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So i bought an 05 equinox about 3 months ago off craigslist. I guess that was my first mistake. Test drove the car and it was great so i figured i didnt need to take it to a mechanic to check it out. Well two weeks later it starts to misfire and i was looking under the hood and thought the coolant was low so i took the overflow cap off and it blew off like it had 200 psi behind it. So we take it to gm and they do a hydrocarbon test on the coolant system and of course it fails. So they say you need a new head gasket at the cost of 2800 dollars but say nothing anout the misfire. Not wanting to spend a third of the cost of the vehicle we take it to another local shop. They tell me it just needs a tune up. Because really we didnt have any symptoms of a head gasket i.e white cloudy exhaust, overheating issues, etc. So they do a tune up on it and everything is running fine then a week later bam check engine light. Take it back to the shop. Code reads misfire so the shop pulls all the plugs and cylinder one's plug was already gunked up after a week. They replace the plug and then another week later same thing. So I drove it for a week to work cause my work is 900 meters from my house and then now all of a sudden it has overheating issues. Guage goes almost to the red with the fan running at a stop light so we have since not driven it. Thinking it was a stuck thermostat i replaced it but it still overheats. When i slowly take the cap off the overflow i see no coolant and as i release pressure i see the coolant starting to bubble up into the overflow to the cold fill level. SO this is my diagnosis. Either the misfire is causing this to overheat and/or there is a head gasket leak and all the exhaust gases are running through the coolant system and collecting in the overflow causing the coolant to be pushed down into the motor which is why i see no coolant until i let all the exhaust pressure out of the coolant system. Then earlier this week the battery went dead. If there should ever be a class action lawsuit i think it should be on this car or at least the 3.4L motor because from what i understand it really is a problem with this motor. Other then the motor this car is actually nice except for the blind spots while driving. So any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
George :'(

P.s. when i went to buy the thermostat i had autozone check the codes and this is what it read:
Powertrain control module detects a misfire due to
1. vacuum leak
2. bad coil
3. faulty spark plugs
Also had a emmissions code for bad gas cap
but nothing as far as the overheating issue
Thanks,
George :'(
P.s. when i went to buy the thermostat i had autozone check the codes and this is what it read:
Powertrain control module detects a misfire due to
1. vacuum leak
2. bad coil
3. faulty spark plugs
Also had a emmissions code for bad gas cap
but nothing as far as the overheating issue