Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
112 Instruments and Controls
Instruments and
Controls
Controls
Steering Wheel Adjustment . . . 113
Steering Wheel Controls . . . . . . 113
Heated Steering Wheel . . . . . . . 114
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Windshield Wiper/Washer . . . . 114
Rear Window Wiper/Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Power Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Wireless Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Warning Lights, Gauges, and
Indicators
Warning Lights, Gauges, and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Instrument Cluster . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Fuel Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Engine Coolant Temperature
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Seat Belt Reminders . . . . . . . . . 128
Airbag Readiness Light . . . . . . . 129
Passenger Airbag Status
Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Charging System Light . . . . . . . 130
Malfunction Indicator Lamp
(Check Engine Light) . . . . . . . . 130
Brake System Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Electric Parking Brake Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Service Electric Parking Brake Light (Uplevel Only) . . . . . . . . . 133
Antilock Brake System (ABS) Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Tow/Haul Mode Light . . . . . . . . . 134
Lane Keep Assist (LKA) Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Vehicle Ahead Indicator . . . . . . 135
Traction Off Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
StabiliTrak OFF Light . . . . . . . . . 135
Traction Control System (TCS)/ StabiliTrak Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Wait-to-Start Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Tire Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Engine Oil Pressure Light . . . . 136
Low Fuel Warning Light . . . . . . 137
Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Security Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 138
Front Fog Lamp Light . . . . . . . . . 138
Lamps On Reminder . . . . . . . . . 138
Cruise Control Light . . . . . . . . . . 139
Information Displays
Driver Information
Center (DIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Vehicle Messages
Vehicle Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Engine Power Messages . . . . . 145
Vehicle Speed Messages . . . . . 145
Vehicle Personalization
Vehicle Personalization . . . . . . . 145
Universal Remote System
Universal Remote System . . . . 154
Universal Remote SystemProgramming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Universal Remote System Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
Lighting 157
Lighting
Exterior Lighting
Exterior Lamp Controls . . . . . . . 157
Headlamp High/Low-BeamChanger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Daytime Running Lamps (DRL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Automatic Headlamp System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Hazard Warning Flashers . . . . . 160
Turn and Lane-Change Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Interior Lighting
Instrument Panel Illumination Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Courtesy Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Dome Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Reading Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Lighting Features
Entry Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Exit Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Battery Load Management . . . 164
Battery Power Protection . . . . . 164
Exterior Lighting Battery Saver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164Exterior Lighting
Exterior Lamp Controls
The exterior lamp control is on the
instrument panel to the left of the
steering column.
There are four positions.
O: Turns the exterior lamps off and
deactivates the AUTO mode. Turn
to
Oagain to reactivate the
AUTO mode.
In Canada, the headlamps will
automatically reactivate when the
vehicle is shifted out of P (Park).
AUTO : Turns the exterior lamps on
and off automatically depending on
outside lighting.
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
166 Infotainment System
The infotainment system has built-in
features intended to help avoid
distraction by disabling some
functions when driving. These
functions may gray out when they
are unavailable. Many infotainment
features are also available through
the instrument cluster and steering
wheel controls.
Before driving:
.Become familiar with the
operation, center stack controls,
and infotainment display
controls. .
Set up the audio by presetting
favorite stations, setting the
tone, and adjusting the
speakers.
. Set up phone numbers in
advance so they can be called
easily by pressing a single
control or by using a single voice
command if equipped with
Bluetooth phone capability.
See Defensive Driving 0200.
To play the infotainment system with
the ignition off, see Retained
Accessory Power (RAP) 0221.Theft-Deterrent Feature
The infotainment system has an
electronic security system installed
to prevent theft.
The infotainment system only works
in the vehicle in which it was first
installed, and cannot be used in
another vehicle.
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
198 Driving and Operating
Driving and
Operating
Driving Information
Driver Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Driving Environment . . . . . . . . . . 199
Vehicle Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Distracted Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Drunk Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Off-Road Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . 207
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . 208
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
If the Vehicle Is Stuck . . . . . . . . 210
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . . 215
Ignition Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Engine Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220Retained Accessory
Power (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Shifting out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Parking over Things That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Extended Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Running the Vehicle While Parked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Diesel Particulate Filter
Diesel Particulate Filter . . . . . . . 225
Diesel Exhaust Fluid
Diesel Exhaust Fluid . . . . . . . . . . 226
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . . 231
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Tow/Haul Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Drive Systems
All-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Brakes
Antilock BrakeSystem (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . 236
Brake Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Hill Start Assist (HSA) . . . . . . . . 238
Ride Control Systems
Traction Control/Electronic
Stability Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Driver Assistance Systems
Driver Assistance Systems . . . 244
Assistance Systems forParking or Backing . . . . . . . . . . 245
Assistance Systems for Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Forward Collision Alert (FCA) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Forward Automatic Braking (FAB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Side Blind Zone Alert (SBZA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Lane Change Alert (LCA) . . . . . 252
Lane Departure Warning (LDW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Lane Keep Assist (LKA) . . . . . . 254
Fuel
Fuel (Gasoline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
California Fuel Requirements (Gasoline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Fuels in Foreign Countries (Gasoline) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
Driving and Operating 201
.Allow enough following distance
between you and the driver in
front of you.
. Focus on the task of driving.
Drunk Driving
Death and injury associated with
drinking and driving is a global
tragedy.
{Warning
Drinking and then driving is very
dangerous. Your reflexes,
perceptions, attentiveness, and
judgment can be affected by even
a small amount of alcohol. You
can have a serious —or even
fatal —collision if you drive after
drinking.
Do not drink and drive or ride with
a driver who has been drinking.
Ride home in a cab; or if you are
with a group, designate a driver
who will not drink.
Control of a Vehicle
Braking, steering, and accelerating
are important factors in helping to
control a vehicle while driving.
Braking
Braking action involves perception
time and reaction time. Deciding to
push the brake pedal is perception
time. Actually doing it is
reaction time.
Average driver reaction time is
about three-quarters of a second. In
that time, a vehicle moving at
100 km/h (60 mph) travels 20 m
(66 ft), which could be a lot of
distance in an emergency.
Helpful braking tips to keep in mind
include:
. Keep enough distance between
you and the vehicle in front
of you.
. Avoid needless heavy braking.
. Keep pace with traffic. If the engine ever stops while the
vehicle is being driven, brake
normally but do not pump the
brakes. Doing so could make the
pedal harder to push down. If the
engine stops, there will be some
power brake assist but it will be
used when the brake is applied.
Once the power assist is used up, it
can take longer to stop and the
brake pedal will be harder to push.
Steering
Electric Power Steering
The vehicle has electric power
steering. It does not have power
steering fluid. Regular maintenance
is not required.
If power steering assist is lost due
to a system malfunction, the vehicle
can be steered, but may require
increased effort.
If the steering assist is used for an
extended period of time while the
vehicle is not moving, power assist
may be reduced.
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
202 Driving and Operating
If the steering wheel is turned until it
reaches the end of its travel and is
held against that position for an
extended period of time, power
steering assist may be reduced.
Normal use of the power steering
assist should return when the
system cools down.
See your dealer if there is a
problem.
Curve Tips
.Take curves at a reasonable
speed.
. Reduce speed before entering a
curve.
. Maintain a reasonable steady
speed through the curve.
. Wait until the vehicle is out of
the curve before accelerating
gently into the straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
.There are some situations when
steering around a problem may
be more effective than braking. .
Holding both sides of the
steering wheel allows you to turn
180 degrees without removing
a hand.
. The Antilock Brake System
(ABS) allows steering while
braking.
Off-Road Recovery
The vehicle's right wheels can drop
off the edge of a road onto the
shoulder while driving. Follow
these tips: 1. Ease off the accelerator and
then, if there is nothing in the
way, steer the vehicle so that it
straddles the edge of the
pavement.
2. Turn the steering wheel about one-eighth of a turn, until the
right front tire contacts the
pavement edge.
3. Turn the steering wheel to go straight down the roadway.
Loss of Control
Skidding
There are three types of skids that
correspond to the vehicle's three
control systems:
.Braking Skid —wheels are not
rolling.
. Steering or Cornering Skid —
too much speed or steering in a
curve causes tires to slip and
lose cornering force.
. Acceleration Skid —too much
throttle causes the driving
wheels to spin.
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
216 Driving and Operating
When the vehicle is shifted into
P (Park), the ignition system will
turn off.
The vehicle may have an electric
steering column lock. The lock is
activated when the vehicle is turned
off and either front door is opened.
A sound may be heard as the lock
actuates or releases. The steering
column lock may not release with
the wheels turned off center. If this
happens, the vehicle may not start.
Move the steering wheel from left to
right while attempting to start the
vehicle. If this does not work, the
vehicle needs service.
Do not turn the engine off when the
vehicle is moving. This will cause a
loss of power assist in the brake
and steering systems and disable
the airbags.
If the vehicle must be turned off in
an emergency:1. Brake using a firm and steady pressure. Do not pump the
brakes repeatedly. This may
deplete power assist, requiring
increased brake pedal force. 2. Shift the vehicle to N (Neutral).
This can be done while the
vehicle is moving. After shifting
to N (Neutral), firmly apply the
brakes and steer the vehicle to
a safe location.
3. Come to a complete stop. Shift to P (Park) and turn the
ignition off.
4. Set the electric parking brake. See Electric Parking Brake
0 236.
{Warning
Turning off the vehicle while
moving may cause loss of power
assist in the brake and steering
systems and disable the airbags.
While driving, only shut the
vehicle off in an emergency.
If the vehicle cannot be pulled over
and must be turned off while driving,
press and hold ENGINE START/
STOP for longer than two seconds,
or press twice in five seconds.
ACC/ACCESSORY (Amber
Indicator Light)
This mode allows you to use some
electrical accessories when the
engine is off.
With the ignition off, pressing the
button one time without the brake
pedal applied will place the ignition
system in ACC/ACCESSORY.
The ignition will switch from ACC/
ACCESSORY to OFF after
five minutes to prevent battery
rundown.
ON/RUN/START (Green
Indicator Light)
This mode is for driving and starting.
With the ignition off and the brake
pedal applied, pressing the button
once will place the ignition system
in ON/RUN/START. Once engine
cranking begins, release the button.
Engine cranking will continue until
the engine starts. See Starting the
Engine 0217. The ignition will then
remain in ON/RUN.
Chevrolet Equinox Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
10446639) - 2018 - CRC - 8/18/17
236 Driving and Operating
Using ABS
Do not pump the brakes. Just hold
the brake pedal down firmly and let
ABS work. You may hear the ABS
pump or motor operating and feel
the brake pedal pulsate. This is
normal.
Braking in Emergencies
ABS allows you to steer and brake
at the same time. In many
emergencies, steering can help
more than even the very best
braking.
Electric Parking Brake
The Electric Parking Brake (EPB)
can always be activated, even if the
ignition is off. To prevent draining
the battery, avoid repeated cycles of
the EPB when the engine is not
running.
The system has a
Yor PARK
Electric Parking Brake light and a
8
Service Parking Brake light or
message. See Electric Parking
Brake Light 0133 andService
Electric Parking Brake Light
(Uplevel Only) 0133. There are also
parking brake-related Driver
Information Center (DIC) messages.
In case of insufficient electrical
power, the EPB cannot be applied
or released.
Before leaving the vehicle, check for
the
Yor PARK light to ensure that
the parking brake is applied.
EPB Apply
To apply the EPB:
1. Be sure the vehicle is at a complete stop. 2. Pull the EPB switch
momentarily.
The
Yor PARK light will flash and
then stay on once the EPB is fully
applied. If the
Yor PARK light
flashes continuously, then the EPB
is only partially applied, the vehicle
is in Service Mode, or there is a
problem with the EPB. A DIC
message will display. Release the
EPB switch and try to apply it again.
If the light does not come on,
or keeps flashing, have the vehicle
serviced.
Do not drive the vehicle if the
Yor
PARK light is flashing. See your
dealer. See Electric Parking Brake
Light 0133.
If the
8Service Parking Brake light
or message is on or the
Yor
PARK light flashes when the ignition
is turned on, pull the EPB switch.
Continue to hold the switch until
the
Yor PARK light remains on.
If the
8Service Parking Brake light
or message remains on, see your
dealer.