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Comments
Thanks - Damon
If you don't mind the original headrests that came on your car it probably means that with your seat adjusted so that the back is at a comfortable angle for you the headrest doesn't push against your head. Theoretically the headrest should just touch (or almost touch) the head behind the ears. This prevents excess movement of your head to the rear in the event of a collision. So as long as you're comfortable with the ones in your car I wouldn't recommend changing them.
I am coming from a Volvo S60, and that car had just about the most comfortable seats and headrest of any car I have sat in. I was worried I would not find as comfortable a position in the Maxx as in the S60. The Maxx seat is a little more sporty than the S60, but still comfortable overall.
So far, so good.
Thanks Again - Damon
Well, we wandered the lot and it turns out the ones with flat head rests either had grey cloth interior or leather, and I have beige cloth, so we couldn't swap them. I had them put rust proofing and different tires on this vehicle, so I didn't feel right saying I won't take the car.
I called service today about it, and they said the TSB doesn't apply to my car, since it is only through build break point 5F112989, and my build is 13983. They will look into it some more on Monday and get back to me. They tried to tell me this is designed this way for safety, but I have a hard time believing that gray cloth seats are engineered one way, while beige cloth seats are engineered a different way.
Plus, it looks to me like these would actually be less safe. Yes, the back of your head strikes the leading edge of the head rest, but then there is nothing at all behind your neck, so your neck would be violently jack-knifed if you were moving back at any significant velocity.
Once (in a Ford) I was hit so hard from behind that I actually suffered a concussion from striking the headrest. Paramedics asked me how my neck felt and I was being honest when I said it was fine. The head was another story.
GM should still get you the headrests you want. No question.
I would expect that this was on the older head rests, since the results are listed for 2004 - 2005 Malibu. So I guess that does make me feel better about the safety thing, although I still find them very uncomfortable.
BTW, the 2005 Cobalt was Rated Good on both the Geometry and the Dynamic Rating, so GM does know how to build cars that do well. The 2001-2005 Impala with cloth seats were rated Marginal and Poor, respectively, so sometimes GM isn't so good at it.
Here is the web site for the IIHS info, in case anybody is interested in checking out all the stats on Malibu or most other vehicles.
http://www.iihs.org/
Good to know the Malibu provides decent side impact protection. The ION I used to drive was rated poor (doors a major weak spot).
According to NHTSA, Malibu is "4 star With Safety Concern" for Side Impact without the Side Air Bags, and 5 star with the Side Air Bags. It turns out, for NHTSA, that the Side Impact rating is based only on the amount of force sustained in the Torso region, not Head region. The "Safety Concern" is basically that your head will be completely bashed in without the air bags, but do just fine with the air bags. So GET THE SIDE AIR BAGS.
BTW, Edmunds isn't always up-to-date on the ratings (e.g. Cobalt is listed as Not Tested, when results are in for some tests), and occasionally has them wrong, so I definitely recommend going over to NHTSA and IIHS and reviewing them at the source.
IIHS Web Site: http://www.iihs.org/
NHTSA Web Site (SaferCar.gov): http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/
Still, that new IIHS test would have crushed my last 3 cars like a tin can. While not perfect, the '04 Malibu is a lot safer than many.
I had my car in the shop a few weeks ago, and I had them look into the rough idle. They of course told me that nothing was wrong, and that my car was operating normally because the computer wasn't showing a code.. But obviously there is something wrong with the car, because it idles EXTREMELY rough at times. There have been seen occasions where I thought the car was going to stall...
I suspect my fans are malfunctioning as for the first time the engine temperature climbed substantially while driving in heavy traffic (has not done that before under identical circumstances).
They did change the steering column, replaced the bulb at n/c. They assured me the test drive was fine with no drift. The car is perfect - no pull, freshly washed and ready at the time quoted. I am very pleased. Time will tell if the replacement column is without issues.
GM also told the dealer that it is OK to swap the front head rests with the back head rests. I tried that and the back head rests are also an improvement. So I may play around with swapping head rests for a while to see which one is the best for me.
I've also tried manipulating the seating position, up down, back, forward, same with the steering wheel, and it makes no difference.
BTW, my wife thinks any of the head rests are fine, and it does not bother her. And yes, I do have a big head (physically).
One moral of the story is that there is a slight difference between the gray cloth interior and the beige cloth interior, so make sure you check out the exact car in the exact config before you buy it.
Interesting to note that from the low fuel warning, I got 93 miles at highway speeds before I ran out; and 87 miles from when the low fuel light came on. (I was 1 mile from the exit that I was ultimately going to take to refuel since according to the trip meter I had used 15.9 gallons, I forgot the fuel economy meter always rates 1-2 miles per gallon too high). My girlfriend brought a 2.5 gallon can full of gas which took the needle right back up to E. The tank is right on the money as far as the 16.1 gallon capacity goes, that's exactly what it took to fill it + my friend's gas can back up.
From now on I think if I refuel within 50 miles or so of the low fuel light coming on I think I'll be fine! Now I can start getting the 400city 500hwy miles per tank that are on the specs page. Before yesterday I'd gas up within 5-10 miles of the LF light.
Anyone with one of these deflectors may want to add some 3M tape or something between the bracket and the roof. I already had some surface rust...
Is this a problem with the intermediate shaft? or what? I'm going to take it in to the dealer, but would like to be "armed" with some info first. I have a 2004 Maxx LS
But did they look
#04-08-110-004A
They will need to pull down your headliner to add reinforcements.
But next time I will give them the TSB number and see if they do any better.
FYI, they did fix my "new" steering columm. It had come loose or the last service shop failed to install it properly. It had to be yanked, lubricated, and remounted. Since then it seems to be ok.
But honestly the lack of durability of this part is worrying me.
I swear S.CALIF is where all the new techs are. The ones that know stuff are in the OTHER states
The clinic I attended to a year ago added a couple of hardware spacers via superglue to the skylight trim . It helped a little but still way too easy for those shades to jump out of their holding groove.
It's possible that a bulge in a tire is due to hitting something (like a curb) that breaks the cords inside the tire. So don't be surprised if that is the outcome.
-Bill
I finally crawled under my Maxx to find the tranny build date and it falls within the range of the TSB for the growl and howl problem. Quite frankly, I don't hear that much of a noise, but since I was taking the car in for a seatbelt harness and the headrest TSB and since I was going on vacation, I wanted to get the work done while I was out of town.
I received a call from the dealer today and he refuses to do the TSB on the tranny because they could not hear the growl and howl noise. Is there anything I can do to force the dealer to do the work? Should I even bother?
I don't have much confidence in this dealer as they also couldn't find the TSB for the headrest replacement even though I gave them the number (05-08-50-002).
IMHO, it's not worth getting the transmission fixed for a harmonic problem. There is too high a chance of unintended problems resulting from a tech pulling the transmission apart. I have decided not to get mine fixed.
GM has been using the same transmission (4T40E) for years in Malibu's, Grand Am's, etc. It seems to be very reliable, even with the narrow chain and sprockets.
My dealer did the headrest TSB without a problem. The new angle is a big improvement.
But my experience with the headrests has gotten more bizzare. The service writer called back and again stated that he couldn't find anything on the headrests. I asked if it would be easier if I brought in a copy of the TSB and show his manager. He stated that would be fine and hung up. About 10 minutes later, he calls back and said that his tech looked "somewhere else" and found the TSB. He ordered the part. Says it will take about a week for the part to come in and wanted to know if he could keep the car until it came in. I said no. He will call when the parts come in. They had the car for 9 days and only fixed the seat belt harness recall. No way am I going to leave it there for another week. Or ever take it back to that dealer.
Based on the suggestions of this group, I reversed the headrests to make them more comfortable. When I went in to pickup the car, a note on the workorder stated, "The headrests were in backwards, installed correctly".
I did verify the part they ordered and to their credit, the did order the right one based on my interior.
e2helper: can you rescue us on this one??
Thanks for your insight. I'm back on the fence again about having it done. My big concern is the dealer. The SR said if they can't hear the noise, they won't do it. I suspect I could force the issue with the Service Manager, but if they do perform the work, they might be prone to not doing a thorough job because I'm forcing them to do it. I might just take it to a larger less convenient dealer in Denver to see what they say.
As for the tranny, I agree sciguy. My serice manager said that my chain had a lot of play in it, thus the resonance. While the repair does not completely silence the howl, it is considerably quieter, and I'm glad I got it done. Like you, I did not think the noise was all that bad or annoying; my service manager did however.