2012 Equinox hestitation after replace spark plugs, fuel injectors, etc.
October 2nd, 2017, 10:39 AM
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2012 Equinox hesitation after replaced spark plugs, fuel injectors, etc.
About a month a go I brought my 2012 Equinox in for some standard stuff. I don't do the work myself, and my dealership offers "tires for life", so I had the air filter replaced (ok, that I could have done), new tires, and asked them to check the engine light which had been on for maybe a week or two. 129,000 miles. The family's only vehicle. I know, that's a lot of miles. We did a road trip across country in 2013. We've driven to Florida in it twice. It's our only vehicle as well. I understand stuff is going to break.
For about a month prior to this the engine light would go on and then go off after a day. This happened three times. We thought it was related to the gas cap not being on tight, because it seemed to happen most often after a fill up. But then the engine light went on and stayed on. We notice no degradation in performance. Not idling rough. No major sounds. Nothing seemed wrong with it.
The code indicated two things, one of which was remedied by replacing the oxygen sensor, which was totally hosed. After the oxygen sensor was replaced, they noticed it was still reporting a lean code. This lead the technician to find a crack in the exhaust manifold (note, I said there wasn't any noticeable noise!). The theory, I guess, was that oxygen was getting sucked in to the crack, causing the lean code. Well, they replaced the engine manifold, but then also say the catalytic converter was toast and had to replace that. After the converter, they still noticed the lean code, so they replaced all the fuel injectors. They also replaced the spark plugs. Most of this was covered by my emissions warranty. I only had to pay for the spark plugs. $600 got me four new tires, a new air filter, and all of this other done. Sweet, right?
Take the car home a week later after all of this diagnosing and work. Immediately notice hesitation, usually on an incline and when driving between 25 - 50 mph. So, not constant. And only when we are giving it a little gas. If we gun it, the hesitation disappears. I stopped by the dealership the next day and was told that maybe it was the adaptive transmission relearning how we drive. Note this car has 129,000 miles on it. So...what? Whatever. We give it a few days. Again, idles normal. Only thing going on is this hestitation, which started after all the work was complete. Gave it two full days. Finally we get to the point where the check engine light starts blinking.
Take it back to the dealership. Dealership can't reproduce problem. Run it through a cleaning cycle for $240. Two different people take it for a drive and don't notice anything.
We take the car back, notice immediate hesitation again. Asked to "give it a day" until the engine is all cleared out. Hesitation continues.
Taking it back tomorrow morning.
What the heck is going on here? Notice this was the dealership that did all these fixes. I haven't touched the damn thing. Only thing I've ever done to this car was replace a taillight. I'm thinking they screwed something up when they replaced all the parts. Any clues? Could this be unrelated and a coincidence? The throttle is sticking and the body needs cleaning? Or is it more likely they did something stupid? Any way I can make sure they admit this so they don't charge me for something they probably screwed up? I mean, I am grateful all the original work was under the emissions warranty, but it's been 3 weeks and my car is worse than when I brought it in to begin with!
For about a month prior to this the engine light would go on and then go off after a day. This happened three times. We thought it was related to the gas cap not being on tight, because it seemed to happen most often after a fill up. But then the engine light went on and stayed on. We notice no degradation in performance. Not idling rough. No major sounds. Nothing seemed wrong with it.
The code indicated two things, one of which was remedied by replacing the oxygen sensor, which was totally hosed. After the oxygen sensor was replaced, they noticed it was still reporting a lean code. This lead the technician to find a crack in the exhaust manifold (note, I said there wasn't any noticeable noise!). The theory, I guess, was that oxygen was getting sucked in to the crack, causing the lean code. Well, they replaced the engine manifold, but then also say the catalytic converter was toast and had to replace that. After the converter, they still noticed the lean code, so they replaced all the fuel injectors. They also replaced the spark plugs. Most of this was covered by my emissions warranty. I only had to pay for the spark plugs. $600 got me four new tires, a new air filter, and all of this other done. Sweet, right?
Take the car home a week later after all of this diagnosing and work. Immediately notice hesitation, usually on an incline and when driving between 25 - 50 mph. So, not constant. And only when we are giving it a little gas. If we gun it, the hesitation disappears. I stopped by the dealership the next day and was told that maybe it was the adaptive transmission relearning how we drive. Note this car has 129,000 miles on it. So...what? Whatever. We give it a few days. Again, idles normal. Only thing going on is this hestitation, which started after all the work was complete. Gave it two full days. Finally we get to the point where the check engine light starts blinking.
Take it back to the dealership. Dealership can't reproduce problem. Run it through a cleaning cycle for $240. Two different people take it for a drive and don't notice anything.
We take the car back, notice immediate hesitation again. Asked to "give it a day" until the engine is all cleared out. Hesitation continues.
Taking it back tomorrow morning.
What the heck is going on here? Notice this was the dealership that did all these fixes. I haven't touched the damn thing. Only thing I've ever done to this car was replace a taillight. I'm thinking they screwed something up when they replaced all the parts. Any clues? Could this be unrelated and a coincidence? The throttle is sticking and the body needs cleaning? Or is it more likely they did something stupid? Any way I can make sure they admit this so they don't charge me for something they probably screwed up? I mean, I am grateful all the original work was under the emissions warranty, but it's been 3 weeks and my car is worse than when I brought it in to begin with!
Last edited by Scott Korin; October 24th, 2017 at 7:40 AM. Reason: Clarified title
October 24th, 2017, 7:22 AM
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So it is now October 24th. The car has been with the dealer since October 3. And remember, this is the third time the car has been in the shop since early September.
They did find the misfire. The misfire keeps moving between different cylinders. They've cleaned the engine several times to see if that would resolve the issue. They've done everything they could under the exhaust warranty I have, so now they want to take the engine apart to inspect it for damage. The service rep I am talking to is giving me a worst case scenario of a cracked cylinder head. Note they haven't taken the engine apart yet to check it. That's not an official diagnosis. They still don't actually know what's wrong with it.
I ask you, my dear readers: Why would this have started after I had the car in and had the exhaust manifold, catalytic converter, spark plugs, and injectors replaced? Is it just a coincidence that the hesitation was noticeable after the car was fixed? I'm not saying the dealership did something on purpose and are trying to scam me. I'm saying I think they screwed something up. It's seems like a big coincidence. Am I being paranoid?
They did find the misfire. The misfire keeps moving between different cylinders. They've cleaned the engine several times to see if that would resolve the issue. They've done everything they could under the exhaust warranty I have, so now they want to take the engine apart to inspect it for damage. The service rep I am talking to is giving me a worst case scenario of a cracked cylinder head. Note they haven't taken the engine apart yet to check it. That's not an official diagnosis. They still don't actually know what's wrong with it.
I ask you, my dear readers: Why would this have started after I had the car in and had the exhaust manifold, catalytic converter, spark plugs, and injectors replaced? Is it just a coincidence that the hesitation was noticeable after the car was fixed? I'm not saying the dealership did something on purpose and are trying to scam me. I'm saying I think they screwed something up. It's seems like a big coincidence. Am I being paranoid?
October 24th, 2017, 4:49 PM
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Which engine does your Equinox have?
Does the misfire keep moving between the same cylinders (and if so, which ones) or is it just a random misfire that floats between all of them?
Is the Check Engine light on? If so, what exact codes are they getting? Again, I'd like to know the exact code numbers - not their descriptions.
Does the misfire keep moving between the same cylinders (and if so, which ones) or is it just a random misfire that floats between all of them?
Is the Check Engine light on? If so, what exact codes are they getting? Again, I'd like to know the exact code numbers - not their descriptions.
October 26th, 2017, 2:22 PM
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My Equinox is the 4-cylinder engine. From what I understand, the misfire moved from the 2nd to the 3rd cylinder after a carbon cleaning cycle. I don't know if it continues to move randomly.
The check engine light only comes on intermittently, and when it does it's the blinking light, not the steady light. Whatever the code is, they haven't shared those details with me.
The misfire is intermittent as well, and mostly happened while going uphill. I don't always get the blinking light when it misfires, only when it when it starts getting really bad. Car idles fine.
I talked with my technician today and they replaced one of the cam actuators. We are hoping that was the cause. They are going to drive it overnight. Fingers crossed!
The check engine light only comes on intermittently, and when it does it's the blinking light, not the steady light. Whatever the code is, they haven't shared those details with me.
The misfire is intermittent as well, and mostly happened while going uphill. I don't always get the blinking light when it misfires, only when it when it starts getting really bad. Car idles fine.
I talked with my technician today and they replaced one of the cam actuators. We are hoping that was the cause. They are going to drive it overnight. Fingers crossed!
