My 2018 Chevrolet Equinox has a 2.0L turbocharged engine with 31,000 miles. I change the oil regularly (4-5,000 miles) using Mobil 1. I've had zero problems with this vehicle.
After an oil change a few days ago, when I started the engine, a message came up on the DIC saying "engine power reduced" and the check engine light come on. After restarting the engine, the DIC message disappeared but the check engine light stayed on, and the light was on when I drove to an independent repair shop (my Equinox is an early 2018 model year and is 39 months old and GM's 3-year 36,000 bumper-to-bumper warranty has expired). The engine ran fine when I drove 8 miles to the repair shop.
The shop read the code and said the variable valve timing solenoids needed to be replaced. They said they have seen this issue on older Equinox models when the customer did not put in the correct grade oil. I assured them I have always put in 5W-30 oil. Since it was a powertrain issue, it is likely covered by GM's powertrain 5 year / 60.,000 mile warranty, so I said I would take my Equinox to a Chevrolet dealer.
The shop cleared the code and when I drove home, the check engine light did not come on and the vehicle drove great. It has been 3 days and the check engine light has not come on and the engine runs great. I now hope this was a one-time issue that has gone away.
Does anyone on this forum know why an oil change would trigger this code? Has anyone had a similar experience with an oil change giving what seems to be a false alarm about variable valve timing solenoids?
After an oil change a few days ago, when I started the engine, a message came up on the DIC saying "engine power reduced" and the check engine light come on. After restarting the engine, the DIC message disappeared but the check engine light stayed on, and the light was on when I drove to an independent repair shop (my Equinox is an early 2018 model year and is 39 months old and GM's 3-year 36,000 bumper-to-bumper warranty has expired). The engine ran fine when I drove 8 miles to the repair shop.
The shop read the code and said the variable valve timing solenoids needed to be replaced. They said they have seen this issue on older Equinox models when the customer did not put in the correct grade oil. I assured them I have always put in 5W-30 oil. Since it was a powertrain issue, it is likely covered by GM's powertrain 5 year / 60.,000 mile warranty, so I said I would take my Equinox to a Chevrolet dealer.
The shop cleared the code and when I drove home, the check engine light did not come on and the vehicle drove great. It has been 3 days and the check engine light has not come on and the engine runs great. I now hope this was a one-time issue that has gone away.
Does anyone on this forum know why an oil change would trigger this code? Has anyone had a similar experience with an oil change giving what seems to be a false alarm about variable valve timing solenoids?
