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Car Forum / Chevrolet / Chevrolet Malibu / October 2006New owner of a '98 Malibu
Hello all. I'm new to this forum, I usually hang around the alt.autos.ford forum, but I just bought my first Malibu and I'm looking for a few suggestions. Having been a Ford guy all my life, I am actually quite happy with how this car drives and works. It has high highway kms (255,000) and the second owner told me that it has a piston slap, which goes away and you can't even notice after only 45 seconds. The fact that Chevrolet has been using this engine for such a long time, and it is known to be reliable makes me not worry about the mileage or piston slap. Not to mention that if something catastrophic were going to happen to the engine, I think it would have happened by now. Also the fact that the car has been very well maintained makes me feel that much better. The first thing I noticed about the car was at low speeds, there is a whistling sound, I think it is coming from the engine compartment somewhere near the center, but not positive. Usually goes away after you get up to 50 - 60 km/h, and it seems to be short random blows and not long, annoying blasts. I'm thinking alternator bearing or tensioner pulley, but would appreciate other suggestions. Secondly, when I got the car home from buying it, I popped the hood to take a look around. This car has the 3.1L V6 and after a thorough look around, I couldn't find a dipstick for the transmission. I have found the trans. fluid fill, which was reasonably hard to remove, but I thought it may have a dipstick on it, which it didn't. Having said that, what is the proper way to check the trans. fluid? BTW, I didn't get the manual with the car. I have downloaded the PDF owners manual, but I don't think it mentions anything about checking the trans. fluid. The last thing I noticed was the ABS light stays on all the time. The second owner told me that he replaced the drivers side front caliper and he wasn't sure if he bled all the air out of the system. The brake pedal feels as though there may be a small amount of air, even though there is only a short amount of play before the brakes activate normally. I will try to bleed the system today, hopefully it is not a wheel sensor making the light come on. Any suggestions are welcome on any of the above. Thanks in advance for any help Sharky I read the Ford forum also as I have a Sable but the best repair info can be found on alt.autos.gm I have a '01 & '02 Malibu's in the family I wrench on and yes piston slap on cold start is normal on the 3.1 motor. My wife's cars quiets down fast, my sister's car sounds like a diesel until it warms up but both cars have over 100k miles and use very little oil, almost none between changes. There is no trans dip stick, there is a level plug in the side of the trans by the right side output shaft. Intake manifold gaskets leaking coolant into the oil is a issue with the 3.1 engine family, if your losing coolant and no external leaks can be found then it's the intake gaskets for sure. Engine oil analysis is the sure way to know. I've done both my cars as they started leaking at 80k miles. Coolant in the oil will smoke the engine bearings. Passlock sensor in the ignition switch and the hazard light switch are 2 other issues with these cars. There is a recall on the hazard light switch. Wheel sensors in salt areas are a common problem in all cars, scan for codes. > Hello all. I'm new to this forum, I usually hang around the > alt.autos.ford forum, but I just bought my first Malibu and I'm looking [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Sharky Repairman, thanks for the advice. After some research on the internet, I found out about the intake manifold gasket leak and made sure there was absolutely no signs of a coolant leak before I handed over any money. There are no signs of sludge anywhere near the oil cap or dipstick, and from what the second owner told me, it uses no oil between changes. I did not know about the issues with the Passlock sensor or the hazard light, I will have to do some research. I ran a VIN check through the Chevrolet dealership and it showed that there were no outstanding recalls to be done. I think you may be right about the road salt and the ABS sensors, this is probably what is causing the ABS light to stay on. Here in Nova Scotia, the DOT uses incredible amounts of road salt during the winter, so there are all sorts of things to worry about on our vehicles. I'm not exactly sure where the sensors are located or how to clean them, so I'll have to add that to my research list. Thanks again for your help, Sharky The ABS sensor is part of the wheel bearings and had to be replaced on mine when the ABS light started staying on. The part is ~$200. Other problems include the heater fan switch not working in positions 1 or 2. This is an $20 external resistor. Another problem I encountered is the A/C works fine except on hot humid days, (when you need it most). There is a control head rebuild guide from some helpful guy in Mexico floating around the web that will save you $200 if you do it yourself. My 2001 Malibu is quickly becoming a full time DIY project. My piston slap last for about 12 minutes and the engine has only 66k mi on it. Intake manifold gasket was replaced at 36k mi. after leaking into the oil. Good luck to you. - Duane > Repairman, thanks for the advice. After some research on the internet, I > found out about the intake manifold gasket leak and made sure there was [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Thanks again for your help, > Sharky The transmission has no dipstick; the factory does an overfill, so even if a bit leaks out there are usually no problems. My daughter had the first trans fluid change on hers at 160,000 Km and it was extremely clean. Mine is due for the 160,000 Km change next month. Without the dipstick, significantly fewer contaminants get into the transmission, resulting in higher reliability. Good luck!, David > Hello all. I'm new to this forum, I usually hang around the alt.autos.ford > forum, but I just bought my first Malibu and I'm looking for a few [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Sharky |
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