[mjwalsh74]

Hi everyone, New 2011 Nox 2.4 owner here, I have a issue with it at startup.
Let me just say I Love everything about the my new vehicle!
Ok, so Saturday night we were walking out to the Nox after dinner at a restaurant and saw a Hyundai Sonata that was making
some kind of crazy metal on metal screeching sounds. Of course I was making smart a$$ comments about it to my girlfriend, we then
get in and I turn the key (715 miles on odometer) and the engine starts up and literally sounds like every valve in the engine is banging
against the pistons, the engine then quit after a few seconds of this noise. I instantly had a sick to my stomach feeling, knowing this sound
was not normal for an engine. I restarted the engine and it started up normal/nice and quiet. Three more restarts Saturday night/Sunday morning with no problems. Drove 60 miles to my brothers house, visited, 4 hours later restarted as my bro was watching me leave and it did it again. It was not quite as loud this time but my bro looked at me and said "what the hell was that"??!! I told him it sounds like the valve train and then left.
It is running perfect, I am getting 26mpg Average calculated by hand and everything else on it is awesome! Does anybody know what the heck
is going on or have had this happen to them? Obviously I will be bringing it in to the dealer, but I would like to have as much info as possible b4 bringing it in. Thanks and Great site!

 

[wrusprod]

There is already a couple threads regarding this issue.. startup noise equinox, startup noise I-4 Terrain (same engines)..There is a great one currently active called 'Issues with 2011 Terrain'...check out the videos of the startup noise that are posted in that thread. let us know if its the same noise you are hearing...Im sure it is...

 

[mjwalsh74]

Yes, it is the same noise as in the videos. Does anyone know what the fix is? The noise has to be something in the Cams or Valvetrain.

 

[wrusprod]

if you see in that thread, there is a tech bulletin regarding the cam phasers..some have had luck with this TB..others, islaguy, have not...looks like there is no real answer on this...i had mine at dealer all week, no fix...

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

I would recommend contacting your local dealership for more assistance. There are many benefits to taking a vehicle to your local dealership. You can guarantee that technicians are certified and that the parts come with a GM parts warranty. For these reasons, I would recommend taking the vehicle to your local dealership to be diagnosed. They should be able to assist you further and have a plan for addressing the issue. I can also look into this issue further. In order to do more research, I will need some more specific information from you such as your name, address, phone number, the VIN for the vehicle, and current mileage. Please feel free to keep me posted either way. Thank you.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

 

[2011LT2]

The video I have seen doesnt sound so much like a valvetrain issue, just like a relay/solenoid/pump clicking on and off, like noisy injectors clicking on and off or relay chatter or a pump vibrating. I have had all three before and it sounds more like that then an internal issue.

 

[43sbest]

Yes, it is the same noise as in the videos. Does anyone know what the fix is? The noise has to be something in the Cams or Valvetrain.

The polite response from GM CS is the same all over the forum regarding this issue. Truth is GM doesn't have a clue what the problem is or how to fix it therefore neither does your dealer. The service bulletin refereed to IMHO is just a "shot in the dark".
Unfortunately your one of a growing number of Terain/Nox owners that have this issue--------I hold my breath every time I turn the key!

 

[wrusprod]

mine is at the dealer right now. they are going to perform the tech bulletin. as mentioned by 43sbest, not even sure this will solve it.. guess we will see.

 

[43sbest]

mine is at the dealer right now. they are going to perform the tech bulletin. as mentioned by 43sbest, not even sure this will solve it.. guess we will see.

Good luck I hope it does.

 

[booradley]

To Chevrolet Customer Service: I spoke to a local Chevrolet Dealer, 5 miles distant, not my selling dealer, who is 25 miles away. When I showed him a work order and the bulletin posted on this site, he smiled and admitted he never heard of any engine start up noises on the 2011 Equinox?? Never heard of the Tech Bulletin?? So I had my oil changed at 1350 miles and the beat or should I say rattle-metallic sound goes on. I paid $50 for an oil change and it made no difference, what am I to think about his issue?

 

[Colt Hero]

Not surprised by the dealership's response. When I was shopping for my 2011 1LT and trying to decide between the I-4 and V6 engines, I asked three dealerships about issues with the I-4 engines. I got the same incredulous look and response(s) at each place:

"...never heard of that..."

"...we've never had any problems with them..."

Now, I can maybe understand a particular dealership not having any problems with the units THEY'VE sold, but to not be aware of known problems with the model in general strains credulity, I'd say.

So it's a $50 oil change that the dealership keeps calling me for? Barely past 4500 miles and they won't stop ringing my phone off the hook.

 

[mjwalsh74]

Took it in to the Dealer this morning. I told the Service Manager about the noise at start-up and that it has happened twice to me.
I told him to look at it and also told him to change my Oil and Filter(950 miles on my odometer), he made a crazy face and said " Change your oil
and filter at 950 miles????" I said "DO IT!" So I was sent to the "customor corral" and waited patiently. Fourty-five minutes later I walked out to
the service desk and the Mechanic that looked at my vehicle was standing by the Service Manager, he told the mechanic to explain to me what
he did to my Nox. The mechanic said " Mike, what your vehicle has is something called Cam Phasers and there is a bulletin out for the same noise that you are hearing, I took out the two screens on top of your engine and inspected them for debris and found nothing, GM will not allow us to
perform any parts replacements unless we hear the noise ourselves, the Cams are not parking properly due to some possibly infinitely small debris and this is the noise you are hearing upon start-up sometimes, I changed your oil and filter like you requested and the oil and filter looked clean, the noise will not hurt your engine, it is
IMPOSSIBLE for any damage to occur from this issue."[/color]........... So my paperwork has my word for word complaint on it, it says noise is possibly due to Cam Phaser Bulletin, I had my oil/filter changed for $13.50 including tax and got a free car wash all in 45 minutes. I plan on changing my oil every 500 miles for the next 2000 miles and then I will switch to Mobil-1 Full Synthetic. That is the only way that I can see flushing the "debris" out of the engine.....

 

[wrusprod]

wont hurt the engine? mine caused a engine light and code 'p0011'. fyi...they did the tech bulletin,i changed oil and filter...its still rattling at startup..3rd startup since getting it back.

 

[mjwalsh74]

He also said " Now remember, these motors hold 5 1/2 quarts of oil, so I have seen some issues with people not putting in enough oil."

My manual says 5 quarts including the filter, could being a half quart low cause the Startup noise?

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Took it in to the Dealer this morning. I told the Service Manager about the noise at start-up and that it has happened twice to me.
I told him to look at it and also told him to change my Oil and Filter(950 miles on my odometer), he made a crazy face and said " Change your oil
and filter at 950 miles????" I said "DO IT!" So I was sent to the "customor corral" and waited patiently. Fourty-five minutes later I walked out to
the service desk and the Mechanic that looked at my vehicle was standing by the Service Manager, he told the mechanic to explain to me what
he did to my Nox. The mechanic said " Mike, what your vehicle has is something called Cam Phasers and there is a bulletin out for the same noise that you are hearing, I took out the two screens on top of your engine and inspected them for debris and found nothing, GM will not allow us to
perform any parts replacements unless we hear the noise ourselves, the Cams are not parking properly due to some possibly infinitely small debris and this is the noise you are hearing upon start-up sometimes, I changed your oil and filter like you requested and the oil and filter looked clean, the noise will not hurt your engine, it is
IMPOSSIBLE for any damage to occur from this issue."[/color]........... So my paperwork has my word for word complaint on it, it says noise is possibly due to Cam Phaser Bulletin, I had my oil/filter changed for $13.50 including tax and got a free car wash all in 45 minutes. I plan on changing my oil every 500 miles for the next 2000 miles and then I will switch to Mobil-1 Full Synthetic. That is the only way that I can see flushing the "debris" out of the engine.....

I would recommend keeping an eye on the situation and returning to the dealer if it seems to worsen. Please feel free to keep me posted. Thank you in advance.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

 

[booradley]

Anyone out there have a clue or guesstimate as to how much the inspection and actual Cam Phaser replacement actually costs??? Anyone have access to the Flat Rate Book??? I have heard the Cam issue, Oil Pump, Serpentine Belt as possible culprits. One would assume (we know what happens when we assume) that Detroit/GM has engineers that can solve this issue. We can send a man or woman to the moon, do heart transplants, produce amazing electronic gadgetry, and we cannot solve a four cylinder engine making a rather annoying start up noise, come on!

 

[Colt Hero]

That noise DOES sound "horrific", but to whoever is making these recordings:

Would it be possible to move the vehicle into a space with better sound absorption? There seems to be a lot of noise reverberation that makes it difficult to clearly hear the sound. Starting the car in a showroom would probably be ideal (if you could arrange that), otherwise - a garage full of sound absorbing materials would probably be better.

What it sounds like to me is a starter gear staying out too long against the ring gear. Sometimes when a ring gear has worn teeth (on an older vehicle) the starter gear can come out and spin causing a screeching noise like that. But then the next time you turn the key, the ring gear has moved just enough that the starter gear then grabs enough teeth and the car starts without making the noise. Maybe the engine has a problem recognizing when it is actually running after the initial key turn, and so it leave the starter gear out too long.

The other thing the noise reminds me of is - when I replaced the lower intake gaskets on my '02 Impala, put everthing back together, then turned the key for the first time, the car made a sound like that that scared the hell of me. Fortunately I had read an online mechanic's write-up in which he mentioned the engine would make this scary noise because it would initially have no compression (I think is what he said). Maybe some 2.4L engines are somehow intermittently losing sompression at startup.

Just a couple of lay-person guesses...

 

[wrusprod]

curious to see how many 2011 I-4 engines on the equinox/Terrains are having this issue...please vote on this poll I started..thanks..

http://www.terrainforum.net/index.php?topic=3068.msg38871;topicseen

 

[mjwalsh74]

Finally caught it on video! It makes me cringe everytime it happens, 1,500 miles on the odometer and it has done it 6 times, I drive 300-400 miles per week. It was sitting for 11 hours at 75F outside temperature before this start up.

2011 Chevy Equinox 2.4 start up noise

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Finally caught it on video! It makes me cringe everytime it happens, 1,500 miles on the odometer and it has done it 6 times, I drive 300-400 miles per week. It was sitting for 11 hours at 75F outside temperature before this start up.

2011 Chevy Equinox 2.4 start up noise

I would like to look into this further for you. In order to do so, I will need some more specific information from you. If you could please send me your full name, address, phone number, the VIN for the vehicle, current mileage, and dealer name via private message, I will be able to take further steps. Thank you again and I look forward to hearing from you.

Tricia, GM Customer Service.