2016 CHEVROLET EQUINOX — Complaint #2173775
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CRANKCASE (PCV) filed February 5, 2026
NHTSA complaint #2173775 (ODI reference 11715924) concerns a 2016 CHEVROLET EQUINOX and was filed on February 5, 2026. The owner reports the failure occurred on January 27, 2026. The vehicle had 113,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Delaware based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:emission control:crankcase (pcv), one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same CHEVROLET EQUINOX cohort independently describe similar engine and engine cooling:exhaust system:emission control:crankcase (pcv) failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2016 CHEVROLET EQUINOX shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Equinox. The contact stated that while reversing the vehicle on a cold, snowy day, there was oil on the driveway. There was a fuel odor inside the vehicle, and the engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that the failure was related to the PCV system. The mechanic stated that the PCV valve was clogged, causing the gasket to fail. The vehicle was partially repaired. The mechanic later informed the contact that other repairs were necessary. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that there were no recalls associated with the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by the dealer. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that there was no recall coverage associated with the VIN for the repair. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 113,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2173775 |
| ODI Number | 11715924 |
| Date Filed | February 5, 2026 |
| Failure Date | January 27, 2026 |
| VIN | 2GNALCEK4G1 |
Similar ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CRANKCASE (PCV) Complaints for 2016 CHEVROLET EQUINOX
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.