2016 Chevrolet Equinox fuel system problems

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

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.

NHTSA complaint #11715924 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

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.

NHTSA complaint #11659501 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

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

NHTSA complaint #11658343 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

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.

NHTSA complaint #11643659 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

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.

NHTSA complaint #11641323 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

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

NHTSA complaint #11638831 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

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.

NHTSA complaint #11637455 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

Oil burns at an alarming rate, no low oil warning. Engine blew up & was rebuilt. A month after engine rebuild, vehicle started to throw the same codes that led to engine failure. I can't keep oil in my vehicle, it has stalled numerous times on busy highway & once at an intersection with my kids in the vehicle. O2 sensors keep frying, catalytic converters keep clogging. Faulty rear main seal valve. Oil is leaking into combustion chamber which has caused manifold issues, spark plugs keep frying. Engine constantly misfires. Frequent engine knocking. My vehicle also seems to have no low oil warning light either. I remember getting an oil change, roughly a month in a half later i checked it again and my dip stick was bone dry. Chevy is aware of defects, but they refuse to do anything for the thousands of customers who have complained about the same exact things I am. There are numerous lawsuits for this exact issue, unfortunately not in my state. The value of my vehicle has dropped substantially to the point I am now upside down with my loan. I've looked into trading it in and my highest offer was $1,500 because of the issues that have been reported. There are so many people dealing with this same exact problem and we are all being ignored. I can't even go trade my vehicle in for something that will actually run without me having to dump hundreds of dollars into it every few months. Not only that, but these defects are extremely dangerous! My vehicle completely shut off while i was driving roughly 60-65mph in crazy/speeding traffic in the middle of rush hour & I had my two little girls with me. When help finally arrived, it was discovered that yet again, there was no oil in my vehicle even though I added roughly 2.5 quarts within a month in a half of this incident occurring. My vehicle over heated... this is absolutely uncalled for and isnt something that happens because of owners negligence. Someone please help!!!

NHTSA complaint #11574376 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

My car is a 2016 chevy equinox - the check engine light never came on and I was driving it home from the store when it started bucking, showing "power to engine low" error message and barely moved when pressing the gas. I got the car home and my husband was checking the car only to find I have no oil when I never received any warning. I have done research and have seen this is an issue for many chevy equinox owners who all experienced this with their cars. I just had an oil change completed a few months ago in early Sept/Late August with very minimal driving in the 4 month window as I was out of work for 2 of those months. I do believe this is a defect in the car due to the fact that I was out of oil so quickly PLUS no alert informing me that the oil was low prior to the issue with the vehicle. now it will not start and the engine appears to be trash now.

NHTSA complaint #11561186 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

I have completed extensive research on my 2016 chevy equinox and it is my understanding this model has ongoing issues with the high pressure fuel pump. However only the newer models have been recalled for the same exact issue. I need to report the same issue with the 2016 models as well. I have never had any major issues with this vehicle until it suddenly started stalling and failing emissions inspections causing a huge monetary set back. I want to file a complaint for Chevy to acknowledge that this is an ongoing issue for not just newer vehicles and address my repairs.

NHTSA complaint #11530948 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

During my recent travel after a few short miles, oil began to leak and the engine began to knock. After the engine stalled, I was able to restart and begin to drive around 20 miles per hour when the engine stalled and cut off again as I was on my way to the repair shop. I noticed during this time that the car was leaking oil. The following was revealed after receiving a diagnostic test performed by the repair shop that the engine suffers from internal damage/massive oil leak and it is not recommended attempting to repair. Repairs are estimated to be due more than $6K without guarantee that the vehicle will not repeat the same problematic performance. Upon some investigation, it has been revealed that my vehicle is among the many 2014-2017 Chevy Equinox models that are plagued with the same 2.4L engine/oil consumption defect. Coupled with the fact that these vehicles are extremely dangerous as there is no set warning when itay choose to stop working during operation, therefore running the risk of causing a catastrophic accident/s. The failure mileage was at 126,277.

NHTSA complaint #11506232 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

I was driving the vehicle from Madison, WI to Janesville, WI on the interstate. The car was operating normally until about 35 minutes into my drive. I heard unusual noises coming from the vehicle and I started to feel more resistance then normal while accelerating. I checked the dash for any indicator lights or high temperature but nothing was indicated. I exited the interstate and noticed the car was not accelerating normally. While stopped at a stop light the vehicle stalled, but powered back on after restarting. About a mile up the road the vehicle stalled again, but again restarted. I was less than a mile from my destination. After parking the vehicle at my destination, oil was observed gushing out from above the real driver's side wheel well. The vehicle had an odor. It was determined an intake value burst causing an oil leak. After the intake valve was repaired it was determined a chain snapped in the engine, and the engine was also in need of repair. The intake valve has been retained. The vehicle stalled while in use multiple times putting me and my family at risk for an accident. Had a dashboard indicator light illuminated, I would have immediately pulled over. Yes the problem was confirmed but a dealer that inspected the vehicle.

NHTSA complaint #11502962 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

My vehicle went into "limp mode" in a dangerous intersection due to the garbage design of the PCV. The "valve" is simply a hole that gets clogged by cold climates, and it allows the oil pressure to build up in the crankcase and then without warning, oh boy, my engine had a catastrophic failure and needs to be replaced. Blown rear main seal. There are multiple lawsuits against GM for this. They can't continue to get away with knowing about this flaw and not fix it. I only put 37,000 miles on this car (108K total). Changed the oil myself religiously. I came in, and they told me there was no oil on the dipstick despite the fact that I had just changed the oil 2 days prior.

NHTSA complaint #11500328 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

Timing chain has gone bad . Fuel pressure regulator went bad Down pipe to the catalytic converter has gone bad

NHTSA complaint #11472139 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

Problems with oil leaking on rear seal. No notice given until light came on that said stop engine now. Upon inspection all oil was gone. My mechanic said this is an unfortunate issue with this engine because the pressure release hole is so small that any dirt can block it and but a lot of pressure on the back seal until it bursts and leaks out oil. This could have blown my engine and it only has 67000 miles. Definitely a manufacturers defect.

NHTSA complaint #11450099 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

STEADY OIL LEAK THAT CONTINUES WHEN THE VEHICLE IS PARKED. POOLS OF OIL FORM UNDERNEATH THE VEHICLE WHEN IT IS STATIONARY. OIL MAY ALSO BE LEAKING WHILE IN MOTION. MECHANIC THINKS THAT IT IS THE REAR MAIN SEAL. THE LEAK WAS FIRST ADDRESSED AT 51,000 MILES, WITHOUT SUCCESS.

NHTSA complaint #11384571 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

THE CAR STALLS AFTER BEING STARTED AND TRYING TO GO. PUT HOME DIAGNOSTIC COMPUTER ON THE VEHICLE AND IT POINTS TO THE CAMSHAFT POSITION ACTUATOR SOLENOID VALVE FAILING. THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH THE EQUINOX AND THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL FOR IT.

NHTSA complaint #11374859 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

DRIVER REPORTS CAR STALLS WHEN APPLYING GAS PEDAL, CAR HAS SMELL OF GAS. THIS STALLING HAPPENS AT LOW AND HIGHWAY SPEEDS.

NHTSA complaint #11353092 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

CAR STALLS WHEN STOPPED AT RED LIGHT

NHTSA complaint #11338160 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

THE OLDER MODEL EQUINOX HAD AN ISSUE WITH IT'S HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP, SO DID MY NEWER 2016. IT FAILED AND WAS PUSHING FUEL INTO THE ENGINE AT EXTREME LEVELS. THIS CAUSED THE ENGINE TO STOP WORKING PROPERLY AND FAIL. THE GM TECHNICIANS SAID THEY FIXED THE ISSUE RECENTLY, BUT WOULD NOT GO ON. I WAS DRIVING IN A POTENTIAL FIRE STARTER. THE ACTUAL ISSUE HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH, THE ENGINE BLEW UP AND LUCKILY DID NOT START A FIRE WITH THE AMOUNT OF GAS THAT WAS IN THE ENGINE.

NHTSA complaint #11316876 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.