NHTSA Complaint #11202619 — 2014 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

BAD OIL CONSUMPTION AND OIL WARNING LIGHT DOES NOT COME ON. WHILE DRIVING WITH MY KIDS THE SUV STARTED TO IDLE VERY ROUGH AND WOULD JUST SHUT OFF ONCE I GOT INTO SLOWER TRAFFIC. AFTER THE 4TH TIME IN LESS THEN 2 MILES OF TRAFFIC THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND I TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC. I WAS TOLD THAT THE CODE THAT WAS DISPLAYED WAS FOR THE VVT SOLENOID AND SO I HAD IT REPLACED ALONG WITH AN OIL CHANGE. THE MECHANIC SAID THAT OIL CAN EFFECT THE VVT SOLENOID SO I SHOULD CHANGE THE OIL FREQUENTLY FOR THE NEXT YEAR. EACH TIME I DID AN OIL CHANGE I STARTED NOTICING THAT LESS OIL WAS DRAINING OUT THEN WHAT WAS PUT IN. AFTER THE YEAR I WENT BACK TO FULL SYNTHETIC OIL CHANGES AT 6000 MILES APART BUT THEN HAD THE SAME ISSUE WITH THE VEHICLE DRIVING ROUGH AND MAKING WEIRD NOISES 8 MONTHS LATER. ALONG WITH MISSING OIL ON THE CHANGE BETWEEN. NOT LONG AFTER THIS MY WIFE WAS DRIVING IN BOSTON TRAFFIC WHEN THE VEHICLE STALLED SEVERAL TIMES AND WAS NEARLY HIT BEFORE SHE COULD GET TO A SAFE PLACE WHERE I WAS ABLE TO TOW IT BACK HOME. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON AND GAVE THE SAME CODE FOR THE VVT. I REPLACED THIS FOR A SECOND TIME AND WHILE REPLACING I NOTICED THAT THE ENGINE OIL WAS EXTREMELY LOW (LESS THEN A QUART CAME OUT). I TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC FOR FURTHER TESTING AND HE SAID THAT AT NO POINT DURING HIS TEST PERIOD DID THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT EVER ILLUMINATE. I HAVE BEEN ADDING ALMOST 2 QUARTS EVERY 5-8 HUNDRED MILES JUST TO KEEP UP WITH IT. I FOUND SEVERAL OTHER EQUINOX OWNERS WITH THE SAME ISSUE SO I CALLED THE LOCAL CHEVY CENTER AND WAS TOLD THAT THERE ARE A FEW COMPLAINTS THAT THEY SEE FROM EQUINOX OWNERS WITH THE 2.4L ENGINES BURNING OIL HOWEVER, THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO AND THAT IT IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. I MENTIONED THE SERVICE BULLETINS THAT I FOUND ABOUT THESE ISSUES AND HE JUST SAID THAT THEY DON'T MEAN ANYTHING AND THAT THERE ARE NO RECALLS.