2005 Equinox please help

[lightwalker]

Hi name is Jason we have owned this Chevy for a little over a year in a half , its got a 3.4 and is 2 wheel drive with 140,000 miles on it, its my wifes daily driver, so when something not right she lets me know. Sh e took me out to identify the issues. This is what we found upon starting, not everytime, sometimes just at a idle it backfires 3 pop,pop,pop, she says it embarrasses her dropping kids off at school. Then when she turns right there is a creeking sound, that i believe is cv joint but dont know how to visually check it. There is a whinning sound at the steering wheel when she turns wheel left to right, its at the steering wheel not power steering pump. This next one reall concerns me she claims after driving to town wich is 12 mile drive she pushes the brakes and it feels like the front end is moving from under her, what could that possible be motor mounts, suspension , please help me diagnose these things, my whole world is in this car at times and dont want anything to happen to them. I would take it in somewhere but im 1 income for 5 of us and cant afford it. Also how can you tell when struts need changed, lots of dips in my town and you can hear that compressing squeaking sound when rollong through a dip. Thank you all in advance.



lightwalker

 

[dietz4ibanez]

Hi name is Jason we have owned this Chevy for a little over a year in a half , its got a 3.4 and is 2 wheel drive with 140,000 miles on it, its my wifes daily driver, so when something not right she lets me know. Sh e took me out to identify the issues. This is what we found upon starting, not everytime, sometimes just at a idle it backfires 3 pop,pop,pop, she says it embarrasses her dropping kids off at school. Then when she turns right there is a creeking sound, that i believe is cv joint but dont know how to visually check it. There is a whinning sound at the steering wheel when she turns wheel left to right, its at the steering wheel not power steering pump. This next one reall concerns me she claims after driving to town wich is 12 mile drive she pushes the brakes and it feels like the front end is moving from under her, what could that possible be motor mounts, suspension , please help me diagnose these things, my whole world is in this car at times and dont want anything to happen to them. I would take it in somewhere but im 1 income for 5 of us and cant afford it. Also how can you tell when struts need changed, lots of dips in my town and you can hear that compressing squeaking sound when rollong through a dip. Thank you all in advance.



lightwalker

Hey Jason, Welcome to the site!


I think I would address the most important issue hear first. It sounds to me that you are describing the front end moving out from the car during braking could be that the rotors are warped or need turned down. Normally this should be done every, 70-80k miles. They can do this procedure at any Sears or most places that do brakes and tires. Any of these places will be able to tell you if they "can" turn them down or if they just need replaced.

CV axles are noisy when they need to be replaces. If it's clicking or clattering it just needs to be replaced. I don't think you will see any external sign of them being warn down but you should be able to tell when comparing the old part to a new part.

The squeaking and steering could be a couple things, check the power steering fluid. You can use ZF6 or Dextron VI tranmission oil to add if need be and using synthetic will make it steer even easier. Check you belts too that can also be confusing if they are squeaking, try some belt dressing and check belts to make sure they don't need replacing.

The backfiring may be a sign that it is time for a tune up... Plugs and wires is where I would check first.