General Motors is facing a new class-action lawsuit in Canada that alleges vehicles equipped with its naturally aspirated 2.4L Ecotec four-cylinder engine have a propensity to burn oil.
According to Car Complaints, the plaintiff in the lawsuit owns a 2012 model year Chevy Equinox crossover equipped with the 2.4L Ecotec four-cylinder engine. In September of 2017, the vehicle’s engine stalled and was later diagnosed with a complete engine failure. The problem was allegedly traced back to excessive oil consumption, with the plaintiff claiming affected engines consume as much as 0.946 litres of engine oil per 1,600 kilometres of driving.
Like other GM engine oil consumption lawsuits we’ve covered, this suit says the piston rings fail to maintain sufficient tension to keep oil in the crankcase, allowing the oil to sneak past the rings and fall into the combustion chamber. This can allegedly foul the spark plugs and also create carbon buildup on the pistons and cylinder walls. If the oil levels reach a certain point, engine components may become damaged and the engine may overheat, eventually leading to total engine failure.
Car Complaints’ reports this lawsuit also lists a number of other problems with affected 2.4L Ecotec engines, including defective spray kets, defective active fuel management system, defective PCV systems and defective oil life monitoring systems. These other issues compound with the defective piston rings to exacerbate the problem, the suit indicates.
Other oil burning-related lawsuits filed against GM in the United States have been thrown out, as GM’s warranty does not cover design defects, only manufacturing defects. The problems with these engines can be traced back to design defects, the automaker has argued previously, so its factory warranty is not applicable to these problems.
We’ll provide an update on the Canadian oil burn lawsuit against GM as it progresses through the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in the coming months.
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Comments
maybe check your oil more than once a year? This guy is going to spend so much money trying to fight this then lose, it will be an expensive lesson. Manuals call out how much oil consumption is ok, it will probably be found as being in range and a lack of maintenance caused the issue.
The oil consumption is well beyond excessive. They lost the class action suit in the US. A quart once a week with no leaks is not a lack of maintenance issue.
A thousand miles a week is a lot of driving. A thousand miles a month yeah, maybe, but not per week. Very, very few people drive that much (a thousand miles (1600km) a week.)
How do I find out more information about this lawsuit?
Im out 6000 as i already changed mine…piss me off since i still owed 20000 on car 😡
Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London Ontario
I need info on this my terrain 2012 pistons and rings were redone year and half after I purchased it owned it for two months and. Was driving my piston went into my crank shaft and blew a whole threw my block oil empty out and vehicle started on fire with me and two children in it. I only drove it 5000 km and need a new engine passed warranty or recall piston and rings and. Passed km from dealership I bought it from these 2.4 l eco motors are to small over revs and blows out piston and rings I’m out 15 thousand cash and new motor 10 grand.
Are you Canadian?
GM allows for 1 quart every 3200km. I have records to show mine was burning 1 quart every 500km checked by the Chevy dealership and the GM District Manager told me to kick rocks. I ended up just repairing it myself like I should have in the first place since I wouldn’t trust them to carry out a major repairs like that anyway unless they were going to just swap the engine. It doesn’t burn a drop in between oil changes now as it should be.
What was the repair that you did yourself to fix this consumption issue. I also have a similar consumption issue and would love a fix for it. It is frustrating as the dealers act like this is the first time they have ever encountered this issue.
I’m a diesel mechanic. I ended up doing the repairs recommended in their bulletin and replaced several other suspect components. Cost me about a third of what a replacement engine would have been and took three days labour over the weekend. An engine replacement from a reputable shop will be cheaper than having GM repair what’s in the bulletin and having them fire the parts cannon at it after the repair fails because it’s not just rings and pistons. That’s just a band aid to get you out of their hair until the warranty expires.
The solution? Buy Toyota! LOL!!
What was your repair? I may try it
If you contact Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London, Ontario and add your name at the very least if won perhaps you’ll get your $ back.
Doesn’t matter if someone checks their oil regularly or not. Gm has put these engines in several different model vehicles in both GMC and Chevrolet brands while knowing the rings, PCV system, and oil monitoring systems are either faulty or just downright crap. Yes people can goto small claims but if more people band together under a single determined law firm don’t you think everyone would benefit. There is a reason they lost this same case in the US. There is a reason the didn’t put the faulty engine information data tagged to each VIN. A Carfax check, or check by Joe Shmo repair shop wouldnt know. And yet a GM dealer has access to an Intranet where every VIN has various maintenance service bullitens attached to it. Hmmm….shadey ‘no?’
If this were a first model off the line issue I’d see your point but a recall should have been issued or at least the knowledge of the problems attached to the VIN so any used dealer or oil change shop would see it.
I spoke with an older gentleman today has the same model 2011 terrain as me. Bought brand new…he said coincidentally he noticed it used more oil over the last 6 months.
The service bulletin for 2011 terrains ended roughly end of 2018. Mine March 2019. His time is up and get he has only driven 110k. People are being screwed while a company deliberately knew they were selling crap.
I pd 9000 for mine 3 months ago with 143k but 4 weeks ago had the engine light come on, and also noticed the low oil level at 75% oil life. I failed the oil consumption test at 2 litres over 2000km. Quotes 5000 for the repair. GM also knows the problems don’t start until around the time the warranties are up…again….hmmmm.
It’s a shady practice that they’ve been doing for years these vehicles are purposefully designed to fail at a designated point they charge you more for the vehicle then when the damn thing fails they want to charge you an absorbent amount of money to fix it that’s all it is it’s all about making money GM used to be about their customer now it’s about the investors but the same could be said for just about every manufacturer out there so unless you can engineer build and manufacturer your own car you’re pretty much screwed
Mine 2012 same thing. Didn’t report recall or warranty work and engine repair of piston mine just started on fire. With me and kids blew parts of piston through my block are you part of class action these motors need to be recalled. Me and my two kids were in a burning vehicle and could of got in accident I was just about to pass and this blew
My car was purchased used. No knowledge of class action suit at that time. My pistons blew out of my engine the fuel and oil caught fire on exhaust and I also had all 3 of children in the car … 1 was a baby in a car seat. The entire car was engulfed like a comet. Once I pulled off I was able to get all out. Now what?
Canadian?
Call Mackenzie Lake lawyers in London and tell them this story. Ask for lead Council on GM oil consumption case. George???
519.672.5666
Exactly same situation as me didn’t notify car fax. And 60 k on it have to get pvc and rings. And then fixed it enough so warranty on that fix was out and I’m stuck with vehicle bought two month ago. For 15 k cash and.piston went hit crank shaft and blue piston n rings out my block. Carfax says service not ducking engine repair
Yes, I totally understand, and agree that GM should be responsible for people safety, and no excuse why they don’t half to fix it the right way! I myself have been fixing mine myself. I am a good honest Mechanic! I have brought up all of these concerns, and have mentioned that these typically problems are far from being safe! People are losing their lives, jobs, and long story short they just don’t care! Very sad!!! I have put on a new valve cover, oil catch can, new exhaust manifold, and much more! Just so you know that if your manifold is leaking! Its cracked from the start of failing PCV! Keep a good air recirculation filter on that located inside of your glove box!!! Will cause headaches, could pass out from carbon monoxide, and much more! I have changed everything for as little as $ 600.00 bucks! I’m still going after them!!!!!!
Agreed with Mark we have to move in group for law suit against GM I have 2012 Chevrolet Orlandos having same issue burning excessive oil.
Same thing here bought mine used has 140,000 miles check oil often go out of town next thing I know check engine light comes on and then the engine starts knocking and loses power end of the road apparently after 100,000 miles they build up a lot of sludge from bad rings causing valve sensors to fail thus making the timing chain fail
Had 120,000 when I bought it
Same thing here bought mine used has 140,000 miles check oil often go out of town next thing I know check engine light comes on and then the engine starts knocking and loses power end of the road apparently after 100,000 miles they build up a lot of sludge from bad rings causing valve sensors to fail thus making the timing chain fail
Yes Canadian
Then call Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London Ontario.
Add yourself to the growing list…
1.844.672.5666
2013 equinox going through oil constantly..venice fl. Still owe lots of money on it. What to do?
Can you tell me exactly what you did , because I’m about to just drop in a new engine .
You still shouldn’t have to put a Qt of oil every 1000 miles of driving, no matter how long it takes to drive the 1000 miles. That’s beyond excessive.
It was originally about half a quart between changes and I didn’t think anything of it at the time.
Every time I’ve looked at gm literature, from decades ago to fairly recent, 1qt per 1000 miles was always “acceptable”.
I have a 2015 Kia Forte with 95,000 miles on it, I go 6000 miles between oil changes (7500 is spec) and it won’t use half a quart in that distance. I had a 2004 Hyundai Accent with 144k miles on it that also didn’t use oil. Original owner to both.
One would think GM would have learned from the 80s that customers are not a given.
I drive my car on average 300 miles every 2 weeks and oil is changed every 3000 miles. I still have to add ½-1 qt of oil every week
Reminds me of the oil use drama of the Vega. I had one of those and it burned 17 quarts in 300 miles. Mary’s lower case gm must long for the old days of product quality. I’d love to see a real number of prior gm owners who will never again make that mistake as a result of being blown off due to “design defects”. gm is not being very bright on this front. A happy customer comes back and an abused customer does not.
We have a 2014 Terrain with the same problems. We checked and monitored the oil with the dealership but our warranty ran out in time for it to possibly qualify. Now to properly repair it , it will cost us $3200 and this “fix” is only warranted for 1 year or $20,000 km. Special eh?
Where do you live?
A quart once a week WOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED UNDER WARRANTY OR TSB you moron. By the way, GM’s coverage for oil consumption is better than even Toyota, a company that insists that it’s normal for Toyota vehicles to guzzle down 1 quart every 1200 miles.
Dealer had my Equinox for three days after closing off the work order , and warranty was over three days later . Said sorry our door rate is $110.00 a hour if you need us to work on same problem. Had a call If I was planning on trading it in and using my 10,000.00 car voucher I said how about GM using that voucher to fix my vehicle properly. Told them what GM can do with there voucher.
How do you contact them cause my 2010 equinox has the oil problem
Call Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London, Ontario
My 2017 Renegade needs a new engine Bc the pistons broke off in the engine. Also, parts for the oil pump recall were on back order for months which didn’t allow me to get them fixed. During that time, my warranty expired B/c I exceeded 60,000 miles. At the time I attempted to get the recalls fixed my car was still under 60,000 miles. The engine is clearly defective and I will fight it also.
I was losing 2+ Quarts per 1,000 miles on my 2011 Terrain with the 2.4 engine. Had a rebuilt engine put in in June and now have to replace the upper converter because of all the oil that was burnt. I’ve been talking to GM since the engine light came on in June and they aren’t going to do anything about it.
Canadian?
We have a 2012 Equinox that has the same problem. And they tried to repair it under the car warranty. It worked for about 20,000 miles than it started all over again and still does it. So it is not a design problem. And they replaced everything that is in the article. We live in Ohio in the USA. Our courts just side with big money. We have no just system in the United States. The election steal proved that.
There wasn’t any election stealing, it’s all in Trumps mind
It was in Trumps mind and every honest Americans mind . The forensic recounts will show huge fraud. Why do you think dems are fighting the recount so much? 103 dem lawyers in Marcipa county Arizona so far
These people are so incredibly stupid to believe that. The GOP filed more than 60 lawsuits. They had EVERY opportunity to actually provide evidence yet did not provide any. They’re betting on the fact that if they say something repeatedly enough times there will many who will start to believe it WITHOUT EVIDENCE. Again, the EVIDENCE the could have presented to win any one of those 60+ lawsuitels yet failed to provide ANY evidence… Even once.
Glad I drive a 35 year old hooptie…doesnt burn oil…leaks more than a streetwalker in Detroit after pulling a 5 guy train.
I have the same problem with my Chevrolet Orlando. Checking oil level regularly.Changing oil regularly.I carrying 1 litre of oil in my car all the time. But With all this problem I love my car.
If you’re Canadian call Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London Ontario. My sister also has an Orlando and recieved recall letters but no service bulletin and now she has the issue too
If you believe that, you are an illiterate, intellectually stunted idiot that should have never dropped out of school.
At least he has a mind…not like old ass Joe…doesnt know where he is all the time. Watch what happens within a year of him abandoning citizens in Afganistan. We are in deep doo doo.
Please to stick the engine problems etc.
2013 Chevy Captiva…..engine problem…coolant gets into the engine oil. Can’t be fixed. Only option is new engine or trade in. I won’t ever buy another Chevrolet product again. I heard from my mechanic they recognize there is a defect years ago but has not issued a recall.
Apparently you never owned one of those engines. I did. The oil is black and full of sludge and only half full on the dipstick after 2000 miles. That was at 47000 miles. My girlfriends car. Traded it in last year thank god .That would mean the crankcase would be empty by the time the junker is do for an oil change. I am an older mechanic and do not ever recall a car besides the chevy vega from the 70s that was such a piece of junk. I only buy toyotas and if u cant understand why that is then you probably shouldnt be commenting on an article about engines.
Toyota 2.4 had the same problem..
Just saying..
LOL oh you only buy Toyotas… the same company that has also been wrapped up in complaints for major oil consumption, lost a lawsuit over it, and then re-wrote their warranty to claim that it’s “normal” for Toyota engines to guzzle down 1 quart of oil every 1,200 miles. They have had constant problems with oil consumption and blown head gaskets for the last 15 to 20 years.
You clearly never owned one ! I had a Malibu and it would burn 2 quarts of oil in a matter of a month ! Gm needs to stop making cars pure junk !
You need to stop waiting so long to change your oil. It doesn’t matter if you use Ultra Platinum Super Synthetic Mega Oil Plus engine oil, the single biggest reason that modern engines burn oil is because idiots buy “full synthetic” engine oils that tell people “hey you can go 10,000+ miles between oil changes with this high end oil” and then proceed to believe the lies. Sure the oil tests good at higher mileages, but lab tests don’t accurately show sludge buildup, fuel dilution, or highly abrasive carbon soot suspended in the oil. Full syn oil sludges up, carbon trapped in the sludge, and that abrasive buildup clogs pistons and wears the rings/bore. You can while all you want. Toyota, Honda, BMW, GM, Ford, etc all have large volumes of complaints for oil consumption. 99 times out of 100, it’s because the owner is an idiot that waits too long to change their oil and does a ton of short trips.
Most car companies say a quart of oil used per thousand miles is acceptable….if it’s their engines doing it. Lot of Toyota and Honda owners would agree I guess.
Sorry but not true. I have a 2014 equinox. It loses 1-2lt every 1000km-1500km. GM specs say 1lt per 3000km. They were going to pull my pistons and rings when I still had warranty. They found a bulletin for this problem apparently and didn’t change there mind till I showed up for the original eng tare down. It slowed the problem till warranty was up. Then was loosing more than ever. After two oil consumption tests by the dealer they were they offered some deal that had no guarantee they would pay for anything but it could cost me 1400$ with an eng torn apart that still would need rebuild on my dime. Terrible offer.
Call Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London Ontario. I’m sure they would be interested in knowing this. They have already won 1 class action against Gm…
Do you by chance know where I can find the bulletin on the 2014?
I own a 2015 Equinox and have run nothing but Dexos 2 synthetic oil in it, changed every 5000 km. My engine is experiencing this very set of symptoms. This IS a real problem.
I will tell you what is going on. Bought my wonderful 2011 Chevy Equinox in 2015 at a car dealer. Think the owner knew about the oil issue. Smart move. Dealer said no issues with the car when I decided to a loan 7 years. First 2 months car at dealers most of the time. They are at a lost to what is going on. Take it to a gm dealers. Oh this car needs the pistons replaced. So I am thinking ok if this is done no problem. My mistake I should have gone to an attorney general when car was still under mileage .By then everything went wrong, timing change etc……. Car was a lemon and after a while no staying fixed. Need new engine but none of the engines are any good. They had a settlement that came out in 2019. I checked of course I am out because car over mileage. I have read that many people are still waiting for there money. So anyone that has one of these and are under mileage see if you can go after them. I still think at least in New York if a car is over a certain amount and under mileage an attorney general can help because the car can not be repaired. Good luck to all.
We have a 2010 Equinox, this has absolutely nothing to do with “check your oil more than once a year”. Your out of line with that comment. With ours we’ve had a oil change done and within 1 week it would be 3 qtrs low with absolutely no warning to let you know it was low (i.e on the dash). We had a new timing chain put in Feb. By July it already needs a new one. We were burning just about 2 qrts a week. And we still owe $4000 on ours and the engine is practically junk now.
You sure it’s not a Vega? I had one of those and it used 17 qts of oil in 300 miles. A real GM homerun.
So typically I’d inquiry about your opinions basis, however in this case I know there is not any- its more the case that for some reason or another haven’t learn how to properly read or a comprehension issue. But either case you dead wrong. Now I am not going to go in great detail how since for one, you seem the kinda guy that let’s his ego influence your spoken words. So most likely I’d spend the effort in educating you just so you would just dig your heels in- no thx. So I instead I’ll just point the two errors.
1. Of course the maintenance book recommends of any make or model to routinely check oil levels and most commonly at 1500 ( older models) or 3000( younger/newer). However the caveat here is that’s with your typical brand of oil. But if you keep up with the times you’ll discover SAE 5w30 and also the constantly changing standards it must meet every year which is simply makes every 6mo. Or so. Oil obsolete. So that’s the first so you might want to get up to date with such.
2. The second error is actually abit of ignorance on your point and comedy for the rest of us. Because apparently the very article points it out. The issue does not have anything to do with any negligence, but rather how gm is playing Symantecs as they hide behind a term within their own warranty which is actually crap but that they do not cover any design issues….
So in closing my friend I highly recommend more time understanding the fundamentals of reading before trolling k
You obviously don’t own one of these vehicles.. try once a week.. the lack of oil doesn’t even matter.. the engines are junk..
There is a HUGE problem with the 2011 also! I check and add oil OFTEN.! It’s rediculous, every other week is NOT ONCE A YEAR…..and now my REAR SEAL has gone out and I’m not even done paying for the vehicle! No no no there ARE bigger issues and the COMPANY needs to step up …I have brought this to the attention of my dealer and pretty much received shrugged shoulders, not once but twice before my warranty went out. So don’t be so quick to blame the owner for a product they DID NOT BUILD!
Its really simple! Bad design period!!! PVC
VALVE was the stupidest design I have ever seen.
Not everyone is stupid when it comes to maintenance lol. Change oil every 2,000 miles for a reason. Relocation of PVC VALVE is a great start to save rear main seal. Flush your transmission fluid at a reliable shop, and after that just pull the plug every 20,000 miles.
You have absolutely ZERO idea of what you are talking about. I can say that because I own a 2015 GMC Terrain for the last 9 months. My daily driving to work only consisted of about 1o miles. Never noticed too much. I transferred 3 months ago 26 miles from home, driving about 60 miles per day. Then we noticed, kept a close eye on it. Long story short the engine is blown – goodbye $13,000. I will never own another GMC product again. For them to allow this to continue to occur is nothing short of horse$hit. The epitome of corporate greed. I take excellent care of my vehicles and they are maintained at all times. So blow that our your common sense. Perhaps you should google before opening your pie hole! I wish I had!!
The vehicle owner is obligated to check oil levels. Since they did not check the oil level, very obviously, probably since the car was new, they were ignorant of the fact that all engines do burn off some of the oil. In past legal cases where a liter of oil is consumed in the 1,000 kilometers, it is the customers obligation to notify the dealer. If, if, if they did notify any new car dealer, the service advisor would have told the owner to check the oil levels often and make a record of it. One that data has been documented by the dealer service advisor, he will then contact GM to try to make it an issue. The customer DID NOT DO THIS as any intelligent responsible person would do. I have no sympathy because somebody is ignorant or stupid about a vehicle. In my province of Ontario and county of York ( Toronto ) a Small Claims Court action only costs $75 to file but it can take up to 18 months before it gets to court. The party being sued in Small Claims Court must respond in 21 days in writing to the court. The SCC max amount of claim is $25,000 plus a max of $500 for a lawyer or legal fees. That’s more than enough to cover a new engine and all labour costs and car rental while the car is in the shop. GM is much more likely to settle a SCC action out of court within a few weeks, to keep lawyers from having to go to court. Learn this lesson, wherever you live.
I think the LESSON folks are learning here is not to buy a GM vehicle. Seriously, some of the oil consumption figures that I’ve seen some “fans” try to excuse are downright laughable. Yes, an owner should check the oil level, but it isn’t reasonable to have to check it every time one gets gas. There are DOCUMENTED flaws with this engine. GM should stand behind their product and generate some good will and positive word of mouth. Instead they put the screws to someone and require them to fork over thousands for a major repair or force them to sell it at a substantial loss thus ensuring that Toyota has a new customer for life.
Great comment, I’ve owned both domestic and foreign leased in 2015 a Ford f150 and left me never to lease and never to own a domestic. I have hondas and toyotas great vehicles.
HAHAHA uh… both Toyota and Honda have been wrapped in lawsuits for major oil consumption issues over the last 10 to 20 years. Toyota engines have had such horrific oil consumption that Toyota literally re-wrote their warranty to claim that it’s “normal” for their junk engines to burn up to 1 quart every 1,200 miles. Your Toyota can drink 4 or 5 quarts between oil changes and even if you complain to the dealer, they’ll tell you to pound sand because Toyota says that’s “normal” for their engines. Honda lost a major lawsuit over oil consumption as well. To make things worse for Honda, their Dream engines have the tendency to pour unburned gasoline into the crankcase. Some customers had so much fuel in their crankcase that the engine stalled out or locked up. Honda told dealers to simply drain the gasoline-oil mixture out, add new oil, and give the vehicle back. Customers were IRATE considering gasoline with a little oil added to it makes for a poor lubricant to an engine. Honda laughed them off. They’re currently being sued for their junk engine design.
HAHAHAHA!!!
TOYOTA??? They literally were sued for the exact same oil consumption complaints. The 2AZFE was an oil burning POS since its inception and that didn’t improve with newer engine designs. In fact, Toyota engines are such sht these days that Toyota officially changed their warranty to claim that their engines will “normally” guzzle down up to 1 quart every 1,200 miles. It’s bad enough that their engines have struggle with head gasket issues and oil line failures for the last 15 to 20 years, they can’t even figure out how to make engines that don’t start to “normally” drink multiple quarts between oil changes. Good luck with that oil burning, head gasket eating, rust rotting ‘yota LMAO
Here are the facts.
GM had some ring issues on the 2.4 in the Box and Terrain in the first couple years. It was not all engines just some of them and most likely due to supplier issues with the rings. This is no secret and well known issue as it has been an issue since they brought these models to market. up till about 2012. Again it is not every single one.
Checking oil would not prevent this issue.
Most engines use low tension rings today and the margins of error is small. This ring issue had nothing to do with the excessive oil use. Now if they drove it till it blew up then yes they should have checked the oil. Either way there was an issue.
The harsh reality is for anyone looking at this law suit thinking they will get much forget it as class action suits do little to nothing for the consumer. Most end up just making the law firm bringing it rich and you get a few oil change or a discount on another car for a couple hundred dollars at best.
These oil use issues are nothing un common today. A number of MFGs outside of GM has has oil use issues with some engine. Subaru alone was well known for oil issues for years. Honda’s have had oil bringing issues on Civic head, Ford head gasket issues on their turbo 4 Eco engines. Chrysler, well take a pick of their 4 cylinder issues. Toyota also has seen issues. Hyundai same. Everyone has had issues with engines at some point.
Not sure what GM is doing now but back in the day many on the forum for this vehicle were getting new short blocks.
The bulletin says to replace the pistons and rings and inspect the pcv orifice. It’s a bandaid to get these customers out of their hair until the warranty is up and that’s only if the customer is lucky enough to have them actually perform the work.
Or to sell and or trade it off with no oil issue.
We get it this engine had issues. It is not an Isolate event and $hit happens. Is not a common thing or just a GM thing but it happened.
We get you are upset, we never saw you here before this and most here are not going to be swayed one way or another.
No matter the issue class actions are horrible for the owner as they get screwed on the vehicle and by the lawyer.
Best to get the fix dump it and move on.
If you want a life with out a mechanical issue become Amish and hope the horse doesn’t die.
It’s common enough that they’ve already lost the class action suit in the US which the article failed to mention Several reports of people having the issue return after the work is completed by the dealership. I’ll run mine til I get tired of it and scrap it. There’s a special place in hell for a guy that’d sell that to the next guy throwing a bandaid on it and knowing of the issue.
The original suit was fcking idiotic. The plaintiff was an owner would have been covered under warranty/TSB if they would have brought their Equinox in for an oil consumption test. They received letters in the mail making it clear that GM would cover it and explaining the process for repairs under warranty. Instead of following the instructions for coverage, the owner threw a fit, told GM they refused to do the test, and filed a lawsuit. You can complain that the fix is pistons and rings, but that’s the industry standard repair for oil consumption issues. Toyota and Honda had identical lawsuits over engines from the same era and the repair was also identical: new pistons and rings. Where GM has maintained that engines burning more than 1 quart every 2,000 miles, Toyota was so sleazy and pathetic that their warranty now states that they won’t cover engine repairs for oil consumption unless the engine is burning more than 1 quart every 1,200 miles.
lol GM obviously hired you for this ridiculous comment… imagine paying 20,000-30000 for a vehicle that burns excessive oil after a long trip and wondering if your engine is going to blow… thats my current situation. i just got the rear main seal replaced 3000$ and the timing chain replaced another 1000$ now i’m dealing with oil consumption issues after only driving 300kms… literally was dry on oil and vehicle says 69% oil life… just got it out of the shop…i’m sure there are some models that are worth it but but gtfo…
Or, it could be the fix that cures it if done right.
There’s already plenty of people reporting that theirs has started to burn oil again after GM replaced pistons and rings.
Could also be the case that “plenty of people” are idiots that go too long between oil changes, rev the crap out of their engines, or simply just love to whine when in reality, their engine uses less oil than many other brands of engines. I’ve seen guys throw huge temper tantrums when their Silverado burned a quart between 6k mile oil changes, oblivious to the fact that Toyota would tell them that their brand new Toyota will drink up to 5 quarts of oil between 6000 mile oil changes and it’s NORMAL. Ford is selling Mustang GT’s with a 5.2 V8 that they admit will drink up to 2 quarts every 1,000 miles. Car and Driver confirmed that they do indeed drink that much oil. Even their 5.0 Coyote is an oil drinking addict.
Doesn’t matter if someone checks their oil regularly or not. Gm has put these engines in several different model vehicles in both GMC and Chevrolet brands while knowing the rings, PCV system, and oil monitoring systems are either faulty or just downright crap. Yes people can goto small claims but if more people band together under a single determined law firm don’t you think everyone would benefit. There is a reason they lost this same case in the US. There is a reason the didn’t put the faulty engine information data tagged to each VIN. A Carfax check, or check by Joe Shmo repair shop wouldnt know. And yet a GM dealer has access to an Intranet where every VIN has various maintenance service bullitens attached to it. Hmmm….shadey ‘no?’
If this were a first model off the line issue I’d see your point but a recall should have been issued or at least the knowledge of the problems attached to the VIN so any used dealer or oil change shop would see it.
I spoke with an older gentleman today has the same model 2011 terrain as me. Bought brand new…he said coincidentally he noticed it used more oil over the last 6 months.
The service bulletin for 2011 terrains ended roughly end of 2018. Mine March 2019. His time is up and get he has only driven 110k. People are being screwed while a company deliberately knew they were selling crap.
I pd 9000 for mine 3 months ago with 143k but 4 weeks ago had the engine light come on, and also noticed the low oil level at 75% oil life. I failed the oil consumption test at 2 litres over 2000km. Quotes 5000 for the repair. GM also knows the problems don’t start until around the time the warranties are up…again….hmmmm.
My wife had a 2010 we bought brand new, and it would burn 2 quarts on a 2 hours trip, or approximately 180 miles. The Equinox only had 22,000 miles on it too when we finally punted it. It sounded like hell too. Never again.
GM’s acceptable oil consumption level is 1qt every 1k miles. If you would have took it in and started an oil consumption test, they would have determined the consumption was excessive and replaced the pistons for free. I don’t get why people think vehicles are perfect. There are Warranties on them for a reason, use them, that’s what they’re there for.
I don’t think you realize how difficult it is to navigate a service department, and the service advisors. Most of the time, advisors jump to the conclusion that it’s just a ‘wear’ problem, and it’s on the consumer. They proceed to say that it’ll be so-so $$ to have the problem diagnosed, and if it’s not under warranty, or if it’s a problem derived from the consumer/driver, they’ll be stuck with a ~$400 diagnostic fee. Then when you pay the diagnostic fee, how does the consumer know exactly what you’re going to check, that you’re fully understanding what you’re testing, for how long, or if you’re even testing it at all? Consumers come in with the idea that they’re going to be financially ‘f**ked’ regardless, because we all know a dealerships only intention is to make as much money as possible, and to extract as much as they can out of uninformed consumers. I’ve had issues with my 2014 1.8L Chevy Sonic in 2018. Check engine light came on, and even with the emissions warranty, the dealer was reluctant on replacing the Catalytic Converter! All dealerships need a SINGLE, Streamlined, Same Experience, Process in place for these types of repairs, diagnoses, and problems!
I’ve encountered parts counter guys with more knowledge of the parts in an engine than Chevy service advisors. They had no idea what I was talking about in some cases for basic stuff. Doesn’t exactly scream we can do engine work.
“GM’s acceptable oil consumption level is 1qt every 1k miles.”
Uh no it isn’t. It’s 1 quart every 2k miles. You’re a “certifiedtech” and you don’t even know that basic kind of information???
I do all of my own oil changes. I was the original owner a 2013 Chevrolet Malibu with 96,000 mile on it and noticed it was losing 1/2 quart of oil every 1000 miles. There was an oil leak at the front crank seal, which was covered under warranty. Nevertheless, the 2.4 Liter still used about 1/2 quart every 3000 miles.
The vehicle owner is obligated to check oil levels. Since they did not check the oil level, very obviously, probably since the car was new, they were ignorant of the fact that all engines do burn off some of the oil. In past legal cases where a liter of oil is consumed in the 1,000 kilometers, it is the customers obligation to notify the dealer. If, if, if they did notify any new car dealer, the service advisor would have told the owner to check the oil levels often and make a record of it. One that data has been documented by the dealer service advisor, he will then contact GM to try to make it an issue. The customer DID NOT DO THIS as any intelligent responsible person would do. I have no sympathy because somebody is ignorant or stupid about a vehicle. In my province of Ontario and county of York ( Toronto ) a Small Claims Court action only costs $75 to file but it can take up to 18 months before it gets to court. The party being sued in Small Claims Court must respond in 21 days in writing to the court. The SCC max amount of claim is $25,000 plus a max of $500 for a lawyer or legal fees. That’s more than enough to cover a new engine and all labour costs and car rental while the car is in the shop.
I had a 2004 Silverado that never leaked a drop , oil changed every 5000 miles, and I never checked the oil, why because it didnt leak so the oil level should stay put. My friend is still driving that truck with well over 200,000 on it. No vehicle should use or burn oil…
Your 04 silverado wasn’t forced to comply with modern CAFE fuel efficiency requirements, nor is it running on 0W20 or 0W16 like modern engines are spec’d for.
GM has been a LLC since 2009
They can’t be sued in the conventional way.
They are owned by China as well. No more the American co. That probably has alot to do with it
I think it’s great that mentally deficient people like you are allowed to explore the internet. Don’t let mental ineptitude hold you back little guy!
@ Louis Oniga
That’s absolutely not true. Being an LLC means that the owners (stock holders) are not personally liable for the debts and liabilities of GM.
I have 2014 ecotec 4 cl burn oil ampty befor due for oil change and week manifold
This used to be an issue of the past. It should’ve been resolved by know, is not rocket science.
By the way that’s so I heard was the reason than Felix Wankel took the licence for the Rotary engine away from NSU and gave it to Mazda…….
Wankle rotary is basically a 2 stroke. They will all burn oil. Apex seals just don’t live very long. Emissions are why we don’t get rotary goodness any more.
1, change your oil frequently. New engines burn oil once it breaks down and is too thin as new rings produce less friction, but are optimized for the perfect oil viscosity.
2, don’t use dirt cheap oil (found that out on my first car, Walmart mineral oil wears the rings, swapped with a junkyard motor of same miles, used quality oil, no problems 100k miles latter
Any car, yes even Toyota’s will break down with the wrong oil…. well not a stove bolt Chevy 6. A YouTube was curious on how bulletproof those were drained out all the oil and put 3k miles on it.
Not only will Toyota’s break down, Toyota also lost a lawsuit over their engines being massive oil burners. Any Toyota made in the last 15 years or so are prone to it. So much so that Toyota revised their warranty, claiming that it’s “normal” for their engines to burn up to 5 quarts of oil between 6000 mile oil change intervals. If your brand new Toyota starts sucking down 1 quart every 1500 miles and take it to the dealer to complain, the dealer will laugh at you and tell you to pound sand. It’s the same with Honda, Subaru, Hyundai/Kia, Ford, etc.
Its very obvious that most of the comments must be from gm employees defending the company. I am a mechanic let me be clear NO engine should use ANY oil when it is new or its junk regardless of the brand… I don’t care what gm engineers say or whoever says otherwise I have seen to many flaws in products over the years in all brands. Time for Gm to pay up they don’t have no problem asking a kings ransom for a new vehicle then don’t try to ignore the issues when they arise
You are aware the cylinder walls get coated with oil as the engine runs right? And the seal between the rings and the cylinder walls is FAR from perfect when first installed, thus the break in to wear the rings to the crosshatch. Inherently ANY engine will burn at least a little oil, because if it doesn’t it’ll chew the walls to bits or seize a piston from lack of lubrication. Granted there’s a point where it’s just not excusable but the fact remains.
You haven’t been a mechanic for very long if you don’t know that neither GM nor ANY vehicle manufacturer makes their own piston rings.
Look into it and you’ll find that GM sources their rings from Sealed Power and Hastings, and all of these new engines have low friction piston rings, 2/3rds of an engine’s frictional loss comes from the piston rings, that’s why they developed low friction rings, it’s an attempt to raise mileage.
New cars have to be looked after more than one’s from 20 years ago for this very reason, people are just too used to running vehicles until they break and then they want to blame it on everyone except themselves, 40 years of being a mechanic has taught me that.
It’s excessive consumption. Not regular consumption. Even half a quart in a engine built this century between oil changes is excessive. Good way to fry catalytic converters and manifolds telling your customers that oil consumption is normal.
This was just filed with the supreme court…
Plaintiffs need to contact Makenzie Lake in London
ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE Electronically issued Délivré par voie électronique : 14-Sep-2020 London B E T W E E N: MICHAEL BELL and GENERAL MOTORS OF CANADA COMPANY and GENERAL MOTORS, LLC Proceeding under the Class Proceedings Act, 1992 STATEMENT OF CLAIM TO THE DEFENDANTS Plaintiff Defendants A LEGAL PROCEEDING HAS BEEN COMMENCED AGAINST YOU by the Plaintiff. The Claim made against you is set out in the following pages. IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING, you or an Ontario lawyer acting for you must prepare a Statement of Defence in Form 18A prescribed by the Rules of Civil Procedure it on the Plaintiff, and file it, with proof of service in this court office, WITHIN TWENTY DAYS after this Statement of Claim is served on you, if you are served in Ontario. If you are served in another province or territory of Canada or in the United States of America, the period for serving and filing your Statement of Defence is forty days. If you are served outside Canada and the United States of America, the period is sixty days. Instead of serving and filing a Statement of Defence, you may serve and file a Notice of Intent to Defend in Form 18B prescribed by the Rules of Civil Procedure. This will entitle you to ten more days within which to serve and file your Statement of Defence. IF YOU FAIL TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING, JUDGMENT MAY BE GIVEN AGAINST YOU IN YOUR ABSENCE AND WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE TO YOU. IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING BUT ARE UNABLE TO PAY LEGAL FEES, LEGAL AID MAY BE AVAILABLE TO YOU BY CONTACTING A LOCAL LEGAL AID
That’s one of many reasons I will be sticking to 2000s vehicles.
Where I don’t have to throw away money on overcomplicated, unreliable piles of disposable junk that are new vehicles.
I have a 2017 Equinox with 35k and have never had any problems with oil consumption.
In fact we like it so much we bought a 20. Perhaps not using correct oil. Need Dexos which is a synthetic oil.
Tell that to Toyota. Their engines have been infamous for guzzling down oil for the last 15+ years. They even re-wrote their warranty to state that it’s “normal” for their engines to burn up to 1 quart every 1,200 miles. Ford says their 5.2 Voodoo will normally burn up to 2 quarts every 1,000 miles. The 5.0 isn’t far behind it in oil use. Honda has a similar oil consumption warranty as Toyota. By comparison, GM’s warranty and TSB’s state that they’ll cover repairs for engines that burn more than 1 quart every 2,000 miles. Sounds a hell of a lot better than the industry standard.
Hey f-biden, what kind of car do you drive?
I can only imagine how happy Sam was/is to report this story about a General Motors product having what appears to be a quality issue.
In the land of frivolous lawsuits we have a writer who is frivolous with his disdain towards GM.
Digging on you!
GM VEHICLES AND DODGE R NOT RELIABLE VEHICLES COMPARES TO TOYOTA. WE EDUCATE OUR CUSTOMERS WHAT VEHILCES NOT TO BUY AT OUR SHOPS
HAHAHA Toyota and Honda have recently been sued for the exact same issue affecting their engines. Toyota’s warranty says that it’s normal for their junk engines to guzzle down 1 quart every 1,200 miles. GARBAGE.
It is long known this is poorly designed engine and with low quality oil rings (cheap manufacturers choice) it will consume excessive amounts of oil.couple this with a simple choice not to have an oil level monitor sensor equals more than average engine failures due to low oil problems. GM chose to go the cheap route and should pay to correct the issue.
I have a 2006 Cadillac SRX 3.6 L and uses one litre every 2000 Kilometres, so just not the Chevy engines, check the oil every weekend and add a litre of oil.
WOW what an idiotic statement. It has NOTHING to do with the design of the engine. It has everything to do with modern piston rings. GM isn’t the only one with this EXACT SAME ISSUE. Toyota, Honda, Subaru, BMW, Hyundai/Kia, Ford, etc have all had lawsuits over oil consumption in recent years. Toyota gave up and just revised their warranty to say that their engines will “normally” drink up to 1 quart every 1,200 miles. That’s 5 quarts of “normal oil consumption” between 6k mile oil change intervals. PATHETIC. Even GM says that they’ll warranty engines that burn more than 1 quart every 2k miles. By contrast, Toyota will tell you to fck off if you complained that your new Toyota is drinking 1 quart every 2k.
It has everything to do with the design…they have admitted it is faulty piston rings. Which is why the new assembles are of different material, grade, engineering. This isn’t the first time GM has known of a design flaw in their engines. The older Cadillac CTS had a known issue that they knew couldn’t be fixed and yet they put it into production anyway.
Get an new oil cap…drill a 3/8 ths hole in it…attach a 4 inch piece of copper tubing thru the cap..attach a 4 foot rubber hose to the tubing..let it hang down near the battery…problem solved…pressure relived..no seals blowing out…no back pressure.
Because that’s the solution to a 40k vehicle?
I like Chevy. My grandpa was a mechanic for them for over 35 years. But I loathe this 2.4L motor. Our 2010 Equinox visited the dealership way to often before reaching 60k. The dealership replaced some of the internal components after discovery it consumed too much oil. My wife finally gave up on it after it crossed 110k, same damn problem! This motor was bad from birth! GM, time to pay the piper on this one.
Ugh your all idiots. Gm has sucked since they allowed computers to control the automobile. But just to be straight they have yet to get the vvt and active fuel management motors correct. I am a owner of 07 Tahoe ly5 top end rebuild and active fuel management delete at 300,000 miles. But had to check oil and add every fill up since About 150,000. No help from gm on any issue I ever had. Oh and FYI I have had an aotbag recall since 08 just got the conformation in mail my parts are available call dealer to schedule April of 2021. P.s. seafoam was my secret to 300,000.
Ray, have you been guzzling that “seafoam’?
I should be.
Just finished going through this bullsh with my 2013 equinox. They deemed it a lack of maintenance because I was missing a few receipts for the oil changes I did myself. I’m a mechanic by trade. Ended up doing the repairs myself and will make sure everyone I know stays far away from GM. And just a heads up for those of you who’re dealing with this, you will probably need a catalytic converter and exhaust manifold if you’ve been driving like that for any extended period. You should install an oil catch and remove the plastic pcv line because it will freeze up from condensation in the winter and you will blow seals. Your timing set should be looked at as well while they’re in there since it takes a second and the guides are well known for breaking and there’s an obvious knocking on start up it’ll make. I also had an issue with the oil pump but couldnt say for certain if it was related. They will try to get away with replacing the pistons and rings only even though blow by due to bad rings will cause damage to everything in the engine and exhaust components.
“Your timing set should be looked at as well while they’re in there since it takes a second and the guides are well known for breaking and there’s an obvious knocking on start up it’ll make.”
If you’re going through timing chains and guides that early, its because of your garbage driving habits. Short trips will damage any engine and dilute the engine oil with gasoline, leading to timing chain stretch and eventually, broken guides. You short trip any vehicle too much and the result is the same.
You’re like a sack of potatoes cept the potatoes got more working cells in em.
Also your article doesn’t seem to mention the $54 million class action lawsuit that GM lost regarding this same problem. Guess that goes under the rug and the suits that CUSTOMERS lost get the forefront. Getting yourselves in some right hot water there screwing so many of your customers over like that.
I’ll add I’ve only ever owned Chevy. Time for a change once I get sick of repairing this POS.
LOL go ahead and fck off then you whiny B. Go buy an oil drinking Toyota and tell us how much better it drinks oil.
Lol GM hard at work putting those Defective engineered parts together With precision quality , Nothing to see here 😅🤣😂
Ford does it so much better. 30 years in and they still can’t get timing chains and cam phasers right. Now their overboost little I4’s and blow head gaskets left and right. Then there’s Toyota, sliding in under the radar, blown head gasket galore and they manage to avoid the negative PR. They even tell their customers that their engines will normally burn up to 1 quart every 1200 mils and the sheep still talk about “legendary reliability”.
I’m a car dealer in Ohio and I will not buy anything with that engine. They burn oil and timing chains. I look for repeat customers and these vehicles you will lose them.
Half of this is the use of cheaper piston rings, from about 2010 to around 2015 or so the production quality of the rings used in the ecotec motors where poor at best.
The other side to this is that no one knows how to break in a set of rings anymore, failure to adhere to a break in procedure can cause excessive ring and cylinder wall wear on top of excessive oil consumption due to the larger clearances caused by that wear.
It’s not a break in problem, it’s not just the rings that are poor quality and this isn’t the only major issue with a major component they’ve been dealing with over the past decade. Expect major repairs before 200k km if you own any GM older than a 2009.
“it’s not just the rings that are poor quality” – Wow you are a fcking idiot lmao
Say what you like but I have a 2003 Pontiac Bonneville that begs to differ, 212k miles and it’s never had anything more serious than an ignition control module or a set of injectors, still doesn’t burn more than half a quart between oil changes (that’s every 3000 miles so we’re clear) and runs like a bat outta hell.
Its not just the equinox, the traverse did the same thing.
Who cares were they get there parts thats not our problem it’s there’s they sold it to me they said it was all good to go and they new about it and still sold them so that’s a very wrong thing to do to a customer knowing that they are selling a defective product and then saying well it wasn’t us it was the rings we didn’t make those so to bad for you thanks for your money and see you latter I only bougth one gm product and sold it as fast as I could never again they are just a nigthmare and there service sucks to there sales man are under the gun to sell and they do no matter what so think about it the next time they need goverment bail outs to do this to the people whos tax dollars saved them remember that
My 06 Toyota RAV4 2.4 drinks 1 qt every two weeks and Toyota said it was Normal. They added oil, let me drive 1500 miles, it only needed 1.5qt and they said it needed to meet a criteria of 2qt to have the engine repaired…my 1995 Honda Civic and 2002 Sequoia do not drink oil at all. So these new GM and Toyotas “defects” are to force people to get new vehicles sooner…
EVERY MANUFACTURER HAD THIS ISSUE in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s. EVERY ONE OF THEM. GM, Toyota, Honda, Subaru, BMW, Hyundai/Kia, etc. They were all sued over it. Toyota even revised their warranty to claim that their engines will burn up to 1 quart every 1,200 miles so they didn’t have to warranty millions of 2010 or later Toyota vehicles that are burning oil.
Not one real GM owner or technician here, which I am both. GM knows about this issue and for certain Chevy Equinox’s and GMC Terrain’s has a special coverage that cover this defect for, if I remember correctly, 10yrs or 120k miles. Idk if Canadians has this same thing but the U.S. vehicle does. Some people refuse to bring their cars into a dealership for service and end up having to pay to get it fix themselves at an aftermarket shop. People don’t realize that some common problems on vehicles may be covered even though it’s out of powertrain warranty.
I’m sure most of the people posting here are fed up BECAUSE they were dealing with the dealership. Most of us got a letter about the special bulletin and I’d advise anyone starting an oil consumption test to check the oil after they fill it because they will more than likely add an extra quart.
Honda 2.4L’s have the same damn problem. It’s the norm they say, I say that’s bs. Used a qt. of Lucas oil additive at oil change, got motor warmed up, went on a back road and kept engine rpm at 4000…for 3 miles. Basically seating the rings. No longer using a qt. every 600 miles. Uses slightly under a qt. over 7000 miles. This is a 2012 cr-v
I own all GM 2015 silverado ltz 6.2, 2015 colorado 2.5, 1990 ZR-1 corvette, 1972 Pontiac 455 HO, and a 2008 G5 2.2 with 200,000 miles and still runs like a champ, no excessive oil consumption. That being said I do my maintenance like clock work, the LT5 regularly sees 7000 rpm. I have been fortunate with my experience with GM. However I do believe they should take responsibility for engineering mistakes.
Honda had the same problem a few years ago on their V-6 motors. They said 1 qt of oil per 1,000 miles was ok. But since they are Honda it’s ok but not GM.
Checking oil isn’t enough. The fact that it’s burning and you just have to top it off is ridiculous. Primarily, the rings could get bad enough that they don’t hold any compression, causing multiple misfires. Also, all that oil poisons the cats. Topping up the oil doesn’t help any of these issues.
I spent such a large portion of my life supporting and trusting in GM – with so few issues until I started buying Hondas and imports because they were simply better all around and with higher resale value. GM has fallen no doubt and the reason for this is simply the product. The C8 rocks but they’re killing the Camaro rather than offer a better design which was needed. You could certainly do worse than buying a GM vehicle but they’re just another mid pack brand now with trucks that are okay and not much else, C8 excepted.
GM quality went down the drain in the 90s its all about making money 💰 for the shareholders and let the consumer suffer I grew up in flint, Mi where GM Head quarters was at my family worked a Buick city the biggest plant in the world that 3800 engine was the best they ever made it ran for ever after they stop making those quality control went to dumps I drive hondas now the best
My subaru ez30 is 21 years old with 175000 miles. It has multiple oil leaks but 5000 miles after I change the oil, the level on the dipstick is the same. Properly designed engines do not burn oil!
Ive researched this and found comments by mechanics. They claim that the oil consumption problem in several GM engines is caused by the design of the pcv system. They claim that it creates too much suction which literally sucks oil out and into the combustion chamber. One mechanic claimed that if you enlarge the hole of the pcv valve it solves the problem.
Enlarging it is not recommended but I’ve heard some people have success with that. I found just adding a catch can to make sure the oil and water doesn’t make it’s way into the oriface in the intake manifold worked well enough after I replaced the pistons. But yeah, I suspected the pcv was one of the main issues contributing to the issue and GM clearly thinks so as well considering cleaning it out is part of the recommended repairs included in the bulletin.
We have a 2015 Chevy Malibu LT Eco with the 2.4 L fuel injected motor. Nearly 80K miles and zero problems with “anything” on this vehicle. We have zero oil consumption between oil changes, and use the oil change indicator to determine when to change oil and filter. Plus we go to our Chevy dealer where we purchased the car for the oil/filter changes including their multi-point vehicle checks. That way if there are any computer software updates, recalls, or tech bulletin checks, it will be taken care of. Plus if I have a complaint I can prove my vehicle service was done at a GM facility.
As for other model years, I can’t speak to those.
When I worked at a Pontiac and GMC dealer back in 2007-08, acceptable oil consumption produced by GM was 1qt per 1K miles. You are supposed to check the oil level every time you get gas, but probably less than 5% do that. My shop just did an engine on a 2013 Terrain last week because of the same problem. The extended warranty coverage GM did, this vehicle was past by 2 months. He a regular customer and I had him call GM, and he gave up because the guy on the phone had poor English.
What a crock! Will stand behind our manufacturer’s defects but not behind design defects? So in other words,we’ll design a crappy motor and not warranty it in any way, but when we manufacture that crappy design, then we’ll stand behind our manufacturing only?????? That’s like being sold a new good looking pair of shoes that are the wrong size! they look good, but you can’t wear them!
This raft of phony comments is a 21st century embarrassment. I had a Pontiac in the 70’s that used a quart of oil every 5000 miles. Surely lemon laws apply to new cars. There’s no reason a clearly defective piece of equipment should have even made it to the assembly line. Priorities, people. To you company trolls: you should go to jail.
I guess nobody remembers when gas stations opened your hoods and check the oil every time you got gas weekly?
ALL engines will consume oil. The issue is when does it become excessive? Modern engines have very low tension piston rings that contribute to fuel economy, they also seal very quickly due to cylinder surface preparation. As with anything, some designs are better than others. You also have to factor in the assembly technique and the fact that human error still plays a role in this. I drive a 2015 Malibu (Company car.) that has 96,000 miles on it. It has the “Eco Tech” 2.0. It’s never been “In the shop” for ANY repair. It’s had the oil and filter changed when the “Oil change monitor” calls for it. It never used any specific “Break in” procedure. It consumes less than half a quart of oil between changes, as a matter of fact it still has the original brake pads on it. So this GM=junk theory doesn’t quite seem to hold up. As for you “Toyota is the greatest thing since sliced bread” believers, go try to buy a new Toyota fork lift. Seems their engines don’t meet the federal emissions standards and they are not allowed sell their product in North America until they figure it out. Estimates are up to a year before they will be able to sell their product. Oh, by the way, Toyota used GM engines in a lot of their fork lifts in the past😁
I got lucky I bought a 2011 2.4 Buick Regal,was having my oil changed a mech that worked there told me 2011- 2014 used oil mine was one of the oil burners, I had 100 miles left on my warranty and got a new over hauled eng . C k your oil level every two weeks 👍
GM does not stand behind there design engineers . . Only production of . Pardon . ?
Change oil more often.
I had the same problem GM fixed it, it dosen’t use a drop of oil any more what I put it comes out at oil change time 2012 GMC Terrain.
I’m surprised at many of the comments… This is clearly an example of, and clearly recognized by the courts – as a DESIGN flaw. Ring material and cylinder honing techniques got perfected about 20 years ago. Plain and simple – there should be no oil consumption of any magnitude close to this in any internal combustion engine manufactured today. If GM’s specified installation practices or specified materials are sub-standard, the manufacturing is not the issue – it’s the design.
For some inane reason the the courts have decreed that this lets GM off the hook. Does this not bother anyone? Why are we not laying into the legal system and screaming at the courts that intellectual decisions (design mistakes by dumb engineers) or conscious economic decisions by the GM bean counters to cut corners and not do it right – this should NOT pre-empt GM’s warranty responsibility! What if the errors/decisions were costing lives (remember the Ford Exploders with Firestone tires)?
Here IMHO big brother cow-towed to big lobbyist. Extremely disappointing to me as a US citizen.
I reported oil consumption from my 5.3L GMC Sierra to the dealer where I purchased it while still covered under warranty, and THEY asked me to let them do the next 2 oil changes. I was told it consumed more than .5 US quarts within an oil change cycle. My engine was rebuilt while I drove a loaner vehicle. It ran with no other issues for 4 more years. My Grandfather was an engineer at Cadillac, and he told me not to ever hesitate letting the service department know if you think something isn’t functioning properly. It is OUR responsibility to maintain the vehicle and report issues. They will use that information to determine if a recall is warranted. Yes, sometimes the customers have to get the recall data in to open investigations.
GM, generous motor oil consumption. Never by a GM car. They are to woke to produce a good vehicle. You pay your money, you take your chances.
Had 2013 equinox that was using about a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. Equinox had about 85,000 miles on it. Never had a vehicle use any oil before. Took it to GM for an oil consumption test. I paid for an oil change that looked as though they overfilled it. After 1,000 miles took it back and they said everything looked good. By this time it was half way in the good section on dip stick. Was suppose to bring back in another 1,000 miles. Ended up trading it for a toyota.
Yup, check the oil after they change or top it up when you start the oil consumption test because they overfilled mine by a quart as well.
This is a very known issue by GM. I owned a 2010 equinox and had to have the piston rings replaced at 70 000 mile under a factory bulliten
Consumption of 3 qts oil in 700 miles
They than charged me for timing chain saying it was an issue as well
I argued that was a result of oil consumption issue but they said no
When I got rid of vehicle at 108000 miles was having all kinds of issues
I will never buy another equinox
Chevy Tahoe 6.0 litre hybrid engines 🤦🏻 Oil consumption, spark plugs fowling, lifters collapsing, oil checked every fill up, used quality oil with Dexos. Currently sitting in my garage gathering dust. Needs new engine. 213,000. This truck ran great and was a fantastic performer with the drivetrain layout. No matter it’s shortcomings, I will fix this and drive it.
is this related to the DI engines or the port injection engines as well? I know the DI engines were nothing but headaches from a reliability standpoint and the fact that they sounded like 20 year old diesels.
This is true I had a 2012 GMC terrain that had the same problem I was going back and forth to the dealer with this car for months finally I got bit up and left messed up my credit but I couldn’t take it anymore. Car engine burning oil
Zero-w-20 is sooo thin of a lubricant !
You can only know that what ever it’s used in I believe is in danger of oil related issues it’s truly the consistency
Of water so ho figure. Another thing is oil leaves a coating on (all) internal part’s (and) if not changed at the proper intervals it will actually have detrimental effects on internal part’s moving and not moving .Also someone else commented on oil quality you get your duty crap oil will have negative side effects it’s a given. When it’s all said n dun use a heaver oil n get over it man up 0-w-20 is for the north poll
Not FLA.
We had a chevy equinox and it burnt through all the oil on 2000 miles, and totaled the vehicle. We will join the class action too
I would imagine that most all the engines should have been run a little bit before they left the factory go all makes a lot of difference in what you break the engine in with a full synthetic oil is too slick to be breaking in an engine and to set one set there for 30 minutes and warm up it’s really absolutely ridiculous I’ll agree at first when you start to drive the engine you should not quit rub the engine at all but after setting an island for maybe 5 minutes just to make sure the oil circulating good it’s time to go down the road need to keep it somewhere the 2500 to 3500 ranges that’s what I like and run it for an extended distance at least 150 mi to 200 MI and as we go into this procedure we don’t want excessive accelerations but we do want some acceleration up and down 2500 to 3500 is great after 250 mi on an engine you’re not breaking any more rings in they’re seated you wore the sharp edges off you wore all the honing outside of the cylinders and if you don’t get them hot enough they’re not going to break in correctly and if you sat there and let them run for 30 minutes just Island it’s really not heating up but just very slowly and by that time you’re doing wore off the all the honing inside the engine anyway best thing I say let it warm up 5-10 minutes take it down the road do not get on it excessively at first but a nice steady up to 50 to 70 mph every now and then they drop back down and raise your back up I’m not continuously get that engine up there to 70 miles an hour get it on the interstate running for an hour let it break itself in like it’s supposed to and it needs it down down let it cool off I’m back down to maybe 15 drive a little bit and drop her own down and it’s going to start cooling down like it should then you need to change your oil then you can go to synthetic oil now you’re not going to have any oil leaks you’re not having any oil consumption those rings will see unless there is some kind of manufacturer flaw if that is done that way I’ll have engines that I’ve done this way and couldn’t even use a quart of oil and thousands of miles sometimes have had oil change after oil change on a regular basis like it’s supposed to be done and still wouldn’t lower oil no more than a quarter of a quart so all this Hogwarts I was reading back behind you I don’t know where you guys are getting that stuff but I know that’s what factory says but it’s rubbish don’t go to the 5,000 RPMs you know if your engine running above 3500 RPMs to 4,000 RPMs run down the highway at 70 miles an hour and over drive but anyway everybody have a great day at your opinion and it just works for me I say things that sounds interesting sometimes and I’m not stuck on any certain way I just know that that works for me and if I read something in here and I say hey that sounds pretty cool let me try it I’ll try it but if it don’t work I’m going back to my old way but anyway y’all have a nice day
Smoking tires not engines
And the one and only Benator is out of here
Way to stand behind your crap GM. 👍
Master ase mechanic, 2.4L oil usage past excessive. So much blow by pushes oil past junk rear main seal. Today’s engines should last 200,000 miles today due to the amount of highway driving done. A 2011 car is not worth dumping good money into, the price of labor and parts, don’t forget you would still have transmission to replace shortly after spending$5000 on an engine, by the way my 1996 chev. Pickup 5.7L has 391000 miles on it and doesn’t leak or burn oil.
I had the same issue with my Equinox
Just a comment on James’s comment. Once your wife looses confidence in a car, it is truely time to replace it. My wife finally had it with our 1st and 2nd traverse and lost total confidence she immediately traded it in for a Honda CRV. Problems solved.
The same thing happened with my 2010 GMC Terrain. Had a oil problem transmission changed twice
Also I was in a car accident head on collision and the brakes gave out the airbag did not deploy GM sent representative and I was sent a letter with a bunch of numbers and was told that the preformed the way it should have. The representative did not take the car apart just ran some numbers through the data. Hope someone else has had the same problem
I’m having the same problem with my 2011 Chevy equinox. It’s burning TOO much oil. I need to check into this
I purchased a 1995 Chevy Silverado new. Owned it now for 26 years and check all fluids weekly without any problems. Oil changes every 4,000 miles, transmission every check same time. Still has original engine, xmission, etc. All original parts. Preventive maintenance is key.
Where can I find more on this suit. I and a few other people I know would like to join.
As far as the comments of “check your oil” , “it’s the owners fault” I recently purchased a 2011 Terrain with the same issue. Had GM do a consumption test which only lasted 2000km because I was burning twice the oil that GM says is acceptable after 3200km. The rings are a known issue and they have admitted that fact which is why they extended the warranties by 50%. They say they issued service letters but I know for a fact some people didn’t receive them. Also the faulty PCV system creates a vacuum and allows even more oil into the cylinders, and with all this excess oil burning also clogs the catalytic. Other 2 issues also have service letters. Problem is the service letters only cover vehicles to around the same timeframe/distance range as when the problem first starts so people may never know til it’s too late to be fixed. Also because GM only put out service letter it’s only linked with your VIN on GMs internal intranet, not available to the public domain. Ie. used dealers, myself, my sister, my wife’s friends whom both work where the equinox and terrains are built. There is a reason GM lost the class action in the US. They knew, and yet they ignored the issue and sold 1.5 million vehicles instead. Which is why GM Canada got ahead of it trying to avoid a suit here by issuing supposed letters. Someone should not have to check their oil at 80% life after an oil change to make sure they can get to and from work ok. Even with a vehicle at 150000. And the problem isn’t isolated. Every 2.4l ecotec from 2010-2013 GMC, Chev. Terrains, Equinox, Orlando’s etc… And now possibly the 5.3l V8s also…
I have a 2012 GMC Terrain same engine.Purchased it used.Got oil changed,less than 2000 miles later motor puked also.Replaced engine and constant check oil,and it does use excessive amount of oil
I have owned nothing but gm for the past 35 years……then one day on a whim I bought a 20 year old BMW 528 at a police auction for less than scrap price to use as a work car to save 500 miles a week on my impala…..it was absolutely beat to hell and I thought I maybe had a 50/50 chance of seeing it run…….one trip around the block made me wonder how the hell we won the war…..30mpg and I dare you to keep up with it…….I change the oil every 10000 miles….yes 10,000….and it is always full….I will never own another gm vehicle….they are junk
GM sound systems are garbage. My new Equinox has a rattle. In 2021 vehicles neither of these issues should be happening.
The problem of excessive oil consumption has been pervasive across many brands (GM, Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, et.). The cause is low friction oil rings, combined with multi-weight oils that use a base of 0-* SAE. These oils have a base equivalent to water thus allowsing seepage past low friction rings, before the modifiers thicken the weight when operating temperature is reached So it is no surprise this problem exists. We are trying to lubricate our engines with H2O when cold, to meet ridiculous EPA mileage mandates.
That is not the problem and the recommended oil depends on the climate you live in. Says 5W-30 on my cap. Low viscosity oils probably played a part in the phaser issues Ford was having but not for this.
The fact that General Motors never paid the govt loan back, and hasn’t been forced to. They paid off a few I the house and senate.
I purchased a 2014 GMC terrain March of 2020. Noticed oil consumption issues almost immediately. No warranty. Was adding 1 qt a week. Car gives no notice that oil is low. After driving 14 months my car that I owe 8000 on is sitting in my driveway currently in need of a new motor. Oil was added and oil changes done as required. Its not a matter of not maintaining.
We have a 2014 verano with the 2.4L it has about 47,000 miles uses no oil and I change the oil at 3000miles. Sorry to hear people have had issues. I have had cars use oil and I make a practice of checking the oil frequently. Had an 86 fireo that used a qt every 900-1000 miles so I checked it often. Its basic car caring checking oil. If you have an engine as stated you must document it.
I have the same exact issue with my 2013. I have stuck over $6,000 into this vehicle and still keep having issues with it. Had to replace everything related to the timing before i even hit 85,000 miles. I think its time for them to just recall the whole damn vehicle. I dont even have 110,000 miles on it and my oil is checked and changed regularly and to still have all these issues is frustrating. Oh and lets not forget the are known for the mufflers to rust out in certain ares too. So yup im dealing with that also.
GM as a whole has sucked for YEARS! They screw up their vehicles and screw over their employees!
The last good thing the General did was the LS engine 25 years ago. Everything else is an also ran. US govt control made them even worse. Too bad. Their heyday was in the 60s. Then they let the Japanese dominate because they were lazy. They designed the LS but put it in low quality trucks. Another US industry down the toilet.
To all of you people saying the customer should have checked their oil levels – this is literally a design flaw. GM should be held accountable but they aren’t in any capacity.
I HAD (and I say HAD because of course the engine blew on it) a 2013 Equinox that had been to the local GM dealership on multiple occasions due to this problem because I had received recall letters. On 3 separate occasions, I was told the parts were not available for the replacement. When I received a letter that the parts were available, I was 900km past their mileage limit so they refused to do the free service and gave me a $6000 estimate to repair it which is RIDICULOUS. I had to clean my PCV valve weekly, to make sure there was no liquids in there as this was a large problem as well. i would do a full oil change and within 1 week of driving (I average 5000km every two to two and a half months) I would need at least 1L fill up generally it was a 1.5L fill up every week. I was all over this issue and my engine still blew because of this problem.
Weekly oil checks and PCV cleaning did not solve the issue. My only option was to pay the dealership $6000 to tear apart the engine and fix the problem due to an obvious GM recall – that I had been notified of but told the parts were not available. Also – the $6000 was just a “estimate” and could likely be more depending on what they found when they got in there. Because of the PCV issue there could possibly be more liquid a manifold (I can’t recall what it was exactly off the top of my head) which they would need to drill and drain and if that didn’t fix it they would need to replace it which started at about $2000. So minimum $6000-$8000 starting point on my Equinox that was only worth $8000-$10,000 at the time. Makes sense to me.
Should sue GM for their rusty frames also. My truck, an 08 is dissolving.
All engines will use some oil, period. Now there are differences though. My 2017 Subaru Impreza would randomly drink a quart or 2 out of nowhere. Really weird. One oil change wouldn’t use a drop, the next the oil level light would come on after 2k miles. No biggie, Subaru offered a new engine.
Then there is my vw TDI, I check it every couple of months. 10k mile oil change interval no noticed change in oil level between services. Always used OEM filters if not OEM oil on both cars. The TDI gets liquid moly brand oil.
A oil level light should be standard on all newer autos. Cheap and effective. No harder than a fuel gauge. And owners should check their oil regularly.
And to those that say report it to your service writer, not everyone can afford to have the factory dealership maintain their vehicle. Also most of these engines are out of warranty anyway, especially since gm no longer makes them.
I own a 2009 Chevy HHR with a 2.4 L eco-tech motor when I first bought the car about three years ago I ran regular conventional oil in it and I noticed it did burn oil but I switched to synthetic oil and it does not burn a drop 5000 miles it doesn’t burn a drop so I think the motor was designed for synthetic oil that’s the problem sincerely Timothy Cornell
Eww boy, a LEMON engine. Stay away. Nuth’n worse than something that’s a lemon.
Wow GM. I shouldn’t be surprised though. My coworker had a 13 Terrain with the 2.4 – problems, problems and then the oil consumption was enough. She traded it for a Toyota and couldn’t be happier. Should have let GM drown in 08. The “New GM” isn’t any better.
Gm just admitted guilt by saying it’s a design defect not manufacturing. Umm what kind of mechanical engineers are they hiring?? Really?? Why dont you just say it’s called planned obsolescence. “Designed to fail” or break down. It’s done on purpose and Gms attorneys are using the manufacturer warranty excuse as their loophole out.
They can’t afford to hire cheap manufacturing because the backlash would end up being astronomical in cost..
Just smoke and mirrors
Who in their right mind would buy a car or truck, ANY car or truck, from a manufacturer who claims “Design Defects” are not covered by warranty, only manufacturing defects.
That’s some seriously defective (fx’d up) thinking RIGHT THERE, and one more reason why the General is history. It’s just a matter of time, just like a gigantic rock rolling down a hillside, until it comes to an end.
Many comments but little said. Mechanic man simply stated a fact. No engine should consume oil when built correctly. I agree with him because I’m driving a discontinued GM ’03 model with 115k miles using synthetic oil since buying it used two years after coming out of a lease. To make matters interesting I’ve extended oil change intervals using the GM OCI system; oil filter replaced every OCI indication, keeping oil until the second OCI indication when new oil and filter are replaced. This means up to 15k miles on syn oil and around 7500 miles per filter. Since OCI changes from several factors determining when oil change is due, the lowest OCI indication was around 5k miles, altering total overall oil usage below 15k. Zero oil consumption for approximately 103k miles, all in NYC. Perhaps this 3.0L V6 engine made in Europe avoided American engineering that’s affecting the 2.4L issues.
I owned a equinox that.had major oil consumption problem. The 3 years I had it spent over 3000 in extra oil consumption above oil changes. I had too add over a gallon of oil every 3 to 5 days. Complained to dealership to no avail. I found previous owner. He traded vehicle in for same problem. They day I got rid of it. The engine had blown up. After putting in a gallon the previous night. No cracked block or leaking problems
The people defending these POS, you’ve never owned one of these turds then.
I have a 11’ Malibu, so far it’s great, 126k. My brother and his wife had a 13’ or so Equinox, absolute oil burning pos.
We grew up doing our own maintenance and all that. They are a pos that burn a lot of oil, are a turd, and sound like crap. They should be sued for the pos ones. Because it is a common problem.
Those if you defending them wonder why people quit buying domestic or GM, well. They burn oil as if you got a work truck with 300k on it and run the balls off it.
Like I said, the Malibu, great car, don’t mind the motor at all. My brothers Equinox they got rid off, terrible. But they bought a new 2 liter Equinox so we shall see.
It’s a design defect therefore it not their problem. Who’s problem is it? I didn’t design the car I bought it and it’s my fault
That logic is bull picky. If you design and build it and offer it for sale then it’s your problem not the one that bought it. What a joke that one is and if the court accepted that who is the fool
If people would stop buying the vehicle, then gm would fix the ‘design’ problem
GM never learns that the customer is the most important link in the chain.
This engine was designed pre bankruptcy….pre 2009.
Since the bankruptcy and government bail out, the company is now a LLC.
Due to this ‘LLC’ they can declare that its a design flaw, pre bankruptcy, and legally blow the entire subject off!
No one is going to win, except GM….but they really lose, and can’t see the forest for the trees!
All GM Vehicles come standard with a check engine light ON!!!
Toyota had a similar problem with their 2.4 liter which they used in a variety of cars. But they recalled it.
And what they did is seal the motor, have you drive it for X amount of miles. Then check the oil and decide if that was normal.
The problem was #1 , it usually got worse. Like a qt every tank of gas. #2 . It’s an expensive fix. Because Toyota determined the rings let oil get by. But you had to change the Pistons. $4000.00
And not just Domestic motors like they would have you believe. My daughter had a Scion TC that is %100 Japanese.
I purchased a 2014 Chevy Captiva with 77,000 miles within 1 week I noticed heavy oil consumption. So I checked my oil on a weekly basis. Within 2 months the motor locked up. I have been a GM lover for over 30 years. I contacted GM and they talked to me like I was the devil. I will never buy from GM again.
My 06 Toyota RAV4 2.4 drinks 1 qt every two weeks and Toyota said it was Normal. They added oil, let me drive 1500 miles, it only needed 1.5qt and they said it needed to meet a criteria of 2qt to have the engine repaired…my 1995 Honda Civic and 2002 Sequoia do not drink oil at all. So these new GM and Toyotas “defects” are to force people to get new vehicles sooner…
I have a 2013 Equinox that burns oil excessively. 1 liter every 750 Kms approximately. It is the last GM productI will own. Dealership is no help basically say your on your own.
My wife’s 2012 Subaru burns 1/3 qt every tank of gas. 0-20 Mobile One at $9 a quart. Subaru has 90,000 miles. My 2008 Silverado with 240,000 miles burns about 1/4 quart between oil changes. BUT THAT’S AFTER I installed a Range chip to bypass the AFM. It burned a quart before the chip. The only problem I have with my chevy is paper thin body panels. Acorns falling 30-40 ft have made it look like golfball size hail have pummelled it. Overall domestic vehicles are pieces of crap. It’s best to by used vehicles with just over 100,000 miles and NOT from a dealership. This way the previous owners have dealt with most of the bad engineering problems Domestic companies have sacrificed quality for gas milage. Pretty shady how the likes and dislikes have been scrubbed on the comments derogatory to the manufacturer.
What’s funny about this 2.4L issues is that Mercedes Benz engines 276 and 278 na and turbo charged engines would use 2-6 qts of oil in less then 5k miles and that was considered normal what’s different about Chevys engine
With Chevy, it being domestic, it means it’s junk. With Mercedes, the high consumption is ascribed to something magic in the “precision German engineering”, and therefore, forgiven.
I would agree but when the consumption cost the client a new engine at their own expense at $60k-$80k just for the engine and another $200 per hour at 30+ hours the client was mad
I just spent the last couple of weeks working on a 2013 Chevrolet Cruze. This car was riddled with malfunctions relating to poor design. One such item was a plastic connector for the turbo oil return line that becomes brittle. Plastic should never be used in the vicinity of exhaust or a hot turbo charger. It’s time to hold manufacturers liable for these shortcomings.
Buy imports only!
I bought a Toyota Tercel.All 1.5 liter engines burned oil excessively.Toyota told no one.I found out when the engine rebuilder fixed it.Oblong cylinder bores and round pistons.Thanks for the memories.
Mary Barra will squash this like she did when GM was Killing people who owned GM Cars, who’s ignitions turned off for fun … its what she’s paid $25 Million to do…
Methinks the idiot driver/owner was oblivious to the idiot light that surely began flashing when the engine was a couple quarts low. Poor engine design does not absolve one of being a negligent car owner.
These don’t set a cel for low oil. Have never had it set a cel. Check oil frequently and follow maintenance schedule. It’s not a maintenance issue.
It doesn’t matter if you check your oil or even get it change on a regular basis. They messed up with alot of vehicles . I have sent all my paper work in and change the piston ring and it cost me alot of money year later got a letter back saying I didn’t meet the guidelines for the reimbursement thur GM. But yet I was told to have this done so I could get it fix and it was a recall. That’s Funny. Next time you’ll take your time on how to Assemble the car’s the proper way. Everything is recalled I understand that but yet when they say you need to have this done due to oil Disappearing. GM does it better not the oil. They leave you hanging. They were ordered by a judge for people to get back there money that they paid to have these issues fixed but all they did was pocketed in there own pockets. Now there’s your disappearing act. I am so disappointed how they handled things. Way yo go GM
You must be a GM worker keep working for stupid people that keep having recalls. How many recalls have they had. Maybe you should do check on the recalls before running your mouth. People work hard to get what they want in life like new cars not to keep going thur stupid things that you can’t assemble if you can’t do that maybe you should let the next person in there to show you how it’s done the right way. Alot of cars specially this vehicle have gone threw several recalls from seashells coming on done to the airbag, now the oil piston ring. I know how to build cars to taking apart. Yes you should look how many cars were involved before you start running your mouth.
as a tech in the business and have my own shop i always tell my customers the right way to go about an oil consumption problem. i as a gm tech for hummer in 2008 had to diagnose a h3 and had to make several phone calls to gm’s tech help line to perform hours of certain vacuum while driving tests and such. the lady ended up getting warranty on the engine at 60000kms. mind you she would have to drive 8 hours to see me at the dealer. only one in ontario at the time. she would have to stay in hotels to get her car serviced. i think some manufacturers need to source better internal parts such as piston rings and timing chains. hint hint
I had a 2013 that was a oil burning car I mean it burnt oil like crazy 4 qts in 5000 miles you had to check the oil every day at the time I had a 7.3 powerstroke with 600k on it that didn’t burn a lick of oil I had that car about a week and realised it was a oil burner so I took it back and they said they all burn oil I said my truck doesn’t burn any and it has 600k on it
I will never buy another GM vehicle again , and if you are smart , you’ll do the same.
Last one I bought was a 04.
I had a 2011 gmc terrain and had to carry Mobil 1 jugs in the back seat and pour at least a quart every other time I got fuel. Gm tested it and said it was excessive consumption but basically said too bad so sad. I ended up just buying a new vehicle….not a gm product! I gave them several chances to make it right but they obviously no longer want my business
I own a 2014 Chev Silverado and it burnt oil since it was brand new I took it back and they put a extra quart in it on the change and test
I own a 2014 Chev Silverado 4’3 and it burnt oil since it was brand new I took it back and they put a extra quart in it on the change and test
Exactly why I buy Honda or Toyota
I personally got duped into getting my 2012 Terrain from Sundance auto in Michigan back in dec of 2019. I have had nothing but issues with this truck. Oil burning up constantly having to monitor it. Truck is always running hot . Sensors always going off. I had to put a qt in less then every 1000 miles. I have put way to much money into this truck. My engine is barely running now. Trucks been sitting for over a month and I’m stuck still owing like 10 grand on it. And there’s nothing I can do about it. . Wish they would just admit and take some accountability..make some sort of recall because of these darned engines and offer some relief to the people who put money in their pockets …..
Please help me I bought a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox in 2019 motor blew up due to the oil consumption the car lot I bought it at wouldn’t do anything I’m still making my payments every month while the vechile shes in my driveway the pistons cracked the time chaining and other stuff I filed a reimbursement twice to be lied too I want a lawsuit on GM please someone help me ty
My car is 2014 equinox every 2 week a litter oil need to add.
2021-Fiat also is currently being sued…Audi, too, as they have used the same engine. Oh yeah, Jeep used same engine as Fiat and Audi. I have TRIED to get the oil consumption test, there are no ‘Salon Fiat” mechanics available at this time!! ( Isn’t that convenient?)
Audi told its customers to basically ‘screw off’, Jeep drags its feet on performing said test, Fiat sold out a few weeks ago…
I have a Fiat, at 26000 miles I purchased it, I’ve owned it a bit over a year, over a grand already in repairs, no end in sight…it burned 2 quarts in 1400 miles, oil was changed the day before driving that trip!!!
As Shakespeare once wrote, The first thing we do, we kill all the lawyers”..( forgive me if I may have left out or misplaced a word!!
Kia has gotta be trembling had a Hyundai Santa Fe 2018 come in with oil light on and less than a w
quart of oil no oil leaks but some of thoes kia engines are notorious for burning oil. The worst part is the customer didn’t have a complaint about the light idk how it still runs at all but they need to get it checked out
The 2.4 was always a pos from back in the days of the first gen cavaliers and sunfires head cracking head gasket blowing and now oil burning junk …never liked them
Really not sure why there would be a class action lawsuit. Was a GM mechanic for over 10 years and those vehicles have a ton of special policies to cover these problems if they show up. Ranging from piston replacement, timing and balance chain replacement, ecm reprogramming for the oil life monitor, and high pressure fuel pump replacement. All replaced at no charge to the customer. Very rarely did I see an equinox that was not covered under these policies. If you end up outside of policy range then either you or your dealership has been ignoring the problems. This is not GM problem in my mind, they have fixes for all these things. Either the dealership or the customer was neglectful.
Lol I love all these comments about Toyota engines being junk and having the exact same problem. My 2011 Toyota is a little over 300k miles and burns less than 1/2 a quart between 6 month oil changes. Never had to do any repairs on it. My brother in laws 2012 equinox is on engine #3 and he has less than 200k miles total for all 3 motors.
In my opinion if you have your oil changed every 5000 km, it shouldn’t be down a drop. And they’re always trying to sell you this oil that lost 35000 km, but but they want you to change your oil it for 5,000 km. That one crack me up every time I get that offer. I’ve never been a high maintenance guy oh, never had a problem with the motor. And I can’t believe for a minute that this company is getting away with blaming it on a design problem oh, so it’s not a problem on their manufacturing . I’ve never heard so much Bull in my lifetime. What happens next we have to start researching who did the drawings and where they’re buying their parts from
I’ve owned a lot of vehicles and the best advice I can give is never buy a gm. I’m ocd about maintenance, but still gm is the only vehicle brand I’ve experienced catastrophic engine failure in. Not just one either, of the 10 gms I’ve had, 7 were engine failure, 1 had the 4l60e trans which is a whole disaster in itself. Lesson learned, no more gm.
Most owners manual say oil consumption may vary..but most manufacturers say up to 1 litre or 1US quart per 1000 km is normal and that the level should be checked at every fuel fill..if someone drives 6000 kms and never checks the level that means they have ignored what the manufacturer told them to do by a factor of 12 …and they seem surprised they ran out of oil and ruined their engine…good luck with that lawsuit! Your wasting your time and money not to mention the courts time..
As a loyal gm owner of gm vehicals from 1950 on I do see quality as paramount to retaining brand, gm is failing its customers., they seem to assume that a new generation of customers do not have experience with the brands, so it matters little to them…the epa, fed government dictate parameters, protect the manufacturers, and of course you cannot sell new stock if your ride lasts 300000 miles…gm’s sole level of existence is not to sell product but to appease stock holders. Big Mary is driving the gm name into the ground…as far as engine issues, 5 and 10 weight oils burn off quicker, crack case vents are directed back into the intake, there is where the issues are most present, poor combustion chamber performance enhances blow by and not to mention timing chain design, vvt, fuel qualities, direct injection, and a host of other poor decisions imposed on the public, does not bode well for the brand. I stopped buying gm products made after 2005!, nothing acceptable after that date…we have owned over 125 gm vehicles and get feedback from souls who are being abused by dealers, and gm. So no more…I advise family and friends to avoid them aswell, we still have older units but simply will not go into anything newer, a new engine is still cheaper than a new truck……so beware to those who by any gm, most are not even produced in the USA any longer, there support of US jobs for US customers is questionable, how many foreigners pay into social security after all…the rant is over, my support for gm is as well…
Nobody talks about how piston skirts are now nonexistent allowing the piston to wobble excessively especially if clearances tolerances are at high end of tolerance specs. Manufacturers do cheat yto gain fuel miliage when new but the oil consumption is downplayed to get the sale and the environmental mess of burning too much oil is not a priority.Another thought I’d manufacturers are going EV and a oil burner is away to get consumers to buy EV within next few years. Crankcase pressure will be higher due to engine design to get more HP per liter displace ment as a selling point. All manufacturers are playing with the same guidelines. Something to think about.
I’m sorry for everyone’s oil consumption issues.
My brother has a 14′ Verano 2.4 LEA and the most he’s ever had to add between oil changes was roughly 250 ml after 5,000 I’m of driving.
After the dealers free oil changes were finished he started changing his own with AMSOIL Signature Series 5w30 and never has to top it off.
His Verano has about 150,000 km on it.
Saturn had the same issue in 97, 8 and 9
The oil burning is due to poor drainback of the oil in cylinders . The pistons do not have enough or no drain back holes behind the rings and the oil builds up, burns on the power stroke and then builds up carbon so that the oil control is totally gone. GM apparently has trouble calculating how much drain back is neccessary. This started when the 5w/30 oils were introduced. They just couldn’t get it right.
After the Saturn and its long list of TSBs . I went back to Hondas which is a superior car by far. I have owned 6 of them and my kids have them as well. Never had an oil issue with anyone of them and I usually keep them until they hit around 250,000 miles.
Any idea on how to get in on the law suit. The exact same thing happened to my car last month.
I would imagine that there’s quite a few stipulations pretty confident you would have had to buy the vehicle brand new not second hand everything is public record shouldn’t be too hard tracktown info
Basically all current manufactured vehicles are disposable they don’t build anything like they used to to last so they can not only charge you the cost of a vehicle but they cannot charge you absorbent amount at the dealership to repair the vehicle that they have designed to fail it’s all about making money I will not buy any GM vehicle newer than 2000 that’s when they really started to go downhill I have a 2000 Silverado with 300-plus thousand miles on it that runs better than my buddies brand new 2019 Silverado who has had multiple issues with his truck and it has less than 30,000 miles on it moral of the story is by a vehicle that’s reliable and learn how to work on it so you can fix it yourself I will save you so much money and headache
Not even close to true. You couldn’t get 30k miles out of a 40s or 50s vehicle with significant work, and if you got 100k out of an 80s GM you were lucky.
Nowadays 100k is a bare minimum, and 200k is well within reach with proper maintenance. Maybe not for the rust belt people, but the rest of the US, absolutely.
I totally agree with D Y. Had a 77 olds cutlass with 130,000 when I got it I put over 40,000 on it it was well built but in need of a rebuild I attribute it lasting so long to the frequent oil changes I did on it and its 1st owner did also.
Today’s engines are much better, some people say I am crazy changing oil every 3000miles but I say you are crazy going 7500 on an oil change. Oil is the life blood to the engine.
Just buy a KIA! Their way more reliable!
American manufacturers simply don’t care anymore.
How many KIA’s have you seen broken down on the road side? I’ve not seen one.
Careful Paul,
Kia has their hands full with issues due to engines blowing up and catching on fire.
They just paid the US government 650 million because of this.
2.4L and 2.0L Turbo motors. They say debris got in engines causing these engines to grenade.
I’m not so sure I buy that but am not sure what the heck is going on..
My daughter has one of those Kia’s, still under warranty, it arrived in their shop in November of 21, still there today…they just keep issuing her a unit to drive till they receive the replacement engine..they do cover their customers..gm im not certain…, they don’t have warranties near that…
I have a 2010 2.4 Equinox..we bought it new.Even though I still have the car it is the worst car I have ever owned .We had the oil consumption problem which was fixed under warranty.
Then just as the warranty ran out the transmission totally failed and just recently the timing chain failed,all of the problems have been documented.Cheap crappy parts and bad design.
Add that to many other issues and recalls. Buyer beware
I had two of these engines in my Saturn wagon. It was a factory order to get the manual shift. First engine lasted maybe five years. Replaced it with another. Both engines failed according to mechanic due to lack of oil. I no longer consider buying GM products.
I have a 2009 Vibe GT with a 2.4 engine that burns a quart of oil a month! Also had a 2010 Chev Equinox 2.4, the biggest piece of crap I have ever owned. Motor, transmission, rust, engine oil sludge, among other problems. Traded it in for a Mazda CX5 and returned to care free driving once again. I will never purchase a GM product again!
I was a life long GM Chevy customer buying 9 new vehicles over my lifetime. After the constant haggling over this faulty Equinox engine, I am done buying cars from GM unless they want to fix the problem on their dime.
Any one having the engine issues or just own one of the pieces of crap. Call Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London Ontario and tell the your story. You can reach them at 1-844-672-5666 or email at [email protected]
Good luck.
I have a 2015 equinox in the shop now for burning oil been 2 weeks haven’t heard anything but they are waiting on warranty company to approve i have a extended warranty so i do have a rental car but my truck was burning 1.5 quarts every 1,000 miles .
Just had to replace the engine in my 2011 Terrain due to excessive oil loss. Lost 3 quarts in a month and a half. Dealership tore engine down and rings were crap and had scouring on the cylinder walls. Luckily I purchased the extended warranty or would have been $7,500 out of pocket.
the oil consumption has to do with the design of the scraper ring (second ring) whose job is to remove excess oil from the cylinder walls. once they went to a napier design second ring that solved the oil consumption problems.
Did not solve the problems.. maybe temporarily but they are back!
I bought a 2011 Chevy equinox .I had too have service work done and it consist of dropping oil pan to get sensors in.. however , I drove 1000 miles where my engine seized and blow up ..oil consumption excessive oil consumption
Call Mackenzie Lake Lawyers in London Ontario.
1-844-672-5666
Wow I have had so many issues with my terrain 2012 had piston ring stuff done and still nothing but issues instead of losing oil its smells bad like gas and they tell me its normal also camshaft been worked on like crazy till runs like crap two transmission done on it transmission still is messed up and so many other things mean done some few times now that my warranty is up its like they just ignore you my terrain has spent more time in shop then I’ve got to use it worst thing all the works been done by gm them selves and first trans they did in april 2021 second was end of July 2021 was so hard to prove the first was messed up actually had to go to another gm shop and get them to notice it then have there manager deal with the other really unhappy and don’t know what to doo now
Some of my friends and ex wife have 2010-2016 gm products. Every one have burned oil since day one or blown seals in extreme cold weather. The ex wife’s blew the front desk twice in two weeks because of the way the pcv valve is routed and it tends to freeze up. I installed a new..oil cap with a 3/8 ” copper tube attached to a catch can and breather filter…all less than $60.00. At 11 years old..I’m not concerned about any EPA rules as I see smoke pouring out of most gm products. Including my hhrs. Will never buy another gm product the rest of my life. Will start a search for a new electric vehicle…leaning towards the Audi.
If you spend 30k on your vehicle to have to check your oil literally weekly!!!???? ummmm nope not acceptable. I had the “so-called warranty piston fix” for this consumption and my engine is still junk, just found this out today, thanks to the excessive oil consumption!
They will do nothing. I will never ever buy GM again! this case is also being dismissed based on owners not getting the piston warranty work done….however its an exception to the warranty rather than a recall so no one was even told!! however, my piston work was done and I just left the shop with the same exact problem that they will not fix. my 10k truck is junk never again GM
Mackenzie Lake lawyers in London, Ontario is handling the case and the lead lawyer so far says it may take some time as these cases do, even without COVID.
I have a feeling it will be done sooner as GM USA already lost their lawsuit.
When verdict is in favour as long as you still own the vehicle you will be contacted as they will have access to all registrations. If the damages are anything like the US we will get repairs (approx 5300) or new engines if beyond repair, or refund on costs already incurred… Im just glad I got a deer a week ago and my POS will be written off but I’m buying it back til the case is closed.
GL everyone.
I suppose my brother’s 2014′ Verano 2.4 is one of the lucky ones because between oil changes the oil level barely moves. His Verano 2.4 has over 65,000 miles ( 105,000 km ) and ever since the first 7 or 8 FREE dealer oil changes I’ve been changing his oil with AMSOIL signature series 5w30. So far we did his Front and Rear breaks, driver side wheel hub and both VVT solenoids. Not too bad considering he strictly drives in rush hour traffic.
back in the day my wifes new 1976 454 caprice use a quart of oil every 600 to 1000 miles.
I own a 2014 Chevy Captiva Sport that I had to replace the engine. Leaked oil and the oil light did not come on. Cost me 3200 dollars for a new engine and 1200 to have a garage put it in. Had to do it, still owed money on the vehicle. Is there anyone to contact to talk to about recouping some if not all of the money back. Looks like this is happening to alot of vehicles with the 2.4 engine in them.
Could use some direction if anyone knows who to contact.
My name is Pat from Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Good luck trying to get GM to do anything. I have one of the 2.4 engines in my Chevy equinox and the dealership gave me the reference number and date for it to get GM to help cover some of the $5000 for the new engine and GM said that reference number expired a year BEFORE the date the dealership showed it came down. They have known from the beginning about the problems with this engine and are just worried about covering their own behind and making as much money as they can with ZERO concern for their customers
My 2017 Terrain “blew a seal” according to the insurance inspector and should be covered by extended warranty. Adjuster said seal not covered so engine destruction not covered either. Has less than 40,000 miles. Can’t be any angrier that this is known issue by GM.
GM is NOT covering any problems with this engine and known issues. Even when one of their licensed dealer and service technician gives you the case number to get it covered they say that case number expired a year BEFORE IT WAS EVEN ISSUED. I will NEVER buy anything else from GM
The original class action suit has expired but they suit did not correct the problems either it just fixed what the problem had broken..I have been thru 2 manifolds in 50k. The root of the problem is the AFM systems, this is now becoming known and more lawsuits have started.. there’s still hope
We bought a equinox in August used had 2 oil changes and was about 200 miles over for the next oil change as we had an appointment and the car died we had to replace the engine. Will never buy this car again and will tell everyone. The amount of people who we have found out had to replace their engine for the same issue is ridiculous. Really sas you know this is an issue and just do not care.
2011 GMC Terrain. Same issue. Had to carry a 5 quart jug of oil and put oil in at least every other fuel stop. GM says that’s normal oil consumption. Really? My work as an appraiser takes me to many homes and there was never a drop of oil on the ground with that vehicle, but it burned so much oil that it smelled like oil inside the car and I would smell like oil after driving all day. Unbelievable that a company like General Motors cares so little about their customers and the quality of their products but I guess that’s the world we live in today.
my entire experience with dealer and “GMC Family” was terrible, 4 qts per thousand miles, stated they would rebuild for $2000 out of my pocket, they dragged out oil consumption tests and stated they don’t remember rebuild offer. GMC Corp no help, I was willing to pay and they backed dealer stating they don’t have a record of offer.
Yup pretty sad. Just scrapped my chev. Last one I’ll ever buy. Absolute garbage these days. Lasted a couple years after timing chain and piston replacement.
To all Canadians on this thread. There was a class action brought against GM in May 2021 regarding the 2.4l google Makenzie Lake law to see if your vehicle is covered. I spoke with a clerk last week and they are still waiting on a judges decision for it to be worthy of moving forward. Call the firm, email them with your stories… the more people the better. Not sure what I’m going to do if my terrain breaks down before a settlement is reached…
Cheers
M
Many years ago gm was in court regarding the side saddle fuel tanks on pickups and some other units…a current owner was offered a measly 1000$ coupon redeemable toward the purchase of a brand new truck….it was good for something like a year or 18 months..nevertheless this current crop of engines and design is industry wide, they have all adopted the high reving , minimal piston ring, extraordinary thin oils, and high compressions that are combining to prove useless in the end…I had an 85 Pontiac sunbird with a 1.8 ohc, fuel injected (throttle body), the little pisser got over 40 mpg all over…no problems, why did they do it then an now it’s a colossal problem???, yes try to find a sunbird or cavalier now???!, best to all those thru this ..gm has phenomenal clout and can and will ride this pony till is dead.
Agreed. But…hopefully we have a judge that drives an equinox or at least looks into the class action that GM USA lost a number of years ago for the same vehicles and problems…
Fingers crossed.
these cars are built by GM but they are designed by the pols in washington dc. thru their rules and regulation they pass
I hope to God that you are not the smartest person in your family!
We have a 2021 Equinox, bought new. Oil changes by the dealer at required intervals. Just checked the car today. Down a quart with oily heavy film all over the engine compartment . Told my woman, “Let the damn finance company have this POS. I detest working with dealerships around here. They have ONE chance to fix this. I have several older(2012 , 2006 and 1999) vehicles, and none of them use oil between changes.
Is this still in progress? Recently became the owner of a 2012 Equinox and I’m positive it has some underlying issues that are starting to appear. Engine light comes on. Had oil replaced a few weeks ago, was over a quart low.. Thin stalled recently when going into reverse.
Hi Jon. Unfortunately as of the last court date on November 22 it has ended. The case was ‘discontinued’ by the original plaintiff. Anyone can take on another suit if they choose to but the only people benefiting this time around are the original plaintif whom was awarded $8300, and the other 63 people that contacted Mackenzie Lake Lawyers about their vehicles. We all are receiving letters from GM extending the original service bulletins so if we qualify our vehicles will be repaired.
Sorry you’re having the issues also.
Good luck and merry Christmas.
Well, that is some disappointing news. Not surprising tho, just how my luck has been lately. Purchased it back at the start of September, was running well until recently.. So, only a total of 64 owners are benefiting from repairs? That seems extremely minuscule… Considering there was roughly 20k of them sold in 2012 and close to 20k in 2013. There’s bound to be a lot more people having these issues. Curious if I should contact these lawyers and try to get another suit going.
I wish I’d have seen this before. I just bought a used 2015 Equinox. Big mistake. Been getting it fixed almost every month. 200 km and I need to add 1 litre. Rediculous. How do I get in this class action lawsuit. These cars should all be recycled and never sold again.
Yea.. this information about a CAL should’ve been the first thing that came up when looking up information about this vehicle. I just purchased back in Sept 22’.. Was running a okay for two months. As Mark stated, the case has been ‘discontinued’, however we can take on another suit. I have emailed and called the lawyers. Tho haven’t heard back yet. Sure they are doing catching up from the holidays.. Think I might start a Sub Reddit in regards to this. I strongly believe there is more than 64 people who should’ve benefited from a law suit.. Chevy needs to open their wallets wider and pay up.
GM adjusted the warranty on these vehicles twice. I had a GMC terrain with the same problem. You have to report the issue to the dealer and they have to do an oil consumption test. If I remember correctly it is covered to 120k miles. The remedy was to install a new engine. I drive a lot at work so each time they raised the mileage limitation, I had just surpassed it. We did the oil consumption test and it failed. I always carried a 5 quart of Mobil 1 in my back seat floorboard. Good thing my dad always taught me to check my oil when I fuel up!!! I pressed it all the way to the top of what I could. They opened up a “special” compaint invoice for me. I got nothing. I am the GM poster child with many trucks, I think 7 Corvettes now, and several other GM vehicles. When the oil consumption got so back at about 200k miles that I smell like oil and had a headache after driving the GMC Terrain all day I traded it online with photos only. Now I drive a Jeep!
I was told by GM and the dealership that it was only covered up until 10 years after the car was put into service. If it was covered til 125k miles, they owe me since I had to have my engine replaced.
It was up to 120K miles, and I believe 10 years. Mine was a 2011 Terrain. I do have a friend with a Terrain with lower mileage than mine that did get his motor replaced by the dealer under the warranty. FYI…according to GM normal oil usage on the consumption test is 1 quart in 2000 miles. Mine burned just shy of 2 quarts in 2000 miles. I added oil every 2nd or 3rd time I got fuel. But since I drive a lot of miles, I got stuck with it.
That’s what happened in to mine after oil change three days later
That’s what happened to my 2016 terrain after I get a oil change three days later and it was lik -40 out