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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
62,819 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.

2012 Chevrolet Equinox engine problems

engine problem

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2012 Chevrolet Equinox Owner Comments (Page 9 of 18)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #186

Feb 282019

Equinox

  • 107,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My wife was driving down the highway and she received a warning stating 'reduced engine power' and 'service stabilitack'. wishing a few seconds of this her car died on the highway and would not start back up. Upon initial review the PCV line was blocked with ice as it was single digit temperature. When I checked the oil level there was nothing. The oil light never came on according to my wife. I put 2 quarts of oil in the car and it started back up, however it barely made it 4 miles back to the house before the oil was gone and the undercarriage of my vehicle was smoking from the oil coming out. This is exactly described in bulletin 14882. My car has just over 107K miles and appears meet all criteria of said bulk item. However, upon speaking with Chevrolet about this bulletin. My car is not covered.

- Blackwell, OK, USA

problem #185

Mar 062019

Equinox

  • 84,596 miles
Frozen pvc system forcing rear main seals to blow out. The car started fine but soon started trying to cut off...battery light came on. Car soon cut off. This car only has 84,596 miles on it.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

problem #184

Mar 032019

Equinox

  • 104,000 miles
While driving to the gas station, and then to work, my vehicle got very sluggish while going down the highway but then resumed normal operation. I stopped to get gas and look over the exterior of the vehicle and found nothing to be out of the ordinary. I filled the gas tank and proceeded to drive the 1 mile to my place of employment. When pulling into the parking lot, I began hearing a knocking sound that I recognized immediately. I parked the vehicle immediately and looked around again. That is when I saw the oil on the ground. I examined the engine to look for the source of the oil leak. The oil filter, drain plug, and drain pan all were clean and dry. There was oil on the frame and the underside of the floorboard that can be seen from underneath the vehicle. After a few internet searches, I found a service bulletin (#14882) that told me everything that had happened. The temperature was well below freezing that day and it was snowing. I have a strong suspicion that the water that had made it's way into the PCV system had frozen, the pressure built up until it forced the rear main oil seal out resulting in all of the oil in my vehicle to exit the engine during my drive. The service bulletin indicated that Chevrolet and GM knew about the condition and yet did nothing to solve the issue.

- Englewood, CO, USA

problem #183

Feb 192019

Equinox

  • 88,567 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While my 20 year old son was driving my 2012 Chevy Equinox with 88567 miles to work along back country roads at 6am on a dark cold Michigan morning he noticed the smell of burning oil while pulling into his employers parking lot. As it got lighter out thru the morning he noticed that the whole rear of the vehicle was covered in oil, with further investigation he discovered the whole under carriage was also covered in oil. Had him get vehicle towed to dealership where they diagnosed the issue as a rear main seal blown due to a clogged PCV valve, which matches a service bulletin (14882) in which dealership would not honor because of limited VIN's included per bulletin.

- Manchester, MI, USA

problem #182

Feb 132019

Equinox

  • 107,450 miles
My vehicle loses power for maybe 30 seconds then it starts up again this is happened three times and this time while pulling onto the road the vehicle lost power and I almost had an accident is there a recall for this problem

- Orlando, FL, USA

problem #181

Jan 302019

Equinox

  • 67,000 miles
I was driving on the freeway on a very cold morning. All of a sudden I heard a pop sound and my car would not work. I have only 67,000 miles on my car. The entire engine failed and had to be replaced. My mechanic said that in the past 2 weeks he had 3 other people with the same problem. According to him the engine is not made properly because if condensation builds up it has no way to be released and it blows the engine. Ironically when I called my boss to tell her she said she had the exact thing happen to her 2 weeks ago on her Equinox.

- Royal Oak, MI, USA

problem #180

Oct 012018

Equinox

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Oil consumption

- Hammonton, NJ, USA

problem #179

Feb 042019

Equinox

  • 153,000 miles
Heard loud tapping noise in engine compartment when started up stoped engine checked oil level did not have any oil just changed oil two weeks ago and hardly drove anywhere no oil leaks anywhere plus oil light never came on"???"

- Modesto, CA, USA

problem #178

Jan 152019

Equinox

  • 172,450 miles
My 2012 Chevrolet Equinox timing chain broke only after 3 year whybi was driving at 35 mph a hour kept hearing this noise. I see it's over 1000 complaints on just this part alone and it's a big safety issue and it's gkong to court me 2800 to get it fix

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

problem #177

Jan 302019

Equinox

  • miles
Whenever I'm driving and park not all the time switch the key off but the truck wants to crank back up on its own it just be sitting still and it tries to turn the motor on it's getting a little freaky and I don't like that

- Adrian, GA, USA

problem #176

Jan 212019

Equinox

  • 170,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The timing chain had to be replaced at 140,000 miles. ($2,000) [occurred Jan. 2018] their is an issue causing with leaky pistons causing oil to evaporate. My car was low on oil (though the "low oil" indicator had not gone off) and the pressure inside the engine caused the rear main seal to break. (replacement of refurbished engine + labor est. $4,000) [occurred Jan 2018 at 170,000 miles) not to mention that the back, left door is closed, though a sensor says it is ajar. The sensors in the tires are always way off, tempting me to over-inflate tires. [infinity.]

- Marshall, MI, USA

problem #175

Jan 232019

Equinox

  • 87,527 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the engine failed. When the contact attempted to start the vehicle, the engine failed to start. When the engine finally started, it would shut off soon after. The failure occurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the oil control, variable timing, and solenoid valves failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 16V502000 (electrical system, power train). The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The failure mileage was 87,527.

- Granite City, IL, USA

problem #174

Jan 212019

Equinox 4-cyl

  • 119,000 miles
To whom it may concern, I am emailing you regarding my 2012 Chevy Equinox and a rear main seal issue. I found the below service bulletin regarding special coverage in March of 2015 regarding the issue related to my vehicle. I was not informed of this issue in purchasing my vehicle from team one Chevrolet in charlotte, mi and I have received any assistance from GM. I have basically been told that it is too bad that my vehicle is not part of the associated vins that will actually fall within this coverage. On Monday, January 21st we had exceptionally cold weather in lansing, mi and my rear main seal broke. This was due to default from the pvc, which is stated in this bulletin. Upon reaching out to my local dealership, this issue is not covered. In reading the bulletin, my car is one of the impacted cars; however, my VIN does not match the list of 'impacted' vins. There is no location where the 'impacted" vins are located for public view and I am very disappoint with the way GM is and has handled this issue. How it is possible that a document does not include the vins associated and you have to trust the dealership to tell you if your vehicle qualifies. I am including the special coverage bulletin below, as well as a forum of upset customers who also have this vehicle. Https://GM.oemdtc.com/tsb/sb-10057977-8108.pdf https://www.equinoxforum.net/23-Equinox-general-discussion/15305-rear-main-seal-leak-2.html I hope to see GM make this right in the future and support the safety of their customers. I can say that my family all work for GM and I purposely went with GM for this reason. Unless this is corrected, I will not again. Sincerely, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Ionia, MI, USA

problem #173

Jan 212019

Equinox

  • 68,000 miles
Uses oil lots had to replace timing chain at only 67000 miles now back in shop for another GM known issue but they won't cover it had the pvc freeze up which created extra pressure in crank case and blew out my main rear seal lost all oil in engine and while it had no oil no warning lights came on I knew to shut off engine with some knocking noise I have two small kids and this is a live and death issue that GM won't take care of they published bulletin on this for my make and year of car but I put in my VIN and it's not covered even tho it's the same part and design that's in question I don't know how GM can get away with this the car is a death trap after this repair I'll put in over $4000 in repairs I think they need to replace this engine with a different type people are gonna be killed by this

- Lakewood, OH, USA

problem #172

Nov 132018

Equinox

  • 163,000 miles
Had to have both converters replaced and they replaced the upstream O2 sensor as well. November 13, 2018 the car would barely pull a hill, and would act like it was going to cut off. We replaced the downstream O2 sensor which took care of the check engine light, and then we did an oil change on November 17, 2018. We have kept up with all the maintenance as recommended with dexos oil. The car is still acting very sluggish and lurches or revs to a higher RPM while driving at times. After the oil change to December 15th, I had put an additional gallon and a half of oil in the car besides what was put in during the oil change. On December 15th, went to check the oil and noticed a slimy yellowish white substance in the oil cap of the car. Advised me to clean the cap out real good and dry it out. Do an oil change to make sure the oil looked fine and was not cloudy. We also checked the antifreeze to make sure there was no oil present. We did another oil change and did everything our dealership told us to do, found the oil looked fine, but smelled of gas. That is when we started looking online and found the other complaints. Right now don't have the thousands of extra funds to send it to the shop or replace the engine, but from other complaints that looks like what is going to have to happen. Saturday spoke with a tech at a Chevrolet dealership and he said it is a known issue with my car, and that GM sent out a bulletin in 2017 but that my car would not be covered as it is over the 140,000 miles limit since my car is currently 165,000 miles on it. We are currently checking the oil every 2-3 days and putting oil in as needed, as this week along we have added almost 2 quarts of oils and have went less than 200 miles. I refuse to drive it on the highway as I'm afraid that something is going to happen and I'm going to be in an accident, so I take all back roads.

- Maysville, GA, USA

problem #171

Jan 142019

Equinox

  • 122,000 miles
My 2012 Equinox has about 122,000 miles on it. I bout it in 2012, new. About 3 weeks ago, it frequently began to jerk and almost stall out when in drive and at a stop. I would have to put it in neutral most times to keep it from jerking so hard. It also ran very loudly. Then a few days ago the engine light came on, but then went off after I filled up my gas tank. I took my car to the dealership yesterday and they said my car was low on oil, so I told them that it was due for an oil change and they did. But the also said that I needed to replace my timing chain, which would be about $2000 dollars and they said that my car may be burning oil and if that's the case then I would need to replace timing chain and pistons and the price would be double. I picked my car up yesterday after the oil was changed and the care drove fine. Then, this afternoon while in the car line to pick up my son from school. My car completely stalled out while in drive and at a complete stop. It easily restarted but then stalled out again about 2 minutes late in the line. I was able to make it home after that but I am now concerned for my family's safety when driving a car that stalls out while in drive. I read up on my vehicle and found that there are numerous complaints from others with the same make, model, and year. Something definitely needs to be done about this as GM doesn't seem to care. Thank you.

- Centerton, AR, USA

problem #170

Dec 102018

Equinox

  • 42,000 miles
Sudden loss of oil.

- Belle Vernon, PA, USA

problem #169

Dec 122018

Equinox

  • 165,000 miles
Car is using excessive amounts of oil. Car is maintained on a regular basis. Oil is being checked every 2-3 days due to amount of oil being used at which time I have to add about 2 quarts of oil to car. I habe only had car 17 months and have already replaced both oxygen sensors both catalyst convertors and done 3 oil changes. Only use oil with dexos in it as recommended. Check engine like has come on a couple times with code saying running too rich. Oil smells like gasoline on the stick. Habe also had a white slimey substance on the oil cap. Spoke with repair tech at Chevy dealership and he stated its a known issue with my engine. Bullentin does not cover my car since I have 165,000 miles on it.

- Maysville, GA, USA

problem #168

Jun 142017

Equinox

  • 45,000 miles
This vehicle frequently loses charge on battery battery and alternator are new. Vehicle has less than 70K miles also throws up computer codes radio turns on and off when it wants to. I purchased it used with 40K miles and has been a problem since. I have quotes for over 2K in repairs and was told at time of purchase all recalls were cared for. Was purchased certified preowned from a dealership. Every time I fix something there's another problem.

- Punta Gorda, FL, USA

problem #167

Dec 012018

Equinox

  • 58,000 miles
Exhaust cam shaft solenoid valve replaced 3 times within 1 year. Cam shaft intake accuator replaced 1 time. Engine check light came on while traveling on freeway. Error code P0014/P0013 confirmed by dealership at time of repairs. Recently had front windshield wiper transmission failed. Also while traveling via freeway during a heavy rain storm this car has 58000 miles at this time and very well maintained.

- Ravensdale, WA, USA

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