It does not happen when it is warm outside or if you have been driving and the vehicle is already warm. They kept it for one day and said they did not hear anything. They need to keep for about 2 weeks but would not do that.
4th time back to the dealership same loud noise upon engine cold start and now the vehicle stalls. Very scary. Driving along and it just quits. Quits upon starting. Quits stopping at a light. This time I had them pick the vehicle up because I am scared to drive it. Have not heard back from the dealership yet today.
Having a new car is suppose to be stress free. Not only that I called GM customer service to voice my complaints and that was just one big joke. First they love to play telephone tag. I eventually ended up talking to a district rep named Tony. Who turn out to be a real jerk. He said that there was nothing he could do for me and that I had to follow the warranty. I told him that I wanted to speak to a supervisor over him and he preceded to tell me that he was it and did not answer to anyone. I said you do not have a boss. You do not answer to anyone. They are on vacation. I asked do they have an email or phone number. I cannot give that out. This compliant will be taken higher believe me.
What really gets me is that GM knows there are issues with the 2011 4cylinder EQUINOX. I should not have to go back to the dealership 4 times with a new car. I signed a paper when I turned my trade in saying it was not junk. I expect the same in return. Boy would I like to have my CAMRY back right now. It never gave my any problems.
AGAIN BEWARE OF THE GM GENERAL MOTORS THEY DO NOT CARE!!!