2017 Chevrolet Equinox — Known Issues & Recalls

Your car displayed a "reduce engine power" warning message while driving in very cold weather, then completely lost power and stopped running. You had to have it towed, and the engine needs to be replaced. This appears to be a known issue affecting multiple owners of this vehicle model.

While driving at highway speeds in cold weather, your 2017 Equinox displayed a "Reduced Engine Power" warning and then stalled, leaving you stranded. A dealership inspection determined the engine has failed completely and needs replacement. You're concerned because the vehicle only has 54,000 miles, has been regularly maintained at a Chevrolet dealer, and the symptoms match a known issue (PCV icing) documented in Chevrolet service bulletins for this engine. A complete engine replacement will be needed to resolve this.

Your engine's PCV system froze in cold weather, which caused the rear main seal to fail and allowed oil to leak out. This led to low oil pressure, and your engine seized while driving on the highway. Your truck now only starts with a jump and won't stay running without jumper cables connected. The mechanic shop that diagnosed this recommends engine repair or replacement, which will likely involve rebuilding or replacing the entire engine due to internal damage from running without proper lubrication.

While driving at 30 MPH, you heard a knocking sound from the engine before your car stalled and wouldn't restart. A mechanic found that oil had leaked out due to a fractured seal, causing the engine to seize. The engine failure prevented your vehicle from being repaired.

Your engine has water mixing with the oil, and you have a blown head gasket. This is happening despite you keeping up with regular maintenance and oil changes on schedule. Fixing this will require replacing the head gasket and thoroughly flushing the engine oil system.

Your engine suddenly shut off while driving at 50 mph in traffic with no warning lights or alerts beforehand. Just before the shutdown, you heard abnormal engine noise, and the vehicle lost all power to accelerate, forcing you to coast to a stop. The engine failure happened without any indication of low oil or mechanical problems, despite regular dealer maintenance.

Your 2.4L engine is losing power while driving on highways and city streets, and it's burning through oil extremely fast—reaching zero oil level in less than a month after an oil change. An independent mechanic confirmed the engine needs to be replaced because the problem can't be fixed. Your dashboard didn't warn you about the low oil level, which created a safety risk. The fix will require a complete engine replacement or rebuild.

Your engine's PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system froze in sub-zero weather, causing pressure to build up inside the engine. This pressure damaged the rear main seal, allowing all your engine oil to leak out. Without oil, your timing chain and other internal engine components failed, causing the engine to stall while driving with no warning. The manufacturer and dealer involvement status is unknown.

Your car displayed a "reduce engine power" warning while driving on the freeway in January, forcing you to pull off immediately and shut down the engine within half a mile. After multiple diagnostic attempts, a suspected rear seal oil leak was traced to a transmission leak instead. Repairs appear to require a complete transmission replacement, leaving your car undrivable since January and costing you $1,500–$4,000 in rental car expenses. Fixing this will likely involve removing and replacing the entire transmission.

Your engine's rear main seal has failed at around 100,000 miles, causing an oil leak. This is an expensive repair that typically costs over $1,000 to fix because the mechanic must remove the transmission to access the seal. You'll likely notice oil dripping under your vehicle and should have it inspected soon to prevent engine damage.

Your engine started shaking unexpectedly while being driven, and your check engine light came on. A mechanic diagnosed a failed rear engine seal that needs to be replaced. This type of seal failure can allow oil to leak from the engine.

In cold weather, your engine's main rear seal failed and blew out, which caused your engine, coolant system, and intake system to stop working properly. You'll need to have all three systems fully replaced to get your car running again.

While driving at 55 MPH, your car suddenly went into limp mode and slowed to 5 MPH, displaying a "Vehicle Entering Power Saver Mode" message. After pulling over, the engine stalled and wouldn't restart properly, instead showing "Engine Oil Level Low – Shut-off Immediately." A dealer diagnosed a failed rear main seal that was leaking oil, causing the low oil level condition. The fix will involve replacing the rear main seal to stop the oil leak and restore normal engine operation.

You've noticed a strange odor coming into your cabin while driving at low speeds, whether your air conditioning is on or off. A dealer diagnosed this as a leak in your exhaust pipe that's allowing fumes to enter the vehicle. The exhaust pipe will need to be replaced to stop the odor and prevent exhaust fumes from entering your cabin.

Your 2017 Chevrolet Equinox repeatedly enters 'Reduced Engine Power' mode without warning, causing sudden loss of acceleration while driving. This happens multiple times daily on both highways and local roads, creating a serious safety hazard—you've had to steer toward the shoulder to avoid collisions. The throttle body has been replaced, but the problem continues. The repair may require diagnosing the throttle position sensor circuit, accelerator pedal sensor, or the engine control module to identify why the correlation error keeps occurring.

Your airbags failed to deploy during a collision with a deer at 55 MPH, even though the system appeared to engage. You saw an "Air Bag Needs Service" warning and noticed a strong fume-like odor after the impact. The airbag system will need complete diagnosis and likely replacement of the airbag modules and sensor components.

Your 2017 Equinox has experienced multiple serious engine problems: it burns through oil weekly (requiring an expensive fix to the oil consumption system), the timing chain failed, and the engine died suddenly while driving in traffic without warning—forcing you off the road. These recurring issues create an unsafe driving condition, especially since Chevrolet has recalled this engine in other model years but not yours. Addressing this may require engine diagnostics, timing chain replacement, and oil system repairs or engine replacement.

Your car's main oil seal is leaking, which caused all the oil to drain from the engine. While driving on the highway, your engine shut off automatically, and you noticed the steering wheel became stiff and hard to turn. Before the engine shut off, you received a service stabilitrak warning on your dashboard.

You discovered that your 2017 Chevrolet Equinox has a mileage discrepancy. When you bought the car, the odometer showed 98,000 miles, but paperwork in the glove compartment and the Carfax report indicated the actual mileage was 156,300 miles. You've reported this to local police. Resolving this fraud case may require working with law enforcement and potentially the seller, and you may need to consult with a lawyer about your purchase.

Your 2017 Chevrolet Equinox is consuming oil rapidly—you're adding about one quart every week. You've also experienced engine stalling while driving and at stoplights, along with abnormal knocking and rattling sounds from the engine, and warning lights appearing on your dashboard. The dealer was unable to identify the cause of the problem. The issue likely involves internal engine damage or a significant oil leak that will need professional diagnostic work and possible engine repair or replacement.