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2008-2009 Chevrolet Malibu

1510 messages,  Last post on Mar 16, 2013 at 12:47 PM

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What is this discussion about? Chevrolet, Chevrolet Malibu, Automotive News, Sedan

    
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Messages Page 131 of 152

#1296 of 1510 Re: 2008 Chevy Malibu Annoying Shrieking Brakes [bwia] by e_net_rider

Nov 17, 2009 (9:48 am)

Replying to: bwia (Nov 17, 2009 5:44 am)
Glad to hear it was covered, but lets evaluate this warped rotor stuff. You got a problem, you have to deal with getting car serviced, maybe a loaner or not. Inconvenience.
They turn your rotors, but still not as good as it was. They've removed metal from them and you can usually only do this once, so next time you have to buy new ones, most often not covered under warranty, unless you can prove it was their fault. Since it was covered, but still not as good, I'd demand new ones.
So, why did they warp? Nearly all of the time it is because of improper tightening of wheel nuts. Enevenly tightened or overtightened. If they tell you it is because you ran through some water, BS. That only accelerated the real cause which would be improper tightening or a bad design. Most designs are pretty standard and I know of none that have a particular issue. (an example of a design that is a problem because of design would be Tiburon clutch pressure plate. For those who don't know, this is a piece of metal similar to rotor that spins and similarly brake pads engage it as a clutch pad does. They redesigned the center mount and made it out of aluminum. Result, premature failure of components, warping, in as little as 10K. Not covered under warranty.)
It is a sure bet you've had tires rotated and/or balanced. They did not use a torque wrench to tighten, but an impact instead. That is the reason for your trouble. Make them show you that torque wrench in the tire and brake bay, not one from someone elses area or tool box.
Buy yourself a torque wrench, $20 and up, and the socket needed, ~$5. Keep it in the trunk and check before leaving dealer anytime a wheel is removed. About 10 minutes to check all nuts. Loosen slightly and then tighten to the setting of the wrench.
The cheap wrench may not be accurately calibrated, but then even expensive ones should be recalibrated periodically. If it has been, it will have a calibration sticker on it saying when and by whom.
Even if yours is not calibrated accurately, you won't likely be using it much and it would not be off by much unless you got a really bad one. The most important part to prevent warpage is that the nuts all have the same torque which will be acheived even if it is off a few pounds.

#1297 of 1510 Re: wierd noise [e_net_rider] by m3fan3

Nov 18, 2009 (1:07 am)

Replying to: e_net_rider (Nov 17, 2009 9:16 am)
No it wasn't alignment because it didn't constantly pull to the right or left, it just twitched. lol I'm not sure how to describe it. But now there is no noise and no twitching(even though i wasn't concerned about that) and a nice new headlight, now its driving beautifully like when I got it.

#1298 of 1510 Re: wierd noise [m3fan3] by e_net_rider

Nov 18, 2009 (9:10 am)

Replying to: m3fan3 (Nov 18, 2009 1:07 am)
You can have alignment issues without it pulling, and pulling that is not alignment.

#1299 of 1510 Re: wierd noise [e_net_rider] by m3fan3

Nov 18, 2009 (11:31 am)

Replying to: e_net_rider (Nov 18, 2009 9:10 am)
Always when any of my cars were pulling left or right, they do an allignment and it doesnt pull anymore. and by pulling i mean if you're driving on a straight road and partially release the steering wheel and the car merges left or right; thats what i mean by pulling. and yes allignment issues could be w/o pulling, however pulling is a possible cause of allignment. allignment is the first thing to check for a problem like pulling
 
http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

#1300 of 1510 Re: 2008 Chevy Malibu Annoying Shrieking Brakes [rogerdoger45] by vanman1

Nov 23, 2009 (6:43 pm)

Replying to: rogerdoger45 (Nov 16, 2009 3:07 pm)
You may just need a break pad cleaning.

#1301 of 1510 Re: 2008 Chevy Malibu Annoying Shrieking Brakes [vanman1] by rogerdoger45

Nov 24, 2009 (9:22 am)

Replying to: vanman1 (Nov 23, 2009 6:43 pm)
Took the car to the dealership I was told that the rotor are glaz to stop hard if they start to make noise.

#1302 of 1510 Malibu 17" Tire Pressure? by kmaurer

Dec 12, 2009 (10:10 pm)

I recently purchased a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu (new). The dealer swapped out the 18" wheels on my 2LT with the 17" rims from the 1LT. The tire pressure decal on the inside door, however, is for the 18" rims. What is the recommended tire pressure?

#1303 of 1510 Re: Malibu 17" Tire Pressure? [kmaurer] by gonogo

Dec 13, 2009 (7:21 am)

Replying to: kmaurer (Dec 12, 2009 10:10 pm)
Same pressure you have been using before on the 17 inch.

#1304 of 1510 Re: wierd noise [m3fan3] by e_net_rider

Dec 13, 2009 (8:50 am)

Replying to: m3fan3 (Nov 18, 2009 11:31 am)
Alignment is certainly a possibility. It could also be a dragging brake so a quick look at these for signs of uneven wear or discolored rotors should be done when the car is initially raised onto alignment rack. Done without any tear down. A quick check for worn or broken suspension/steering components.
Don't align to stop pull, but to factory spec. If still pulling after brakes have been eliminated, then a single tire is suspect. Rare, but it happens.

#1305 of 1510 09 BU LT2 I4 AT6 Issues. by e_net_rider

Dec 30, 2009 (6:13 am)

1 Dealer is being slow on fix to tiny dent and scratches when picked up, $1500 worth.
2 Deforming weather seal at roof line and along rear window. I'm guessing this occurs in carwash and I've seen alot of vehicles where this has occured. Poor engineering.
3 Foam seal along lower edge rear window, inside, coming out of place.
4 Discovered engineering flaw with dash vents for A/C. They can not be pointed high enough to do efficient cooling and at highest point flow directly in face causing dry eyes. I'm only 5'8". Dummy is dumb.
5 I released latch and pushed in that area to open door. Door liner snapped.
6 Steering wheel is to hard and worse is that it has a strange contour with a high point that wants to fit into the joint of thumb and palm. It gets painful after driving. Dummy could not tell them about this either.
7 Issue with warning light not going out until after engine was restarted.
8 Security light would not go out. Started engine four times before it went away.
9 TSB for missing diodes on cooling fan circuit. Dealer says my VIN not included. I physically and electrically checked for their presence. They are not there!
10 I'm finicky about tires and thought these Firestones were poor for the vehicle. Discovered they were base all-season passenger tire. Checked my window sticker and it clearly states "Touring Tires". Such better tires would go a long way toward aleviating the slight vibration at highway speeds which is felt at wheel, in seat, and hard armrest. It is like Chinese water torture, after a couple of hundred miles it becomes painful to me.
11 Discovered how poorly the vehicle really handles, after break-in, on the interstate. Hard to keep it between lines and feels like there is play at steering wheel. Took to service to have checked. They aligned, but was told that is how the vehicles with EPS are. Not satisfied I complained again when it went in for seal issue. They did not even write it down and I was again told normal. Took to another dealer and they told me previous forgot to zero EPS after align. Back at my dealer, I took in for part recieved and again complained of steering and handling. I asked if they had zero'ed and recalibrated steering after the alignment. They assured me that they had. Something is awry and I am not happy.
12 Doing a sweeping left turn into third lane, road wet, the rear broke loose and was starting to come around. I let off gas and steered into it, saving me from contacting curb. Either the ESC is not working properly or it is slower than I am. I won't bet my life on it.
13 After about a thousand miles of interstate, several stops, I had to do a near panic stop. Traffic suddenly came to stop downtown Chicago. It felt like braking was weak. I tested the braking some and decided it felt like rear braking was inadequate, like applying front brake on motorcycle without applying rear. Such things as defective proportioning valve or divertor valve entered my mind, but this one has ABS. Still, I elected to push pedal to floor while stopped and then rear braking was better for awhile. I repeated that about every 150 miles for the next 1500 miles. Issue seemed to go away.
14 Slowing for a traffic light, right front caliper sticks causing decreased braking and shaking. It was not the piston, but the caliper sticking on the slide and why it was shaking. More pedal pressure and it broke loose.
15 With colder weather, transmission slips going for third gear, until it warms up. Feels like it was kicked into neutral for about a second before it engages. Delay is verified by watching tach which hesitates a second before dropping RPM.
16 This is a reserved number for when I remember or encounter other issues. This is far more things than I would expect from a new vehicle.
 
The BU does have some good points. Peppy when coupled with the AT6 and MPG is pretty good. DIC indicated 29.5 MPG for trip of about 2500 miles. About 2200 of that was interstate and all but once, the old way of checking showed I was actually get about 1 MPG more than the DIC indicated. DIC indicates that at a steady 55 MPH I should see near 40 MPG.

Messages Page 131 of 152

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