After work on Tuesday, the car started, but the engine light came on again and started jerking and sputtering while driving. The StabiliTrack light came on, on the Instrument Cluster it read "Engine running at 1/2 Power," and I could only drive at 30 mph on the highway. It would stall every time I came to a stop. I live 38 miles from work, highway & Turnpike most of the way. I'm still not sure how I made it home in 1-pc, but I did. On 8/25 I had the car towed to a local Chevrolet dealership to have it looked at. The conclusion was that the timing chain suffered catastrophic failure due to excessive amounts of oil being burned, causing damage to the pistons. To repair the problem would cost $4,276.13 plus tax and would not come with a guarantee on the parts and labor. To replace the motor would cost $7,997.00 plus tax, but it would include a 3 year, 100,000-thousand-mile warranty on the parts and labor.

I called GM to see if there were any recalls on the motor, but there wasn't. I asked if they had any assistance for availability to assist with the cost. They only offered me $1,145.00 which doesn't help at all.

I later found out that there have been 3-Class action lawsuits against GM for the motors on the Equinox. One in California, Illinois and Florida. Needless to say, GM never notified me, or hundreds of other people around the country that are having the same experience. and since all the issues are happening after the 5-year 60,000-mile warranty, so GM is getting away with selling

Update from Sep 12, 2023 The lawsuit claims that GM was aware of the problems, but sold them anyway, leaving hundreds if not thousands of people unable to repair or sell their vehicles. I'm retired and can't afford to get a new engine. I can't trade the car in because I won't get enough to pay off the loan. I'm looking for an inexpensive vehicle that I can afford, because I still have to pay for a car I can't use. I've been looking for an attorney in my area that would be interested in filing another lawsuit in my state, but I've not had any luck with that.

This week, I brought my 2016 Equinox in to see why the engine light came on (again - I had to get repairs on a related issue back in April about the engine seals for $3200). They diagnosed the car as a "bad engine" and that there was excessive oil consumption. I had just changed the oil and only have 103,000 miles on the car. (This is also after my windshield wiper blade flew off my car in the middle of the street and had to replace a few months back.) The repair is going to cost close to $10,000 (which is more money than what I can sell the car for). I have already put over $4,000 into a car that I bought less than 6 years ago and will now have to put another $10,000 into it?!

I see TONS of other complaints and lawsuits against Chevy for the SAME issues (all 3 issues) I'm having and still haven't seen a recall or extended warranty for the 2016s even though there are several complaints on the same year. There are also a million other complaints on other Chevy engines that are having the same issue as the 2.4L... I don't understand how this hasn't been recalled yet and I can't believe people are having to pay more than what their relatively new car is worth in value. Only 100k miles on a 6 year old car and $14k later, I guess you might have a working vehicle... How is anyone supposed to afford that??

About a year ago I had the excessive oil consumption issue cause a timing chain failure which resulted in a $2200 repair. I have always been good about getting oil changes and checking my oil so this was bothersome.

In mid May 2022 I had a full synthetic oil change completed on the vehicle. Less then two weeks later on May 24 I heard a ticking sound coming from the engine. It took 2.5 quarts of oil to refill it and I had about 1800 miles since the oil change. My mechanic said the piston rings probably failed causing oil to get through and burn up with the fuel. After a pressure test he found 3 cylinders were holding at over 80% and the third was hold at about 10%. Total engine replacement was required.

Total cost of the pressure check and engine replacement was $9485. This does not include the $2200 I spent to repair the timing chain last year. Since I still owe $13,000 on the vehicle I didn't have much choice but to repair it. The re-manufactured engine has a 3 year 100k mile warranty so I feel I have some protection to get my money out of it.