Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox
When control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure gets reported
Owners of the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox report control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure at a median of 10,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 13th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 10,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 122,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
60% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8,000 miles | 8,350 miles | 9,500 miles | 121,150 miles | 130,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $700–$3,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2024, at a median of 100 miles, and latest on the 2020 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 2007 carries the most reports, with 48; the 2018 has 12. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I bought my car to be dinghy towed. That means the car is pulled behind a motorhome with all 4 wheels on the ground.my first problem was the battery was dying when it was being towed. My next problem was that the brakes locked up when it was being towed causing the rear tires to be ground down past the tread into the belt section of the tires.if another motorist hadn't warned me I would have had 2 blowouts in the next minute or 2.when I pulled over I had a ABS warning on my control panel. I replaced the rear tires. I have the computer diagnostic that shows several failures including electronic brake control module,control module power plus low voltages.this is very unsafe and I would like to know if this car is safe to dinghy tow.
I recently purchased a vehicle at feldman chevrolet in new hudson mi ( located at 30400 lyon center drive e, new hudson< mi 48165 : 248-573-0321 ) I purchased a 2018 chevy equinox ( VIN [xxx] ) the week of thanksgiving 2017 I was driving the vehicle on thursday 2/15/2018 when my solid state check engine light illuminated. I immediate hit the onstar and they gave me a code of p3055 and told me to take to the dealer within 7 days. . I was told it was a ' voltage communication ' issue and that I should be all set, it was resolved. The following 2/21/2018, while out at lunch during my work day, the solid state check engine line illuminated yet a 2nd time. This time they said my vehicle needed a new ' engine control module ' - that was repaired, approx. 2 weeks later, my " service esc brake/ traction control came on" and would not go off, they had the vehicle a week and determined it was a ground short. Here it is 3/23/2018 and a 4th time my car is at the dealer, esc/ traction control again. 4 times in 5 weeks my vehicle has now been in to the dealership, at 8,000 miles .ridiculous- all of this happened while driving. Information…
I recently purchased a vehicle at feldman chevrolet in new hudson mi ( located at 30400 lyon center drive e, new hudson< mi 48165 : 248-573-0321 ) I purchased a 2018 chevy equinox ( VIN [xxx] ) the week of thanksgiving 2017 I was driving the vehicle on thursday 2/15/2018 when my solid state check engine light illuminated. I immediate hit the onstar and they gave me a code of p3055 and told me to take to the dealer within 7 days. . I was told it was a ' voltage communication ' issue and that I should be all set, it was resolved. The following 2/21/2018, while out at lunch during my work day, the solid state check engine line illuminated yet a 2nd time. This time they said my vehicle needed a new ' engine control module ' - that was repaired, approx. 2 weeks later, my " service esc brake/ traction control came on" and would not go off, they had the vehicle a week and determined it was a ground short. Here it is 3/23/2018 and a 4th time my car is at the dealer, esc/ traction control again. 4 times in 5 weeks my vehicle has now been in to the dealership, at 8,000 miles .ridiculous- all of this happened while driving. Information…
Also reported on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox
Other brake problem
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Loss of braking
Sunroof failure or glass breakage
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure happen on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 10,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 120,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is control module (ecm/pcm/bcm) failure on the 2018 Chevrolet Equinox?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.7 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed