For years now I have had a few issues. One of which is the locks with in the vehicle. At one point one lock wouldnt be recognized by the fob or internal locking mechanism and then eventually all locks would be unresponsive. I now have to manually lock and unlock all doors. Second issue is the 3rd brake light. It appears that it wants to work when it feels like it. I typically see it working in early mornings when its cold, and then eventually it dims out and completely stops working. I have noticed this in other malibu's that I see driving and I have read on many other forums that both of these issues exist. I really wish the manufacturer would issue a recall for both of these. Third, im roughly 200lbs soaking wet and for whatever reason the seat bracket that is used to lift and tilt has broke. My driver seat now leans to one side and I can no longer lift it up because of this.
2009 Chevrolet Malibu electrical complaints
Page 4 of 13: complaints 71 to 100 of 368, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Powersteering keeps going in and out. Headlights go in and out. Ive gotten those replaced three times! I also had some of the wiring replaced for my lights. I forgot what those are called and my lights still went out. Lock buttons not working. Radio wasnt working until I replaced a fuse. Speakers go in and out. Cruise control does not work. My battery went dead ,so I replaced the battery and alternator and my car still didnt work.
When I bought it worked good for bout 2 days and I started noticing a light would be blinking like the engine light and a light with like a exclamation mark in side of like a bowl and the speed would reduce and then it would just quit even while your in traffic at a stop light ,going up a hill it would do it just when it got ready
1) re-occurring recall fault 13036 -brake lights on - ESC - traction control - etc, these were repaired but you cant repair a defect 2) power steering turns off and on - mentioned to dealer end last year 2019 - mentioned did not receive recall 14116 - spoke with gm rep today 8/21/20 (john) at nbr 800‑222‑1020 he stated this recall expired dec last year any repairs going forward cost on me which isnt right. These repairs - recalls - should be handled no matter mileage/age. Upon attempting a right turn all power to steering wheel was lost but regained slowly - my thought was low power fluid. I parked the night and in morning searched vehicle for power steering reservoir to no avail did I find it - dealer advised it was electronic - still at that date I received no recall to power steering trbl - this should be repaired at gm expense
I went to the store came back out an it wouldn't trun over I got a new battery an got the same result
When trying to use the remote to unlock the doors, the doors will not unlock. It started with the passenger side rear door. The passenger side front door started having the same issue and now it has also come to the drivers side front door. You cannot use the fob from outside nor can you use the unlock button on the inside to get the doors to unlock. In order to get to the back seat, you have to climb over the seat and pull the unlock button by the window. We have check the child safely locks and they are not engaged. I have researched this on at least 3 other sites(https://www.carcomplaints.com/chevrolet/malibu/2009/accessoriesinterior/power_door_locks_malfunctioning.shtml) andhttps://www.carproblemzoo.com/chevrolet/malibu/power-door-locks-not-working-problems.php andhttps://www.cargurus.com/cars/discussion-t33503_ds654132. There are many instances of the same issue as well as issues of the locks unlocking while they cars are in motion. It seems that gm has been contacted and they have refused to take responsibility for these issues. What can a citizen do to get this taken care of? This is a dangerous situation if you have a child in the car and cannot get the door open to get them out in case of an emergency. I have discussed it with mechanics and they are telling me that the accuator(spelling) is an issue and has been for many years.
Since 2018 my brake lights will come on without touching the brakes. When this happens, my cruise control won't work. I can tap the brakes and they'll go off for about 3-5 seconds and then come back on. After awhile, the ESC and traction control lights will pop up on my dashboard. I've had the sensor replaced/reset 5-6 times since august of 2018, with the most recent june 2020. It worked fine that day, but the next day they all came back on. Today, it was fine, but later will probably be another story.,
The locks on this year make and model have a long history of door lock failure, sometimes they go up while driving, sometimes they wont go up or down at all with remote or car on/off, and this happens the worst and mostly in heat and hot weather. There are complaints all over the internet for years. Gm refuses to take responsibility. This is a serious safety issue, especially for children in the back. Please do something, im not the only one at all that ever said anything about this.
Recently bought a malibu 2009 ,4 cylinder. When I bought the car the steering wheel was shaky as I drove the car. After a 4 days of purchase I went on the freeway and the service ESC / power steering came on the dash board . I exited the freeway when making a left turn it was difficult to turn the steering wheel . I pulled over to the side and turned the car off and then back on the car was again drivable but after about 5 mins the car did the same thing again and I could not manage to steer the wheel to make left or right turns.
Power steering service ecs light loss of power shut the steering on mid road very dangerous it's a shame we don't have a recall yet and I read over 100 complaints of the same problems on these cars most on the 2009 chevy malibu
Power steering stops working. Power steering service ESC off on dash. Dash warnings light up periodically. Simultaneously all dials go down to 0 even when moving. Radio has no power. Manual steering all the time.
Was driving home from work on friday and the power steering went out and I almost ended up in a field, could not turn it. Stopped and turned it off and back on again and it went back to normal, and it went out again as I was pulling into the drive. The next day I started car up and it had its warnings across my dash and the steering was out again. I just picked it up from the shop and it cost me $1562.00 to get it repaired. The steering assist motor, a new steering column(electric) and r&r steering column w/sgl switch and new turn signal switch. It's all connected. I have yet to find a recall for my car on my VIN number but yet there were a few recalls on many cars including my 2009 malibu for this exact issue but yet I never received anything in the mail about it. I hope that they intend on doing something about this, I could have been killed while trying to take a curve and had to struggle just to keep it on the road in the other persons lane until I could get pulled off the road and out of the way. From reading all that I have read on here it seems that I am not the only one with the issue.
Post recall repair for breaklights, break lights stay illuminated when not pressing the break pedal. 3rd break light doesn't always turn on. Random episodes of car sputtering and then dash warnings including: service ESC, service traction, service hill start. Head lamps requiring replacement every 3 to 6months.
The bcm (body control module) on my 2009 chevy malibu shorted out.. Chevy issue a recall for the same year, make on the hybrid model. I have no heat no defrosting no climate controls work at all.. All the fuses and relays are in good working condition.
My 09 chevy malibu lt brake lights will illuminate without the brake pedal being pressed.therefore signalling to other drivers that I am slowing, when in fact I am not. Also when the brake pedal is deliberately pressed to indicate the vehicle is slowing, the lights go out entirely, signalling to other drivers that I am not slowing down when in fact I am! This is a huge safety issue! I parked my vehicle today january 1, 2020 to test the functionality of my brake lights and the brake lights illuminated while I was outside of the vehicle, indicating I was pressing the brake pedal. Once the pedal was compressed, the rear lights went out entirely indicating the brake pedal was not compressed. Also the cruise control of the vehicle has never worked properly since purchasing the vehicle. It will not initiate or maintain set speed causing fluctuations in travel speed. So I refuse to use the feature as this too is a real safety concern.
The power steering goes out and the traction control light comes on and service ESC message comes across the message center. I cannot turn the wheel when this happens. I turn the car off and back on and the light goes out, power steering comes back for a second then the light trips again and it's out again as soon as I turn the wheel. This occurs while driving the vehicle at a slow pace.
Tcs, ABS, ESC, etc intermittently stop working. Electronic power steering occasionally stops working, usually when turning at low speeds. Brake lights sometimes do not illuminate when pedal is pressed. I also replaced the wiring harness to the passenger head light that had shorted out and melted. There is a slew of electrical issues, and they usually get worse as the weather gets wetter and colder.
My brake lights are coming on by themselves and when I press the brakes it goes off but my brake light want work at all it a big safe issue
When I was driving at night my passenger side headlight went out. This is not the first time this has happened. Have had it replaced for other times and the connector to the headlight keeps melting. Then there is a smell of plastic melting almost like it is going to catch on fire
Passenger side headlight went out. The connector to the headlight is melted this is the fourth time it has happened. General motors will not do anything about it. It gets replaced every time and that connector keeps getting melted making it hard to see while driving at night
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that they had to replace the headlights an excessive amount of times. The contact stated that replacement headlights were needed an average of once or twice a year. The contact took the vehicle to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the wiring harness that was connected to the headlights was faulty, would overheat, and burn out, causing the headlights to fail. The wiring harness had not been replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and informed the contact that there was no recall regarding the failure. The contact was referred to the federal safety agency to file a complaint. The dealer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 185,200.
Brake lights on with out pressing brake. When pressing brake the lights shut off. Cruise control will not work, traction control light, and ESC light stays on . Brake lights stays on while stationary and in motion.some times everything works just fine and out of no where these problems start to happen. I bought the car in february of 2019 from a private party. And have been having problems ever since
Electrical-I was following someone who was driving my malibu, and we came up to a stoplight. I noticed that my brakes lights didn't illuminate when he was stopping, the light turned green and we proceeded down the road. I then saw the brakes lights going on and off a couple of times. We were not coming up on a light, nor was there anyone in front of him. When we got to our destination, I asked if he was tapping the brakes when we pulled away from that red light, and he said no, not once. This issue continues to happen, almost causing me to get into an accident. Steering- the power steering will just stop working when I am driving. It does this often. To correct it, I have to pull over and turn the car off and then back on. Sometimes I have to do this a few times right in a row before it corrects the problem. I have looked up recalls for my year vehicle. Currently, there are recalls for both of these issues, just not for my VIN. I cannot help but think that if the same exact issues have been happening with other vehicles from the same year as mine and they have gotten the recalls, that there is a very good chance that mine should probably be included in these recalls as well. Those recalls are 14v153000 and 14v252000.
My cars passenger side low beam head light connector keeps frying out. Ive changed the bulb numerous times and the light never stay on longer than 2 weeks at a time. I was looking into the issue and noticed that the whole connector has melted and the wiring too.
Car dies while driving. No warning. Starts back up after stopping and turning key off and then back on. Happened 5 times now.
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that the driver's side headlight failed to illuminate. The contact mentioned that the failure occurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the bulb and harness were replaced, but the failure recurred. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.
The vehicle was taken in for multiple "recall fixes", for electrical and lighting issues. The registry shows that all recalls were fixed (purely cosmetic work) with regards to the vehicles lights being replaced (received fix it tickets by the authorities). But my car didn't burn out lights, she melted them, while I was deployed, her electrical system fried the security system and the car's computer (brain). Repairs were made in 2014 when I returned from overseas, and she was fine for a couple of months. Then started malfunctioning again in 2015 and 2016. I was charged for repairs and replacements from chevy dealerships and they fixed the minor issues. Now in 2019 the electrical system is shorting out again stating that the engine is working at decreased power and my car is draining her own battery and locking up. I bought her used back in 2009, and every couple of months or years there is an electronics malfunction and I've had such horrible luck finding a trustworthy dealership to take her to for repairs, I don't know what to do. She still continues to have electronic system malfunctions where she'll burn out or melt a component in the vehicle. She just started malfunctioning again and when I inspected the battery, she had melted the plastic housing unit.
The wire harness for the passenger front headlight keeps burning out the lightbulb now the harness has burned out
Passenger headlight keeps going out. Changed the bulbs, still out. Changed the wiring harness, still out. Next step is the signal switch! The high beam was working until I changed everything and now I have no low or hugh beam on that side!!I have changed the bulbs numerous times on that same side over the past few years. The time prior the connector on the bulb was melted!! I have been reading all over the internet numerous people who continue to have this issue. Replacing these items over and over again is costly. It has been happening too many times!! This needs to be a recall! It is clearly an issue in manufacturing. We should not have to constantly come out of our pockets for lazy wiring and manufacturing.do right by your customers and make it a recall issue gm!!
When you're driving down the road the brake lights come on and stay on when you press the pedal the brake lights go off and then come back on when you release the pedal 3 seconds later the brake lights come back on and stay on.
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