wbvczar

I am having issues with my 2016 Chevy Equinox LT (47K miles, purchased used). I had the battery replaced at a Chevy Dealer on 1/6/21 after receiving the "Service Battery Charging System" message. When they replaced the battery, they tested and confirmed the battery charging system and alternator were good. I left the dealer that day and drove to work, then back home, with no problems. The next morning, I had the "Service Battery Charging System" messagepop-up again. It stayed on for a few miles then went away (along with red battery indicator). It came back while I was driving on the highway, along with the cruise control disengaging and losing heat. But within a few miles (I was stuck in traffic and couldn't get over) it went away again and everything returned to normal. I was going to bring back to the dealer, but it did not happen on my drive to work or on my way home Friday evening. In fact, my car was fine the whole weekend.

Fast forward to Monday evening (1/11). I left work and as I was getting on the highway, the "Service Battery Charging System" messagecame up again. I was hoping it would resolve itself like before, but then the "Service Stabilitrak" and the "Service Power Steering" messages came up. The car was still running fine until I realized I did not have power steering. I was able to make it onto the next stretch of highway safely, then everything went sideways. The radio screen went dark, then I lost all instrumentation lights. At this point I made my way to the side of the road and put my car in park. Within about 30 seconds sitting there,with the car still running, everything magically came back and resumed normal operation. I was able to drive normally until I close to home, when it all started again, with everything going dark again, but the car still running. I again pulled off, put it in park, and about 30 seconds later (withthe car still running), everything was back and I was able to drive it the rest of the way home.

I've searched these forums and I've seen many post concerning the electrical problems with the Equinox. I'm concerned that since it has been intermittent, if I just take it to the dealer, they won't find anything, or they'll just try to throw costly fixes at it, which I don't have the time or money for. Anyone have any ideas of fixes?

mountainmanjoe

next time record it with your smartphone so you can show it to the dealer.

Anyway, are your battery terminals tight?

wbvczar

I took my Equinox back to the dealer, and after tracing all the wires, they found a loose ground wire at the alternator was causing my problems.

I am seeing an immediate difference after securing the wire. I had been noticing my wipers were slower and my drivers side door window was slow to go up and down. After the fix, the wipers and windows are back to a normal speed!