2011 Chevrolet Malibu: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Mar 30, 2024 · IL

Several Times now my 2011 Malibu goes into limp mode, at the same time the ESC/TSC lights come on. It has left me stranded in the middle of intersections. Sometimes I can turn the car off and start it again and it sees to reset something because it begins to work again. It happens mostly at lower speeds or sitting in idle at light. Sometimes when I feel it stat to happen I put the car in neutral and rev it to 1500-2000 RPM, then I put it in gear and I can get going. Now I can't get the car to stay running. Shuts off as soon as I start it.

Filed Feb 8, 2021 · Engine · FL

Stabilitrak control turned on change all spark plugs and wires plus coils. Ran fine 1 week again stabilitrak flashing engine in limp mode. Took ro mechanic replaces lifters cam shaft. One week later again. Rebuild complete motor and still displaying same issue!!!! Truck is a lemon

Filed Feb 15, 2020 · Driver assistance, Lights · CA

The ESC turns off pretty much every time I drive the car. Last monday the check engine light came on when the transmission was slipping m. The the transmission would no longer shift and the solenoid is stuck open while driving home from work. Prompting the dealership to try and sell me a whole new $5,000 trans. When the car only has 130,000 miles on it. The transmission has been running slow on acceleration but has never been stuck in first gear leaving me left on the side of the road waiting for help to come get me. The headlight burn out like every 6 months resulting in taking off the bumper or paying $200 from the dealership for a $5 bulb. I have no pictures since my car is at the dealership waiting for me to either go get or pay for the transmission.

Filed Feb 16, 2019 · Transmission · 81,180 miles · TN

The vehicle started to have problems in 2016 and the check engine light would come on and off randomly and would not completely stay on to diagnose the vehicle correctly and when it would come on it kept saying it was different sensors. After replacing several sensors that were diagnosed to be incorrect and changing spark plugs and all filters and flushing several parts out the vehicle was still not running correctly. The vehicle did not have as much power as it did in the past and seemed to be shifting differently. The car progressively kept getting worse and loosing power and not shifting correctly. I had taken it to 3 mechanics in the nashville area and each of them could not figure out the problem also but all had experience with the issue and had relayed that they believed it was the timing chain from previous clients with similar issues. I then took it to the chevy dealer because it had gotten to the point that the vehicle seemed unsafe. The vehicle would not shift correctly and I would be sitting at a red light and when I went to take off the vehicle would idle until catching and it would sit there idling and almost stall out and then after 60-160 seconds the vehicle would finally catch and take off. This also happened while on the interstate when trying to get up to speed with the rest of the traffic. Anytime the vehicle really needed to shift it tended to just sit and idle until the chain caught exactly where it needed to which is what caused the safety issue. The chain was missing in certain spots so once it finally caught the correct spot it would take off but made it dangerous to drive as you never knew how long it would take to catch on and take off or if it was going to completely break at some point and just not move at all. The vehicle also did not want to start kept rolling over multiple times by the time I was able to get into chevy to fix it.

Filed Feb 9, 2018 · Transmission · 131,259 miles · ME

While driving in the city and highway, transmission started slipping, as though it was in neutral. This continued to happen with no breaks in between. Vehicle would not shift out of second gear. Tried turning car on and off. Checked all fluid levels. Tried driving in manual mode, no change. After driving for 10 minutes, conditions worsened. Was almost involved in multiple accidents due to car reducing power while stuck in "neutral" mode as well as jerking forward out of no where when gas pedal was not even being pushed.

Filed Nov 6, 2017 · Transmission · 99,000 miles · MD

Ever since purchasing my 2011 chevy malibu, it has always had a problem shifting. I took it back to the dealership and they tested it saying nothing was wrong. I told them it seemed like it had a hard time shifting gears especially going from 2nd to 3rd. I could be at a stop light and it acted like it didn't want to go. I was driving to work and it started to over heat and stopped shifting gears. It wouldn't shift until I got the speedometer up to 95. Imagine being in the middle of the highway and your car just stops shifting gears. I went to three different places to be told nothing was wrong just to have this happen. After taking it to my mechanic, I was told that it needed a wave plate repair which would mean rebuilding the transmission. I took my car to 3 different places all quoting me the same amount of $3000. While at two of the auto shops I ran into 3 other people with malibu that are having the exact same problems and my car and theirs has less than 100k miles

Filed May 5, 2017 · Acceleration, Engine · 7,100 miles · OH

My engine light has been on since I purchased the car back in 2014 the dealership said it was no big deal that the light would evenually go out. Upon purchase it had 51,000 miles on it, because they had it for a few weeks due to it having hail damage the finance company wouldn't approve the loan because of problems. The car was riding ok up until a few montha ago I noticed I was loosing power it was driving slower, I started feeling it tugging when I wanted to pick up speed. Then 3 days ago it just wouldn't go in reverse, when I tried to switch back to driving it wouldn't go into drive ultimately I had to have the car towed because the tranmission went out on it. The car only has 71,000 miles on it. I barely drive it anywhere. The engine to look at it is very clean. I looked up all the recalls on my car and none of them I was notified for and there are many. So why am I not getting a letter about this transmission that has obviously gone out. Up until now I was in love with this chevrolet malibu and was a devoted customer advising people this was a good car, now I'm not so sure. Looking at all these recalls are alarming.

Filed Oct 6, 2016 · Transmission · 103,000 miles · TX

Transmission went out while driving. Would not shift gears then would not go into reverse to clear traffic suspect wave plate failure in the transmission

Filed Mar 25, 2016 · Transmission · 98,273 miles · NY

Less than two months after my 5 year or 100,000 mile powertrain warranty expired my transmission stopped working. It started by driving slowly while pressing on the accelerator. I was able to park the car and when I tried to reverse out of the parking space and it would not go into reverse. I had onstar so I had to get a tow to the nearest dealership which had just closed. I had to wait until the next day and the dealership called me to tell me that the transmission needed to be replaced and it would cost me $3,910.00. I have read several complaints about this so I do not understand why gm has not recalled this transmission. Many of them failed before $100,000 miles so they would have been able to get a new one. I was just two months past my 5 year but was at 98,273 miles and my warranty was expired. I had to get a new car since I could not afford to pay $4000.00 to get a new transmission. The car is just sitting and can't be driven.

Filed Mar 8, 2016 · Driver assistance, Steering · 87,800 miles · OH

Received messages of: service ESC, service traction, service power steering, eng pwr reduced, engine disabled this morning while driving to work. Engine lost all power, went into limp mode, had to pull to side of road to try and turn the engine off and on to try to reset. Nearly caused accident from oncoming and trailing vehicles. This make and model needs to be entered into the recall.

Filed Sep 1, 2015 · Transmission · 105,000 miles · OR

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 chevrolet malibu. While driving at 45 MPH, the vehicle started to downshift independently. The contact heard an abnormal noise under the vehicle shortly after the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to maneuver to the shoulder of the road and restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle would not shift. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 105,000. Updated 11/06/15*lj

Filed Mar 4, 2015 · Driver assistance, Engine · 91,500 miles · MI

I was driving my 2011 chevrolet malibu at about 40 MPH on a fairly busy 2 lane street. Without warning the car lost power. A message appeared in the information screen indicating something like "reduced power to the engine". Also, a message indicated that the engine was operating under reduced power mode because I needed to service ESC, and the engine light was displayed as well on the dashboard. I was fortunately able to get the car pulled off of the road and into a parking lot. I read the owners manual and essentially found out that the vehicle was operating in "limp mode". I took the car to the dealership and found this to be a "common problem" for chevy malibu models. My car was, of course, out of warranty and not covered under any sort of recall, so I had to pay about $500 for the repair. My concern is that this is a safety issue as I suddenly and without any warning lost power. Had this occurred when trying to pull across a heavy intersection or merging into traffic this could have caused a serious injury. Further, I see reports all over the internet about this issue and I am reporting this as a serious safety concern - had this situation happened under different circumstances it very easily could have caused an accident and serious injury to someone. I since followed up with chevrolet service and they essentially told me that they are "aware" of the issue but there are no recalls etc...