Crankcase (pcv) problems of the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while reversing the vehicle on a cold, snowy day, there was oil on the driveway. There was a fuel odor inside the vehicle, and the engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that the failure was related to the pcv system. The mechanic stated that the pcv valve was clogged, causing the gasket to fail. The vehicle was partially repaired. The mechanic later informed the contact that other repairs were necessary. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that there were no recalls associated with the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by the dealer. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that there was no recall coverage associated with the VIN for the repair. The contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 113,000.

Clogged pcv caused engine pressure resulting in failure of rear main seal.

This was the third time I have had my vehicle in the shop for the same exact issue - stalling while driving. This time we decided to take it to a chevy dealer who very quickly diagnosed the pcv system freeze "causing the rear main seal to push out causing a major oil leak". Seeing as this issue is known in prior years, it is baffling why chevy has not addressed this design flaw, which causes engine damage, nor have they chosen to included later models - such as my 2016 - in a recall. I am so very lucky that I started being aware of the warning signs and did not get on the highway to go home. It would have likely been a deadly incident in that case - I am not joking. This was a very expensive repair - especially considering this is the 3rd repair regarding the same issue.

On December 26, 2022, while driving home from work during a snowstorm, my 2016 chevy Equinox suddenly lost power and began making unusual noises. Shortly after, a warning light indicated low oil pressure, and the engine shut off before I could safely pull over. Since then, the vehicle has been sitting in my driveway. Recently, I had it checked by a dealership, where the mechanics diagnosed a blown rear main seal and significant oil leakage. The dealership confirmed that the rear main seal failure was caused by a faulty pcv valve, a known issue in these models, which resulted in excessive pressure buildup and engine damage. Given the severity of the issue, the dealership mentioned that an engine replacement might be necessary. If it’s just the rear main seal that needs replacing, the estimated cost is $2,700. The vehicle was purchased used with 55,000 miles on it and had only one previous owner.

Was driving home and without prior warning received a message on the dash to pull over low oil pressure. Vehicle was towed to the dealership and I am being told I that gm has a known issue of freezing pcv in cold temperatures which causes the rear main seal to blow and other internal issues. I know am told this will be a $5600 repair and no coverage. Gm has lawsuits and other numerous complaints about this issue.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal sound. The contact drove the vehicle to the destination. The contact parked the vehicle and checked the engine oil level. The contact became aware of a pasty substance on the end of the dipstick. The contact was taken to get oil to top off the engine oil. The contact stated that while driving, the low oil pressure and stop engine warning lights illuminated. The contact parked and turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed with a failed pcv valve. The contact was informed that the pcv valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that after the vehicle was repaired, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 133,000.

According to the gm certified technician our 2016 chevy Equinox had frozen pcv valves. On the day this happened temperatures were in the single digits. This caused the rear seal to blow and drain the oil from the engine while being driven. Engine shut off completely while driving (after driving 30+ miles) on the highway. We had to have the car towed. The technician said this is a known issue with the ecotech 2. 4 liter engine, “but good luck getting chevy to do anything for you. ” the engine has to be replaced at a cost of $9200. More than the blue book value, and I still owe on it.

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.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the accelerator pedal depressed, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact heard an abnormal sound coming from the hood and the vehicle started to hesitate. The contact stated that her son pulled the dipstick, and the pressure blew his hand back and oil splattered throughout the engine. There was no warning light illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that her son replaced the valve cover gasket however, oil was leaking onto the ground. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the pcv valve was burnt and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was out of warranty. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not covered under warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 156,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that the pcv valve was clogged due to the cold weather. The clogged pcv valve caused the rear main seal to fail. The mechanic informed the contact that the pcv valve and rear main seal needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and a case was opened. The manufacturer advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000.

Excessive oil consumption with no warning light, loss of power, and stalling. Also caused the master seal to leak and plugged the pcv valve. I have records for the repairs. It continues to excessively use oil and is not a reliable vehicle. When it stalls, power steering is lost as well as the stabilitrack.

The contact owns 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving 45 mph, the check engine warning light illuminated and the contact continued driving to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was diagnosed and the contact was informed that there was no oil in the engine and that the pcv valve was damaged and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,500.

Our car was parked outside for the weekend and we were planning to return home. It was around 14°f outside and starting to snow. Approximately 10 minutes into the trip home, the 2016 chevy Equinox started to make some faint abnormal sounds. Shortly after the instrument cluster displayed a stabilitrak warning. I presumed an issue with the traction control and continued to drive. Shortly after the Equinox went into a failsafe/power limiting mode. We (my wife and young daughters were with me) were within a few miles of a gas station so we decided to try to drive there to not be in the cold weather. Before reaching a gas station, the car stalled and needed to be towed to a service shop. The car was diagnosed with a blown rear main seal causing catastrophic engine failure. It was determined the pcv valve froze causing excess crankcase pressure, blowing the rear main seal. The Equinox had 89,277 miles on it at the time. "tow" costs: $149. 18 engine replacement cost: $6504. 30 at no point did any oil related (level, pressure) indicator appear.

Problem first appeared with the limp mode being initiated by the vehicles computer system. This occurred at 96,000 miles in July of 2021. After running numerous diagnostics with a obd scanner, and removing vvt solenoids, came to the conclusion it was the problem. After replacing with new oem solenoids and restarting the computer from the battery. The problem seemed to be resolved. In March of 2021the vehicle started losing oil by the quart each week. January 2022 the computer link initiated the limp mode again at 100,000 miles. After trying to diagnose using obd, the conclusion was not apparent. Followed up by taking the air box off and found oil in the vacuum line for the air box. Continue the investigation by removing the pcv valve and the vvt solenoids. Found large amounts of oil(more than chevy engineers allowed). Then proceeded to reassemble and run compression tests. Found "blow by" to be so bad that the oil was blowing out of the valve cover and past the seal. Disassembled the intake manifold and found puddles of oil in the base of the intake manifold. The maf system had large amounts of carbon build up. Cleaned intake components meticulously. Reassembled and problem went away only to reemerge with massive oil loss September of 2022. Took to the dealer and they kept vehicle an entire week to report they found no oil loss. We then decided to rebuild engine; seals, pistons, rings, bolts etc. . After removing engine (January 2023 113,000miles) completely and breaking it down to crankshaft, I came to the conclusion the intake manifolds direct injection system has a major flaw (mainly due to a pinhole becoming clogged found in the middle of the intake valve system). Causing massive pressure issues that can lead to full engine failure. So much carbon build up on pistons with major ignition problems visible by piston damage. In February of 2024 (131,000miles). Problem has started to reoccur with much blow by continuing near valve seal. I have pics.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that upon inspection an oil leak was discovered under the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to jeff wyler Chevrolet located at 2237 w. 1st st, springfield, OH 45504, who diagnosed that the engine pcv and rear main seal was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 81,000.

Wiper linkage has failed and pcv valve froze and caused rear main seal failure.

Truck was sputtering while driving and could smell oil & had smoke coming from back. Took to chevy dealer in January. Dealer replaced mass air flow sensor & bored/reset throttle body & reset idle. They claimed there wasnt a leak. Two weeks later oil was pouring from under my truck & it was back at the dealer with proof of a massive leak. They kept my truck til March 23 and it was the pcv port had to be modified and blown rear main seal on the engine ($1,948). I only have 65,000 miles on it. Researching 2016 model, I found the main issues are the pcv port & rear main seal and the fact that general motors was & is aware of the problem! why isnt something being done?.

Pcv valve froze causing rear main seal leak. Car began to leak excessive oil.

Tl-the contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at various speed the contact overheard an abnormal noise (riddling) while the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that she managed to drive the vehicle to the resident where the vehicle stalled. Attempted to turn the vehicle on and off but failed to start. The contact mentioned no visually leaks but there was oil present in driveway. The vehicle was towed by state farm to the dealer stillwater motors Chevrolet & Buick 5900 stillwater blvd n, stillwater, mn 55082 (651) 439-4333 where it was diagnosed that the intake manifold and pcv valve was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but no further assistance was taken at this time. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000. Ck.

I was driving down a highway at 65 miles per hour my engine started to flutter when noticing that I pulled over right away and my engine shut off. I had to have my vehicle towed to the dealership after the dealership took a look at it they realized it was a pcv clog from condensation getting in to the pcv valve. I have 72000 miles on my vehicle so there is no more drive train warranty I bought the extended warranty however they will not cover it because they do not cover clogs. Upon researching this I found out that chevy had a lot of these and actually extended warranties on vehicles from 2010 to 2014 for the same issue. They have never said anything about fixing the issue in the articles I have read. Upon hearing this information from the dealership I contacted another dealership which that they had 6 vehicles in their for this same exact thing they told me that it's a known issue especially when it gets cold. Chevrolet will not cover this knowing it is a problem. Attached is the service bulletin where it list the models and where chevy had extended the warranty for those make and models.

Driving on the NJ turnpike January 22 2019 freezing cold out day 15' and my car just dies. I came to a rolling stop on the side of the road. Tried starting car and nothing, then I hear a grinding noise as I turn the key, get out and open the hood. I turn key again and I hear this grinding noise again. No warning lights no indicators nothing. Call aaa but they can't pick me up on the turnpike needs to be a separate tow truck company. After 45 minutes freezing in the car the tow truck guy shows up. Takes a look at the truck check oil and says I have no oil. Turned key and dash did not show any oil lights lit. Looked at the back of the truck and there was oil all over it see pics. Had to get towed to yard then called aaa to take me to elkins chevy. Elkin's chevy looked at it and said the pcv valve froze causing the rear main seal to break causing engine to lose all oil and cease up with possible pieces in the transmission. No warning lights or sensors lit up at all still. Dealer said I was out of warranty 88,575 miles so I was responsible for fixing. New engine $6,000 used $4,500 plus what ever other damage to the transmission, pvc and case. Estimated 7,000 to 9000. To fix the truck was only 2 years old and always got serviced oil changes ect. I bought another Equinox 2019 and while transferring my stuff from 1 truck to another service guy said this a common thing with this ecotec engine and chevy is aware. I went home and google what happened and sure enough they have a class action suite against them. They said it should only be on the older models and it is fixed on newer years. I could enter my VIN to see if my truck was part of the recall which it was not. I called chevy, escallation and managers they said since I sold\traded the truck in for a new one there was nothing they could do.