2018 Chevrolet Equinox FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM

For the 4th time since November 2025, my vehicle has shut off while driving and there was a severe gas smell. Check engine and traction control lights on dash. So far the turbo booster and fuel injector have been replaced but the issue keeps happening. This vehicle is not on recall list for high pressure fule pump recall. I think it should be. Vehicle goes into limp mode and all the gas leaks right out of the vehicle making it unsafe to drive due to a fire hazard. I have spent over $4000 trying to make this vehicle safe to drive.

My wife and I were driving to Galveston on I-45 and were driving through La Marque when our car suddenly lost power. I started moving over to the outside lane and went to turn on the emergency lights. I realized the lights were already on. We heard a thump and thought that the serpentine belt had broken and that the engine would overheat, followed up by white smoke coming from the dash vents. My wife opened her window and leaned out the window while I tried to control the SUV without power. A truck pulled next to us and the passenger screamed that our car was on fire. I stepped on the brakes, but my foot went to the floor without effect. I hit the button for the emergency parking brake, but it didn't stop the car. I let the car slow down and then black smoke was coming from the vents. We were choking from breathing the smoke and I tried to open my window, but all electrical systems had quit working. The car finally slowed enough for me to shove the gear shift into park. My wife jumped out of the car and fell to the pavement, also hitting the concrete barrier on the side of the highway. My seat belt was stuck and I kept pushing the button and reached for my pocket knife to cut the belt when it released. At this point, flames were coming from the vents when I reached for the door handle and open the door. I fell out of the car onto the highway, rolling away. I was finally able to get up and saw several vehicles stopped behind us, but some were still driving through. I got away from the car and found my wife who was being helped by another man who stopped ahead of us. The car was on fire, mostly from the back, heavily in the left rear where the gas tank is. The car was completely burned and an unknown retired firefighter said all of the signs point to a defective fuel pump.

Vehicle chocks when starting, once started the vehicle begins to smell of gas. There is a leak on the underside of the vehicle which also smells of gas.

The car had a full tank of gas prior to driving. While driving the car suddenly goes to empty and stalls out. Now the car won’t start and the battery works fine.

Fuel injection systems is leaking onto the engine

GM Brake Vacuum Pump - I understand there was a recall done a few years ago on this part. This is a known issue with GM, and they seem to refuse to address it in ALL their vehicles. My vehicle went out of service on Friday, July 7, 2023, after fueling and would not start. I was 5 days over the 100-day Carvana warranty, but they agreed to repair the sensor that Firestone said I needed to have replaced along with the spark plugs. After repairing these items, it still was doing the same thing of starting up but making a horrible sound and not turning over. They suggested I have it towed to the dealership. The dealership called 7/12/23 and stated that I needed a new vacuum pump and a sleuth of other parts that would cost me around $1900 in repairs. This car has 61,121 miles on it. When I purchased it, it had a little over 57,000 miles on it. From the sounds of it, I was incredibly lucky this happened where and when it did as oppose to being stopped in the middle of the road and the auto start/stop failing me. There were zero warning lights, alerts from the app, etc. I did hear a noise one time about a month ago, but I thought I kicked up something because I was traveling down a dirt road and when I stopped and got out to look I did not see anything hanging. As soon as I got on the main road the noise resolved.

The braking system failed as the engine compartment filled with smoke and flames. At first the doors remained locked but eventually unlocked so that the occupants were able to exit the vehicle unharmed. The vehicle was consumed by the fire before the fire department could extinguish the fire(5-10 minutes).

The issue was the leak from the fuel filter. There was no any errors/messages on the dashboard. I am not sure when this leak has started. I assume it started in the end of January. I had a long trip to Canada. The car was parked at snow covered driveway near my house. And I have discovered strange stains on the snow under the car. I have made the pictures of the stains. This stained snow smelled as a fuel. The fuel leak was pretty bad. When I looked under the car it was dripping about 1-2 drops per second. Also the leak was very close to the exhaust pipe (maybe 1-2 inches) that could be very hot and theoretically could ignite a fire. As soon as I discovered the leak, the car was taken to the nearest CHEVY dealer Highland GM in Aurora, ON, Canada. They diagnosed the issue and fixed it on February 1st. In order to fix the leak the fuel filter was replaced.

WHEN IDLING OR AT A STOPPED LIGHT MY CAR JERKS WHEN I AM SITTING AT A RED LIGHT. IT HAS DONE THIS 4 OR 5 TIMES SINCE I PURCHASED THIS CAR. NO ONE KNOWS WHAT'S WRONG. I THINK THEY ARE WAITING UNTIL MY CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY BEFORE THEY ADDRESS IT.

[email protected] MAY 25, 2018, 8:42 AM TO ME EMAIL ID# T1EM01CAC (DO NOT DELETE/ALTER THIS LINE) ================================================== DEAR JOEY, THANK YOU FOR CALLING CHEVROLET WITH REGARD TO YOUR 2018 CHEVROLET EQUINOX. FOR YOUR REFERENCE, YOUR CASE NUMBER FROM OUR CONVERSATION TODAY IS 8-4188760340. I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASSIST YOU. CHEVROLET CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CHEVROLET HAS DONE NOTHING TO FIX THIS ISSUE. I HAVE RUN OUT OF GAS BECAUSE YOU CANNOT TRUST THE FUEL GAUGE. IT WILL NORMALLY TAKE 10 GALLONS TO FILL A TANK THAT HOLDS 15 GALLONS AND IT SHOWS EMPTY.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 CHEVROLET EQUINOX. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY, THE FUEL LINE FAILED. IN ADDITION, THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS. IMMEDIATELY AFTER, AN EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF FUEL SPILLED ONTO THE GROUND FROM THE VEHICLE. A DEALER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. GENERAL MOTORS ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE WAS CONTACTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 4,000.

GAS GAUGE DOES NOT READ FULL WHEN FILLING UP. PUMP KICKS OFF AND CAN'T FILL ANYMORE. THIS IS AN ONGOING PROBLEM.

VEHICLE FUEL GAUGE DOES NOT ACCURATELY REGISTER THE AMOUNT OF FUEL IN FUEL TANK. WILL NOT REGISTER "FULL" EVEN WHEN FUEL IS FLOWING OUT OF FILLER TUBE. WHEN GAUGE BEGINS TO REGISTER "EMPTY" AND DISTANCE REMAINING APPROACHES "0", IT TAKE LESS THAN 10 GALLONS TO FILL THE 15 GALLON TANK. THIS CREATES THE SITUATION WHERE THE DRIVER POTENTIALLY DRIVES THE VEHICLE ON REMAINING FUEL AND THEN RUNS OUT BECAUSE DRIVER IS UNABLE TO DETERMINE ACTUAL QUANTITY OF FUEL REMAINING. THIS HAS POTENTIAL TO CREATE A HAZARDOUS SITUATION IF IT OCCURS ON A CONGESTED FREEWAY/INTERSTATE, OR A DIRE SITUATION IF IT OCCURS IN AN UNPOPULATED AREA REMOVED FROM AVAILABLE GAS STATIONS. IT CREATES AN UNCERTAIN SITUATION HERE IN WEST TEXAS WHERE THERE ARE LARGE STRETCHES OF HIGHWAY BETWEEN COMMUNITIES. CHEVROLET/GM HAS BEEN AWARE OF THE PROBLEM SINCE JULY 2017 AND HAS STATED THAT THE FUEL TANK MUST BE DROPPED AND FUEL SENSOR RESEATED OR REPLACED, YET THEY ARE DOING NOTHING TO ACT UPON THAT CORRECTIVE ACTION. I HAVE OPENED TWO CUSTOMER CASES WITH CHEVROLET IN AN ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE, AND EACH TIME THE CASES ARE CLOSED WITH COMMENT THAT "...ENGINEERS ARE WORKING...."

I HAVE A 2018 EQUINOX WITH 4800 MILES ON IT AND THE TRANSMISSION WENT OUT ON THE VEHICLE. I WAS DRIVING THE VEHICLE THE ENGINE SERVICE LIGHT CAME ON THE ENGINE S RPM EXCELERATED AND THEN THE VEHICLE STOPPED EXCELERATING AND STARTED COASTING. I COASTED INTO A BUSINESS AND TRIED TO GO FORWARD AND BACKWARD AND THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT MOVE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE NEARBY CHEV DEALER WHO CONDUCTED SOME TESTS AND IT WAS DETERMINED THE TRANSMISSION WAS OUT AND I WOULD TAKE ABOUT 10 DAYS TP GET ANOTHER ONE. WE WERE DRIVING FROM ILLINOIS TO FLORIDA AND THE VEHICLE BROKE DOWN IN TENNESSEE.

AFTER FILLING FUEL GAUGE READS 3/4 FULL. CAN NEVER BE SURE HOW MUCH GAS IS IN THE CAR. THE DEALER SAYS THIS PROBLEM AFFECTS ALL 2018 CHEVROLET EQUINOX'S AND GM TERRAINS AND THERE IS NO FIX.