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Comments
I bought My 04 LT on august 12. The next week I had it back to the dealer because my rear rotors were warped, and my driver window was of track.
2 weeks later there was a small spot on my hood that the paint was chipping away......
I also have a howl i guess you can call it coming out of the transmission...... Dealer said it's not a problem but not what it was..... I am thinking about taking it back again for that because that is not a noise that sounds like nothing.
And now...the car is registering double the miles that I am actually driving.....a 15 mile trip adds 30 to my car......I am taking it in for that now also.......so in a month and a half have had nothing but problems.....And can't afford to keep having a new car in the shop 2 weeks out of every month.....any info on what to do or advice would help greatly........
thanks ahead of time
Frank
I don't have any good recommendations any any of the problems you mention.
There isn't a possibility you have vehicle in metric unit mode, is there? I would figure that would be too obvious (since speedometer and outside air temp would also be in metric units) and it wouldn't give you a double reading, just 1.6x. I have seen cases where vehicles were brought in with that type of complaint. The setting for unit display is in Driver Information Center just press the Menu button a couple of times to show the Units selection and press and hold Enter to change it.
Thanks for trying though
Good luck, and let us know what happens. The stories I've heard about the 04 Malibu steering problem is something that sort of gives me the creeps (but I bought the car anyway even though I knew about it).
I did go in for the two recalls (for seat restraint and ABS, and they did update the calibration to the latest)
They are also replacing the passenger rear window switch. The other we will just have to watch for further info.
Glad to know that it might have the newer column, one less thing to deal with.
Other than all that, we love the vehicle! Especially the ability to have different radio presets per driver.
Thanks again!
This is my first Chevy product. I have always had Olds and Pontiacs. I have been spoiled by their dealers. So far I have been to 2 different Chevy dealers. I am unimpressed with the both of them. The first only fixed the ABS recall because the service writer forgot to add the seatbelts on the work order.
I went to the second for the seatbelts and an oil change. I asked the service manager if there were TSB's for the vehicle. His answer was that would be too much work to ckeck every car. He told me he was unaware of a howl in the transmission. He never heard of it.
Yesterday, I took my wife's Bonneville to the Pontiac dealer. While I was telling him what I wanted done, he looked up the vin and told me there were no TSB's withouy my asking.
cheers
When this light first went on and stayed on -- steadily -- two days ago, my first reaction was to check to see if the gas cap wasn't secure. That's what I had read about on this forum and in the owner's manual, plus my salesperson had advised me about it when I took delivery.
But the gas cap is on securely, there's no "Check gas cap" message on the info center display and everything seems normal: Plenty of power, smooth idle and still great gas mileage (26 MPG around town, stop-and-go).
Any ideas what else it might be, and how much of a hassle I'm in for when I take this five-week-old car in for service?
i know the 04 is a vastly superior car, but just wanted opinion on the previous model.
thanks!
This would explain: fuel gage and possibly the Check Engine Light although i am surprised you are not seeing a Check Gas Cap Message as well - must be due to your driving patterns.
On the sunshade did you have them install the reinforcements? Bulletin #04-08-110-004A
Insofar as the 04's being better...I would have to say "potentially". It seems like it took Chevy 3 or 4 years to get the classic's bugs ironed out. Based upon the comments in this forum, I would have to think that they are going thru some of the same with the new models.
My only problem is the "blow off valve" like noise when I really gas it. It will get up to 5-6k rpm, and make this "woooooosh" noise like it was turbocharged. Anyone else have this? I think I asked this, but forgot which message board I put it in.
Could this be related to "shift stabilization affecting 3-4 up shift" on earlier thread?
Not sure of the solution, and dealer could not find anything wrong.
If prior to May 2004 then it is not the latest calibration in engine/transmission controller. your dealer has the ability to check for latest calibration on vehicle to confirm this.
I hope someone gets their vehicle updated and reports back if it corrected issue since there are several of you with similar comment
Has anyone experience issues with their transmission "flaring" 500 to 1000 RPM when accelerating from a coast (throttle closed to light acceleration)? In addition the 1-2, 2-3 shifts seem harsher than with my previous Grand Am with the same transmission.
Dealer hooked it to a scan tool (normal) and loaded the latest PCM calibration. Aside from the "tap shift" not working any more, it stills "slips" on light acceleration from a coast.
Is this normal?
Thanks!
Curious what happens when you place the shifter in the "L" position with engine running. Does the cluster display "L3"? Then if you press the "-" buttons the display doesn't change to "L2"?
Thanks again.
But I do LUV this car..just want a good explanation on the TEMP GAUGE thing and the SQUEAKY BRAKES.
Interesting. That certainly isn't correct. Was anything else done to vehicle or only the PCM update?
Does your PRNDL display on shifter light up when it is dark outside??
Unless the dealer already updated the calibration I believe that there is a newer one available for your vehicle (these are going to be the type of messages that get me in trouble, I think - LOL).
Just checked the PRNDL light, it does turn on with the headlights.
I am actually more concerned about the apparent slip in the transmission from coast to light acceleration. Example: coast (closed throttle) at 30 mph - apply throttle lightly - RPM's jump from 1,200 to 2,000 with an immediately drop back down with a "bump" to 1,500 or so. It is very annoying.
Thanks!
The reason I asked about the PRNDL is to make sure someone didn't inadvertently disconnect the wiring to shifter.
You are using a lot of automotive terms in your messages (IP, PCM, Tech II, PRNDL) so certainly indicates you know a bit about GM vehicles
If I come up with any further input I will post back but I have got to believe your PCM had a fault code in it assoicated with the "+/-" not working
The Epsilon platform is a good one. My wife and I rented an Opel Signum in Germany and bought a Maxx on our return. Too bad we can't get the CDTI here in the US...
comments?
e2helper: My service manager asked me to come in Friday; he will personally conduct the pcm reflashing in my presence, and will look up my tranny build date. Despite being a May 3, 2004 production model, I still have a suspicion that I have one of the original tranny's in my car. If there is any way you can look that up for me ahead of time, my hat's off to you. Thanks for everything.
In regards to transmission mechanical stuff that is a outside of my area of expertise and I don't have any detailed info on that - sorry
I contacted the Chevy assistance center regarding my two concerns of the Maxx; 1) cruise control that doesn't take advantage of the transmissions proportional mode between 4th and 3rd (it just shifts back and forth), 2) an information console that, even in daylight, "dims" after it first displays data during startup and thus is almost impossible to read in daylight if the sun is bright.
I have asked my local dealer (who seems to have fixed my bad steering columm just fine) about these, but they had no answer for the cruise control and felt the display was normal.
The rep at the other end of the line claimed his maxx shifted exactly the same with its cruise control, and therefore was normal. He did not have an answer on the info console but routed me to a customer rep who had earlier sent me a vague email message - that call ended up in her voice mail.
Any thoughts? Or are these just normal aspects of the Maxx/Malibu platform?
no additional thoughts beyond what we discussed a while back. The PCM has a newer calibration available but I don't recall if you said you had your vehicle updated.
The "information console" is the radio display, correct? The operation you are describing does not sound correct but I believe you mentioned previously (but I couldn't find post) that adjusting the dimmer switch had no impact on intensity. It kind of sounds like your vehicle might be operating in nighttime mode during daytime unless you are observing this only during early morning or late afternoon when sun is low on horizon and vehicle, by design, has switched into nighttime mode. Best thing to do would be to check out your vehicle next time you notice this operation and see if your headlamps are on or not. They should not be on during daytime mode (your daytime running lamps in this vehicle are your front turn signals).
Also you could compare to another vehicle if you got a chance
Took it to the dealer and they confirmed that the switch was not functioning. They then removed the tissue box from the console later in the road test and all was well. The extra 1 mm made the difference between making the limit switch in the console -- or not.
Thanks again for the help.
LDBmb
As for the display console, I will check to see if headlights are on during the day (to my knowledge, they aren't).
I have seen something similar on Pontiac G6 GT that I am currently driving - cell phone charger cord wrapped around shifter preventing me from doing Tap Up/Down (which this vehicle does have)
The Service Manager and I tried to find the plate which has the tranny build date on it. We searched in vain. Instead, he pulled up my record and it identifies my broadcast number and traceability number. Can any of those help you to determine if my tranny falls into the 4016-4126 (Jan 16, 2004 - May 5, 2004) build dates? I'm assuming mine does since my scanned date was 5/1/04. Obviously the tranny had to be built prior to them puting it in my car and scanning it in! I do have the howling noise to the tranny; if mine is one of the affected, I plan on doing nothing. My Service Manager said that it would be a mistake to tinker with the factory installed tranny over just a noise. The consequences could be severe. Since I will be buying a GMPP within the year, I'll just let it ride. However, I would like to know if my tranny falls within the affected dates, simply for reference. Thanks.
Incidently, Chevrolet customer support finally got back to me wrt my queries, with an apology for slow response, no useful info, and a recomendation to again take my vehicle to the dealer. I advised them that sometimes the dealer did not __have__ the latest information (the ABS recall took two weeks to resolve because Chevrolet sent the recall before giving the dealers the calibration info).
Wrt Customer support, while they are polite, they rated an F in terms of usefulness.
The Chevy sponsored clinic remains the high spot of my Malibu ownership. Actually being able to talk to real engineers was useful and helpful.
Every car I have ever owned has never done this. This car did not do this till about 4000 miles on it? Only in extreme desert conditions has a car of mine ever sneaked up passed the mid line?
Other than this I have no complaints. Anybody out there have any suggestions?