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Executive45's avatar
Executive45
Explorer III
Dec 14, 2017

Towing a 4cyl Equinox 4 down

Well, GM finally got around to acknowledging there may be a problem with towing their Equinox and Terrain vehicles four down. In the past, all one had to do was put her in neutral and pull the #32 fuse or switch the fuse whichever was easiest to do. I elected to switch that fuse. Because of the 'death wobble' experienced by many pulling these vehicles, including yours truly, GM now has modified the towing instructions. This modification applies only to those vehicles with the electronic steering. The 6 cyl vehicles have hydraulic steering.


Towing Procedure
To tow the vehicle from the front with all four wheels on the ground:
Important: If the vehicle is towed without performing each of the steps listed under “Dinghy Towing,” the automatic transmission could be damaged. Be sure to follow all steps of the dinghy towing procedure prior to and after towing the vehicle.
Important: If 105?km/h (65?mph) is exceeded while towing the vehicle, it could be damaged. Never exceed 105?km/h (65?mph) while towing the vehicle.
Note: It is no longer required to remove fuse 32.
1. Position the vehicle to be towed and secure it to the towing vehicle.
2. Remove fuse 16, the Antilock Brake System Module fuse, from the engine compartment fuse block and store it in a safe location.
3. Turn the ignition key to ON/RUN, and shift the transmission to D (Drive). Note: disregard “Service Steering” message on IP cluster display.
4. Shift the transmission to N (Neutral).
5. Turn the ignition key to ACC/ACCESSORY.
6. Turn all accessories off.
To prevent the battery from draining while the vehicle is being towed, connect vehicle battery to auxiliary power.


I purchased a simple battery charger from RVI Industries for $50 and hooked it up this afternoon. I will explore how I'm going to hook up a switch so I don't have to physically remove fuse 16 in the future. Once I've done that and I've towed a few thousand miles, I'll post the results. Once I've finished the install tomorrow, I'll post some pictures. The towing plug installed by Monaco contains the necessary 12VDC pin so that helped.....Dennis
  • “This modification applies only to those vehicles with the electronic transmissions. The 6 cyl vehicles have hydraulic trannies”

    Just a clarification, do you mean electronic power steering versus the hydraulic power steering in the six-cylinder model?
  • Thanks Dennis for posting this...many people are using both 2018 and older Equinoxes.....and my Saturn although in perfect condition and it tows beautifully (plus I have a Chevy Sonic as a daily driver)...will probably need to be replaced next year due to age..and the Sonic is just too small to be a toad based upon our use of it when we get to where we are going...So I'll turn the two cars into one. The equinox diesel has my interest since I do a great deal of highway driving. The equinox diesel according to the owners manual can be towed as an AWD 4 down..whereas none of the gas models with AWD can be towed 4 down.

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