15th May 2006, 01:44

I have a 2001 Malibu and it makes that same grinding noise when it starts, although it's not constant, but regular. It's rather embarrassing when people are around.

I also have a problem with it revving itself. Sometimes I'll put it into park and the RPM gauge will shoot up to about 2500 RPMs. This also makes it had to brake and you can definitely feel it resisting.

This car is going to be the death of me.

27th Nov 2006, 20:02

Thought we were helping our son out 2 years ago when we sold our 2001 Malibu to him. He just replaced the Intake Manifold Gasket for the second time in 2 years; the car is still overheating and loosing Dex Cool. Can't believe that GM won't do a recall on this problem? We begged them to do something the first time the gasket was replaced, but they said they hadn't had enough cars experiencing the same problem. The car only had 40,000 miles on it at the time. He's had to replace the ignition, which also seems to be a common problem with the Chevy Malibu. He is now so frustrated with this car that he's ready to push it off a cliff. Boy did we do him a favor selling it to him... we didn't have him pay what the actual blue book value was. At this point there's really not much value to this Malibu, since he's not able to drive it.

15th Jan 2007, 20:45

I feel for everyone that has had problems with their cars. This is the last straw. I have been a loyal GM customer and believe they should stand by their products. Like that will ever happen. Since I purchased the car (original owner), I have been relatively lucky. I have only had to: 1) replace the alternator (within 1st week of ownership), 2) gone through 2 sets of rotors, 3) replaced the intake manifold gasket @46K miles, 4) fixed temperature gauge, and finally... replace the intake manifold gasket AGAIN at a cost of $1200. Nice quality GM. My problem with all of this is that I do everything I am supposed to do to maintain a vehicle. This should not happen. You know it's bad when a service rep says that I can expect this to probably happen again within another 45K miles. Nice. Where the heck is the class action already!

26th Jan 2007, 23:35

My wife has a 2001 malibu. I have done the gaskets twice for the intake. I was sad today, engine gone 43k miles. I like this car when it works. It hasn't worked since I have known her. She loves the car. I am a mechanic for an import company. I don't like this car, now I have to buy a motor. Not happy Jarrett.

5th Mar 2007, 10:25

My friend has a 2001 Malibu, and has had many problems recently. The car has 80 some thousand miles on it, and it driven recreationally and the 5 blocks to work everyday. Recently, the girlfriend took it out and ran it for 3 days without putting gas in it, and it died. We put multiple gallons of gas in and some STP additives, still nothing. It wants to start real bad, it's like right on the cusp of starting, but won't turn over. There have been minor problems in the past, but this is ridiculous, anyone have any ideas on what this could be? I can hear the fuel pump running, and theres plenty of gas. Hoping for the filter to be bad, but anyone got any bright ideas?

22nd Jun 2007, 15:25

Sadly, I am also an owner of a 2001 Malibu who's not happy with the quality! My feelings would be different... if only I could get the check engine light off long enough to pass the emissions test.

23rd Jun 2007, 06:22

To get your check engine light off, disconnect the battery for atleast 10 minutes, this will reset the computer. IF your light comes back on, take it to autozone and have it scanned, they will tell you what is wrong.

21st Jul 2008, 12:35

Good News!!!

A class action lawsuit was won against GM for the inferior intake manifold gaskets/and acidic GM coolant (Dex-cool). Go to the following link to see if and how much reimbursement you are eligible for:

http://www.girardgibbs.com/dexcool.html

9th Jan 2009, 18:35

I went to the repair shop to find out what was wrong with my 01 Malibu. They told me it was my head gasket, they wanted to charge me over $1600 and then another $2-300 more for a PCV and a flush. Then I called around and the price when up to $2100!!! I will never have a Malibu again, such a quality car. And think I used to think of GM as quality.

13th Mar 2009, 11:55

I have a Malibu LS 01 and I love it. Yes, it has been in the shop a few times, but I'm not going sell it for nothing, I think it is a good car. It is how you take care of it.

30th May 2009, 19:54

I also have a 2001 Malibu and I recently experienced the loss of antifreeze and overheating. Luckily my husband discovered that the o-ring in the cap of the reservoir was broke. We replaced the cap for $6 and it was fixed. Unfortunately, we have the IMG leak problem too. We'll just have to try and baby it until we can afford to fix it. Anyway, for the parents that sold their car to their son, I know it's been awhile since you posted but I hope you see this and it turns out that is the problem with his car and the overheating.

Amy.

17th Sep 2009, 18:16

Hi, I also have a 2000 LS Malibu. The car is very comfortable and roomy. I inherited it from my mom, she hated it!

It has 70 thousand original miles on it. I replaced the front coil springs, had to have new front calipers and brake lines, pads, rotors, etc. That took care of it eating brakes! The springs made it corner and ride better.

I took care of the leaking intake manifold gasket by flushing the coolant out, replacing it and adding a bottle of head/intake gasket sealer liquid I bought at an auto parts store. I followed the instructions and I have had no signs of leaking since, no mixing of fluids and no overheating for 20,000 miles! I have no loss in this car so the sealer was an experiment. I also use LUCAS oil stabilizer AND LUCAS fuel additive.

I get 30mpg with the 3.1!

Good luck everyone!

11th May 2010, 18:13

I own a 2001 Chevy Malibu, I have the same problems as other Malibu's, which is overheating, leaking antifreeze. I had head gaskets replaced twice in three years, had a water pump, thermostat, and had 4 reservoirs tanks put on in the last 3 years and it still over heats. I'm going to get rid of this piece of junk and get a Toyota!!! Maybe I can save some money.

18th May 2010, 16:50

Same problems, got it used, it's an 01 Malibu, been in the shop more time than it has been driven, replaced all 4 gaskets twice in the last year. and yes, I have a mechanic in the family that makes sure all his nieces and nephews take care of their vehicles. It is a piece of crap and I will never own another one. Thank God for my Grandmother's old Ford Taurus, as it's the only thing getting us around these days.