Chevrolet Malibu Oil Changes/Service Questions

Karen_S

Discuss routine maintenance and special care for the Malibu here.

oldmedic

Drain oil every 7500, find filter; change filter. fill with oil of choice, check fluids, check tire pressure, wash & wax frequently, start car and drive. What could be simplier.

breetai52

I dont put on too many miles so I've been changing the oil at 3k. I don't bother rotating the tires though. Its a waste of money/time for the POS OEMs.

Everything is good, I just need to give the girl a bath. She's looking pretty dirty. It finally rained so its not too bad now.

oldntired1950

I believe that the oil should be changed every 3 months or 3K miles, whichever comes first. 5K miles if you move up to synthetic oil. I've done this for years on all my cars and have never had an engine problem. I think the small added expense is much better than an engine job down the road! JMHO

kpugh2

The wife's 04 LS last weekend had the first oil change. I put in AMSOIL 5W-30 good for 25K or 12 months. Her last car a 97 Monte Carlo 3.1 had only 8 yearly oil changes. The car had over 85K when traded. This method is cheaper, save time, reduce engine wear, and improves mpg.

deminin

So far, I'm sticking to the 3,000 mile intervals on oil/filter. I use only Pennzoil 10w/30, and after reading a bunch of data on filters, I've switched to Walmart/Champion filters. I used to use exclusively Fram, until I read from several resources how cheaply they are made. It looks like Champion, Mobil 1, and WIX are the good filters. I used Pennzoil Synthetic for years when we lived in the city, as I had to put up with rush hour traffic all the time, but now that we have a more relaxed lifestyle, and almost never see heavy traffic, I've gone back to regular oil. Almost all of our miles are on the open highway, so moisture/sludge in the oil should not be a problem.
I also rotate the tires regularly, and pay close attention to the brakes while doing so, because of all the complaints about Malibu rotors. Once again, however, since we are putting on mainly highway miles, I will probably see less brake wear in a year than a city driver would see in a month.
I lube the weatherstripping and door/trunk/hood hinges every Spring/Fall, and pay especial attention to the sunroof seals with silicone grease. I would hate to have to hold up a towel while driving around in a heavy rainstorm.
Most importantly, I try to do everything myself. I have little faith in some of the people who call themselves mechanics. Its been my experience that if they fix problem A, they usually create problems B and C.

oldntired1950

I pulled the oil dipstick on my '04 Maxx and was suprised to see that there are only very vague markings. There are no markers for full or low, just some crosshatching with 3 or 4 pinholes at the bottom of the dipstick. This is my 1st GM in many years.... is this normal?

deminin

Yup, I've noticed this trend towards "holes" on several newer cars. My guess is some beancounter convinced the carmakers that they can save a penny or two by not enscribing lettering on the dipsticks. You almost have to check the owners manual to see what a particular automaker is using as a guage on its dipsticks. I guess they never heard of the old saying that "if its not broke, don't fix it".

oldmedic

We all have diffferent intervals we think best and if it works for you.... I've gone from one extreme to the other. Used synthetic in 70s & 80s changing every 60K, filters every 10K and dino oil in the 90s every 3K with filter. Had one tear down (not oil related) on vehicle with 75K on it. Mechanic ask if it was a new short block, no apparent wear whatsoever. Now I change dino at 5000 and synthetic blend at 7500 or close. Mainly I go by how dirty the stick looks. Never had lubrication related problem.

chevyguy657

I change mine every 3,000 miles, and after, 61K miles on an '00 LS, no engine-related problems, other than the infamous intake manifold gasket issue.

Other problems, yes, too extensive to even begin to detail. Would take 15 pages of posts, or more.

oldmedic

I personally tried to fix one of those in my driveway on a 90 Corsica 3.1. Man what a job, got back together only to find coolant in the oil and rough idle. GM gladly corrected the problem for $300. Changed oil, and set 2 valves I didn't get right. If it cost $600 now I'd try it again and sell the video of the job for enough to have GM fix my mistakes.

dispencer1

Just in case some of you missed my note in another Malibu board, my 2001 Malibu LS (62k mileage) occasionally wouldn't start. It would crank fine but the fuel pump wouldn't work and the car would not start. An hour or so later (after it was towed to my mechanic) it started just fine. He installed an unneeded fuel pump for $450. I then discussed it with the dealer which I should have done in the beginning. The top mechanic -a great guy - told me that the next time it happens see if the "theft" light is blinking when it cranks. If it does, turn the key to the "on" position, let it sit 15 minutes, and then turn it off and then to start. It did and it started right up. The dealer said I needed the ignition module ($375 total cost - about 50/50 parts and labor because the dash has to be taken apart). Anyway, the problem went away. This advice may save you a towing bill. The problem is the fact that the "key" wasn't being read. Eventually if you don't replace the module when the car won't start occasionally, the problem will get worse until it won't start at all.

pao

reading the owners manual, it states the high tech monitoring system will tell you when the oil reaches the end of its service life...Ive been one to change every 3k religiously with no engine related problems ever in a Honda, Ford, Nissan, Chrysler....etc.....now who is going to trust the machine to tell us when to change the oil?..most of my driving is highway....and I noted the percentage of "oil life" doesnt reduce significantly.....I have 1200 miles on the car with 82% oil life left....when per a 3K change interval I should be less than 66%...comments from the group? stay with your 3K interval change regiment or go with the owners manual!?!

oldntired1950

I have to agree with pao about the 3K oil changes. I've been doing this religiously since I messed up an engine on a 92 Saturn because I didn't change the oil, and I've had no engine problems with any engines doing so. I've got about 2.2K miles on my Maxx LT and the oil life reads about 62%, but at 3K I'll drop it at the dealer for a change and an engine oil life reset on the onboard computer. I know that GM has been publishing articles on the subject saying that 3K oil changes are not necessary, but for a few extra bucks, I get peace of mind. I invested an extra $2K on the extended 84/84 warranty, and I don't want to hear that I voided it because I didn't change the oil often enough. JMHO!

deminin

I agree with oldntired. Oil and filters are a lot cheaper than engine overhauls. I change mine around 3000 miles, and so far no bad engines. I'm sure current oil technology is better than it was years ago, and if you drive mostly highway miles, 6 or 7 thousand miles is probably ok. However, The extra insurance of changing oil at 3 or 4 thousand is well worth the small cost. Personally, I wouldn't trust a "monitor" to guage the oil changes.
Plus, if you are still on the factory oil at 1200 miles, I would recommend you change it. All engines create minute metal filings, etc., as they break in, and I have always found it good policy to change the factory oil somewhere between 750 and 1000 miles, then again at 3,000, and then every 3,000 after.

dtownfb

I would do the first oil change at 3k miles for reasons that deminin suggested. After that I would follow the oil monitor and use common sense.

I wouldn't go any longer then 7500 miles with out an oil change. Also I wouldn't go too much beyond 3000 miles if I know that all of my driving between that period of time was short trips, stop and go traffic and tons of idle time.

The oil technology has gotten better and so have oil filters. It's common practice to replace the filter each time you change our oil which better traps the particles that can do damage to your engine. I remember talking to guys that I worked with who used to only change their filter every other oil change.

kpugh2

The wife's 3.5 was changed at 3.5K to a synthetic that is good for 12 months or 25K. I will change oil filter at 15K. The car is 5 months old and will roll over to 10K this next week. She drive about 20~25K per year. This is number 9 car/truck/suv to use this synthetic without any problems. My PSD now has 105K with one oil change in 3 years.
With a good synthetic you get improve mpg, HP, and less engine heat.

gearhead4

I've seen some good advice in this forum. Maybe some one can help me figure out a problem that has me stumped with my wife's 2001 Malibu.

Last week, she ran out of gas even though the fuel gage showed 1/8 full. She was able to put in only 13.4 gallons. Since then the fuel gage has been reading full, even after driving 190 miles. When she tried to add fuel yesterday, the pump shut off after adding only 3 gallons.

I got under the car and looked for a collapsed tank. From what I can see, the tank looks okay. When I thumped on the tank, it sounds like there is only a few gallons in the tank. The fuel filler pipe doesn't seem to be collapsed. It's as if there is a big bubble caught inside the tank, or a liner that is collapsed.

Has anyone experienced this problem and found a solution?

gearhead4

jim_in_ohio

The new Maxx just reached 500 miles, so did the first oil change on it tonight. Not required, but I've done this on all my new vehicles in the past, plus I wanted to get it started on Mobil I synthetic. Some points which may be of interest to other do-it-yourselfers:

- Car ramps were no use as the air deflector hits them before the tires do. So, this is a good chance to get acquainted with the jack.

- Take careful note of how the jack fits into the spare tire compartment. It only goes one way; be sure to put it back the way you found it. "Space saver" has been taken to an extreme; the lug wrench has a telescoping extension handle which the wrench section folds into. You have to turn the jack screw a few turns to disengage the wrench from the jack.

- The drain plug is at the back of the oil pan. Nothing special about it except it's a long way from the filter, so get a large drain pan.

- The oil filter is in a near ideal location, on the bottom of the engine near the front. No trouble to get a wrench around and remove. Unfortunately, an exhaust pipe runs directly underneath, so clean up your mess unless you like the smell of burning oil.

- The oil filler is also conveniently located at the front of the engine. A funnel is a good idea to prevent spills.

- Don't forget to reset the oil life monitor when you're done.

The monitor showed 94% oil life remaining at 500 miles. At that rate I should get over 8000 miles between changes; not too bad.

dispencer1

2K sounds like a lot of money to pay for an 84/84 warranty. Did you shop around at other GM dealers? I get the extended warranty everytime I get a car but on the last go around went to three different GM dealers and got three different "firm" prices, ultimately saving about $300. Hertz had a warranty for the last Malibu I bought from them but it was essentially powertrain only and after having armrest and radio problems with my LeSabre always stick with the GM Protection Plan Bumper to Bumper warranty. A 36/36 bumper to bumper warranty for my Silhouette (which was a year old with 50k on it- owned by an old guy who drove from NM to FL every month for some health treatment - I talked to him before I got the car) cost about $800 and the head gasket problem more than paid for it at 70k miles.

jim_in_ohio

My wife has the Maxx this weekend and is visiting her daughter in South Carolina. She called today to let me know one of the rear window shades popped out of the frame. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it easy to get back in place, or do we need to take it in for service?

maxx4me

My two fill ups so far (in all city driving) have netted me 22 mpg, and 23 mpg, just like the sticker said I'd get in town.
I also just did my first oil change at 1,000 miles. I'm using dinosaur oil this time, and then around 5,000 miles I'll convert over to Mobil 1. The oil change was easy once I got the oil plug off. I had to put a box wrench on the plug, and tap the wrench with a hammer because it was on so tight from the factory.

deminin

Sounds like you have the right idea. An early oil change is always cheap insurance to avoid problems further on...get those break-in metal filings out of the engine.
The drain plug should be rather tight. You have a Steel plug going into a cast aluminum pan, and the coeffecient of expansions are different between the two metals. Always hand start the plug, then give it an extra "nudge" when it feels tight. I always have the most trouble with the original oil filters. GM uses a hard plastic O-ring on some of its factory filters, and these things sometimes grip so tightly that the filter looks like a piece of scrap metal by the time I get it off.

maxx4me

yeah, I had to go buy another oil filter cup since the Malibu's filter is larger than what I normally have in my small cars.
I also noticed something weird: even though the owner's manual says the V6 Maxx has a 5 quart capacity, I could not help but notice that the oil level seemed to go way over the top mark on the dip stick when I put in the full 5 quart jug. This made me nervous. I am wondering if there was some "old" oil left in the engine as a result of me draining the oil pan first, reinstalling the plug, and then taking off the "old" filter. The reason I say this is because when I went to take off the filter, oil was "pumping down" for a good 2 minutes, as if there was something pushing the oil out. I'm wondering if next time I should keep the oil plug OFF while I remove the filter, just in case pressure releases any more oil from the pan.
I was so concerned about overfilling that I drained the pan again this morning and put in only 4 quarts of oil. I figure that $6 wasted was better than replacing an engine due to overfill. Comments?

bigals87z28

Hmmm, I might do oil change on my Maxx on my day off this week. I have 1050 miles on it. I dont know to trust the oil life thing, or regular habits.
5qts eh? Thats a lot of oil, considering that my Camaro also takes 5qts!! I might go to mobile 1 as well. 5w30 or 10w30?
I suggest Purilator PUREone filters. There was a test done by a club I belong to who tested several popular filters: Fram, AC Delco, Wix, Powerflow, Purilator and found that the PUREone has the best filtration. Fram seems to always be at the bottom of the tests.
GM did a good job when they designed the placement of the filter. Right there, unlike a lot of the imports which have filters that have odd angles and mostly jammed in a very tight area.

maxx4me

so very true, regarding the oil placement. I'll be curious to see if you put in 5 quarts, how that will register on the dip stick. I took my oil out after 1000 miles. I'll switch to Mobil 1 at 5,000.

pao

I can afford not to get dirty now LOL..I take the Maxx to the local jiffy lube in alexandria..but watch them like a hawk....they have put in about 4 plus a little quarts every time they have changed the oil so far......and it has been done twice to date...still use regular 5W30 oil with not problems in all my vehicles.....here in NOVA but change it out religiously at 3K

maxx4me

Paul: don't bring it to the one on Beacon Hill...awful. He even charges $20 more for a tranny flush than does the Jiffy Lube 3 miles further south. I'm assuming you go to the one on V.D.? For me, I simply do not trust anyone with my car....especially the dealer mechanics. It is frightening to recount the poor workmanship I have encountered at the dealer.

pao

the one on Duke st,,,between the mobil and shell stations......I know the owner...and have watched him work his employees....not a bunch of kids...but some older gentleman who honestly care and take care when they work with the customers car.....my time usually doesnt allow me to work much on my car and my apartment doesnt like us working on the cars in the parking garage....

mr_bots

I too noticed the excellent location of the oil filter, I have yet to change mine, but just looking under the car, its right there in clear view, pointing straight up and down with nothing around it affecting the ability to remove it (perfect setup). I'm glad about this, especially after hearing the horror stories with some imports about them being almost impossible to get to and remove.

maxx4me

just make sure you leave the oil plug off when undoing the filter; in doing so, more oil seems to drain out. Nonetheless, I still don't see how you can put 5 quarts of oil in this car,as the good book states; something is fishy!!

madmaxx

'04 Maxx.

Anyone know the oil drain plug torque value?

-MadMaxx-

e2helper

Oil Pan Drain Plug
25 N·m or
18 lb ft

From Service Information

liming

I just had my first oil change at 250 miles.

Do I need to change transmission oil during break-in also? How much would it cost?

kris10

Do these seats get dirty easily? Are they easy to clean? How well do you think they will hold up say, over 5 years? I went and test drove another malibu. This one was an LT with gray ultralux. I liked it a lot and am thinking about purchasing it but was wondering about the seats? If I'm going to have to watch every move I make with them then I'll just go for the cloth instead.

Thanks!
Kristen

maxx4me

Kristen: for me, leather is never an option. I USE my car, and just don't wash it and look at it. Kids, trips to the hardware store don't mix well with leather. I find leather a pain to clean as well. The cloth seats are the finest quality cloth I have seen in a while. While cat/dog hair is a bit of a pain to vacuum off, I sprayed mine with scotchguard and know that staining won't be an issue. I think the ultralux in the bu/maxx is great. I just don't think it has a place in anything but a luxury car which is driven gently.

bwolter

Somewhere on the Internet while checking out the Maxx before purchase, I read that it takes 4.5 qts of oil with a filter change.

jerrywimer

It's ironic that you feel that way about the difference between leather and cloth. Up until we bought our Malibu, all my vehicles have had cloth, and I thought the same things about ease of care and maintenance.

Since I have two children- one an eight year old and the other a two year old, I considered cloth for the Malibu, but the only car on the lot with all the other features I wanted happened to also have the leather / Ultralux, so that's what I ended up with. Ironically, now that we've had the car for about six months, I find that it's much easier to clean up the messes my children make off of these materials than cloth ever was. With cloth seats, spilled juice tended to soak into the foam through the seat materials, and I had to work quickly to clean up messes to avoid staining the seats most of the time (ScotchGuard was a godsend!). Liquids don't seem to penetrate the leather / Ultralux (even though the material has a perforated appearance), and cleanup usually just takes a damp cloth.

I will admit that I worry about the long-term care requirements for any leather surfaces, since most other vehicles I've ever seen with them have required special cleaning / protection to prevent cracking and wrinkles (nearly all I've seen actually eventually ended up with those wrinkles). My cloth equipped vehicles have generally looked fairly new even after several years, so long as spills were taken care of immediately and I vacuumed them off periodically.

prdm

Finally got a chance to poke around under the hood of my wife's three day old '05 Maxx last night. There's no tranny dipstick. GM must have alot of faith in this device.

ssmaxx

no dipstick im sure there must be away they just want to keep the fluid from getting contaminated . and the interior leather material made ink disapeer from it

maxxlt2004

i have an 04 maxx lt. what's the best spray on wheel cleaner available that eats tough dirt that sticks on to the rims?

 

i used to use white lightning that is acid based which is awesome, but you cannot let it dry.

 

let me know, thanks!

sblfromns

Hi all,

 

I'd like to clean/condition my leather seats with leather conditioner. I'm a little concerned that if I get a bit of the conditioner on the UltraLux covered portions of the seat that it will stain or somehow darken the surface.

 

Does anyone have any experience with leather conditioner and UltraLux? I love the look and feel of these seats and would not want to jeopardize them in any way.

hickoryd

Is UltraLux the name for the mock leather portions of the seats?

If so, read the instructions on your brand of conditioner. My brand is Meguiars Rich Leather. It seems that this one is ok on mock leather (vinyl).

bealskri

97 Malibu with V6 engine, 120 K - runs well still. However, went to oil change place and asked them to make sure they checked my coolant b/c I thought it might be low, so they would need to put in the "green" stuff like I put in last winter...and they looked at me with horror, and told me I needed to get my entire system flushed b/c I didn't use Dexcool. Is this true? Is there any other kind of coolant besides Dexcool that works? What should I do now, just go ahead and add Dex (overflow tank almost empty) or should I go with the flush? Help!

prdm

Current Malibus use Dexcool which is incompatible with the Green Stuff. I think the use of Dexcool is fairly recent meaning that a '97 is using ethol glycol (green stuff). For the moment top up with whatever color you have in the tank - don't mix them.

bealskri

My car came with dexcool - i just was reading the manual finally, 8 years later.

 

the manual says certain negative things MAY occur, but do not make it sound like a life and death catastrophe if you mix coolants.

 

I'll get it flushed next week.

 

Thanks for your help!

jerrywimer

I had a '97 V6, and they most definitely had DexCool in them for that model. In fact that '97 was the first car I'd owned without a proper radiator cap!

gmaxx

I had a small booklet in one of the seat pockets with my Maxx which described the UltraLux material as "microfiber". Microfiber is a relatively new 100% polyester fabric. The booklet gave suggestions for cleaning various types of stains. At its recommendation I used baking soda and a toothbrush to remove a fast-food grease stain. It worked fine. I doubt, however that any thing made to clean leather or vinyl would be advisable.

bwolter

The service tech at my local dealer says that even though there is no dipstick for the transmission, the level is checked from a plug on the side of the transmission, much like the differential on a rear-drive vehicle.

dkahl

I have a 99 Malibu and am looking for some help!

I changed a burned out brake light today. After getting it to work, my tail lights stopped working altogether...on both sides! What could have caused this?

I called the dealer, who didn't have any ideas. I also checked the fuses for the brake lights and the back-up lights. Both seemed okay.

Is there another fuse I should check?

Thanks in advance for the help!

hickoryd

You didn't state that you checked the tail light circuit or fuses. The source of the apparent short is possibly near or at the brake light plug. Check the wiring in that locale under very good lighting. Did your bu ever have body work in that area as the result of an accident? Did water leak into the plug? Someone reading about this probably has a better idea of the cause. It could be that it is not a fuse but something a bit more "protective" of your head and tail light circuits like a circuit breaker. Did you remove the new brake light, test...put the old one back in...test tail lights again?