Equinox Excessive Oil Consumption

ProDarwin wrote:

NickD wrote: In reply to Jeff: My dealership never sold or service Suzukis and I never really paid any attention to them. It looks like they used the older version of the 3.6L, like in the 1st-gen CTS, but from a bit of quick Googleage, I'm seeing complaints of timing chain issues. In reply to ProDarwin: What generation of Vue are we talking about?

up to '07

Not familiar with the issue (most of them had the rear subframe fall out or the CVT explode before anything else around here) but I'm not seeing any recalls, TSBs, special coverages or campaigns related to any BCM issues, other than reprograms for stuff like DRLs that are slow to turn on. I don't think the other CUVs had that issue either, but the Saturn was kind of a weirdo. It was the only one to get a 4-cylinder or a CVT or a hybrid option or the Catera V6 or a Honda V6

Tyler H wrote: This thread just undid about 10 years worth of perceived GM quality improvement in my mind.

Oh, they've definitely made improvements. I mean, the new (16+) GM interiors are pretty snazzy. The Impala and Malibu are now pretty handsome cars that drive genuinely nice. The Cruze is a tough, reliable, cheap compact sedan. The new V8 trucks get 25+mpg regularly. And have you seen the performance numbers on the new Camaro?! But their CUVs are just lacking. Hopefully an all-new Equinox and Terrain are on the way and can cure the issues that have dogged them from their Banruptcy development period.

NickD wrote: The 1.4T does not seem to have the issues of the 2.4L or 3.6L.

Sorry to take this somewhat off-topic... What issues is the 3.6L having? Wifes parents have a Traverse will well over 180k km. No issues to date. Pretty much all highway mileage. Anything I should mention to them to keep an eye out for?

I was looking at the base Equinox for work. Cheap, holds crap, not ginormous.

doc_speeder wrote:

NickD wrote: The 1.4T does not seem to have the issues of the 2.4L or 3.6L.

Sorry to take this somewhat off-topic... What issues is the 3.6L having? Wifes parents have a Traverse will well over 180k km. No issues to date. Pretty much all highway mileage. Anything I should mention to them to keep an eye out for?

No problem. Always happy to give anyone a heads-up. The 3.6Ls that were pre-2011 had oil consumption issues as well, although I don't believe that that was ever Special Coveraged. But lots and lots of timing chain issues. And the 3.6L, with it's three timing chains and special timing procedure, is a nightmare to retime. It pretty much has to be done by a dealership as everyone I've ever seen done by an independent shop has ended up at our dealership, either running rough with a CEL on or complete junk because it slammed pistons into valves.

Also have seen these start misfiring due to carbon buildup on valves. Can usually be cured by running top-end engine cleaner through them, GM even came out with a bulletin advocating such. A downside of GDI is that you don't get fuel washing off the tops of the intake valves. And, in rarer cases, I have seen these break the heads off of valves for reasons unknown and royally destroy the engine (Happened once on a '15 Acadia with 831 miles) but I'm thinking that if that hasn't happened yet, it likely won't.

The Lambda-chassis (Traverse/Acadia/Outlook/Enclave) also has a transmission that usually is all done by 100K miles. They make the 3-5 wave plate out of a paper-thin stamping and then the springs wear through the plate.