CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2006 Equinox is plagued by a heating problem, as in the heater only blows cold air.
The reported cause of this problem is a small door, known as the air temperature blend door, which allows air to flow past the heater core. This door has a plastic connecting shaft to an electric motor and the shaft is prone to breaking after a few years. The problem has a typical repair cost of over $800.
The 2006 Equinox also has a number of reported problems ranging from the key getting stuck in the ignition, to failing speed sensors, and trouble starting the engine. All in all, this car sounds like one worth avoiding.
File A Safety Defect Investigation Claim As I Did - I filed an official defect investigation claim today. If more of us file on here and request a complaint, then they HAVE to do something about it!
File A Safety Defect In Canada - We all need to ban together and GM to recall this faulty part! I'm sure a lot of you have been told that you were the only one with the problem.... lets prove them wrong! Please file complaints with the Safety boards of the USA and Canada! ALSO PLEASE contact me so that I can get a large group complaint started!
amie_beaton1001@hotmail.com
I have a newer vehicle that has no heat or defrost and is dangerous in the Kansas weather when the windshield frosts over. I have had to drive in freezing rain and could not see without getting out and scraping the windshield multiple times just to get home from work.
A/C fan not working, found loose wire in connector under left kick panel, solved problem...temporarily....now heater blows cold air, bad vent door......Incredible that GM has not recalled this piece of s__ yet, unbelievable how many complaints there are....filed with www.odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/, yesterday.........
Pregnant with a 2 year old in a car seat and no heat! Not having heat when the heater works and having to pay $1,000 to fix a simple piece of plastic seems like a perfect reason to issue a recall.
I just bought this vehicle in August 2011. approx 60 days after purchasing my first car ever, I discover there's no heat - only blows cold air. The dealer obviously knew this was a problem with this type of vehicle and will not work with me on this repair - as I did not buy an extended warranty. The price to repair is $1500!! as I see all the reviews on this vehicle, GM should be forced to fix this problem. Living in the Midwest, heat is not something a person can go without! I think the dealership (Briggs Automotive in Lawrence, KS) should also be held accountable for selling vehicles with known problems!
I have a 2006 Chevy Equinox that the heater does not work. The blower fan and all the
switches are fine. Airflow does change from vent to floor to defrosters.
When I turn the temp knob to hot air, only get cold come out. Does not matter what
setting the mode door is in. Vehicle no longer blows hot air when heat is on therefore the defroster will not blow hot air as well. This is a safety hazard! if windows are fogged or iced during inclement weather you can not see and could cause an accident resulting in fatalities. I found over 500 complaints about the same problem on the internet. Problem seems to be with a plastic temperature door valve (temperature blend door) that is broken.
- onebklyn,
Staten Island, NY, US
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Like others, my 2006 Chevy Equinox began blowing cold air when the heat was supposed to be on. This was diagnosed as a faulty temperature blend door. The true root cause (I've heard) is that the actuator that opens/closes the door isn't tuned correctly and attempts to push the blend door past the point of closure, putting undue stress on the part until it eventually fails. It's a $35-40 part, but the entire dash needs to be removed to access the area, resulting in repair bill estimates of $1,000 - 1,400.
Luckily, I got GM to pay 50%. Here's how:
Step 1: Call GM Customer Service (1.800-222-1020) to file a complaint. Make your complaint appear knowledgeable. I did some quick work to try and figure out if the symptoms matched a blend door problem and noted that. I also mentioned that I've read that poorly designed actuators and a plastic instead of metal blend door are to blame for the widespread problem. This is a manufacturer's defect, a very important term to them. Second, the problem impacts the ability of the car to defrost. As noted in a letter from GM's Director of Product Investigations and Safety to the NHTSA on December 23, 2009, the 2010 Equinox was recalled since a manufacturer’s defect resulted in non-operational defrost systems that was a safety concern, could result in a crash, and violated federal motor vehicle safety standard 103. In other words, GM has admitted on another vehicle that manufacturer’s defects that cause inoperable defrost systems are their responsibility to replace. Lastly, I also mentioned that the NHTSA site has nearly 200 filed complaints about this problem on this vehicle and model year.
Step 2: Go to the dealership service center and ask them to diagnose the issue, and if it is the blend door, make a determination on if it resulted from a manufacturer’s defect. I got a free rental while the vehicle was getting checked, which took about half a day.
Step 3: On confirmation of diagnosis and defect, say that you will not proceed with the repair until GM makes a determination on whether they will pay for the replacement in total or in part. In my case, the dealership called GM directly to plead my case and got me the 50% off. Part of it may have been that they were paying by the day for the rental car I was using, and I assume they get paid the repair costs either way if they do it, which wasn’t guaranteed unless GM participated in payment.
In the end, Chevy’s design has led to a very common problem that is a safety concern for most drivers. They should have recalled the vehicle to fix the issue but haven’t. If possible, do your best to make them pay.
I do hope GM can understand we were supportive of thier new product, and trusting in thier name for quality. I see this car like the chevy Monza,Nova,Matador, Vega, a disaster. In fact why am I still buying American with that track record?
Reach out GM, tax payers did...........Fix the problem
I am so disappointed in this Chevy product. Chronic problems with bearings, brakes, AC and Heater. Costing me thousands! Why don't they RECALL for the Heater issue since so many of us have it!
Never buying chevy again. First and last time. Going back to VW.
i'm just glad i have the internet!!! just as i was on the phone about to order a heater core and go to auto zone to get a thermostat i searched online and found this. this is insane!! this should be a recall. all they are doing is saving money with cheap parts and then charging tons of money to replace a problem that should be free. i plan to do this myself and would like GM to pay me 1000 dollars for doing it myself. when in fact its not the door itself that is the issue. its the actuator that controls the door. the actuator goes past the position it should be in causing the door "hinge" to snap. making this a metal "hinge" doesnt solve the problem but just a bandaid. now that its metal the actuator cant snap the part so the inner plastic part of the actuator will break of the actuator will seize due to not being able to move past the position due to the new metal "hinge"
so GM be prepared for a call and to pay me or fix this for free. and yes i have water coming in under the drivers side floor too. i hear thats another issue with an 06 equinox. GM you suck
had coolant system flushed. following week no heat just cold air. returned car for repair . replaced temp door.one month later..no a/c just heat. gm should recall 2006 equinox and refund the cost of repair. i have 3 chevrolets and i think this is the last chevy for my family. i have my 2 kids driving new cars hoping they are reliable but have been very disappointed. time to shop a different brand.
Ok this is a bunch of Bull S*it. I live in Kansas where the weather always changes. Well guess what the weather got cold and i went to turn on the heater to keep me, my wife and 2 boys warm and guess what it is blowing out cold ass air. Unfortunately that is my main vehicle and have no way to fix it right now. I call chevrolet about the problem and they say that i am going to have to take it to the dealership to get it fixed. Oh and of course no waranty on the damn thing so it is going to have to come out of my pocket.
HEY CHEVY ITS CALLED A FUC*ING RECALL......DO IT. THERE ARE OTHERS WITH THIS SAME DAMN PROBLEM. YOU THINK THAT IT MAY JUST BE A CONCIDENCE THAT THIS PROBLEM KEEPS HAPPENING. THINK ABOUT IT JACKAS*ES.
The heater is not working in my vehicle. The fix is to replace the door in the vent system for too much money. GM should read this page and recall this vehicle for complete repairs to a faulty delivery system. Gm had no problem asking tax payer for bail out due to poor vehicle product and when consumer asks for help with labour costs(10-12hrs plus parts) they are ignored.GM bail outs work both ways step up to the plate and admit this a problem with 06 Equinox and help owners out with some of the cost for your design flaw. A new GM product is not in my future for this very reason.
The actual cost to fix was double or $970.00. GM said that even though the car was out of warranty they would be willing to pay for half of the repair because there was only 30,250 miles on the car. I still feel that Chevrolet should pay for the total amount as it is quite obvious that there is a defective part in the heater that is affecting a growing number of people.
Besides having to have wheel bearings changed two times in two years, a thump that nobody knows what it is, the vanity mirror breaking, and now cold air blowing out when it is 25degrees out?! this car has been nothing but problems. I keep reguar maintenance of this vehicle and my cars before i drove until i ws told by my mechanic that it wasn't worth fixing (ie grand prix 227,000 miles). This needs to be recalled, oh yeah, some pulley(?) went bad, had to replace the alternator, on and on!
It's cold out here!!!!!!!!!!!!! My girlfriend's 2006 equinox's heat is not working....i'm pissed....hell, I'm a mechanic and this is the firt time chevy ever disappointed me! I own two chevy trucks and never had problems! I can't figure why this heat is blowing cold air......I changed the thermostat....checked the pressure valve on top of the water pump......almost tempted to change the radiator, but all hoss have pressure and heat....just no cabin hot air....come on chevy....we bailed u out...now we need help with a faulty design!!!!!!
Heater started blowing cold air on our way home last week. We live in Michigan and it's mighty chilly this time of year! Checked the internet and found numerous complaints like mine. Will check with dealership on Monday. Doesn't sound as if GM is too willing to do much about it. Just retired on a fixed income and the extended warranty I bought expired last October!! Go figure? Who can afford to pay this kind of money nowadays! Usually a do-it-your-self type of guy but this is going to be a pain!!!!!!
This is a ridiculous problem, I had some people tell me it could be the thermostat or a clog somewhere, but from the looks of it it's probably the plastic piece in the vent door! I cannot believe how many people are having this same problem. I contacted Chevy about filing a complaint and they basically told me there is no recall and nothing they can do. When I asked to speak to a supervisor to file an actual complaint they just told me I would be told the same thing, nothing they can do. I had to ask 5 times before I was transfered to management! When I told them about the many complaints i've seen i was told there is nothing they can do because the complaints have to come directly to them. He even looked on the Saftey government website and saw other complaints but said like before if it is not directly to them they can't do anything. So I encourage everyone to really try to contact Chevy to complain, because they need a significant number to recall, and this is definitly a hazard, and definitly a mistake on behalf of the maker. It is there problem to fix, even if you already fixed the problem if it's recalled you can be reimbursed, so please everyone complain to Chevy and make them recall this!!
My heater started blowing out cold air. I have a special needs child and can't really go without a heater in my car especially when it's 30-50 degrees outside.....So far I have gone around looking for estimates and I'm looking at paying around $800, that's been the average...they all said the labor alone was what was the expensive part because of where the problem part is located, the actual part on average was about $150. Times are tough and I don't really have $1,000 bucks to fork out for the heater...I really wish GMC would recall this problem seeing it's happening to a lot....
I really loved and enjoyed driving my 2006 Equinox until on a cold December night my heater began to blow cold air. I got home and commenced to check all the quick fixes,fuses etc. no go still blowing cold air. So I decided to check out heater problems on 2006 Equinox online and low and behold the Air Temp Heater Door came up. Needless to say after reading all the info on how to repair and watching the you tube video I'm a little ticked. This is an issue that has been reported over the last 2 years at least and no recall to date, only read of one person that got help to pay for repairs out of warrenty. GM obviously does not care that it has put a defective part in a car that has to be completely torn down to the frame to repair. In these hard economic times it is shameful of them not to cover at least some of the repair costs. I have contacted GM on their website and reported my grievence and they did call me but I missed the call, they said they will call back tomorrow so hopefully they will have some positive news in regards to repairing my car. Will keep you posted.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I have a newer vehicle that has no heat or defrost and is dangerous in the Kansas weather when the windshield frosts over. I have had to drive in freezing rain and could not see without getting out and scraping the windshield multiple times just to get home from work.
- Randell N., Lenora, KS, US