Top 5 Problems Chevy Equinox SUV 1st Generation 2005-09

Hey, friends, it's Len here from 1A Auto. So, today in the studio, we have a first-generation Chevy Equinox. I want to go over some of the top problems that we've come to find. Of course, keep in mind, every car has its own problems. These are just some of the top problems that we've come to find. So, let's get started.

All right. For our first problem, we're going to talk about your A/C system blowing warm. Obviously, nobody wants that, so let's get into it. So, essentially, what I'm talking about is, of course, right now it's wintertime, so who's really running their air conditioning? But in the summertime, of course, you're probably going to be wanting to run your air conditioning. You go ahead, and you put your key in the on position. You got the car running. You dial the thing down to the blue here. That's, of course, going to be cold, and you press your A/C button. Boy, I can't wait until this A/C turns on. Go for a little ride. At this point, the A/C should be blowing nice and cold, but the air coming out of it feels mildly warm if not even hot. Obviously, this is going to be an issue. It's something that you're going to want to diagnose. So, for that, we're going to have to get under the hood.

Okay. So, I made my way under the hood, and I just want to let you know that I went ahead, and I turned off the vehicle. The reason why I did that is because we want to pay attention to the serpentine belt. That's going to be located on the passenger side of the engine. Go ahead and take a quick peek at that. Make sure there is, of course, a serpentine belt still on there. And then also inspect the condition of the serpentine belt. Make sure it's not broken, frayed, or even cracked in any way. If it is, that could potentially be an issue. So, of course, that's going to need to be dealt with. Aside from that, you can come over here and take a look at these lines that come along here. These are aluminum lines, and you're going to see that they have little caps on them. There's one here, and there's one located right there. Underneath that cap, there's going to be a little Schrader valve, and that's not something that you're typically going to want to mess with. So, don't go ahead and touch it. But if you did happen to have an A/C machine where you could hook it up, at that point, you can go ahead and test to see if there's any freon pressure inside of your system. If there's no pressure in the system, well, then you probably got a leak somewhere.

So, now speaking of leaks, there's going to be a bunch of things that we need to pay attention to that are part of our A/C system. Of course, you're going to have those lines that we saw from up top. That's something you want to pay attention to. If you see any green or some kind of weird funky colors around there, it's more than likely a leak. But also, right along the front of the bottom of your grille here, if you were to look inside this groove right there, you're going to see something that looks like it has a whole bunch of fins on it. And you're probably going to think it's your radiator. Well, unfortunately, for you, that's not actually your radiator. That's your AC condenser. It's going to be super important that those fins are in good condition and nothing's leaking. Of course, if the fins are in poor condition, it's not going to be able to cool down that refrigerant the way that it's supposed to, so the refrigerant isn't gonna be able to cycle from hot and cold the way that it has to, and you're never going to get perfect A/C. Now, the next thing we need to do is safely make our way underneath the passenger side front of the car. If you were to look up along this area right here, you're going to see a pump. This is your A/C compressor, and it's very important to your A/C system. The A/C compressor is one of the most common things that's going to go bad on your A/C system.

Inside here, there's going to be, of course, an impeller, and that's going to have bearings on it. And the bearings, of course, need to be good. Other than that, there's going to be clutches that are going to activate and deactivate, which in turn is going to make it so the pump either activates or doesn't and circulate that freon. It's going to be very common for the bearings or even the clutches to go bad on the compressor. And that's pretty much what the actual problem is on these particular vehicles. Now, if you happen to find that you're having an issue with the A/C compressor, maybe it seized up or the bearings or clutches are even bad, well, that's going to be something that you're going to have to just go ahead and replace the whole compressor for. But you're not just going to go ahead and replace just the compressor typically, most people or most shops are going to especially wanna replace other things such as maybe the receiver drier in case there's any type of contaminants in there or even your orifice tube. And then, of course, you'd fill up the system with the proper amount of freon and oil.

Now, for our second problem, we're going to talk about a broken clutch wave plate inside the transmission. So, as for symptoms for this, what you're probably going to find is more than likely a warning indicator light that pops up on your dash. If you were to go ahead and pull the code, it's going to tell you that you're having an issue with something inside your transmission, and that's one of those clutch wave plates. Something else that you might happen to notice as you go ahead and you put your car from inside park into reverse. You go ahead and rev it up a little bit. You're expecting to go back. You're looking in the mirrors, but the stuff in the mirrors isn't moving at all. Wait a minute, the whole car isn't even moving at all. For some reason, it just doesn't even have reverse. Well, that's, of course, going to be an issue. It's going to make you know that you have an issue with the transmission, and, of course, you're going to want to fix it ASAP. So, now these symptoms, you're probably going to notice only on the 6-speed automatic transmissions. They're the ones that are going to have this common issue. As far as fixes for this, you're going to, of course, want to make sure that you check that transmission fluid. Inspect it. See if you see any metal debris. Overall, you're going to find out that it's an issue inside the transmission.

To go ahead and fix that, you're going to have to get this thing up onto a hoist, pull out the engine and transmission, separate the two, and then tear apart your automatic transmission. Is that something I want to do in the driveway with all my parts on my kitchen table? Probably not, and I might get in a little bit of trouble. This might be something that you might want to leave to the professionals.

Okay, friends, for problem number three, we're going to talk about lower control arm bushings. For this particular application, what you're going to find for a symptom might be a clunking over bumps or even when you come to an abrupt stop. Maybe this weirds you out a little bit, maybe it makes you a little nervous, and it probably should. You go ahead, and you get to a safe place. You jack up the front end, and you give it a nice check. Twelve and 6, 3 and 9, everything feels nice and tight. "I don't know what's going on." You grab onto that sway bar link, that feels amazing too, "I don't really get it." Well, if you were to take a closer look, you're going to find that you have a lower control arm that goes like this with a lower ball joint. But then at the far end, you're going to find that you have some bushings. These are rubber bushings, and they're very important. Essentially, what you're going to find on these bushings though is that over time they're going to crack. And in extreme cases, it might even look like this where it's actually even separating. I'm just going to take this pry bar, get right in between here, and as you can tell, there's a lot of movement. And I'm definitely not putting as much force as the weight of this vehicle on this control arm.

So, we took a look, and we found that we have a bad bushing here. This is going to be something that's super common on these control arms. When you find one that's like that, more than likely if you go over to the other side, you're probably going to see the same. Typically, when you find something like this, you're going to go ahead and replace both these control arms at the same time. It really only makes sense to me. And then, of course, once you've done that, go ahead and get yourself safely down to your local alignment shop. Now, for my next couple of problems, we're going to be standing right here. So, you better get used to it. For our fourth problem, we're going to come right here to the gas cap. Now, what you're going to notice on this gas cap is that, of course, it's going to have a seal, and this seal is going to be very important for the gas cap. If, of course, the seal is worn, torn, stiff in any way, it's not going to make a good seal up along this area right here. And if that's the case, you're more than likely going to find that you get a check engine light. So, now, yeah, you could just replace the seal on that. But typically, you're going to replace the whole gas cap at the same time. Go ahead and clear that check engine light code, and then more than likely, you're going to be all set.

Now, for our next problem, we're going to be right here, like I said. So, of course, maybe you go to the gas station, you go ahead, and you take off your gas cap, you set it aside, and you start adding fuel. You put it on automatic, and you're hanging out here waiting, waiting, clunk, "This can't be full already." So, you go ahead and hit it again, dong, dong, dong, clunk, "What is going on? There's no way that my gas tank is full already. It was almost empty. I've only been standing here for 30 seconds. How does it keep turning off?" Well, there's going to be an issue, and it has to do with your EVAP vent solenoid. Now, the reason why that pump keeps stopping on you is because, like I said, the EVAP vent solenoid. If for some reason the solenoid isn't functioning the way that it's supposed to, it's not going to be able to open up. So, you're pumping in fuel, but, of course, at the same time as something's going in, there needs to be something coming out, and that's going to be, of course, the vapor and air. If the vapor and air can't come out, it's going to be trying to rush up the same stream as the fuel's going in. As this happens, it's going to continually build up pressure, and then that fuel pump is going to notice that there's a little bit of fuel, and it's going to think that it's full.

Okay. So, a fix for this now. You're going to have to go ahead and get underneath the vehicle. Once you're under there, you're going to be looking for your EVAP system. It's going to be like a nice, black canister and all that. You're going to see that there's a couple of little different solenoids on there. If you just do a quick Google search, you're going to be able to figure out which one is your vent solenoid. At that point, go ahead and disconnect it. Inspect the wiring. Make sure it's not corroded or damaged in any way. Also, if you can go ahead and pull it out of there, inspect that as well. If you happen to see any debris inside the area, then you know it's probably a clog. If that's the case, go ahead and try blowing it out with something, maybe a little bit of compressed air or even, I don't know, whatever you're into. But anyways, either way, if you find that there's a clog, go ahead and try to clean it out. Put it back together, clear the check engine light. Take it for a road test. If it's fixed, great job. If it's not, you're probably going to have to go ahead and replace that vent valve.

Okay, friends, so that's what I've got for you for some of the top problems that we've come to find on a first-generation Chevy Equinox. Like I said before, every car has its own problems. These are just some of the common problems that we've come to find. Maybe you have a car of your own with a story of your own. If you do, leave it in the comments section because I always love to hear from you. Of course, if you like the video, smash the little like button for me. It would mean the world. While you're at it, go ahead and subscribe and ring the bell. That way there, you can be kept up with all of our latest content. Thanks.