2012 equinox anyone else have trouble with timing chain and eng?
Asked by Kimm Aug 21, 2022 at 05:46 AM about the 2012 Chevrolet Equinox 2LT AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
2012 chevy equinox , did
anyone else have
problems with timing
chain and eng?? What
can I do I still have a loan
have to pay full insurance
and I don't have
thousands to fix this or
to get another car???
12 Answers
Guru9R9KBS answered 2 years ago
Timing chain stretching is a common problem with the V6 engines in this model. It's almost always cheaper to repair your vehicle than to sell and walk away. Repairing it and then selling it will be a better option in most cases if you don't like the vehicle. If you can't afford to repair the vehicle for a thousand or two , are you sure can't afford to purchase a new car, rolling the existing loan into the new one? If you decide to sell the vehicle, most buyers will not want to purchase one with issues and you will get a low ball price. I don't know what your current loan is, but a good condition repaired Equinox would be around $4300 on a trade in.
Would it be worth parting out a 2012 equinox with broken time chain and engine?? Just wondering?
No, it's not worth parting it out. I've been down that road before. The vehicle will be sitting around as you slowly remove parts from it. You might have problems with your neighbors or your local Township about that. It takes forever to sell the parts. Whatever people want, you either won't still have or it's the wrong color, wrong options, and people will always try to talk you down on the price. I have a gas tank for sale on Craigslist right now for a Chevy Blazer. I'm only asking $75 for it. The tank is clean, in very nice condition, and I paid $100 for it. It's been on Craigslist for 3 years, I've dropped the price twice, and only had 2 people even interested in it. So, as I mentioned, parting out a whole vehicle will take forever! If you don't have the money to fix your Equinox, trade it in as is. I normally don't advise people to do that, but in your situation I think it's the best option for you. A word to the wise, don't buy another GM. Ford, in my opinion, is the best of the domestics. Hope that helps! Jim
Thank you that was helpful. I appreciate it. Do you suggest a dealer to go to??
You're welcome. Glad to help. Thank you for the best answer click too! I'd suggest staying away from little used car dealers. Most of the vehicles they offer come from the auto auction and are cast offs that the bigger, name brand, dealers have received as trade ins. Many were traded in and failed the Dealer's inspection when the vehicle was run through the service department. So they got sent to the auction. Most name brand dealers like Ford, Toyota, etc. have age, mileage, and condition standards that a trade in must meet before they will resell them on their lot. If a trade in doesn't meet their standards, it goes to the auction and winds up on a smaller used car lot. You can also usually buy an extended used vehicle warranty for added protection while you're paying for the vehicle or at least for a portion of the payment period at a name brand dealer. In 2012 I bought my 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis from a local Nissan Dealer and I couldn't be happier with it! Ten years later it's only been in the shop twice. Once for the air conditioning and again for the instrument cluster. It was a low mileage, one owner, no accident car. If it had higher mileage or had an accident it would never had been put on the Nissan Dealer's lot. Hope that helps and good luck with your shopping! Jim
Thank you!! You guys have been very helpful!!
Ive done 5 of the eco techs this year the engine is worth more than the whole truck parts are fairly cheap. The gm manual calls to pull the engine k frame and all to set the chain up right unless you wanna stare at mil light for cam/crank position and fail inspection in deq or scan states. These are interference engines 4cyl so almost easier to replace whole truck, prices are way up on used cars and might get you in the realm of a trade in that will offset down payment. GM really screwed the customer w terrain arcadia equinox.
LadyLee1965 answered about a year ago
so I have the issue with a malfunctioned timing chain after a routine oil change .. the place that did the full synthetic oil change denys any wrong doing .. came upon this page and want to know is there any remedy with GM ? is there any compensation due to finding a few people having the same problem with the 2012 Equinox ? I'm very very upset.. I have been without a vehicle now going on 2 months due to this catastrophy.
Unfortunately things wear out after 11 years. Getting the oil changed has nothing to do with the timing chain failing. My advice is either trade it in as is or junk it and move on. Either way you'll get a couple hundred dollars towards your new vehicle. You're out of warranty so GM is not obligated to do anything to help you fix the vehicle. So they won't. Jim
