When the engine started overheating, I went through the regular round of steps. Flushed/topped off coolant and replaced thermostat. It got worse and then developed a leak in the water pump, so I replaced the water pump. It kept getting worse, so I bought an engine block test (aka chem test) to confirm the leaky head gasket. $2400 later I have a running car again.

I suspect the water pump failed because the exhaust leaking into the coolant caused higher pressure than normal. If your equinox engine is overheating, don't waste any time or money doing anything to it except the head gasket.

this car has been nothing but trouble since purchasing. shaking, engine issues, every time that I turn around there is another issue - GM should be ashamed of themselves and now I see why I never bought a Chevy everyone told me not to do it. I wish I would have listened worse purchase ever - I will never purchase another one of these vehicle - I usually stick with Buick - Buick here I come as soon as I can

Update from Apr 2, 2017: Had to have a new engine installed problem is fixed.

Bought 2005 Equinox LT AWD new in June of 2005. Manual says to have coolant flushed at 50k miles. Well, in Dec. 2011, at 40k miles, check engine light came on and OnStar said it was cylinder misfire. Chevy dealership said both head gaskets blown. They also said this was very common and they are telling people to have coolant flushed every 36k instead. Cost $1800. They did give me a break on labor. The dealership also provided a rental car for the 2 weeks I was without car.

Well, since then I've had coolant flushed at 60k, and here I am at about 73k miles, and almost 5 years later, and head gasket blown again. I purchased an extended warranty after the first time, so they will cover some of the repairs. I'm out the diagnostic fee, the deductible, and the machine shop charge (unless the heads come back warped or damaged). Car rental coverage only good for 5 days, $30/day max. Takes 2 weeks. Car repair place says these aluminum engines are highly prone to this. Unfortunately am forced to start looking for a new car. Extended warranty expires on 11/30/16 and I'm not taking any more chances.

Car overheated quickly with no indication of a problem. Car was driven to safe location> Head gasket had blown, all coolant was lost. THERE WAS no indication of an issue before gasket blew. Heads had to be machined April 1014. This is a Chevy defect and there should be a recall for at least one free repair when these gaskets blow. Just over two years later, May 2016 at 81500 gasket blows again. NO WARNING this time either, gasket blew, heads had to be machined. So far over $3000 in repairs to a 81,500 mile GM motor. This is a crime.

I kept my car maintained well above average, always used synthetic oils, kept all fluid replaced regularly, the works. Drove my car like a grandpa, not a lead foot. One day the engine starts to overheat, all my radiator fluid is almost completely gone.

Let car cool down, fill er up, and go on my way. An hour later, loud noise from engine, then smoke.

Intake manifold gaskets and head gaskets all fail, drawing radiator fluid into my engine block, cracked both heads. Yeah it was out of warranty, but should have never happened. Cheap shoddy UNION scumbag work, inferior sealants and gaskets, just built like cheap garbage.

Cost me a bundle to fix, because I can't afford a new car. Never ran good after the repairs. I wouldn't buy a GM car ever again.

At 38k, in Dec. of 2011, my check engine light went on. Onstar said it was Cylinder Misfire. Took to dealership. Blown head gasket. Cost $1800 to have fixed. No engine damage, fortunately. Dealer was good and gave me a free rental for 10 days. They said this is a known problem with GM due to Dexcoolant. They suggest coolant flush every 36k (manual says every 50k). Google reveals there was a class action lawsuit that had to have been claimed by Dec. 2008. Issue affects lots of GM models with Aluminum engines and the use of Dex Coolant. I have since bought an extended warranty from Carchex, but fortunately no blown head gasket again. Vehicle has 69k miles on it now. Still have it. Will never buy a GM again.

I bought this truck used on 2/2015 it had one owner and she had a routine maintenance schedule. I drove it around town for approx 3 weeks the water pump went bad 2x. A week later it started to run hot, I could hear water in the dash, the check engine light came on, then white smoke/steam came from the exhaust pipes. Took it to my mechanic and they said the heads were blown. It was very upsetting because the dealership i brought it from wouldn't even help me fix the problem. I ended up without transportation for 1 week but I ended up paying $1720 for the repairs. I haven't had any problems since. I also have to replace the egr valve pipe that has a small hole in it. I have researched online and see that I am not the only person having/had this problem. Someone has to take responsibility for these faulty engines.

I had my Equinox for 4 yrs and I had to replace the whole engine. The mechanic told me that the oil had gelled up in the bottom of the oil pan which cause my engine to blow. I had replace my engine and could not afford a new one so I got a used engine that had only 35,000 miles on it. Since I have replaced the engine I have had no problems with my car except for the typical maintenance that needs done such as the tires, shocks, brakes, back wheel bearings, and the front stabilizers and the overflow tank.

Its hard to find any Equinox's in the junk yards for parts such as a door handle and things like that. I now have 178,000 miles on it an it runs like a champ now. It gets me to were ever I need to go in the winter an never get stuck. The only thing I see that makes me mad is the oil has to be the exact oil in the manual or my oil light comes on an no synthetics either. That's the only thing that is a pain other them that its a champ after I changed the whole engine.....

When the Dealer gave me the $2000 estimate to repair the blown head gasket I almost fainted. I asked them if there was any type of warranty or cost adjustment to help with the cost but they said no. I stated that I had over the last 20 years I had purchased 5 vehicles from them but they did not care. I mentioned that if you do an internet search on 2005 equinox problems, a blown head gasket is #1 and people have done numerous YouTube videos on replacing it themselves. Again the dealer did not care since they stated that there is nothing from GM about this being a warranty issue. When I called both the regional GM office as well as GM customer service, they both gave me the same answer. They acknowledge that although there are 'some' reports of this issue there was not enough of them to have GM do anything for the customer. All those years being a loyal customer and I get it stuck up you know where. This is another reason Not to by a GM product !

Not aware of the engine defect with blown gaskets, I bought this car for a great price from a dealer. The dealer said several times that if any mechanical problems developed they would cover 50% of the parts costs. I thought that was an odd thing to say, but didn't dwell as the Equinox was running fine.

Within the next few months I started noticing that I had to keep adding coolant to the reservoir. Then I started checking for problems with the Equinox on Google and found out what a lemon I had bought. Since I wasn't getting coolant in the oil, I decided to try intake manifold (head gasket) sealer. They would stop the leak for about 6 months but would eventually fail.

The problem came to a conclusion when the head gasket failed and was boiling the water out of the engine. I had to take the Equinox to a mechanic who had the warped heads (from overheating) and intake manifold milled straight. $2300 Later the Equinox is back on the road. The machinist said that once the heads and intake manifold are milled they never come back for repair again. I'm not taking that chance. I'm dumping this Government Motors POS and buying foreign.