Tl* the contact owns a 1997 chevrolet malibu. While driving 55 MPH the contact smelled antifreeze and noticed some on the engine. The mechanic stated that the manifold gasket was defective. The failure was remedied at approximately 50,000 miles. Thirty days later the same failure occurred. Once again, the mechanic stated that the manifold gasket was defective and performed the repairs. The failure recurred. The manifold gasket was replaced on two more occasions. The current mileage is 80,000 , and failure mileage was 50,000.
1997 Chevrolet Malibu engine complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 64, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Dt*: the contact stated there was antifreeze on the ground under the engine. An independent repair shop determined the intake gasket needed to be replaced.
Steering wheel made an irritating sound when turned. The dealership was notified. Upon inspection they indicated that the steering gear had an internal fault, and replaced it. Cause of the internal fault was not disclosed to the consumer. *ak recall campaign# 03v527000. The steering was repaired. A year later the entire steering assembly had to be replaced again. The check emissions light would come on intermittently. There were noises when the vehicle was turned left due to the steering gears internal fault and the gear was replaced, the left front tire had a steel belt showing on the inside. *sc
Suddenly brakes stopped working, and consumer's vehicle was involved in four collisions. . In the most recent collision consumer's vehicle struck the rear end of a truck at 30 MPH. Also, vehicle stalled and cuts off in traffic.
Complaint #1 A/C cuts on and off. Complaint #2 suspension knocking, serviced 4 times, still have same problems.
Vehicle stalled while driving. When this occurred the vehicle was towed to the dealer, who performed a diagnostic test in which no failure code was found. Dealer was unable to find the cause of the problem.
While driving at any speed intermittently vehicle stalled. Driver consumer had managed to get vehicle out of traffic. Had tried to restart vehicle, and some times had to wait an hour to restart vehicle. However, vehicle was inspected by two separate dealerships, but could not duplicate or correct the problem.
I bought a 1997-malibu ls brand new. Before it turned 14,000 miles had to have work done on brakes. Before even turning 30,000 miles I had to replace a complete brake job, (2nd set) tires, water pump, wheel cylinders, my head lights pop on, and I have a little over 33,000 miles.the dealer were I bought the car said unless they see the lights pop on.they could do nothing. Gm sent out a recall. Which I did take my car into dealer. I took it to the dealer I bought it from a few times.I moved back to indiana and took it to coyle chevrolet in new albany. I have had nothing but problems with this car.both dealers said there was nothing I could do as a consumer..I am mad as hell-and feel I was ripped off, and will not recommend to no one to ever buy a malibu. I had one in 1969. And, it was the best car. When you pay around $25,000.00 for a new car-you would think you would not have all the brake trouble. I to this day do not feel safe with these brakes. I am a single women and thought by buying a new car I would feel safer. Please check into this. As soon as I can afford to get rid of this car I plan too. I have spent several hundred dollars on out of pocket repairs. Battery-2 brake jobs-ABS brakes-wheel cylinders-roaries-water pump.
Engine check light and the ABS light illuminated while driving. Vehicle been to a repair shop on 3 separate occasions, and the problem had not been resolved. Vehicle had its gas tank cap replaced, and the brake system was overhauled. But problem recurred.
I have had to replace the intake manifold gasket twice on the car already. The last repair was in march of 2004. It is only three months from the last replacement, and it is leaking anti freeze again. I would repair the car, but apparently it is not going to do any good. Each repair was over four hundred dollars. There has got to be some kind of major defect with this part. I have only owned the car for four years and it only has 81,000 miles on it, and yet this is the third time the gasket has failed.
My first issue is with the lights on the malibu. My light developed condensation in them which in the rear caused the light to glow dim, and caused e to get pulled over on a number of times. In the front it has caused the glass shield to fog causing me to fail vehicle inspection. There have are many other electrical malfunctions on my car such as the theft lock system, the power moon roof, the manufacturer's cd player, the headlight control switch. Then it has a problem with emissions. The headliner is falling off the ceiling.
Intake manifold gasket leaks on my 1997 chevrolet malibu. The local chevrolet dealer verified this problem with my car and recommended gasket replacement at a cost of $585. Mileage is only 46,000. I must continue to add coolant at regular intervals otherwise engine will overheat.
Basically this is to complain about the gm 3.1l v6 engine in my 1997 chevrolet malibu. I understand that there are 1100 such complaints and would appreciate some help with my situation also. In the last couple of weeks my vehicle has begun to have a multitude of problems that had LED up to my current fiasco. About 2 weeks ago after an oil change my 97 malibu began to have problems with a lifter ticking. My mechanic suspects a collapsed lifter; this has not been repaired yet. My car also now runs very rough and does not have the power it used to have. Today 10/2/03 I had to drive into seattle and began to have a severe heating problem with the car. My wife and I were deathly afraid we were going to be stranded on the freeway somewhere or stuck in a part of seattle we did not feel very safe in. The temp gauge began to rise very quickly as we arrived at our destination just south of seattle, the needle was pegged and the temp light actually came on. I had dex-cool anti-freeze leaking all over the engine and all over the ground. We waiting approx 30 minutes before we started out again and yes were afraid the entire way home that we would get stranded on the road somewhere. I got the car to my mechanic and he has informed us that we probably need a new engine, on a car that only has 95,000 miles on it. I have read other complaints on the internet about the faulty gaskets which result in anti-freeze leaking into the engine causing bad camshafts, bad bearings and who knows what else. If I had the resources to dump the piece of junk I just might, however I do not have the recourses to do that, I must get it fixed. Right now a $4000.00 dollar repair will not be good for my family. Frankly I am tired of being sold junk, 20000.00 dollars might not be much too some people but it is to me. My car now is barely worth $4000.00 and the thought of putting $4000.00 into it just to get it running again makes me sick. I will think twice the next time about purchasing a gm product.
My car has always used an excessive amount of anti-freeze. Apparently, my chevy malibu is not the only, and from the mechanic I talked to today, he says that it is the engine. I now have to get a new manifold, which to me costs a lot of money. It seems to me that if the same cars all over are having the same problem it would be some sort of manufacter defect and the consumers should not be responsible.
Brakes gone (again). Been replacing about every 10000 miles. This car has been one thing wrong after another. Already replaced lower control arms at 7500 miles, leaking antifreeze gasket, A/C control head (twice), and the brakes are ongoing.
Intake manifold gasket, 1997 chevrolet malibu (3.1 v6 engine). My understanding is that this is an extremely common problem with gm products, particularly this engine and car. I also searched the complaints dadabase and I found that it appears to be a common problem. Also, theft system light coming and excessive brake pad wear and rotor warping appears to be a very common problem. This was fixed once, the problem is reaccuring. $1200 in major repairs so far on a 1997 chevrolet malibu, not to mention the other small but frequent repairs. I am dissatisfied with both of my recent gm products because they both had similar problems that lead to costy repairs or engine failure at 120,000 miles on a 1994 grand am and 89,000 miles on a 1997 malibu. I have had to fix the radio numerous times (cable comes unplugged quite often).
Excessive brake pad useage with this car. The intake manifold had to be replaced at 88,000 miles. I am very very dissatisfied with this car and do not plan on purchasing another gm at this time.
While driving at any speed and without any warning vehicle stalled.
Basically this is to complain about the gm 3.1l v6 engine in my 1997 chevrolet malibu. I understand that there are 1100 complaints and would appreciate some help with my situation also. In the last couple of weeks my vehicle has started to have a multitude of problems that had LED up to my current fiasco. About 2 weeks ago after an oil change, my 97 malibu began to have problems with a lifter 'ticking.' my mechanic suspects a collapsed lifter; this has not been repaired yet. My car also now runs very rough and does not have the power it used to have. Today, 10/2/03, I went to seattle and experienced a severe heating problem. The temp gauge began to rise very quickly as we arrived at our destination just south of seattle, the needle was pegged and the temp light actually came on. I had dex-cool anti-freeze leaking all over the engine and all over the ground. We waited for approximately 30 minutes before we started out again and yes were afraid the entire way home that we would get stranded on the road somewhere. I got the car to my mechanic and he has informed us that we probably need a new engine, on a car that only has 95,000 miles on it. I have read other complaints on the internet about the faulty gaskets which result in anti-freeze leaking into the engine causing bad camshafts, bad bearings and who knows what else. If I had the resources to dump the piece of junk I just might, however I do not have the recourses to do that, I must get it fixed.
Abs light comes on after I lose brake. Chronic problems associated with this year vehicle are ABS sensor, belt tensioner breaks away, cooling system heat controls, wiring to the rear lights. These are problems that this year model has that should be recalled. Especially when the break sensor goes out and brakes are lost. Why has nothing been done to force chevrolet to fix these problems? It is not just one car but all of 1997 malibu that has the problem. It is a definite safety issue.
Losing water from radiator reservoir into the intake manifold gasket. I have researched this problem and it seems to be very common on 97 chevy malibu.
Many problems with my 1997 malibu, suspension noise/leaky water pump/key agnition, and lock collar. 32600 miles on the car many repairs.
Poor manufacturing and quality of vehicle components.
Coolant leaking, engine overheats after highway driving. Brakes and rotors fail consistently within 15000 miles of replacement.
Coolant poured out of vehicle. Manifold gasket was a lemon. Repair place informed us, this was a common problem with chevrolet vehicle's.
Coolant-oil leak problem with the lower intake manifold.
There has been numerous problems with the brakes, they have been replaced every 20,000 miles. The cruise control has been fixed a few times and needs repair again. Now, the engine has started to consume oil and I have been told it needs replacement. The malibu is a lemon of a car.
The tensioner pulley for the accessory belt completely broke off from the engine block. The dealer had to remove the engine to drill out the old bolt and to get the new assembly in. This is a piece that should never just break. Dt
Cars add engine coolant light came on, no obvious leaks; taken to auto repair place and was informed that I had an intake leak; then informed by another repair shop there was water in my oil ; possibly because of a problem with gasket; basically same situation as odi-id758781.
Renee borstad, director/superintendent of the board of chosen freeholders writes on behalf of parker flores, " while driving vehicle home, serious vibrations began necessitating it be brought in for repairs.
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