20?? Chevy Equinox

[89Suburban]

My sister bought a couple year old Equinox, it's got about 60K on it. I really don't know anything about the vehicle, motor size, year, model. She had a problem with it today so I though I would ask the gear heads here if you have any knowledge of these vehicles and the following issue. And i have been doing some quick searches the past few minutes but I just got hit with this voice message, I have not talked to her yet or looked at the vehicle.

She was driving down the road 35 mph and the engine lost power and started shaking. She said some lights came on and one in particular she noticed said "Operating On Reduced Power". She had about a half tank of fuel so she said she was going to stop and get some more gas. It will be due for it's next oil change in 500 miles.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[animal]

Find out if the CEL is ON or is it flashing? If its ON she is "OK" if it is FLASHING she needs to STOP! It will do MAJOR damage if she keeps driving. Only way to tell what's wrong is to plug in a scanner. I am thinking the "reduced power" light is probably meaning the CEL is flashing. Pull the codes and see what they are.

 

[89Suburban]

Thanks, let me call her. What do I do to get the codes?

 

[Stewzer55]

Flashing means that the PCM has detected a missfire condition on the engine, more than likely its got to do with the ignition system.

 

[Old77]

To get the codes go to the nearest O'Reilly and have them read the code for you for free

 

[89Suburban]

Once she stopped and started the car again it's been running fine. I am stuck at work so I can't look at it right away. Some of the searches mention a malfunctioning stability control system, fuel pump and throttle body issues, fuel leaking into the oil in the crankcase from a bad plunger seal. When I get home I will check the oil first. And check the fuel cap is on right. Then I might run it to the parts store to get the codes read. Overall this vehicle seems to be a POS from what I have dug up.

 

[82chevy350]

Or find someone with a good high dollar scanner and go into mode 6 its amazing lol

 

[89Suburban]

I can't stand these new phuckin cars.

 

[82chevy350]

There not bad especially if you can get a scanner with mode 6 it tells you everything

 

[Old77]

Yeah you couldn't pay me to own an equinox. I wouldn't be surprised at a throttle body issue and that stupid effing stabilitrac message comes on with absolutely every issue regardless so just ignore it if it came on cuz the root cause of the issue is most likely not stabilitrac related. The newer GMs are known for their faulty throttle bodies.

 

[89Suburban]

Yeah you couldn't pay me to own an equinox. I wouldn't be surprised at a throttle body issue and that stupid effing stabilitrac message comes on with absolutely every issue regardless so just ignore it if it came on cuz the root cause of the issue is most likely not stabilitrac related. The newer GMs are known for their faulty throttle bodies.

I'm seeing a lot of that discussion and bitching lol.

 

[Green79Scottsdale]

There was one year, 2011 I believe, that the motors are known to be bad. I can't remember exactly all that goes bad, but it seemed like they were being replaced under warranty just before the 60k mark. My in-laws had one, and recently traded it in for a new Equinox.

As far as them being pieces of crap, every new car these days has their own unique set of "problems". I know probably 7 or 8 people that own Equinox's and they all really like them. Any bad review of a new car is also accompanied with thousands of happy owners that have nothing to complain about. If somebody said I could have an Equinox or squarebody Burb for a DD, I wouldn't hesitate to choose the Equinox.

 

[89Suburban]

It turned out to be a code P2135. They said the throttle body had to be replaced. $520 is the dent in the purse.

 

[animal]

Ouch!!!

 

[89Suburban]

Is that an OBDII system on these things?