Chevrolet and GMC engineering analysis EA19005
Front Wiper Transmission Inoperative. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this engineering analysis about the visibility on 12 model years (2010–2016). Opened Dec 13, 2019, closed Nov 28, 2022 after 3.0 years. It led to safety recall 22V165000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn December 13, 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) upgraded RQ18-002 to an Engineering Analysis (EA19-005) to further assess the MY2010-2016 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain windshield wiper failures. Due to a prior recall, 16V-582, addressing this issue in the MY2013 subject vehicles, MY2013 was not included in the analysis. To date, ODI had received 998 complaints with allegations of the front windshield wiper failing in adverse whether conditions, while the vehicle was in motion. General Motors (GM) initiated Safety Recall 16V-582 on August 3, 2016 to address windshield wiper failure in the Model Year (MY) 2013 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain. Failures were attributed to water and debris intruding into the windshield wiper assembly ball joints, leading to excessive wear and eventual detachment of the affected ball joint resulting in loss of windshield wiper function. ODI?s review focused on 2010-2012 and 2014-2016 Equinox and Terrain vehicles. Owners were reporting a high rate of failures of the windshield wiper system. These failures were the same as that addressed by recall 16V-582. ODI's review of data supplied by GM as well as its own confirmed a high failure rate in model years 2014 and 2015. On March 17, 2022, GM filed a defect information report recalling all MY2014-2015 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles to remedy the potential failure of the front windshield wiper transmission assembly. General Motors is also conducting a special coverage program, N192266181, for MY2010-2012 and MY2016-2017 Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles. The special coverage is for a period of 15 years or 200,000 miles, whichever comes first. Both the recall, 22V-165, and the special coverage program, N192266181, address windshield wiper system failures on the subject vehicles. The dealership will inspect the front wiper assembly for ball joint wear. Depending on the degree of wear, the wiper links will be replaced, and a water shield installed or the entire module will be replaced. In view of the recall and special coverage, ODI is closing this Engineering Analysis (EA). NHTSA reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. The ODI complaints cited above can be viewed at www.nhtsa.gov under the following ODI identification numbers in a separate attachment.
A Engineering Analysis is the deeper stage, usually upgraded from a Preliminary Evaluation: NHTSA tests, requests engineering documents and decides whether a safety defect exists. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.
The paperwork NHTSA filed
Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov- Opening resume — ODI’s own summary of why it opened this — the subject, what prompted it, and the vehicles in scope.
- Closing resume — ODI’s own summary of why it closed this, and what it concluded.
| Document | Code | Filed | At NHTSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening resume | INOA | 2019 | |
| Closing resume | INCLA | 2019 | |
| Information request to the manufacturer | INIM | 2019 | 2 files 12 |
| Memo to the investigation file | INME | 2019 | |
| Correspondence | INLO | 2019 | 2 files 12 |
| Filed document | INIP | 2019 | 2 files 12 |
| Filed document | INPR | 2019 | 2 files 12 |
These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.
What owners had already reported
Source: complaints on file the day it openedWhen NHTSA opened this on Dec 13, 2019, owners had filed 142 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 32 named the visibility/wiper NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.
This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named on model years this site has no page for: 2010 Chevrolet Equinox; 2011 Chevrolet Equinox; 2012 Chevrolet Equinox; 2014 Chevrolet Equinox; 2015 Chevrolet Equinox; 2010 GMC Terrain; 2011 GMC Terrain; 2012 GMC Terrain; 2014 GMC Terrain; 2015 GMC Terrain.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs EA19005 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 22V165000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is EA19005 still open?
No. It closed on Nov 28, 2022 and led to recall 22V165000.
Which vehicles does EA19005 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 12 model years: 2016 Chevrolet Equinox, 2016 GMC Terrain, 2010 Chevrolet Equinox, 2011 Chevrolet Equinox, 2012 Chevrolet Equinox, 2014 Chevrolet Equinox and more. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.