2013 Chevrolet Malibu: steering wheel locks up

Filed Aug 12, 2021 · Electrical, Steering · WI

When driving this vehicle with ~111,000 miles on it. The infotainment center continually rebooted, causing drops of Bluetooth connection and pauses in the AC. The instrument panel stayed working, but lights turned off. This happened about 6 times in a 20 minute drive on the highway. After exiting the highway and executing a turn the reboot happened again, however the power steering locked up making the car unmanageable. Thankfully nothing was hit by the car! After this incident, driver was rightfully freaked out and won't touch the car again until this is resolved. One week prior the car rebooted once and the engine idled oddly, turned car off and on and worked fine for about a week, then the above incident happened.

Filed Oct 28, 2020 · Electrical, Steering · 95,000 miles · MD

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the steering wheel seized with the battery not charging message displayed on the instrument panel. The contact stated she was unable to remove the key from ignition. Additionally, the windows failed to operate as designed. The vehicle was not drivable. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the gear-box was repaired and an unknown fuse was replaced. Three days later, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic and was repaired for the same electrical failure. Despite the second repair, the failure recurred with the battery warning light illuminated on the instrument panel while her husband was driving at 30 MPH. The contact's husband had the vehicle towed back to the same independent mechanic and was informed that there was another electrical short in the fuse box. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

Filed Sep 24, 2020 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 254,000 miles · WV

Car will stall out and won't go at time without pumping the gas. We have replaced vacuum pump and both o2 sensors. Power steering locks up when hitting a small bump, won't start unless I moved the drivers seat up and back, if I use the blinkers my radio goes off if I use my high beams the radio freezes. It will do weeks with no issues then one day it will start acting up and does it for days or weeks. Chevy says there is no recap for that model but I've read multiple complaints about the same things so why is it not being addressed by gm

Filed Sep 11, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · CA

While driving the whole car turned off. Steering wheel locked up, engine cut off, and light went out. This has been happening for a couple of months now. While I'm driving the car will shut off. It has done this while I have been on the highway and also in the city. This is very dangerous. Can not figure out the issue.

Filed Jun 28, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 64,000 miles · PA

At various times while driving-whether parked, actively driving, at a stop sign, turning, backing up- my cars power will flicker and the engine shuts off causing the steering to lock. This has done this to me quite a few times, almost causing an accident on more then one occasion. Sometimes it will do it as often as 14 times in a 25 minute ride. No lights such as the cel or anything come on beforehand to indicate that theres a problem when it happens. I've taken it to a mechanic twice to have it checked out and he sees no obvious reasons why it would do this, and there are no codes to pull to explain it. Enough people are having this same issue it should be made a recall and looked into! It's not safe to drive a vehicle like this that can shut off and the steering locks at any given moment. The 1st time this happened was june 5, 2020 and almost every day since.

Filed Apr 12, 2020 · Electrical, Steering · 109,000 miles · CA

When I was parked I was rolling the windows with the car running and all the lights and car was cutting off. While I'm driving I lose power all my dash lights go out and while making a turn the steering wheel locks up to where I can not correct myself from turning so I have to stop in the middle of the street until the power comes back on.

Filed Jan 6, 2020 · Steering · 50,000 miles · WI · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 chevrolet malibu. The contact stated that the while turning the steering wheel, the steering wheel would lock and there would be an abnormal noise without warning intermittently. The contact took the vehicle to holiday automotive sales located at 321 n rolling meadows dr, fond du lac, wi 54937, where they were unable to determine the failure. The failure would continue to occur on several occasions. The contact also stated that while driving a 50 MPH and turning the steering wheel to the left into a curve, the steering wheel locked without warning. As a result, the vehicle crashed into a ditch. No injuries or damages occurred due to the failure and the police were not called. The contact was able to drive the vehicle at a steady 20 MPH to heiser chevrolet located at 2620 w washington st, west bend, wi 53095 where the vehicle remained in their possession and provided a loaner vehicle. The manufacturer was notified about the failure and filed a case with the manufacturer, the contact had yet to hear back from the manufacturer. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

Filed Oct 15, 2019 · Electrical, Steering · 66,000 miles · NJ

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 chevrolet malibu. While driving 40 MPH on the freeway, the steering seized and the vehicle lost power without warning. The contact managed to veer the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and the key would not release from the ignition. Approximately two hours later, the vehicle did not resume normal operation. The failure recurred multiple times. The manufacturer and dealer were made aware of the failure. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 13v173000 (electrical system). The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.*pm the vehicle was towed to do the dealer and consumer was told it was not electrical problem but block cable was replaced.

Filed Sep 16, 2019 · Electrical · MI

My car keeps losing power. It starts with the radio flashing on and off. Then the steering locks up. The car sometimes shuts all the way off. It starts back up but it will shut off while driving. I purchased the car may 2019. It has happened several times. Most recently 9/16/2019. Driving the radio flashed the steering wheel tightened. It didnt shut down. But it when through that process like 5-6 times back to back. When researching the issue I see my car is not the only car having this problem. It appears to be a wide spread issue with the 2013 chevy malibu. It should be addressed.

Filed Sep 9, 2019 · Steering · 147,000 miles · IA

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 chevrolet malibu. While driving 60 MPH, the steering wheel seized and the entire instrument panel warning indicator illuminated. The contact mentioned that the vehicle jerked while the failure occurred. An independent mechanic was contacted and informed the contact that the vehicle would not be able to be diagnosed unless the failure occurred in their presence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 147,000.

Filed Jun 18, 2019 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 134,000 miles · MI · crash

Takata recall the lights on my dash kept going in and out while I was driving and while stationary. While my car was off, with no key in the ignition, the gauges would make clicking sounds and bounce up and down about an 8th of an inch. The lights on the dash would stay off for days at a time, making it impossible for me to see how fast I was going or how much gas was in the car. Sometimes the lights would click on for about 30 seconds and then the speedometer would be stuck at the last speed I was going at, for days, without showing anything on the digital speedometer. When I took it to get looked at, no codes were found. My car kept dying while I was driving, went and had my battery and alternator tested and they were 100% fine. Car dash lights started flashing on and off while I was going around a curve. Check engine, oil, wiper fluid, gas light, everything flashed on and off, then my steering locked up, causing me to go off of the road and hit a tree. My car was totaled.

Filed Jan 25, 2019 · Transmission · 73,408 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 chevrolet malibu. While driving 35 MPH, the vehicle decelerated. The contact's daughter pulled the vehicle off the freeway and the transmission slipped. The vehicle jerked violently and almost crashed. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to burien chevrolet (14400 1st ave s, burien, wa 98168, (206) 243-5800) where it was diagnosed that a new transmission needed to be installed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified and did not assist. The failure mileage was 73,408. *tr the consumer stated evenafter having the vehicle was unsafe to drive due to the steering wheel locking up.