Arrrrggh--giving up on Equinox repair

[Oh Haha]

I absolutely HATE our Suquinox.

Now, there is no heat. Worked just fine yesterday. Today, wifey calls me on her way to the office and tells me the truck is not warm. I ask the basic questions and determine that there IS something wrong.

Did some searching on causes/solutions and found that there is a flimsy freakin' plastic door that is operated by a servo motor. Apparently, the plastic actuator breaks where it attaches to the servo and closes off the heater core. Nice.

I tore apart as much of the dash tonight as I could reach but it looks like the almost the entire dash needs to be removed to get to the component.

Man, I hate not doing things myself but I know I don't have the patience to do this one.

Thanks for letting me rant a bit.

[DonDavis]

I hear you, Brother. Sometimes it's just way better to pay. Good luck.

[Neilk]

Try running different sections of the blowers, feet only, head etc. My ancient 2000 Jetta has the same issue, if I cycle through the defrost, footwell and main blowers, then I can the heat going to a somewhat acceptable level.

I would have to tear out my whole dash too to fix the issue. Just not worth it.

[pavulon]

well...not tying to be an arse but the thing is the cheapest SUV made by Chevrolet. I can understand your frustration but I can't see how the thing could ever have been intended to be a source of satisfaction. good luck!

[futuresoptions]

Yep, those jobs are generally a pain in the butt.. No getting to it from under the dash eh?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by pavulon

well...not tying to be an arse but the thing is the cheapest SUV made by Chevrolet. I can understand your frustration but I can't see how the thing could ever have been intended to be a source of satisfaction. good luck!

No car should be made to that level of dissatisfaction. Those legacies follow a brand for years. So, what are you supposed to do? Spend 45K for an overloaded, overpriced, overweight behemoth?

The mid size SUV has a legitimate place in the market. I can't believe they're all as bad.

[stomachmonkey]

Before you tear into the dash you should eliminate other/easier possibilities.

1st step is to run the vehicle, get it warm.

Locate the heater lines where they run thru the firewall.

Feel them, inlet should be warm. If out is warm then think blend door issue.

If out is noticeably cooler think heater core.

If heater core disconnect lines, back flush then forward flush then back flush again.

Another possibility is if the vehicle was low on coolant you can have air in the system. You need to burp it.

Park on incline or jack up the front, run it with the coolant reservoir cap off. Look for air bubbles.

Another common one, if the vehicle has digital climate control the control module could be fried.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by pavulon

well...not tying to be an arse but the thing is the cheapest SUV made by Chevrolet. I can understand your frustration but I can't see how the thing could ever have been intended to be a source of satisfaction. good luck!

Like the 944? A $1.98 plastic part disables the heating system.

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by pavulon

well...not tying to be an arse but the thing is the cheapest SUV made by Isuzu.

Sorry I had to make that correction

[Oh Haha]

Yes, I KNOW that it is a cheap vehicle but it's what we have.


I've looked at the other possibilties that could be the problem but am reasonably sure that it is the blend door.

[fastfredracing]

Think you could beat book time on that job?

[Rusty Heap]

Damnn I'm old as I was thinking of my highschool years jammin' to..............

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox_(Styx_album)

[Oh Haha]

We contacted a dealer today. They are doing the job for $200 plus parts with a loaner mobile.

The salesguy sold my in-laws all of their new vehicles over the last 20 or so years so he pulled a few strings for us.

We'll see how close to that figure it stays once completed, though.

Most of the quotes I saw online were close to $1000 so I'm a bit skeptical.

[pwd72s]

Keep us posted, okay? Hopefully you lucked out...

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Scott R

Like the 944? A $1.98 plastic part disables the heating system.

Yeah, but you're a moron if you don't expect your 30+ year old car to break sometimes. A nearly new car, not so much.

[T77911S]

they may have to pull the dash, unless there is a guy there that knows some tricks.

same problem with the volvo. one of the common diaphrgms that goes out requires dash removal. i did it once, now it needs another one.

our jeep- i think the heater core is partly clogged- dash removal.

jeep- relay for cooling fan is located under plastic part under front headlight, requires removal of front bumber and a lot of plastic crap. good mechanic new where to cut hole in plastic under headlight, now a 10 minute job.


i would rather buy a used "better" quality car than a new lesser quality car.
i picked up a 2000 mercedes E320 wagon for $5k last year. awesome car.

we have a new HHR at work, that has to be one of the biggest pieces of crap ever made. the door handles fell like they are going to come off in your hand when you open the door, and the rest of the car just feel like it is made of cheap plastic.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Yeah, but you're a moron if you don't expect your 30+ year old car to break sometimes. A nearly new car, not so much.

It was four years old at the time though.

[Oh Haha]

Update-

The dealer FINALLY got a loaner mobile back in so the Nox is going in tonight. I don't expect it back for at least a few days. Good news as we are getting snow and much colder temps today. My wife has been driving it up until today, hoping that the dealer would call to bring it in.

What is better news is that GM will cover $400-500 of the labor charges for the repair. The service person told my wife that we could end up paying as little as $200.

Apparently, GM will acknowledge the issue if you ask about it.

I can't complain about the price but I am still sort of ticked that we even have to deal with this.

This is the last vehicle for the wife for a few years so will do what I need to keep it in shape.

The next vehicle purchase will be for me. No, it probably won't be anther Porsche unless a great deal on a 993 comes up.

EDIT-She just called............................................ ..







they gave her an HHR for a loaner.

[Oh Haha]

$160.00!!

My wife just picked up the Equinox and only had to pay $160. The repair cost was $200(as the dealer stated) but the cashier told my wife to sign up for a rewards program and she would give us another $40 off the bill.

I must say that this is very good news. I absolutely did not expect them to do the repair for such a modest amount.


Yes, the heat DOES work. Trust me, wifey probably let the vehicle sit long enough to get up to temp before even paying the tab.




I still don't like SUVs but a least my wife is happy.

[pete3799]

Heat is a good thing.......well except for all that ice cream you'll be hauling.