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:
1 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
2 / 0
Average Mileage:
91,644 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 Chevy eqinox has problem with starting since it was new, I took it in GM service when it was 1 year old and told them the car starts hard sometime shuts off couple times before it turns over and GM service manager told me that everything is ok but now it is harder and harder to start it up I also know couple other people that having same problem and when I google the problem I found there is thousands same issues with problems like my with same car, please help. Thanks.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox. While driving approximately 40 mph, the temperature gauge indicator displayed hot as the engine overheated with a burning odor. All the interior windows became extremely foggy and the engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road. There were no flames visible. In addition, the heater intermittently emitted cold air through the vents. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the heater core and flushed the cooling system. On three separate occasions, the thermostat was replaced. The approximate mileage 89,934
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox. While driving approximately 40 mph, the temperature gauge indicator displayed hot as the engine overheated with a burning odor. All the interior windows became extremely foggy and the engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road. There were no flames visible. In addition, the heater intermittently emitted cold air through the vents. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the heater core and flushed the cooling system. On three separate occasions, the thermostat was replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 102,000.
Vehicle started overheating with a jumped idle, I replaced the lower intake, valve seats, O rings, 3 thermostats. It has been bleed for two days now, at first it started to overheat while driving so I bled the cooling system and tried it again. It drove fantastic didnt overheat at all. I pulled into my parking spot which the car had been running there for over an hour no problem. I thought the problem was fixed now its overheating parked and its just inconsistent and leaving my stranded
When my Equinox hit 60,400 miles it was running fine and after parking it for 20 minutes it suddenly ran hot which caused the heads to warp. Chevrolet paid $3000 towards the repair and I paid $1000. They called it a "grace warranty" and gave me a 12 month, 12,000 mile warranty on the repair. The car was repaired but never the same afterwards. Constant overheating and coolant loss issues. I have flushed the system. Changed thermostats twice, and changed the corrosive dexcool antifreeze to the yellow non corrosive universal antifreeze. It ran great for 1 month then started overheating again. The coolant is full, thermostat is new. It is fine while driving, heat begins to climb when stopped.
- Cleveland , OH, USA
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Faulty gaskets (head gasket and intake gasket) lets air into cooling system. The engine coolant was displaced to the overflow tank. I was at a stoplight and the vehicle started to sputter as it started to overheat, was able to get thru the intersection to a service station. Gasket repairs estimated cost $2400.
2006 Chevy Equinox: Heat censor went off all of a sudden, after going less than a block from my house, saying the engine was overheating. We stopped the car and shut off the engine. The engine was super hot and so was everything inside, including the rod you prop the hood open with. We let it cool down and checked the fluids, which looked fine. Oil was fine, coolant fine, etc. We turned the car back on and the censor was off. We drove to the mechanic with no air conditioning running and it never got over heated. A friend said to check the fans to see if they were working. They were not. Then, when we got it to the mechanic they did a chemical test and found a head gasket was blown and it was the quickest chemical change they have ever seen. There was no check engine light or any warning until the incident. This is only the tip of the iceburg. We have only owned this vehicle for 2.5years but we have had the driver window motor replaced, all the door and window seals are bad, both head lights have condensation( poor design, oh and the dealer said $1000 to replace) which keeps blowing the drivers head light, the ignition sticks, the visor on the drivers side fell off in the first month, the crank seal was replaced, the erg valve was replaced, and the windshield replaced after the dealer supoosedly fixed the chip. We did recieve a letter from the dealer offering to buy back our vehicle after 4 months of owning it. We thought they just wanted us to come buy another vehicle and go upsidedown on our loan, since they never give you what you paid for it. Guess we should have taken the offer. Now we wonder, "what is next!" we owe over 6K still and are forking out over 600 in car rental fees.
Car always drove beautiful. Purchased used in January, died in June. Driving under normal conditions and suddenly ran hot. Pulled over and cooled down. Nursed it home pulled over twice in 15 miles to cool down. Diagnosed by ase certified mechanic. Dealer was unavailable by cell. Many complaints on internet and youtube.com about the same situation. Sudden rise in temp like a stuck thermostat, but it's a head gasket....
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox. While driving at approximately 70 mph, the reduced engine power warning light illuminated and the vehicle drastically reduced speed to below 5 mph. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic more than twice and they were not able to replicate the failure. The contact indicated that the independent mechanic replaced the throttle body, the sensor, and reprogrammed the sensor, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000.
I have a 2006 Equinox which I bought in 2010. While I had various "of age" repairs, such as fuel system issues and a fan motor; with the age and mileage, they seemed normal. In 2013 I replaced the egr valve and transmission speed sensor simultaneously; as the code was for egr, but would only intermittently kick in the tss code (the car died in the middle of traffic 3 times before I could get the code to stay so we could find the problem). Among looking online for the problem, it was common, but my dealer would not fix without the code. June, 2014, the brakes started pulsating on the car in low speeds. I would have to pump the brakes to get it to stop. Twice, pumping the brakes at an intersection failed, and nearly resulted in a wreck with my daughter in the car. The ABS and tc lights would come on intermittently. I took it to a mechanic: He evaluated each connection and cleaned them, where the ABS harness connects to the main harness. He found no discrepancies. After 2 more months of dangerous driving, and a whole new set of brakes (all 4), online research prevailed once again. This problem was common; and suggested a rather cheap fix. The 18 in wire harness from the wheel speed sensor to the main harness had an issue. Sure enough I, a woman, after being told the dealership didn't carry the part, ordered it online and replaced it in 15 minutes. No problems since then. May, 2015. What appeared to be a thermostat issue ended up being a coolant reservoir problem. The reservoir was broken, where the plastic nipple that comes out the bottom attaches with the hose. After I contacted all parts stores in the area, I was told while it was common for Chevrolet trucks and Equinox vehicles, the Equinox part was no made available to the parts stores. I had to special order online, thank goodness it worked.
I have owned a 2006 Chevy Equinox since 2008. We recently noticed a swooshing fluid noise coming from the dash. When the car idles the temp light gauge comes on and the needle goes to hot. Took it to bill jacobs Chevrolet in joliet Illinois today and the advised it has a leaky head gasket with a minimum cost to repair of $1500. After researching this on the internet, there have been numerous complaints from consumers with the same exact problem directed to GM and they have done nothing. Many mechanics have said it is a design flaw and GM should be doing a recall.
I replaced the egr valve sensor and hose still getting a code 1404.I don't understand what the main problem could be unless it's the PCM causing problems and it has been changed as well.
I was driving 55 mph down a road, and my car was completely fine, then my car slowed to 40mph, then completely shut off. I was able to pull over on the side of the road. I turned the car off and tried to turn it back on but nothing happened. I waited about ten minutes and tried again and it worked and ran fine afterwards. I have seen many other similar complaints about this and I am concerned with the safety of my vehicle.
Vehicle runs fine, shut it off it won't start. Sometimes it will take 2 or 3 turns to start it other times 10 to 15 minutes to start it. Replaced ignition cylinder, switch and tumblers, thinking this was it. No. no one can fine problem. This is a problem with other 2006 Equinox from the forums I read. This is a safety issue, because it leaves people like me stranded. I have emailed Chevrolet once already and told them if anything happens to me when I get stranded for my family to sue them. Chevrolet told me to take my car to a dealer, I called and the person I talked to told me to bring it in and if the problem didn't happen while the car was there, they would charge me $ $85 per hr., it doesn't happen every day, it might go a month without doing it and then it might do it 3 times in one day. I just bought this car January 2014. I hate to trade it in, because they will just sell it to someone and I don't want it to be someone with children and have this happen to them. So, in ending this complaint I hope that you will look into this 2006 Equinox problem. Thank you !! ( this gets scary to a 63 yr. Women at nighttime ).
Car wont start, turns over but have to put foot on gas to make it start. Sputters for a few seconds and is then ok. Sometimes it takes more than 1 time to start it.
Equinox overheated. We immediately replaced the thermostat and water pump. Did not fix the problem. The Equinox is currently in the shop, the tests showed the Equinox has two cracked heads.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet Equinox. While the vehicle was being serviced, the engine compartment caught fire. The fire was extinguished. The technician diagnosed that the injector O-ring failed. The vehicle was not repaired. A police and a fire report were not filed and no injuries were reported. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 120,381.
We just purchased our 2006 Chevy Equinox on 11-15-2014 an after leaving the dealership we were caught in a snow storm and attempted to turn on the heat to warm up inside. The heat wasn't hot and the defrost would not work either and so need less to say we had to use A/C an crack the windows an constantly wipe windshield to be able to safely drive home. That being said I began to do research on the problem an as searching I am finding out that there are neuromas complaints of the Chevy Equinox having the same problem I have described. Reading the complaints I have found out the repairs are costly and GM has not made any attempts to recall the faulty parts. An so I felt that I had a duty to step up an join the patrons who are also or have experienced the same problem. Unfortunately GM needs to step up an take responsibility for the problems before someone is killed because of faulty parts.
The engine failed. This is mechanic report from Chevy dealership:" The technician performed diagnosis and found misfire on the number 4 cylinder. The exhaust lifter is collapsed causing noise and not operating, also heard a lower end knock from rod bearings, suspect loss of oil pressure at one time to be the cause of internal damage. With the upper and lower internal noises, recommend engine replacement to avoid further repairs due to being run on low oil pressure. ". I had to pay to replace the engine.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Greenfield, WI, USA