general problems of the 2016 Chevrolet Equinox - part 1

Transfer case and front differential failure. No warning lights came on beforehand.

The wiper blade motor is gone out. The tire pressure sensor is off : the oil seems to disappear faster than the sensor.

I am writing to formally document a series of catastrophic mechanical failures regarding the aforementioned vehicle. Despite rigorous maintenance and significant financial investment, the car remains non-drivable, posing a severe safety risk. Chronology of failures: October 2024: four months post-purchase, the timing chain failed on I-94. Atwater Chevrolet replaced the component; however, this did not resolve the underlying engine instability. December 3, 2025: following a dashboard warning light, a northland Chevrolet dealer replaced the solenoids. At this time, the windshield wiper motor also required replacement. Late December 2025: shortly after these repairs, the vehicle suffered a major failure of the rear main seal and engine block during sub-freezing temperatures. This caused a total loss of oil and left the driver stranded in hazardous conditions. Maintenance and disclosure: we have invested over $4,000 in preventative maintenance, including oil changes every 2,800 miles to mitigate known oil consumption issues. At the time of sale, there was no disclosure regarding the inherent engine defects common to this model. Current status: the vehicle is currently at a dealership and is inoperable. A $10,000 loan balance remains. Current diagnostics suggest a frost plug failure triggered the event. I have contacted gm regarding bulletin 14882, which addresses identical issues in similar models, but was informed it does not currently attach to this VIN. Furthermore, the extended warranty provider has denied the claim following an inspection, despite the documented manufacturing issues known to affect these engines for several years.

I just got this used car in seemingly great shape, was told it was garage kept and well cared for. Dealer had oil changed before I drove it off the lot. I only had it about one month, had driven about 1,000 miles so far, I check the oil, and dipstick was nearly dry. I threw oil in it and took it for an oil change just in case. No oil leaks, etc. No indication, no oil light, nothing to alert me to low oil level. I saw here on NHTSA that these cars burn through excessive amounts of oil, and I definitely saw that firsthand. I’m wondering why no recalls exist when this is a well-known issue with these cars, and so many of them are dead at 50-70k miles…? the last two cars I had (Ford escapes), had over 218k or 185k miles and they were still drivable when I got a replacement vehicle. Now I buy this used Equinox with almost 70k miles and I’m wondering if it is going to break down within the first year. I expect I will be buying lots of oil and checking/changing it often. This is not just an inconvenience, it can cause major safety concerns! I will not be a repeat chevy customer!.

This car used so much oil that I had to put it in constantly. Eventually the time belt broke, and the car stopped because it literally had no oil in it causing the engine to blow. This is a known problem I found out later on.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at 25 mph, the vehicle vibrated and idled abnormally. The contact depressed the brake pedal, and the vehicle jumped unintendedly. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact continued to drive to the residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the timing chain had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The independent mechanic advised the contact not to drive the vehicle. The failure became a recurring failure, and the contact parked the vehicle, and the vehicle was no longer driven due to safety concerns. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.

The high pressure fuel pump leaking into crankcase and leaking gasket the fuel in the oil was so much it lit on fire.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that the vehicle was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that one and a half quarts of oil needed to be added every two days. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed and it was determined that the failure was caused by the timing belt sagging, and the piston being burned. The dealer stated that the gasket kit, timing chain, tensioner, sensor, guards, actuator, and bolts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and filed a claim. The failure mileage was approximately 148,000.

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.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that two weeks after the vehicle was purchased, while the vehicle was being serviced, the contact was informed that the engine was very low on oil. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that an oil change was performed on the vehicle. Two weeks later, the contact took the vehicle back to be checked and was informed that the engine was consuming an excessive amount of engine oil. However, no cause for the failure was found. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact had to check the oil level weekly. The contact stated that the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard a loud sound coming from the vehicle with a gasoline odor coming from the engine compartment. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the exhaust manifold had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving 10 mph, the vehicle made an abnormal sound and then stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to coast the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 117,583.

Oil consumption is bad. According to mechanic it has now caused problems with timing chain and tensioner. I have to get that replaced ASAP before engine ties up. There is a class action lawsuit in missouri for same reason with cars like mine. My car has not even hit 114,000.

In Feb 2025, I was driving, a day after a snow storm, on the highway when without warning my car stopped accelerating, and just shut down. The mechanic said my oil was all over the ground. He also stated that there's a defect in the 2. 4l ecotec motors and the pistons broke on my vehicle. Now I have to pay $3500 to rebuild my motor. He stated that the vehicle has a higher oil consumption rate/ leaks and you will never know.

Engines rear main seal failed and was replaced freezing weather-15 degrees car will not run gm dealer that car was towed too just a shutter no dash or any lights ever came on repair by gm dealer said pcv valve froze resulting in dramatically increased oil pressure.

I'm aware of the history of oil consumption issues with Equinoxs, as this is my third one, but I am told by the mechanic who did the oil change that there are no leaks, yet there 8 day later, after the oil change has been preformed, there is absolutely no oil on the dip stick. I just bought this car from showcase auto sales, in chesaning, mi and they will not take it back, as they sell them as is. There was no oil then either.

I was driving my vehicle on the highway when all of a sudden I started to lose speed and my car wouldn’t accelerate. When my vehicle wouldn’t accelerate it started to shake significantly and the check engine, abs, traction control, and service stabilitrak light came on all at once. I was able to pull over and get my car towed to the dealership. Once it was at the dealership it was diagnosed that my car had jumped time causing a misfire in cylinder 4. My dealership stated this was due to low oil and my piston had become warped due to making contact with my valve. My car had no check oil warnings or any indication that vehicle was low on oil prior to this happening. My vehicle drove perfectly fine until that point. My vehicle also had no oil leaks (confirmed by myself not seeing any leaks under my vehicle as well as the dealership when they did the diagnostics). Before I bought my vehicle I did research and knew this model vehicle had oil consumption issues, so I made sure to routinely check my oil levels. Even with getting oil changes approximately every 3,000 miles and checking my oil levels and topping off my oil whenever it got less then 5 quarts I still had to get a total engine replacement. This was a huge safely issue since there was no warning that my oil was low and my car lost speed on the highway and was trying to stall out before I had a chance to pull off to safe place.

There is a oil consumption issue with this vehicle and there are no warning indicators whatsoever that there is no-low oil if I hadn't caught it I would've blown my engine.

1. Excessive oil consumption! adding one quart of oil every two weeks! 2. Timing chain replaced (twice) within 2 years! 2022/2023 3. Rear main seal replaced! 2022 4. Vvt solenoid replaced because of rapid oil consumption causing metal shavings from engine! 2025 no warning lights just loud ticking all of a sudden and then engine shaking! camshaft locked up and would not start, had to be towed to repair shop! this is a very dangerous engine (ecotec 2. 4l 4 cylinder) to drive with, as it can lock up or just fail causing an accident!.

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.

On January 21st,2025 (a day where temps did not exceed zero degrees driving this vehicle 3/4 of mile home from work, as pulling down my street, engine began to run rough. No warning lights came on. I pulled in my drive and garage and turned off, there was an oil trail up my drive. After about an hour I looked under car and a huge puddle of oil was there. I then had it towed to chevy dealer. They said it was the 3rd car with this same engine brought in that week, and same issue, a blown rear seal, and in my case damaged the engine quickly. We were told by other dealers that fire could have happened. After doing research, models 2004-2015 have the same exact engine and same exact defect. The pvc intake valve can develop condinsation (the design does not allow this to escape) and on extreme cold days this can freeze, causing the pressure to build quickly and without warning blow the seal and damage the engine. In 2015 gm put out a service bulliten to dealers warning of this issue and fixed at no charge and also extended the warranty to 10 year 125000 miles (we are currently 8 years , 90k) gm did not change the defect in this engine until the 2018 model years, gm did not contact any owners of 2016-2027 with the same exact engine and defect to fix or make aware it existed. There are hundred if not thousands of these engines with this defect on the road. It is all over gm related forums, the dealership service departments are aware of the issue as well. Gm is refusing to fix my vehicle which now needs a new engine at cost close to $10k, for last month I have had to rent a vehicle for $300 per week at my cost while I fight with gm they have offered me a $1500 coupon to buy a new car, and now today offered $2000 towards the fix this is not acceptable to me. They are aware of the issue and have fully paid for and fixed the same exact issue all except 2016-2017 we think there should be an urgency to this matter.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while driving on a rural road at 55 mph, the vehicle lost motive power. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact entered a nearby parking lot, where the vehicle was parked and inspected. The contact stated that there was an abnormal amount of oil leaking from underneath the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to a local independent mechanic, who diagnosed the vehicle and informed the contact that the vehicle had experienced engine failure and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.

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.

Vehicle has an oil consumption issues which lead to a blown engines. Have been up to date on oil changes, just had an oil change 1 month ago and today the engine blew.

When temperatures were around 0 degrees, I was driving to work and I started hearing a noise and the car was shaking. I oil all over the ground and checked the oil once parked, the dip stick had no oil and there was white foam under the oil cap. This issue could've cause me to lose control of my vehicle while driving, putting myself and anyone around me at risk. I had the vehicle towed to a dealership where they found out that the rear main seal failed. They replaced the rear main seal along with the front main seal and sent me on my way. I had no issues for the next month, but the weather went back below 0 degrees and the same issue happened again, this time there was ice found in the intake manifold. This repair is being completed now. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone other than the dealership. No warning light, messages or any other symptoms were present prior to the failure. The engine light did not turn on when the seal "blew" but did turn on after turning the car off and back on.

The 2. 4l engine is burning oil at alarming rates, leading to consumers complaining about stutters, stalling, and outright engine failure. If not caught in time, an engine without the proper amount of oil as a lubricant can stall, seize, and/or cause enough damage to warrant an entire engine replacement. The engine is now blown. Chevy has known about this problem stemming since 2012 and has not addressed this with the american consumers.

It appears the 2. 4l engine is burning oil at a high rate, leading to engine stutters, stalling, and outright engine failure. Our mechanic says if we didn't catch this in time, an engine without the proper amount of oil as a lubricant could stall, seize, and/or cause enough damage to warrant an entire engine replacement. If the engine quit on the freeway around houston, TX, my wife would have been at great bodily risk. The mechanic suggested that there may be an extended warranty issued to gm dealers to cover the 2016 Equinox 2. 4l engine until 2026. The warning lamp was on for tire sensors, but no indication was given for the oil issue.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power with no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made not aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.

The 2016 Equinox is not keeping oil in the engine. Therefore, the engine is unsafe and extremely dangerous - there is no warning! it will just stop in traffic! life threatening to driver, passengers and other vehicles on the road.

We purchased a 2016 chevy Equinox with a 2. 4 eco-tech engine in September 2023 for approximately $14,000 and 95,000 miles. In September 2024, our vehicle seemed to malfunction at a gas station. When my husband attempted to turn the car on, it sputtered and several different lights lit up the dashboard. The car wouldnt start and we had to have it towed. The shop informed us the next day that there was zero oil in the car and our engine had blown. This was extremely shocking to us as we had zero issues prior to this and had our oil and tires changed within the last month. Upon their inspection, they stated no oil in the car. We told them we had recently had it changed at an oil shop. A shop employee then informed us there were known issues with this type of engine and we should look into it. Upon further research, we discovered this engine had indeed experienced issues over the past several years. A lawsuit was apparently settled regarding the 2010-2013 vehicles and 2014-2017 were now also experiencing issues. There is a class action lawsuit going on in a southern state as well. I contacted the mn oig office and they advised we file a complaint here. We still owed approximately 9,000$ when this happened. I contacted gm support at 866-366-2273 on 10/7 and spoke with rep jasmine and supervisor rochelle. They advised they cannot open a case for me unless I pay to have the car towed to a gm approved dealer and pay for a diagnostic. They stated it’s possible but not likely that I would receive any assistance due to the power train warranty am expiring at 60,000 miles. I advised I cannot afford to pay to have it towed a 3rd time and diagnosed again just in the hope they would be able to help. Prior to this happening, we did not experience any issues with the vehicle and it wasn’t indicating there were any issues (there were no lights on to show something wasn’t functioning properly).

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled, and the contact noticed a loud knocking sound coming from the engine with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with engine failure due to the engine not properly circulating the engine oil. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the nhsta hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 159,000.

Maintained vehicle with regular oil changes, tire rotations and inspections. Last oil change was June of 2024. Minimal driving throughout summer as both drivers are teachers and home most of the summer. Vehicle engine light illuminated on 9/12/24 with no prior issues or lights illuminating. Vehicle then went into what felt like "limp mode. " vehicle was taken to certified chevy dealership service center. Initial diagnosis indicated there was little to no oil left in the engine. No visible leaks were seen on driveway where it has been parked, no smell of burning oil occurred prior to engine light illuminating. Oil life monitor stated 65. 89% remaining. Visible leak diagnosis passed inspection. Diagnosis of misfire/engine related concerns. While on phone with mechanic it was stated that pistons and rings were malfunctioning. Upon researching issues, I discovered that there is a well known issues within gm of this exact problem existing in which around roughly 90,000 miles (my vehicle is currently at 91,000+) this specific engine starts consuming oil at a massive rate without indicating any leaks or smells of burning oil. Service center quoted between $6500-$10000 to repair. After I provided feedback about what I had discovered, I was told by mechanic that this is a well known problem with this vehicle. Extended warranties for this issue has been issued however, I am being asked to cover the cost to repair a known problem within the 2011-2017 gm engines in the Equinox and terrain models.

The concern is the oil consumption. The car looses a quart of oil a month. I average only 620 miles per month. There is no leak. A mechanic has been keeping track of it every month since April 2025. No warning lights alerted me of the problem. This has been an ongoing problem with the chevy Equinox. My last one had the same problem but it was fixed thru a recall. It is frustrating for me to have to bring my car in every month to have it checked, because I am a caregiver for my husband and its hard for me to get away. I also use the car for his doctor appointments. I need a dependable car and can't afford a different one.

The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated while driving 55 mph, the vehicle started making a ticking noise. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, and the mechanic informed the contact that the engine was low by two quarts of engine oil. On another occasion, the vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic for an oil change, and the engine was low by two quarts of engine oil. The following month the vehicle was taken to the independent mechanic, due to the vehicle hesitating to accelerate, the vehicle was diagnosed with excessive oil consumption. The vehicle was not repaired after the most recent failure. The dealer was not made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 94,690.