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2000-2011 Chevrolet Malibu
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poisondartfrog "Common General Motor's 2.8, 3.1, 3.4 V6's engine problems" Apr 4, 2001 8:36pm
I have a '97 Malibu LS with 60k miles. I have had whistle problems when the windshield moulding was separated from its mount. Check that your front and the back mouldings are still firmly attached to the glass. I had to apply some silicone sealant to the rear and had the dealer reattache the front moulding to the front. These cars may have insufficient windshield adhesive as a common problem.
I have had to fix or replace:
1) brake pads (twice)
2) coolant leak due to the failed gasket ($800)
now my ABS light goes on intermittantly.
I also had hard starting until I switched to premium gas exclusively. The idle-adjust valve might need the carbon cleaned out. I am saving up my GM card savings until the new Malibu (2004) comes out by spacing my GM car purchases every 7 years or more, I hope to hit the $3500 rebate limit.
With new card you can collect any amount of rebates per year. If paying with the GM card for everything - grocery, phone, cable, car insurance, summer camp, the dentist's bills, etc., it not difficult to collect about $1000 of rebates per year. However, GM sets (every month?) the maximum rebate applicable when buying / leasing a car, usually $1500 or $2000 per car for most models. $1000 minimum, and if I remember it right, up to $4000 for some slow selling, expensive models. Like some Caddilacs and Buick Park Avenue Ultra...
With two drivers / two cars or more in one family, the new card usually is a better deal. For this reason, we switched to the new card in end of 1999 or beginning of 2000. Additionally, I had serious doubts that GM will will continue with old program for many years.
The new card also is a better deal for those, who change cars often. Either lease, or drive a lot, or just like to trade them every 3-4 years.
On another more serious issue. Have any of you with the 3.1 liter engines experience stalling of the engine when coming to a stop? I had the stalling occur on my car twice in the last month. I was able to restart the car immediately at left turn lane.
I now have an additional 3,000 miles on the car and have put about 1 1/2 quarts of oil (approx) every 600 miles. There does not appear to be any leaks. I feel this is excessive and was wondering if anyone else noticed excessive oil consumption. Please let me know what ya think.
I change oil seldom, every 5-6 months / 5k miles, and never had to add a drop of oil. Even when there was a small leak from oil pump gasket (fixed later) and small stains appeared daily on the pavement. Have about 48k miles on my 98 Malibu, base with v-6 engine.
The car runs nice now but the question remains, what breaks next?
Falcondreamer
If these problems persist
I am going to order the shop manual in case we experience any other problems (my husband can do the basic stuff).
"Engine Oil - A slippery subject Part 2" Apr 7, 2002 10:55pm
Thanks.
It was fixed under the manufacturer's warranty. However, according to the paperwork, would cost only $24.
On another note, it seems that my tail-light bulbs (the brake lights in particular) on the passenger side have been shorten out rather quickly. The first one on the right often burned out the next day after being replaced. I read earlier there was this problem with the circuit(?) that might be the cause of it, was there a solution to this? It's strange because I've had this car for a few years now and this just started happening. I've been replacing it with the Sylvania 3057LL (Long Life) bulbs instead of the 3057 regular if that might make a difference.
Thanks again.
The socket was in bad shape, in soot and what looked as melted plastic. I cleaned it by sand-paper and had no problems since.
By the way, the car manual recommends always change the lamps in pairs (there are two stop lamps in one enclosure). I changed all four, on the both sides.
Generally, all lamps, or even all electric and electronic devices, either burn very fast, ("infant mortality") or live long time. However, if several lamps are burning repeatedly, especially in the same socket, something must be wrong. Could be a bad contact (micro sparks) in the socket, or voltage is higher than must be...
dgovan35@hotmail.com
I f you had bought a extended warranty which for 6yr/75k mile is about $1250, you are still out about $400 or so (not unless you have had other problems that may have been covered under warranty).
What needs to happen is more people need to complain about the Intake Manifold gasket leaking. This might get the NHTSA to issue a recall.
So far I have 12,600 miles on my 2001 Malibu LS and no problems. Knock on wood.
http://thehollywoodextra.com/SSR/ssr.html
I have a '97 Malibu LS with the V6 engine. I have 61k miles on the car. I've had the
1) manifold gasket replaced at 40k due to the coolant leak
2) new front brake rotors and pads (they seem to be okay now)
I recently also had stalling (twice) when coming to a stop. It turns out that one of the injectors were faulty, but in order to diagnose the problem, all the plugs and the wires needed to be replaced.
At an independent shop, the service cost me $600. I am up to about $1500 in repair costs over the past 5 years of owning the car which is not too bad. I am hoping that my Malibu will hold out until the model change in 2004.
Regards,
I am thinking of getting a malibu once I get out of college which will be in about a year, I was wondering, can the malibu use tire chains in the winter without damaging the vechile.
thanks
A in May 2001 a small coolant leak was found in the intake manifold gasket, and was fixed. After this the temperature increased somewhat, with gauge pointing half-notch above the middle position when sitting in dense city traffic in summer heat.
Had a 45k mile service at my dealership in November 2001, with coolant flush. Asked to check temperature. Mechanic told it is normal.
In end of winter and now, in spring, the gauge points half-notch above middle position in practically any driving conditions, even on highways and in cold morning. We are watching if the coolant system will deteriorate.
Original Firestone tires sound like a 4x4 truck.
Air conditioning sucks. Always has.
Rear tail lights constantly burn out after heavy rain. Leaks in the seals somewhere.
Anti lock break and check engine light malfunction periodically.
Car has depreciated to half the price I owe on it.
Good news is it drives well and I have a 100.00 copay on repairs for two more years or 75k.
Next car will be an import. Sick of domestic cars not being worth squat after I am done paying for them.
Replaced by Firehawk SH-30 at 37k, and it was the best thing that happened with the car. I like to drive it now. Ought to replace them earlier.
And yes, used cars are very cheap now. With all these $2000 GM rebates and 0% GMAC financing, the market is flooded by trade-ins.
A battery was replaced, and 3 alternators. The problem disappear only after replacing starter. Most probably, it leaked electricity...
I saw some small shots in the new Motor Trend yesterday also.
Any idea of the engine options? I would think the Ecotec will be the base engine.
Later I read that the he was right: the manufacturer's recommendations are "generic", and for the best result can be adjusted to the driving style and driving conditions. If tires are wearing out on edges first, it helps to overinflate them a bit; if on center - underinflate.
"A bit" is a key word here: substantial overinflation is dangerous, substantial underinflation is even worse.
Any case, the manufacturer recommendations are for specific OEM tire model only, and out to be adjusted with different tires.
I already put 10k+ miles on the SH-30 tires, and can see wear - on edges again. Currently I am inflating them to 32/29 psi; probably it make sense to add 1-2psi with my driving style.
Had a lot of repairs even before the original 36/36 warranty expired. Suspected a coolant leak. Bought an aftermarket extended warranty while still under the original one.
The extended warranty cost $1200, with optional zero deductible. Good till 100,000 miles or 6 years after the sale date, till May or June 2006. This is almost 9 years total: 3+6, minus couple of months overlap with the original warranty.
The warranty already paid for itself 2.5 times ($2300 transmission, $550 intake manifold gasket, and $180(?) oil pump gasket). Currently I have 48k miles on odometer.
I would say, that Malibu plus extended waranty are less expensive than a Japanese car of comparable size, even without a warranty. However, it is hard to say what is a better deal, if reliability is paramount.
However, am not sure what I would do, even with my current experience, if still could not afford more expensive car.