jaimarhop

Before I got my Equinox, I drove a '99 Grand Am Pontiac. I was SO excited to get a Chevy! My family was always a Ford family, but I always thought Chevy's looked so much more classy & tough. When it was time to get a new car a couple of years ago, I picked out a 2010 Chevy Equinox - Silver with the "pretty" grill and black/red interior. Absolutely LOVED it (and still do as far as looks go). It was the perfect size for me too. My dad really wanted me to get an SUV so I would have less problems in the winter, and wouldn't have to worry about me since I was over 2 hours away in college.

Let me just say, as badly as I want to love this car, I can not wait for the day to come that I get to get a different one. I still do love my car, but it's completely because of shallow, girly reasons - how it looks. It has a completely clean record - has never even been in a fender bender. Nothing. I also want to add I take great care of my car (something I learned from my grandpa). I always get the best oil for my car, get the oil changed very routinely, get my tires rotated, the whole works. However, it does not run well and is almost completely unreliable.

While I was in college, I would have to take it to the Chevy dealership monthly because of all of the engine problems. It was a really big dealership, but I got on a first name basis with the guys at the service department. As annoying as it was, because my car was/is so new, it was still under warranty and didn't bother me too bad since I didn't have to ever pay very much for my visits. The visits should not have been so cheap though. They had to take my engine apart 3 times to fix the different problems, and would have to keep my car there for multiple days at a time. The only specific problem I remember it being one time was a blown gasket.

Fast forward to this winter: I live in Iowa, yeah it's cold here right now - it's winter - but it's definitely not out of the ordinary. There aren't 2 feet tall snow banks outside, and it's not below zero. My car is always kept in my garage, but let me tell you... It doesn't matter. This car is definitely not an Iowa car. I was always under the impression that Chevy's were the tough trucks meant to withstand all types of scenarios, but that is not the case. I understand now why my dad (a farmer) doesn't mess around with getting a Chevy. This winter has been brutal with my car. Remember how I said I was taking my car to the dealership every month in college? It's every other week now that I'm working full time at my office job that is 4 blocks from my house. I was always taught that in the winter, it is important to warm up your car before you drive it. Every time I have let my car warm up for 10-15 minutes this winter, it dies. Straight up, starts chugging really badly at 5 minutes, and then dies by 10-15 minutes. On the worst possible day/time ever, I went out to start my car one morning, and my car battery was not just dead, it was done for. I needed to get a new one and put it in my car (even though it's only a 4 year old battery and in my opinion it should last at least 5-6 years) - the keys will get locked in the ignition when this happens and you won't be able to put it in neutral - it is straight up in lock down, and it's an ugly process that resulted in me and my boyfriend getting in a shouting match about what was more important - figuring out why the hell a car would lock your keys in the ignition when the battery is dead (to make matters worse?) or to figure out how in the hell do we get these screws out so we can take the battery out. It's a terrible process that I could rant about for an hour, but I don't want to get into that... Car batteries die, it happens with cars sometimes, and it's just something you've got to deal with.

Back to the Iowa winters and my Chevy Equinox - Ever heard of "Engine Power Reduced"?? Be prepared for this every single damn time the temperature is less than 10 degrees outside. It will happen every time without fail. What exactly will happen? You'll start driving your Chevy down the road, doesn't matter if it's 35 mph through town or 70 mph on the interstate, all of the sudden you'll hear a ding, the cruise control will kick out (a problem on the interstate) and your car will go max of 25 mph and will chug. It will chug hard. Why does this happen? After research I have done, it appears that the reasoning is: It's cold outside - so let's save energy with the engine. It does not make sense to me. The one time I do not want my car to die is when I'm driving home in a blizzard, but this is the time that this car believes it is most beneficial to take a dump on you. I understand in the summer it can get hot, your engine can overheat and that is not good for it. When a car has been running fine for 20-30 minutes, I don't think it's a good idea for it to be programmed to pop out of cruise control, and basically die on you. I could rant so hard on this. It baffles my mind. Why does it do this? Why do I have to have it checked every other week because of this? The "Engine Power Reduced" is annoying and I wish there was a Chevy expert somewhere that could figure out why it happens. "Service StabiliTrack" is almost just as annoying as the engine power reduced mode. This is what causes me to have to take my car in every other week now and it's insanely annoying how much it needs to be serviced, but at least it doesn't almost cause accidents like the engine power reduced mode does when it suddenly kicks out of cruise control and starts acting like a tug boat. All I can say is I am looking forward to summer so I can ride my bike to work every day.

Oh yeah, I had to take it in to get new front wheel bearings for my car last week too - this isn't something that should wear out. It's supposed to be there for life. Not with my Equinox.

The only reason any one can fathom that all of this is happening to my car, is the fact that it is an SUV and 4 cylinders. One dealership told me they had seen a lot of problems with newer Equinox's and I truly don't understand why. This is supposed to be a sturdy, dependable, American made car. I can't tell you enough how badly I don't want to trade my car. I love telling people "I drive a Chevy." I LOVE THE GRILL OF MY EQUINOX! (It's chrome, and it is so pretty) I love the blue lights on the entertainment/CD compartment of the car. I love that black interior with red thread. I love that the locks for the doors are in the middle, and not on the doors. I love the keys to my car and how I can click a button and have it flip up like a switch blade. But I hate that I'm having to come up with alternative car rides to get places, I hate that I'm putting every spare cent of my paycheck to pay for its problems, I hate that all of my neighbors are staring at me when I pull into my driveway because of how loud and jerky my car is chugging, I hate that I'm already searching cars I can trade this one in for. I hate that I can't depend on this car.

ruley73

This isn't doing any harm, but it is unnecessary. You're just wasting gas. Just use some common sense and don't drive the engine very hard until the temp gauge starts to rise. You'll find that the engine actually warms up much faster if you drive it right away.


Those are realistic expectations for battery life. The catch is that while your Equinox may be a 2010 model there's a good chance it was actually manufactured in 2009. GM started selling them in June 2009 and probably started assembling them a few months before that to build up inventory.


This is strange. Based on the information provided in the owner's manual, under normal circumstances the only way this could possibly happen would be if the key was removed then put back into the ignition after the doors were locked.


The bit in bold is nonsense. A common cause for your driveability issues is a bad throttle body, but you should take it to the stealership to have it properly diagnosed. If it needs to be replaced, it is fairly easy and you should be able to do it for less than half the price the stealership would charge you.


Wheel bearing/hub assemblies certainly can and do wear out. In my experience they typically last about 100K miles on SUVs and 150-200K miles on most cars. This makes sense because SUVs typically weigh more and are subject to greater loads & stress than a car.

We have 120K miles on our 2007 Equinox (FWD) and both rear wheel hub assemblies needed to be replaced within the last 20K miles. The front left hub is still original while the front right was replaced at 73K miles during a collision repair.

Silver Streak

I would like to add that none of the former US car manufacturers, that used to be known as the Big 3, produce car batteries. The majority are made by JCI, aka Johnson Controls. Without knowing what your battery has experienced, I would say from my experience that having to replace a car battery after 4 - 5 years is not uncommon. Every time you run the battery dead, shortens the life of the battery. I had a JCI battery used in a travel trailer need replacement last fall, after only one year and 2 weeks in service. And, that battery was kept in my basement over the winter on a trickle charger. You may be annoyed and/or disappointed with GM regarding your Equinox, but the battery needing to be changed, in my opinion, is out of their control. There are small, hand held high quality battery testers that can be used to check your battery. One made by Midtronics, that many dealerships and better auto repair shops use, is a favorite of mine.

sledge.impy

That's what she said.

Seriously? a 4 block commute - and you are expecting your battery to last 5 years?

My red top optima aftermarket battery was toast after 3 years with low mileage duty. And that cost more than your original ac delco battery.


How many gadgets are your charging up on your commute? Iphone? Ipad? Leaving them plugged in while you are away? Come on...

jaimarhop

I understand batteries die. I was just going off of past experiences and what other people have told me about batteries for how long they last. I was just annoyed with it locking my keys and not letting me put it in neutral. The dead battery really wasn't the issue at all - sorry for making it sound that way!

jaimarhop

I'm sorry for upsetting you - this really wasn't meant to be a rant on my battery being dead. I got a new one, it was just the process that agitated me. I don't have chargers in my car, but I do play music off of my phone sometimes and leave the aux cord in. I didn't really think of that as taking a lot of battery life out but I suppose you are right and I can take it out. Not really the main issue I'm having with my car though. I've never had to jump it or anything. It was just that one day when I needed to get a new one, but you're saying that battery lasted way longer than it should have so I don't think it's that big of an issue.

Truly my main problem is the Engine Power Reduced mode. I'm just looking for advice on what to do or if there is any mechanic/dealership out there who knows exactly what is wrong that can fix it. I've taken it to 3 different ones now and I'm just looking for advice on that.

Once again, sorry for not being more clear I was just on a rant about problems I've had with my car and added that in on there when I shouldn't have. I didn't know that newer Chevys don't allow you to take your key out of your car when it is dead so I was just throwing that out there as a warning to other people who experience it. I've read it does it with Impalas & Equinoxs that were 2009 and newer.

jaimarhop

You caught me - I'm not a car expert by any means, which is why I came here for advice. I do respectfully disagree on your opinion on it being unimportant to warm up your engine. I was taught where the temp gauge should be before driving your car, and I've always gone with that rule. I think it is good to go easy on your car and not push it too hard especially when it's freezing out. Granted, 15 minutes is excessive and definitely can be wasting gas - that's more so it's a good comfort level for me when I go wherever I'm going. 5 minutes would suffice fine.

I got a new battery - Didn't mean to make the life of the battery such a big deal.

Nope - it happens with other Chevy makes to. I just put it in the ignition and it locked it in, along with it not moving into neutral. I did find out that you can unscrew something under the steering wheel which exposes a button you can push that will eject your keys when this happens, but I was only going to worry about that if I ended up needing to get it towed. Apparently it's a feature of newer Chevys? I don't understand why it does this but that's what the dealership (and this forum) told me. Anyways, it's really not the issue with my car, it's just a feature of it I was unaware of. I won't ever have to experience it again, because I know now that if my battery is dead what I'll need to do. It was just a 1 time hurdle.

I don't really understand what you are trying to say in the next paragraph, but it sounds like an opinion you've had with previous experience? I've taken it to dealerships for them to diagnose and fix the issue multiple times. I should clarify - they usually do fix the problem, but then it resurfaces which is why I have to keep taking it in. I'm not taking it in for routine services. They fix it and I have never been chincy with it and tell them not to go ahead and do whatever they need to do to fix it. I've always taken good care of my cars which is why I find it frustrating that this keeps happening.

I currently have about 70000 miles on my car. It's just reading that I've done (granted - they are not peer reviewed journal entires on cars) but reliable websites written by experts and not bloggers. I found that the reasons for wheel bearings to need to be replaced are damaged wheel bearing seals, damage from an accident, or manufacturing default. Honestly, I'm not a car expert at all, but what I've taken away from my research is that car wheel bearings are not wearable items like brakes and tires, most wheel bearings last the lifetime of a car without ever being replaced. It sounds like you've had a similar situation happen though, so maybe you're right and they do need to be replaced routinely. I find that a little odd considering I have never had to do it before, and neither has anyone in my family though.

sledge.impy

I have replaced my front sealed wheel bearings (both sides) at 48k miles on my 1994 f-body some where back in 2002?. They appeared to be more wear and tear. Also depends on load/tires, cornering, and the other things you mention. Nothing lasts forever. Other models are not sealed.

And usually the electrical part also goes bad - wire or sensor - as these are integrated with the ABS and need to maintain signal for determining wheel slippage.

sledge.impy

So did the new wheel bearings fix the service stabilitrack and engine power reduced? Or did the new battery? Or both?

You never mentioned which engine codes are being set?

And driving your car after starting it isn't bad. Just don't go from 0 to 60 in 5 seconds and beat on it until it has warmed up... Taking it easy will be fine.

jaimarhop

No - the wheel bearings had nothing to do with the stabilitrak or engine power reduced. It was a completely different problem. I was driving to a friend's house and the break light came on and they didn't work.