1998 CHEVROLET MALIBU Complaints

SOMETIMES WE START THE CAR THE ANTI-THEFT CONTROLLER SHUTS THE CAR DOWN FOR A 10 MINUTE PERIOD FOR NO REASON. *AK

1998 CEVROLET MALIBU WITH 3.1 V6 ENGINE.CAR HAD SPORADIC STALLING.FINALLY TRACED TO A LEAKING INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET WHICH WAS ALLOWING COOLANT INTO THE ENGINE.THE COOLANT LEAKING ALSO CAUSED THE O2 SENSOR TO BE COATED AND NEED REPLACING.VEHICLE HAS APPROX MILEAGE IN THE 74K RANGE.

WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH AND MAKING A LEFT TURN STEERING WHEEL LOCKED UP. DRIVER APPLIED THE BRAKES AND PEDAL WENT TO THE FLOOR. DRIVER LOST CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE AND HIT A ROCK. THE DRIVER WAS NOT HURT. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED BY TRIPLE L TOWING. *AK CONSUMER'S DAUGHTER IN LAW HEARD NEWS OF GM RECALLING 88,000 VEHICLES FOR A POWER STEERING DEFECT, AND RELAYED THE NEWS TO CONSUMER. CONSUMER CONTACTED GM REGARDING THE NEWS AND WAS INFORMED THAT VEHICLE IS INCLUDED ON THE LIST. ALSO, GM SAID THAT THEY WOULD SEND AN INSPECTOR TO CHECK ON TO THE VEHICLE. CONSUMER ALSO REPORTED INFORMATION TO HER INSURANCE CARRIER. *LA

I DO NOT HAVE ANY ACCIDENTS OR INCIDENTS TO REPORT, BUT I AM CONCERNED THAT ONE COULD OCCUR, IF NOT TO ME, TO SOMEBODY ELSE WHO MAY HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. NO PROBLEM STATED OR COMPONENT LISTED IN THE SUMMARY. *AK I HAVE A 1998 CHEVY MALIBU, WITH A 3.1L V6 ENGINE. I HAVE BEEN RECENTLY DIAGNOSED WITH A LEAKING LOWER INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET. MY MECHANIC SAYS THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THIS ENGINE, IN THE 50K TO 80K MILE RANGE. I HAVE 89,500 MILES ON MY MALIBU. REPAIR COST IS $600-800. I DID SOME CHECKING AROUND, AND 2 OTHER MECHANICS I SPOKE TO ALSO SAID THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM. I ALSO LOOKED ONLINE, AND FOUND THAT THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF OTHERS OUT THERE WITH THE EXACT SAME SYMPTOMS AND PROBLEMS. GM CONTINUES TO DENY THERE IS A PROBLEM, HOWEVER I ALSO BECAME AWARE THAT GM CANADA IS PROVIDING 50/50 DEALS FOR THE CORRECTION OF THIS VERY PROBLEM. CAN'T GM HERE IN THE U.S. ADMIT THERE WAS A DESIGN FLAW IN THE PLASTIC GASKETS THEY USED, AND OFFER A RECALL? THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM IS TOO COMMON FOR IT TO BE NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR...ESPECIALLY WHEN GM CANADA IS OFFERING TO FIX IT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.

DISSATISFIED WITH THE LENGTH OF TIME IT TOOK THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP TO PERFORM A TWO AND A HALF HOUR RECALL. *PH

WHEN THE GAS TANK WAS FULL THE GAS GAUGE READ EMPTY AND WHEN THE GAS TANK WAS EMPTY THE GAS GAUGE READ FULL. *AK THE STEERING WHEEL MADE NOISES, THE A/C LIGHT DID NOT STAY ON AND THE A/C BLEW HOT AIR WHEN THE BUTTON WAS NOT ACTIVATED, THE KEY WOULD COME OUT OF THE IGNITION AND WOULD NOT STAY IN AND THE VEHICLE WOULD STILL DRIVE WITHOUT THE KEY IN THE IGNITION. THE BRAKES WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED AT LEAST TWICE A YEAR, THE ANTENNA DID NOT PICK UP AN ADEQUATE NUMBER OF STATIONS, (CASE EFFICIENCY DECREASED FROM 350 TO 250 TO REFILL THE CAN), WHEN TWO BATTERIES WERE REPLACED, THE GAS GAUGE DID NOT WORK, AND CONDENSATION WOULD SET IN THE REAR LIGHTS AND BURNED THEM OUT. *SC *JB

1998 CHEVROLET MALIBU ABS LIGHT COMES ON. WHEN BRAKING, THE BRAKE PEDAL GOES ALL THE WAY DOWN AND BRAKES DON'T WORK CORRECTLY, MAKING THE STOPPING DISTANCE LONGER. WE TOOK THE CAR TO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACE THE FRONT SPEED SENSOR. A FEW MONTHS LATER IT STARTED TO DO THE SAME THING AGAIN. AND SINCE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIX THIS PROBLEM. ALSO, WHEN BRAKING THE CAR VIBRATES, I KNOW THAT IT'S DO TO THE FRONT ROTORS, NEEDING TO BE REPLACE, BUT I WAS LOOKING ON THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS THAT THIS TYPE OF CARS HAS AND DON'T FIND IT TO BE A COINCIDENCE. SURELY THERE IS SOME THINKING WE CAN DO TO FIX THIS PROBLEM OR ARE WE GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT TILL SOMEONE GET INJURED OR KILLED. IT IS NOTABLY THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE OF NOW. WE HAVE CARS ON THE STREET THAT HAVE FAULTY BRAKE SYSTEMS, IF THAT IS NOT A SAFETY ISSUE THEN CALL ME CRAZY. HOPEFULLY SOME ONE GET BACK TO ME. *AK

MY CAR WAS LEAKING A CLEAR FLUID I TOOK TO A MECHANIC WHO SAID I NEEDED TO REPLACE THE INTAKE MANIFOLD GASKET AND THAT HE GETS SEVERAL GM CARS A WEEK WITH THE SAME PROBLEM RECOMMENDING I FILED A COMPLAINT SO THAT THERE MIGHT BE A RECALL. THERE IS DEFINITELY A GASKET PROBLEM ON GM VEHICLES. *JB

VEHICLE WAS REAR ENDED AND HIT A DUMP TRUCK IN FRONT. VEHICLE WAS NOT IN MOTION, HOWEVER, UPON IMPACT, THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. *AK

NHTSA 03V527000 STEERING GEAR BEARING FAILURE. RECALL REPAIRS WERE PERFORMED ON FEBRUARY 19, 2004, BUT PROBLEM RECURRED. *AK