4th Jun 2005, 17:20
I Have 2000 Malibu with surging problems to and after taking it to a number of places I think the problem is finally fixed. If you have a Malibu with piston slap that surges the knock sensor is picking that up and is retarding the timing. That is what is causing the surging. The fix is to take out the knock sensor and put a plug in the block like an ait fitting. Then put a piece of air hose from the sensor to the plug in the block and hook the wire back on the sensor. The hose takes away the vibration from the sensor. The only draw back so far is the check engine light is know for that sensor. If any one tries this and has any luck I would like to here about it especally if your check engine light does "not" come on. The sensor is beside the oil filter and is easy to get at.
1st Dec 2005, 19:52
Hi there. The surging in my 2000 Malibu was caused by the cruise control sticking. RPMs went crazy. The knocking and slapping noise that the dealer states is normal, finally caused me to have to buy a new engine.
12th Dec 2005, 21:43
I have a 2000 Chevy Malibu and I too have experienced the engine surge you mention.
I have had the cruise control switch repaired, but I still am having problems with the occasional surge. The latest problem is transmission fluid leaking into the radiator. Could the surge be due to the transmission slipping due to the fluid leak?
In my opinion the 2000 Malibu is a poorly designed car.
10th Feb 2006, 11:38
Yes, I have noticed the Surge that occurs while driving. I have been told by the dealership that it is caused by a faulty TCC solenoid that is in the Transmission. The transmission has to be removed, the valve body must be drilled out and sleeved and a standard replacement ($45.00) put back in. Most other transmissions can make this replacement through the pan.
12th Jun 2006, 16:11
I too own a 2000 Malibu that we purchased brand new. At about 40,000 miles, the problems began. We have most of the problems that are listed by everyone else. The AC fan, blinker problems, AC button, transmission was replaced at 85,000 miles; the coolant was leaking, that was repaired; I hate the brakes; those are replaced often. My next car is going to be a Toyota. I'm at a little over 91,000 miles on this car, with a brand new GM transmission in this car 6 months ago, it's back at the dealership as we speak, with the surging problem again. Adios GM.
14th Jun 2006, 22:10
I own a 2000 Malibu. I got it in 2002 with 40,000 miles on it. It seems the check engine light comes on more than the washer fluid light. I've had the problems with the blinkers and I've replaced the brakes so many times I blamed Pep Boys for doing a bad job. My mechanic told me that Chevys have bad brakes. Right now my car is in the shop getting a new engine. I have 119,000 miles on my car. My gas and temperature needle would go up for a few seconds and come back down to normal. My car was not running hot. As for electrical problems, my cigarette lighter never worked, the switch to the side view mirrors stopped working, and like everyone else my vents would not work on 1 and 2 setting. One thing that I haven't read on any website yet, is about the gear shift. The gear shift is broken. It will shift all the way to drive 3 without me pressing the button to switch gears. This causes the key to stop at ACC and I can't turn the car all the way off. I had a 1993 Plymouth Sundance Duster for 3 years and never had that many problems. GM is not the car for me. I'm glad I know there are people out there who share my pain.
23rd Jun 2006, 21:20
Wow, I sure wish we had read up on chev malibu's before buying ours! It isn't as bad as some, but it has been a real "gem" to own.
We have replaced the brakes once a year, they are so badly worn at 1 years time they are down to metal.
Transmission is slipping badly, even after getting the tranny flushed and the filter changed.
A/C sucks, doesn't work when you need it, when it's actually hot outside, and we did have the resistor changed, still no change though.
Went through one fuel pump, but that is normal and was covered thank goodness under the warranty.
Recently we just figured out why the coolant was overflowing when getting to the halfway mark on the temp gauge, the cap was shot to the overfill tank. It only took us 2 months to figure that one out. Seems to have fixed that problem.
But now this mysterious little red light on the upper left hand corner of the gear shifter is on, and we cannot find anything telling us what it is for? Any ideas?
We are hopefully trading it in for a van in the fall, so 2 more months of the Malibu... we have found out it is worth next to nothing now, to add salt to the wound...; (
25th Jun 2006, 12:34
We purchased our 2004 Malibu last year, with 36,000 KM on it. The surging just started last week and I'm taking it back to the dealer tomorrow. I'm so glad I read all these comments before I go. I also have had problems with the fuel gauge reading "empty" when the tank was full and the temp. gauge reading "cold" with the engine hot. Also, my brakes are beginning to pulse.
I drove Fords for many years without any of these problems, so there's no prize for guessing what my next car will be.
22nd Mar 2005, 12:40
I think I discovered a remedy for the engine surging at highway speeds. I recently had the water pump replaced along with the upper and lower coolant hoses and flushed the radiator. It has only been three days since I had the water pump replaced, but I'm guessing it was the pump that causing the surging problems. While that matter was taken care of, I also told the techs to just replace the hoses and flush the coolant. No sense in coming back two months later to do the routine flush, so may as well do it now. I knew the pump was going bad, probably to the point where it could burst at any time. It was the original OEM pump when I bought the car new in May 2000 and it now has 93700+ miles on it. Pretty impressive to have the pump work that hard for that long. I'm pretty satisfied with that OEM pump. The tech just confirmed my suspicions that the seals in the pump were worn pretty bad. I'll know for sure it's the pump, if the car does not surge during the next two weeks or so.