Chevy Equinox: Turning Off the Auto Stop Feature

Gilbert Smith
Feb 11, 2021

Red 2021 Chevrolet Equinox From Front-Passenger Side

Any car made this century will come packed to the gills with fancy new features. Some of these features are great, increasing our safety and prolonging an engines longevity.

Some, like the auto stop in the Chevy Equinox, just might not be to your liking.

How do you turn the auto stop off in the Chevy Equinox?  

Unfortunately, Chevy did not include a button like some carmakers do. Fortunately, it’s not too complicated. Turn the vehicle on, shift the car into manual, then press the + button to shift the gear up to six. 

Below we’ll go step by step so you know exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, we’ll provide a video for those of us who are more visual learners, and we’ll get into the hows and whats of the auto stop system. Keep reading if you’re interested.

How Does the Auto Stop Know When to Stop?

All the auto stop is really doing is checking the RPMs and the brake. If the RPMs are at a dead stop, or close to it, and the brake is pressed, the auto stop kicks in and shuts the engine off.

The idea is to save on the wear and tear your engine may experience while idling. Every time a piston fires through your engine block, it chips a little bit of life expectancy off of your vehicle.

This could come in handy if you do a lot of stop-start city driving, but if you live somewhere nice and quiet with one stop light on the way to work, the difference is marginal. And you might just prefer having total control over your vehicle at all times.

Turning Your Auto-Stop Off

As mentioned, the fix isn’t quite as easy as a single button press, but it’s pretty close to it. It only takes a couple seconds, and you don’t have to hold the brake down for five minutes or anything. You just do the following steps:

  1. Turn your car on, but don’t start the engine.
  2. Shift the car down to manual.
  3. Press the + button on your shifter until you get up to the highest gear, which should be six.

And that’s all there is to it, no more auto-stop. And here’s that video we promised if you want to know exactly what we’re talking about.

Some people who drive the Chevy Equinox don’t mind the auto-stop. If you deal with a lot of stop signs and lights on the way to work, it could save you hundreds of miles on your car’s life expectancy.

Some drivers hate the feature. They’d rather be in full control at all times. Other drivers may leave the feature on when they’re driving through the city, and turn it off when they’re ready to hit the highway.

There is some concern as to whether auto-stop is doing more harm than good. But the cold start when you first turn your engine on in the morning does a lot more damage than auto-stop startups will, since your car is already warmed up.

Know What You’re Buying

Sometimes the higher price on a car is justified by a whole bunch of features you don’t want to deal with. In these instances, you might as well shop around for something simpler.

Vehicle History can help you find what you’re looking for.

Owner Reviews

accountCircle Dan on January 3, 2023
Car is top of the line
I disagree with auto stop and go feature. First of all it takes more fuel to initially start your vehicle. Any mechanic will tell you that operating a motor continuously is much more efficient and less wear on a motor. Each time you start a motor you are putting stress on all parts of the motor…electronics, battery, belts, fuel pump, ac compressor, etc… It’s not like you are sitting with your break engaged and vehicle in drive for a long period of time. On the other hand, idling in park or neutral is not good for your vehicle. In my opinion this is another emissions control forced on drivers. I’ve had enough of this c**p and soon you will be forced to drive an electric car that cost 3 times as much as a gas operated motor and 3 times the cost in maintenance repairs. Do a study on battery disposal and see what’s worse for the environment. Don’t ask automobile manufacturers because they just want sales.
accountCircle Kenneth Hoffman on May 11, 2022
Equinox with auto stop feature
Great vehicle for general family purposes, and the all wheel drive is very useful in places that have snow, or if you drive on unpaved rural roads as I do. But the auto stop feature is a nuisance to me. The procedure for shifting to L or manual, then pressing the + button to select the highest gear works but can't be done except when the engine is running on mine, due to the shift lockout safety feature. Also, because this feature is intended to enable hauling heavy loads or towing (where appropriate and equipped), you will notice the engine at higher RPM for the same cruising speed compared to the normal default driving mode. For example, mine showed 1400 rpm at 30 mph, in the "non-autostop" mode, but only 1000 rpm in the default normal mode. This tends to defeat the benefit of turning off the auto stop, since the higher rpm consumes added fuel and ultimately could cause increased wear in the long run.
accountCircle Trey on February 16, 2023
Not working for my 2020 Chevy Equinox
I tried this trick in my Equinox because we are having issues with the O2 sensor and until it gets addressed later today I wanted to kick this feature off because the engine is having a hard time starting back up once the auto stop kicks on. With all of that being said I have to fully start the engine to be able to shift into L or Manual. So I went ahead and started the engine just to try it. Well, it never cuts the feature off.
accountCircle Daddyrule5 on February 17, 2023
Turns off more than auto stop
When k used this hack a warning showed on dash to service brake assist. Then i tried to stop OMG do not do it so i undid the hack and after about an hour the light went away and it tripped a check engine light no thanks not for me but thanks anyway
accountCircle Friendly FYI on October 2, 2023
One of your steps needs corrected
Your instructions mention to not turn the engine on, but you can’t shift out of park without the engine on… it appears in the video you do turn it on so wanted to let you know.
accountCircle Confused Driver on February 7, 2024
Auto stop
After shifting to 6 do we actually drive in that shift?
avatar Gilbert Smith
Gilbert Smith is a New Mexico-based automotive journalist who enjoys writing about cars, trucks, and SUVs. He is a longtime contributor to Vehicle History and a member of the site's original content team when it launched.
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