2006 Chevrolet Equinox Visibility/Wiper Problems
- 32
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 32 stored complaint records:
- 0 indicate a crash
- 1 indicate injury
- 0 indicate fire
What owners report
- blend door · 18 records
- door actuator · 7 records
- safety issue · 7 records
- blows cold · 5 records
- defrost windshield · 5 records
- heater blend · 5 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 60–100k mi | 12 |
| 100–150k mi | 9 |
| 30–60k mi | 5 |
| 150–400k mi | 3 |
| 1–30k mi | 1 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Visibility/Wiper
Weak plastic in the blend door of the hvac system causes door to break and get stuck in the "cold" position. No heat in snow and freezing rain means your windshield will not defrost and visibility drops becoming hazardous in poor weather conditions.
ODI 11176629
Electrical System · Unknown Or Other · Visibility/Wiper
One wiper blade quit functioning and causes severe danger to the driver. Heater quit working causing fogging issues and keeping my kids & wife in danger. Apparently these issues are very common according to the 2009 report gm recalled 59,000 vehicles for this issue but our vehicle was not included in the recall.
ODI 11145210
Visibility/Wiper
My heater only blows cold air. This is a major safety concern. When my windshield has a layer of frost or snow on it, i have no ability to clear it by way of utilizing my defrost. I drive with all of my windows down and windshield wipers moving constantly in attempts to see. Chevy is aware that they made a part that is defective. They extended a warranty on a cheap plastic part that tends to break at 60,000 that was…
ODI 11074605
Visibility/Wiper
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet equinox. After restarting the vehicle, the heater blower only blew out cold air and was unable to defrost the windshield. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer (jim butler chevrolet in fenton, mo) where it was diagnosed that the blower arm was damaged and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vin was…
ODI 11052930
Engine · Visibility/Wiper
In all driving modes, heater only blows cold air, not hot air
ODI 10972082
Visibility/Wiper
Temp control door failed causing no defogging/defrosting in car. Chevy is aware of this problem which could cause driver inability to see thru windshield and has recalled some year models, but not 2006 models. I replaced at my expense for $1162.49. The part is not expensive, requires many hours of taking apart dashboard.
ODI 10943906
Electrical System · Visibility/Wiper
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet equinox. The contact stated that there was an intermittent electrical short in which the vent controls failed to work for heat or cold air. The vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 09v489000 (visibility). The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician replaced the motor blower, resistor, blower and pit tail; however, the failure recurred. The…
ODI 10689556
Engine · Service Brakes · Visibility/Wiper
Abs activation at low speeds on dry pavement. This happens randomly and changes the vehicle breaking distance. It is also unknown how much it will change the distance. So it can potentially cause a low speed impact accident. This is due to not knowing where to break for proper stopping distance. Engine problem when starting vehicle. The vehicle turns over then stalls. Only way i have found to prevent it from…
ODI 10850533
Visibility/Wiper
Heater blows cold air in winter in chicago can't see while driving , very dangerous. *tr
ODI 10936648
Visibility/Wiper
Heater and defroster are not working. Blower works great but in the winter cold air does not defrost windshield. There is no warm air at all. This makes driving conditions very difficult in the cold weather. My wife depends on this car to get to work every day. I understand that the issue is a part that costs abaut $65 but the labor cost is abaut $1000 we cannot afford to pay that. Chevrolet should step up and put a…
ODI 10664141
Electrical System · Visibility/Wiper
The heating system suddenly failed and blows cold air affecting the vehicles windshield defrosting ability. This is a manufacturer's defect. The problem impacts the ability of the car to defrost. As noted in a letter from gm's director of product investigations and safety to the nhtsa on december 23, 2009, the 2010 equinox was recalled since a manufacturer?s defect resulted in non-operational defrost systems that…
ODI 10681111
Visibility/Wiper
Heater / defrost system stopped working. Only blowing cold air. Live in idaho and temperatures get below zero. No way to defrost windshield causing a safety hazard. Chevy dealership quoted repair of the heater vent door actuator at $1200.00, since the entire dash board needs to be removed. History shows several issues with door actuator malfunction. *tr
ODI 10654503
Visibility/Wiper
Tried to clear windshield of frost. Only cold air came out of vent. Same cold air on all hvac settings. *tr
ODI 10648846
Visibility/Wiper
Failure of the hvac blend door [1] has made defrosting the forward windshield in cold temperatures impossible. This is a safety issue because of the limiting of visibility and in violation of standard 103 [2] from the u.s. Department of transportation. Gm has admitted a design flaw in the hvac blend door actuator in that a dealer replacement uses an updated hvac blend door actuator which more accurately limits the…
ODI 10633045
Visibility/Wiper
The heater vent door has become inoperable resulting in no heat entering the cabin. I understand this is happening to many other people but yet no recalls have been issued by gm (only service bulletins). This is a flawed design and is a hazardous safety issue during an ice/snow event. The vehicle also began overheating for no apparent reason (even after replacing the water pump, thermostat & flushing the system).…
ODI 10575291
Visibility/Wiper
The heater started blowing cold air while driving not allowing the windshield to defrost and limiting visibility. I had to pull over multiple times to wipe windshield down to see so i could get home. Nearly caused an accident. *tr
ODI 10559166
Unknown Or Other · Visibility/Wiper
Heater stopped blowing hot air. After diagnosis by certified technician i was informed that the actuator for the heater blend door is not working properly/damaged. After researching the issue it became clear that there have been several hundred safety complaints filed in regards to this issue. A resolution needs to be attained as the repair cost for this item is around $1000. A recall needs to be issued by gm since…
ODI 10545003
Visibility/Wiper
My heater quit blowing hot air and thus, the windows fog up. I took it to a mechanic and it is the blend door. Upon further reading of this problem, i have found that many 2006 equinox have the same problem. It is a 10 hour labor job and so 1000.00 to replace. Since this effects visibility, i feel it is a safety issue. *tr
ODI 10525699
Visibility/Wiper
There is 241 safety complaints on the heater blend door! The blend door on the 2006 equinox is defective creating a serious safety hazard to the vehicle occupants and any one else one the road. The blend door actuator rotates to far causing the blend door to break. This does not happen over a short period but over a longer time frame. This is a very serious safety issues especially when it gets cold. The windshield…
1 injury
ODI 10536437
Visibility/Wiper
Heater blows cold air and defrost does not work properly. *tr
ODI 10488901
Visibility/Wiper
Faulty temperature blend door. No heat resulting in no defrost or defogger. Major problem when living in the midwest in the cold and wet season. You (gm) should be responsible for the plastic piece being replaced, not the consumer. This should also be a recall issue due to the safety issues that result from this problem. *tr
ODI 10485911
Engine And Engine Cooling · Visibility/Wiper
No warm air from defroster heater. Thermostat replaced, problem not solved. Mechanic told me heater door blend door broken. No recalls, even though common problem. 2010 equinox reported same problem and has recall. Approx $ 1000 repair and definite safety issue. Gm should recall 2006 equinox also. *tr
ODI 10482563
Visibility/Wiper
While driving on a cold and rainy day, my windows began to get foggy. I turned on my defrost and my windows continued to get worse. I then notice it was blowing cold air i turned the knobs to see if i had it on air conditioning instead of defrost but it was on the correct setting. I became very afraid because i couldn't see out of my windshield! I had to keep wiping off the windshield with a towel just to get to…
ODI 10478694
Visibility/Wiper
I recently purchased a used 2006 chevy equinox (130,000 miles), when i tried to defrost my windshield only cold air blew causing the windshield to fog up. I could not see and almost went off the road. After an hour long white-knuckle ride the defrost still only blew cold air. I live in the extreme north-east where we have an exceptionally long winter which hasn't even started. I am afraid that this problem (and i am…
ODI 10475151
Electrical System · Visibility/Wiper
Starting in december 2011, our heater blend door broke on our 2006 chevrolet equinox. It is a wide-spead issue with the exact make/model of this vehicle, effecting several hundred, if not thousands. Chevrolet has released a technical service bulletin may of 2012) with the exact issue, as well as re-designed the door for future fixes, but refuses to help repair the vehicle for me. Even know the problem started before…
ODI 10480707
Catalog parts for this system
Catalog year/make/model rows for 2006 Chevrolet Equinox.
Catalog fitment does not by itself prove OEM-equivalent compatibility.