turnkey618

After copious postings about the Equinox burning oil, what has been done by GM to rectify this issue? Bought 2011 last summer, we've put about 12K miles on it. Last changed oil at 82250, bought a service contract for 7600 mile oil changes, but never make it that far. I have habitually checked it at 3-3.5K, and usually add a quart or two. Checked oil at 87498, when the check engine light came on at just over 5k mark, and I had to add 3 1/2 quarts. This vehicle sat for almost 45 days and was recently back in regular driving/errand mode between 3 drivers. What gives? The car was bought used and "as is" warranty, but I see postings going back to 2011 on this issue. Apparently by the response on this forum, GM is keenly aware of the issue. True response is how are they handling it? By the looks of this for me, outlook is either hefty repair bills or going back to Ford. Really wish I would have stumbled upon this BEFORE I bought this vehicle.

ruley73

This is actually pretty cut and dry. GM considers up to one quart of oil consumption every 2000 miles to be normal. If your engine exceeds this the necessary repairs would be covered under the powertrain warranty if your vehicle meets the the time/mileage requirements (usually 5 years/100,000 miles assuming no special coverage bulletin has been issued for this problem) and a dealership confirms your engine does in fact exceed the normal limit. If your vehicle does not meet any of this criteria, you will be responsible for any repair costs. You may contact GM customer service directly to see if they will cover any expenses after a dealership confirms the problem exists. If your vehicle is just out of warranty they may cover some or all of the repair costs, but that is up to them to decide.

cleveland63b

going above 5000 mile oil change intervals will make it look like you have issues and I wouldn't recommend that anyway. I don't care what contract, engineer or manual says. Simple math says 1 qt per 2k means you could be using up to 3.5 Qts between oil changes and the capacity on an equinox is 4-5qts. So it could actually be within spec but appear to be "excessive" but still run your engine low on lubricant and cause problems. 5k miles on an oil change is the absolute maximum I recommend on anything.

turnkey618

UPDATE
Since this post, I brought it back to the dealer. I was put in the oil consumption cycle. oil changed and checking oil level every 1000 miles at any dealer. I burned over 4 qts during the cycle, with at least 1 qt within 900 miles. Meanwhile, during the course of this cycle, my check engine light came on at least 2x, each registering a different code. Brought it back to dealer yesterday and here is where we are at. Oil consumption verified and GM will be paying to replace all the pistons, rings, etc and the codes that were setting my check engine light? They were my timing chains--and were partially a result of the oil consumption but also covered under the extended warranty we bought, so they too, are being repaired/replaced, by GM. (basically rebuilding a good portion of my engine) So I encourage everyone who is experiencing this, work with your dealer. It was a long process, but instead of looking at a huge repair bill at Christmas, over $1300, and I'm paying $100 deductible and the rest is being covered by GM.