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Chevrolet Malibu Maxx Steering/Suspension Questions
Tomorrow I'm going to be picking up my '04 Maxx after being in the shop for a week. They replaced the gas tank, cruise control switch, driver's visor, and rack and pinion. We'll see if the clunk sound goes away. Maybe this will help some of the others here with the steering noise.
By the way I had a GM tech tell me a while back that the faulty steering columns were caused by too much grease on the electrical contacts. I don't know if that was true, but if that was it, GM sure went to a lot of expense on changing columns.
Has anyone changed their battery yet? When it gets under 20 it seems my battery is already struggling. Only had the car 15 months, but with 58K on it the battery is out of warranty and not covered under GMPP supposedly.
By the way I had a GM tech tell me a while back that the faulty steering columns were caused by too much grease on the electrical contacts. I don't know if that was true, but if that was it, GM sure went to a lot of expense on changing columns.
Has anyone changed their battery yet? When it gets under 20 it seems my battery is already struggling. Only had the car 15 months, but with 58K on it the battery is out of warranty and not covered under GMPP supposedly.
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Larry :-)
The rear wiper module has control over washer pump, likely has a few relays in it which are reason for the clicking. Does the clicking constantly occur or does it only happen once when you press and once when you release switch? Does the rear washer function work?
Larry :-)
Do you notice any steering wheel pulsing or shaking while driving at low speeds?
Former could be unbalanced wheels (turning corners would change relationship wheels have to each other and affect vibration).
Latter could be dreaded steering columm problem that showed up in '04 Maxx/Malibu.
Larry :-)
Sigh... I really want to like this car, and am wondering if the '06/'07 will really be any better?
pao: it is the same thing since day one: the front end feels like it is missing 4 bolts and is ready to fall off, especially when going over a driveway entrance or over small potholes. I had one strut replaced, but that was a waste; it did nothing. There is something in the suspension in these cars. I'm not sure what the remedy is, but I hope GM does find a fix. For me, it is an annoyance. I can only hope that all the parts are secure, and are doing their job properly.
Meanwhile my steering has started popping again on slow turns from start. "New" rack fixed this for a short time but rack or tie rods may be going bad.
What supplier made those parts???
To service's credit, the replaced Lumbar support is working nicely.
Larry :-)
I had several more "shaking" or vibration issues over the next 6 weeks though they were less dramatic than the 2 that I posted earlier. I mostly assumed that it was bad roads. Then I had the problem again on Tuesday April 18th near the dealer. I called ahead and asked for someone from the service dept. to meet me outside and smell the burning smell. They agreed that it was the brakes.
They road tested the car that evening and duplicated the problem. This is interesting because usually the problem would go away when I stopped the car for a while. They put the car on a lift when they came back and the left front wheel was locking up. They said that the brake hose was collapsed and replaced the hose. They road tested again and both wheels locked up. They ordered in and replaced the master cylinder saying that it was building pressure causing the pads to engage. They also bled the system.
They resurfaced one rotor and on the short drive home this afternoon (4 days later)it did seem better though it is raining heavily. I am concerned about rotor wear now and did ask for new rotors vs resurfacing as a defect caused rotor wear, not my driving. The repair notes say that the rotors look blued and I imagine that they built up a lot of heat while this problem has been occurring over the last several months. I am concerned that I will have to replace rotors sooner rather than later now as they can only be resurfaced so much.
Of course the dealer has never seen the problem before nor did GM have any info on it.
On a side note, I also had the giggly headlight issue, and they were able to correct that, so if you have the same problem, it appears enough of us have complained and they are now correcting this.
Can you please post the TSB number of this notification so I can tell my dealer about this?
Subject: Knock, Clunk or Rattle Noise at Low Speeds with Suspension Input - keywords intermittent shaft steer steering #PIC3747B - (04/21/2006)
Models: 2004-2006 Chevrolet Malibu/Maxx 2005-2006 Pontiac G6
I'm not sure if that's the official TSB #, but that is the only number I find on here other than the old part assembly numbers. Hope this is what you were looking for.
My rack's been replaced with the old version and is rapidly deteriorating.
thanks for temperature indicator info, E2! helps clears up some mysteries.
BTW I drove an AUDI A3 3.2 Quattro today. It's basically a VW GTI R32 but 5 door, with Audi Quattro/Interior. No jiggles, no rattles on bumps; a rock solid car. Its electric steering felt fine. It actually weighs more than the Maxx, despite being smaller, thanks in part to an iron block V6 and Quattro Haldex drive. $40K - no bargin.
If I were driving in winter weather with salt on the roads, I suspect that fitting would look much worse.
NW7 is for all maxxes but SS, the SS gets NW9.
Is there any difference between these Traction Control systems? Do both control traction by reducing engine power alone?
The NW7 option on all non-SS vehicles is called "ETS" for Enhanced Traction System. In addition to reducing engine torque the system has ability to upshift transmission.
Check out your owner's manual in section 4 for a little more description of each.
So, given a driving wheel on Glare Ice and the other driving wheel on firm pavement, is the following senario true;
NW7 will reduce power/try to upshift trans until spinning wheel gains traction.
NW9 will apply the brake on the spinning wheel and send power to the non spinning wheel.
Is it likely that NW7 may very well fail to help, while NW9 will help?
FYI, I have fond memories of the midwest winters with lots of lovely glare ice with water on top; makes traction miserable. As for RWD drive on that stuff, let's just say I discovered drifting long before it became a tuner passion.
https://www.mygmlink.com/pdf/go2content/manual/US/en/chevrolet/2006malibu.pdf
Not sure about your technical questions but I know who to ask!
I will see what he has to say and post back.
BTW wrt other question, I meant "final drive ratio" change
Given the scenario where one driven wheel is on glare ice and the other driven wheel on the same axle both system will attempt to 'capture' the potential run away wheel.
NW7 - or engine only traction, attempts to do this by limiting engine torque (potentialy up shifting) to the axle. Note that this affects both wheels - relying on only the mechanical differential to 'split' the power to each wheel. Here's where LSD (limited slip differentials) would come into play. This is also the reason why ETS can be beaten by Driver's Best Efforts - depending upon the skill of the driver.
NW9 - or brake and engine traction, attempts to do the same as NW7 - but additionally it can clamp down (apply the individual corner brake) on the run away wheel. Since the brakes are under direct control of the ABS units, this action/response is much faster than the request/command manner in engine control. This is why NW9 is always better than NW7 and is generally better than Driver's Best Efforts as well.
There was more but I think that covers your question..
As the Maxx/Malibu does not have a limited slip differential (as part of any option I know of), NW7 would be useless in the glare ice senario, while NW9 would do just fine.
IMHO, Chevy should put the SS motor and the NW9 traction control in an upper level Malibu with a standard (not "SS" class) final drive ratio (perhaps the LTZSS). One then gets a more powerful, more advanced engine, the same or possibly slightly better fuel economy, and more horsepower for passing.
But I'm not a GM engineer any more so my opinion doesn't count for very much.
Too early to talk about that though :P
Does the MAXX live? :confuse:
Chevy could do what Saab did with the sport Combi, which is a Maxx with a sleeker hatch (no little "trunklet", just a smooth curve); round off the hatch a bit and it would look sleeker.
As for Saab version, rides hard, has horrible reliability, costs a lot more...no thanks.