There are 25 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2016 Chevrolet Equinoxin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Coming home from a trip without any warning our 2016 equinox scared me when it made a terrible sound lost power and stopped working. We’re 100’s miles away from home on the side of a road in the dark. We called for towing to a dealer payed for a hotel waited till the next day for it to be looked at. Told the engine was blown that the timing belt and everything in there was bent and in pieces 10,000-12,000 dollars to replace. Mind you this car is a ltz and very well talking care of. Without fixing it it’s worth 1000.00. Shame on gmc we should have been notified about issues. This happens at 80,000miles No warranty. I actually thought it caught on fire. Gm step up and take care of your life long customer that have owned Chevy always.
no lights came on my car just became sluggish and I continued to drive up the road trying to get to safe spot to stop and it completely shut off on me I had to push out of road thankfully no one was behind me. I had towed to mechanic and he said my timing belt skipped and it had no oil has bent valves and piston damage and that I need a new engine
Driving vehicle on two days 1/21-1/22/25 both days had a high of zero degrees, vehicle say for 4 hours at work outside and then was driven the 1 mile home. As pulling down my street car started running rough. Pulled into my garage looked and there was a oil steak up my driveway . My wife called me and when I got home I looked under car and looked like several quarts of oil on floor under car. She said no warning lights came on. I had it towed the next day to a local garage. He inspected the vehicle and said rear seal was blown and that there is knock in engine , so basically shot. We bought the car new in 2016 and it has less the. 90k miles. I contacted Chevy and they said nothing is out about that year. I contacted local Chevy dealer and was told this is a known pvc freeze issue with equinoxes and this engine but it has not been recalled. There is a Chevy bulliten about this issue that is the same engine but the bulliten covers 2010-1014. This is the same exact issue in the same exact engine. On my hat service bulliten they have increased the warranty to 10year 100k and are covering the repairs. But they will do nothing and ignore the issue on every other vehicle with this engine and this flaw. Lucky my wife made it home safe I am having the car towed to a Chevy dealership and am prepared to leave it there and demand it gets fixed.
What started as my car guzzling just a little too much oil too quickly, turned into my engine sitting at 1200RPM while parked, and then yesterday all the oil had leaked out, oil pressure was very low and the car wouldn’t run, and I’m being told by my mechanic that I need a whole new engine.
Severe oil consumption which could lead to damage to engine and vehicle failure when driving, which could cause an accident or worse. The dealer stated that the rear main seal could blow out and cause the vehicle failure. Defective parts that GM is aware of, but not addressing to the owners. There is a service bulletin (14882) that dealers are aware of concerning this issue, for an extended warranty of 120,000 or 10 years, no charge to customers to repair. Part#12591866.crankshaft real oil seal. The dealer refuses to honor it.
My equinox has only 70,000 miles and they found ground bearings in the transfer case and it cost me $2000 to fix they said this was an unusual repair to report it
My car blew out the rear main oil seal due to a faulty pcv valve that froze over in zero degree weather. The car lost all of its engine oil. There were no engine warning lights on before or after this happened. It has been diagnosed at the used dealer ship I got the vehicle from. It's currently at the shop but can be inspected if need be. My personal safety was at risk because it happened on the way to work and could have left me stranded. I also have had to rent a car for the last few weeks due to this issue. The car showed no warning signs of having prior issues of any sort before this happened.
the PCV is popping out which is causing all the oil to drain out and causing expensive repairs and leaving the car dead on the road ther needs to be a recall on this
My 2016 Chevy Equinox started running rough and when the codes were run it came back with P0335, P0016 and P0017. We then replaced both the camshaft, crankshaft and vvt solenoids. The codes were then cleared, and no further issues or engine lights were on. Then I brought the car home the weather was extremely cold, and the vehicle would not start. Tried to jump the vehicle would not start. Towed the vehicle to the shop, where it was determined that the PVC was frozen which caused all the oil to drain from the engine, the timing belt seized up and caused total engine failure. The mechanic has stated that it needs a whole new engine as all the oil had drained from the vehicle and cause damage that cannot be repaired. These vehicles have faulty piston rings in them and also it is common for the vehicles to be useless and have to have a total engine replacement. The cost for the engine replacement and vehicle repair is 9000 to 11000 dollars. Chevy intentionally has been mass producing vehicles that can and will kill someone. This is a known issue that they need to make right for all the owners of these vehicles. Please do a full investigation as to why these vehicles are still on the road and Chevy has not been made to recall and fix these vehicles correctly.
This is my second submission hoping someone contacts me [XXX] Thanks INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Engine lost power while exiting highway. Engine noise and loss of oil and oil pressure. Glided car into repair shop off the highway exit. Repair facility was aware of the GM 2.4 liter frozen PCV valve issue. Car was taken to a Chevrolet dealership where a fix with no guarantee that the engine was good was over $3000.00 to repair. Suggested new engine at approx. $9000.00 was quoted. This is a safety issue as the problem occurs in very cold weather and when the engine stops, it can very well leave the occupants stranded in freezing weather.
My car has had multiple safety issues but the latest one is my car shut off while driving! I was able to start it again and get to a dealer when they said that there was no oil. I get my oil changed every 3,000 miles and the dealer said there is a known oil consumption issue with my car. It gave me no warning of low oil or anything. The dealer said I probably would have known it consumes alarming amounts of oil if I had followed the 5k miles suggested. They said I need to do a oil consumption test well before I even got to 3200 miles on the last oil change there is now oil on the floor of my garage.. this is a death trap and it’s known. I have never had a vehicle only last 6 years.. please help! When my car stopped while driving there was a near miss of getting slammed from behind from another vehicle behind me.
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while the vehicle gear was in park; he switched from the driver's seat to the passenger seat with his wife. His wife was taking over to become the driver. While attempting to change drivers, the vehicle inadvertently reversed. The wife was trying to stop the vehicle while being partially in and partially out of the vehicle. The vehicle dragged the wife into an area of bushes. The contact stated while the passenger door was still open, when it accidentally hit him and knocked him over. There were no warning lights illuminated. The air bags did not deploy. The police and medical team arrived on the scene. The contact believed a police report was filed. There was no medical treatment on the scene. The contact stated the wife was bruised from the waist to both feet. The contact believed he cracked his rib. The wife will be examined by a urologist and nephrologist. The right front passenger door and entire rear bumper were damaged. The vehicle was strapped together, and the contact drove it home. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to transmission issues. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving 45 MPH, the vehicle started making abnormal sounds and then stalled. The warning message “Low Engine Pressure” was displayed. The contact’s daughter was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to the contact’s residence. The contact’s husband, a Ford mechanic diagnosed that the PCM valve had frozen, built-up pressure in the engine, and blew out the pressure which ruptured the rear main seal. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact’s husband that it was a known failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 116,000.
While on the freeway, I was caught in “stop-and-go” traffic. I had previously (about 2 days) noticed that there was a very minuscule delay in between the time from when I pressed on the accelerator to when the car would speed up, but was less than 1 second, so didn’t think it was a big deal. During the traffic incident, all of the sudden, when I pressed on the accelerator to go from a mostly stopped position to advance forward, my Equinox completely stalled. It was like someone turned the car off, but still had the lights and stereo on. I had to put my car in park, turn the car totally off, and restart it, and place it into drive, in order for it to advance forward. The next time I had to slow down for traffic, I slowed almost to a stop, put my foot on the accelerator, and the car stalled again. Keep in mind, my car wasn’t completely stopped at any of these times, so the cars behind me were caught off guard when I had to suddenly stop, put my car in park, turn it off, and then back on again, in order to move forward. This is dangerous during rush hour, on the most congested freeway in my state (which is where I live and was located). I was almost rear-ended multiple times. This occurred around 20 times before I could pull to the side. I called Chevrolet and they directed me the nearest dealership. The problem was continuous until I arrived. The issue was: Intake Camshaft Solenoid Control Circuit - Solenoid Internal Failure and they replaced Variable Valve Timing (VVT) Solenoid (part #12679099). My car had 46,661 miles, and under warranty, but it appears to be a common problem. There were ZERO warning/dash lights that warned me that something was wrong, and when the car died, I only knew because I would push the accelerator and it wouldn’t move. The dealership confirmed the issue, and I have the receipt from the replacement (covered under warranty), as well as a video of it occurring. There are MANY forums that discuss this issue with 2016 Equinox models.
WHILE DRIVING, AT 55MPH MY CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON WITHOUT WARNING AND THE DASH SHOWED "SERVICE STABILITRAK" AND THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY REDUCED SPEED TO AROUND 30MPH BEFORE I COULD APPLY THE GAS. I IMMEDIATELY TOO THE VEHICLE TO MONRO MUFFLER AND BRAKE FOR SERVICE. WHEN I ARRIVED, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE VEHICLE HAD NO OIL. I PERFORMED REGULAR OIL CHANGES ON THIS VEHICLE. THERE WAS NO INDICATION ABOUT LOW OIL PRESSURE, THE VEHICLE DID NOT OVERHEAT. THE ENGINE NOW NEEDS TO BE REPLACED.
PCV VALVE FROZE CAUSING REAR MAIN SEAL LEAK. CAR BEGAN TO LEAK EXCESSIVE OIL.
THE TRANSFER CASE FAILED WHILE THE SUV WAS IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET WITHIN A WEEK AFTER AN OIL CHANGE / TRANSMISSION FLUID FLUSH & FILL SERVICE AT THE DEALERSHIP. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP TO ASK ABOUT THE PART AND IT IS ON BACK ORDER SO, THIS SEEMS TO BE A COMMON ISSUE WITH THIS VEHICLE.
INITIALLY THE REAR MAIN SEAL WAS LEAKING OR BROKEN; ALL THE OIL DRAINED FROM THE VEHICLE. AFTER SPENDING $992.60 I WAS ADVISED THAT THE TIMING CHANGE AND GUIDES NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. I'VE HAD THE VVT CELANIDE REPLACED AS WELL AS THE CRANK AND CAM SHAFT SENSORS; THE VVT GEARS AND AN OIL PUMP REBUILD...$2017.60 LATER, MY TRUCK DROVE FOR APPROXIMATELY 3 MILES WHERE IT DIED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I HAVE NOT DRIVEN MY CAR (ASIDE FROM THE 3 MILES) IN NEARLY 2 MONTHS. NOW I'M BEING TOLD THEY THINK IT MAY BE ELECTRICAL. MY TRUCK HAS LESS THAN 100,000 MILES ON IT. I'VE HEARD FROM NUMEROUS GOGGLE SEARCHES THAT GM IS AWARE OF THE ISSUES WITH THIS MOTOR/VEHICLE AND HAS DONE NOTHING TO REMEDY THE PROBLEM. I AM A SINGLE MOTHER OF 4; I BOUGHT THIS TRUCK BRAND NEW TO SAFELY TRANSPORT MY CHILDREN HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE. THIS CAR JUST CUT OFF IN THE DEAD OF WINTER COMING OFF THE HIGHWAY...IT LITERALLY STOPPED IN MID ACCELERATION. HOW LONG BEFORE SOME ONE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED OR KILLED?
WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE, IT WILL RANDOMLY TURN OFF. I WILL THEN HAVE TO PLACE THE VEHICLE IN PARK, TURN OFF THE VEHICLE, AND RESTART IT IN ORDER TO BEGIN DRIVING AGAIN. THIS HAPPENED WHILE TURNING.
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026