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.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
90,866 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My 2006 Chevrolet Equinox blows cold air will not defrost windshield. And while driving I push the gas pedal and it-??s like surges and jumps. The car manufacturer knows about the issues and they don-??t vare
When pressing on the brake pedal you get constant vibration causing you to skid. It happens when your going straight or turning when you press on the brake pedal. It almost caused me to skid into the car in front of me. And also defrost is not working causing visibility issues especially in the cold and snow.
Weak plastic in the blend door of the HVAC system causes door to break and get stuck in the "cold" position. No heat in snow and freezing rain means your windshield will not defrost and visibility drops becoming hazardous in poor weather conditions.
One wiper blade quit functioning and causes severe danger to the driver. Heater quit working causing fogging issues and keeping my kids & wife in danger. Apparently these issues are very common according to the 2009 report GM recalled 59,000 vehicles for this issue but our vehicle was not included in the recall.
My heater only blows cold air. This is a major safety concern. When my windshield has a layer of frost or snow on it, I have no ability to clear it by way of utilizing my defrost. I drive with all of my windows down and windshield wipers moving constantly in attempts to see. Chevy is aware that they made a part that is defective. They extended a warranty on a cheap plastic part that tends to break at 60,000 that was covered until 2016 or 120,000 miles. I however did not have any issues until outside of the warranty. I don't scan recalls on my vehicle if I'm not experiencing issues at the time. My cheap defective part broke when under 58,000 miles and unfortunately in 2017. Chevy hides behind this and is not willing to fix a defective part and ultimately defective manufacturing. This is a defective manufacturing issue that Chevy does not take responsibility for and is ultimately a safety issue. Chevy needs to pay for it to be fixed-period.
- San Francisco, CA, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox. After restarting the vehicle, the heater blower only blew out cold air and was unable to defrost the windshield. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (jim butler Chevrolet in fenton, mo) where it was diagnosed that the blower arm was damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 52,000.
Temp control door failed causing no defogging/defrosting in car. Chevy is aware of this problem which could cause driver inability to see thru windshield and has recalled some year models, but not 2006 models. I replaced at my expense for $1162.49. The part is not expensive, requires many hours of taking apart dashboard.
ABS activation at low speeds on dry pavement. This happens randomly and changes the vehicle breaking distance. It is also unknown how much it will change the distance. So it can potentially cause a low speed impact accident. This is due to not knowing where to break for proper stopping distance. Engine problem when starting vehicle. The vehicle turns over then stalls. Only way I have found to prevent it from happening is to press the gas pedal while turning it over. Wiper issue. My passenger side windshield wiper doesn't work. I live in an area where heavy snow fall happens. This is a danger to myself and others on the road. If my vehicle is on the road during a blizzard or heavy snow visibility is lost on half my windshield.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that there was an intermittent electrical short in which the vent controls failed to work for heat or cold air. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 09V489000 (visibility). The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician replaced the motor blower, resistor, blower and pit tail; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for further inspection. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 117,480.
The heating system suddenly failed and blows cold air affecting the vehicles windshield defrosting ability. This is a manufacturer's defect. 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 in-operable defrost systems are their responsibility to replace. Chevrolet Equinox drivers are at stake. Not having the ability to defrost your windshield could lead to traffic accidents vehicle damage, injury and possible death. I am requesting the NHTSA to investigate this and order GM to replace the defected part / parts and refund repair cost to those of us who have or will have to pay for these expensive repairs.
Heater and defroster are not working. Blower works great but in the winter cold air does not defrost windshield. There is no warm air at all. This makes driving conditions very difficult in the cold weather. My wife depends on this car to get to work every day. I understand that the issue is a part that costs abaut $65 but the labor cost is abaut $1000 we cannot afford to pay that. Chevrolet should step up and put a recall on for this issue.
Heater / defrost system stopped working. Only blowing cold air. Live in Idaho and temperatures get below zero. No way to defrost windshield causing a safety hazard. Chevy dealership quoted repair of the heater vent door actuator at $1200, since the entire dash board needs to be removed. History shows several issues with door actuator malfunction.
Failure of the HVAC blend door [1] has made defrosting the forward windshield in cold temperatures impossible. This is a safety issue because of the limiting of visibility and in violation of standard 103 [2] from the U.S. department of transportation. GM has admitted a design flaw in the HVAC blend door actuator in that a dealer replacement uses an updated HVAC blend door actuator which more accurately limits the rotational travel. The failure of the HVAC blend door occurs because the original faulty designed HVAC blend door actuator travels too far causing structural stress on the blend door which eventually leads to premature failure of the blend door. This results in vent air not passing over the heat core, therefore making defrosting of the windshield not possible in cold conditions.
Temp door actuator broke leaving me without heat to defrost windows. Repair cost of door $50 cost of labor $1200. The door is made of cheap plastic but the entire firewall must be remove to replace part. Then my engine blew 1 year later. Cost $1700. Now my engine blew again.
The heater vent door has become inoperable resulting in no heat entering the cabin. I understand this is happening to many other people but yet no recalls have been issued by GM (only service bulletins). This is a flawed design and is a hazardous safety issue during an ice/snow event. The vehicle also began overheating for no apparent reason (even after replacing the water pump, thermostat & flushing the system). These symptoms all began shortly after the heating problem matured. Related or not, there are many other people out there that are experiencing similar problems with similar (major) expense in trying to resolve the issue(s). There is something flawed in the design of this coolant/heating system and GM should be held accountable!!
The heater started blowing cold air while driving not allowing the windshield to defrost and limiting visibility. I had to pull over multiple times to wipe windshield down to see so I could get home. Nearly caused an accident.
The blend door broke and was replaced for only $50 due to carmax dealer warranty. Now my car has 115K miles on it and the heater is blowing cold air again. I believe it's the same problem, a broken blend door. I can't believe I have to replace it again! this needs to be addressed. This is a huge safety issue that needs to be recalled.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Loganville , GA, USA