Top Common Engine Problems 2010-17 Chevy Equinox SUV

Here we have a 2010 through '17 Chevy Equinox. In this video, we're going over the top engine problems for this vehicle.

Let's start with the easy one, camshaft actuator solenoid valves. To make this easier to see I'm going to remove the intake boots and the engine cover. The camshaft actuator solenoid valves are located right here. This happens to be the four-cylinder version, so they're nice and easy to get to. The exhaust side is right here and the intake side is right there.

When you have a problem with these solenoids, you're probably going to see a rough running engine, check engine light, sometimes these even cause the engine to stall. To prevent these from going bad, make sure your oil level is up to par. If these are starved of oil it's going to cause them to damage more quickly. Also don't neglect your oil changes, dirty oil is definitely gonna have an effect on those valves.

Let's talk about the catalytic converter. On these engines, they're actually part of the manifold, it's on the backside of the motor. Some of the symptoms you're going to find with a bad catalytic converter is lack of acceleration, check engine light with a code P0420. It's a little bit tricky to get to, you do have to take this bracket off and you have to access those bolts on the backside of the head.

To prevent this from happening again, it's always a great idea to replace your spark plugs and your O2 sensors. To replace the cat on this one, you actually have to take it down from underneath. It's part of the flex pipe, so you take these bolts out here, there's some nuts up on top. Take that down and it slides out this way.

If you notice that you have a lot of oil pouring out of the vehicle in this area, most likely you have a rear main seal that is blown out and it's leaking all that oil. For some reason, this seems to happen more in colder temperatures than warmer climate and it has to do with the PCV system. The intake on this vehicle actually has a hole that's part of the PCV system and it will get clogged up. And when it gets clogged up, there's too much pressure in the crankcase and that's what blows out the rear main seal. The fix for that is to take the intake off and find that hole and just use a drill bit about that size and clean out all the carbon buildup.

Another problem that's a lot more complicated to repair is piston rings. If you have an oil consumption problem, you may have a problem with the piston rings. And there is sometimes a special coverage that the dealer will actually fix it for you. You have to go to the dealer, have them do an oil consumption test, and if it falls within their guidelines, they're going to put new pistons and rings in it. What happens is the rings get stuck into the piston sometimes due to carbon buildup and oil is allowed to go by and that's what causes your oil consumption issue.

Those are the issues with the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. If you have the V6 version, you're going to have some different issues. I hope you enjoyed this video and it helped you out. If it did, make sure you subscribe to our channel, ring the bell, turn on all notifications, so you don't miss any of our videos.