Force A Recall

[Jqueenie33]

Ok..Who here is sick and tired of all the crap going wrong with their Malibu? Well here is what you need to do. Call GM and complain. They need to issue a recall on all the 4 & 6 cylinder engines, because of the Dex-cool. They know that Dex-cool erodes the seals and gaskets and they dont care. They will not fix them or pay to have them fixed. This is an issue that anyone who owns a GM car, should sit up and listen to. You too will be paying out lots of money to keep your car drivable. How much are you willing to pay? I have had to replace my intake manifold gaskets twice in less than 50,000 miles. My car just hit 100,000. As you all know, this is not a cheap job. It is costing me $1,200.00 this time. So, if you are mad as hell, and aren't going to take it anymore, then lets do something about it. If we all complain to GM, we can force them into a recall. I called them today, and they are not willing to do anything about their inferior parts even though they know they are useless and that Dex-cool is going to eat the hell out of your engine...they don't care.

Force a recall!
call GM at their toll free #
1-800-222-1020
ask for Carlos Mendoza and be sure and tell him that Janell Schulthess sent you!

[HyperFox]

Mmmk. Ok.. Done.

[wpbharry]

The gaskets were redesigned back in mid-'03, so this is a non-issue for anyone that's had the gaskets done since then (at a GM dealer, anyway).

Because of this, a recall will never happen. Waste of time.

And Malibus from '04 on aren't affected. Plenty of folks with '04 and '05 Malibu V-6s have cleared well over 50K with no problems.

[HyperFox]

I know this will probably open up a whole can of worms but...

I dont think the dex-cool was the issue. Many cars use this type of coolant, even some that arent gm's. And notably, the engines mostly affected are the Gm 60' v6's, 2800, 3100, 3400, (I know my montana had this issue) im convinced that it is the gasket design. With my montana, I had them go early, at 65,000km (of course, just out of warranty). After I replaced the gaskets with a set of the gm second revision, there was no problem. I still used dex-cool and after I retired the van at 212,000kms (bad accident) it still was intact. The engine today still lives on in an impala.

You will likely never see a recall, which I think is unfair, just about every 3.4L I have seen has had the gaskets fail.

There are other notable quirks of the 3.4l engine, such as a noisy valvetrain. Its simply designed like this. It is a good engine overall with very little issues other then this one, and it still lives on in the Chevy Equinox. Allthough I wouldnt count on it being around much longer with the new 3.5 and 3.9l.

Just my

[shadow5599]

Many dont believe it's the type of coolant, its more the 2 types of metal involved. An aluminum head on an iron block. The 2 metals contract and expand at different rates. All engines of this type have gasket problems.
Isnt the 3.5 the same engine as the 3.4 except with a different bore/stroke or something?

[HyperFox]

Hmm. I know the gaskets were loosing are the lower intake manifold gaskets. Connecting the intake manifold to the head. Arent they both aluminum?

[Jqueenie33]

Originally Posted by wpbharry

The gaskets were redesigned back in mid-'03, so this is a non-issue for anyone that's had the gaskets done since then (at a GM dealer, anyway).

Because of this, a recall will never happen. Waste of time.

And Malibus from '04 on aren't affected. Plenty of folks with '04 and '05 Malibu V-6s have cleared well over 50K with no problems.

I have had many chevy's in my driving years, but I have never had the sort of problems with the engines like I have had with the 98 Malibu. The could do something about the type of seals, gaskets, whatever, but they choose not too. I don't know if anyone is aware or not, but Canada has a huge class action suit right now against GM for this very thing. They are going to show that GM has had knowledge of the problem for some time, but chose not to do anything about it with the older models. They just assume that the consumer should bare the cost of repairing it time and time again. I am not saying that ALL the Malibu's are crap, but from what I have seen on this site, and heard from other owner's, we are all having the same occurances. There is proof that the coolant (dex) erodes the seals. So why continue the use? It is deception at the very least and until people speak out, they aren't going to change design, or materials. Isn't this how we go about getting better products? Trial and error? How about a bit less error?

[HyperFox]

Hmm! Id like to see the proof of it erroding the seals. It seems suspicious that only one family of engines has the same gasket blow and none of the other gm cars, trucks, and newer vans have no problem, and continue to use dex cool. And shockingly enough, gm comes out with a revised seal.

As well, some Sterling (Freightliner), MACK, and One or two Chryslers use Dex-cool, and you would be hard pressed to find any complaints about it.

Heres some reading to bolster the concept. Also I have yet to see any class action suit against dex cool winning. I have seen about the gaskets winning.

http://www.imcool.com/articles/antif...l-macs2001.htm

HOWEVER.

5 years, 240,000kms. Right. Anyone who can do a web search can see tons and tons of lawsuits and other issues. Dex-cool IMO cannot survive this long.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/23/g...action-status/

The fellas here at autoblog have inidicated that it can, providing that you keep up with the most stringent maintenance, do not add tap water, yadda yadda yadda. Gm made us a promise. And I doubt if the general can keep it.

Myself, I go by the eyeball method. If I look in the rad and overflow and it looks dirty, I change it. Simple.

[twistedtech]

I think I might have to re-read this and take some notes.First off,the first post states you had your intake gaskets replaced 2 times within 100,000 miles.Not so good,1 of 2 things happened here.1,Your shop did not get you to flush your system when it really needed to be done.2 your shop did not get the job done right.I have been a tech for a little while now,about 23 years or so,and have never seen a 3100 or a 3400 come back with the same intake issue ever.I am not bashing your shop or your tech,just saying that thier is more her than meets the eye.FORD had the same deal with the 3.8lit.Headgaskets were junk.Swap out the head gaskets and it was a great motor.Well as good as a Ford motor can get.I can't see a class action suit going to far here.I know of a lot,and I mean more than you would ever imagine,that get paid flat rate and don't do the whole job.When you get any kind of serious cooling system repair done it is impairitive that the ENTIRE SYSTEM BE FLUSHED!Coolant goes acidic,acid eats metals.I just watched a guy lose his job just last week for not doing his job well.Guess what,he was our heating & A/C guy.I am not syaing you right or wrong,but did you factor in all the math?

[Negatoro]

Well I'll say that besides general maint. items I have had little unexpected trouble with my Malibu. This vehicle seems to have quite a few quirks about it, but that's what you get; No car is perfect. Take the good with the bad or sell your car and go buy whatever might please you. My LIM gasket went right quick at 65k miles, I replaced with GM's updated gasket and bolts, cleaned injectors, cleaned every part that was disassembled for the repair, reman. water pump, tstat, full coolant flush. I still use dexcool and have had no problems yet at 194k miles.

Take care of your car, it will take care of you.

..or..

Don't take care of your car.. force a recall?

-Mark T.

[wpbharry]

The 3500 in '04+ Malibus are of two different types. Those in the '04 - '06s (such as my '04 Maxx) are based on the old 3400. The 3500 VVT in the '07s is a totally different engine. That one is based on the 3900, which was also a totally new engine.

I had a '98 Malibu LS V-6 prior, so now you know why I have GMPP on the Maxx (and luckily, so did I on the '98). What caused me to sell the '98 wasn't the intake gaskets failing, it was having to replace the ignition lock cylinder at least once a year. I racked up over $5,000 in covered repairs on GMPP from '01 - '04 and had paid around $800 for it back in '98.

The Maxx has been a MUCH better car.

The OHV V-6s bite the dust in the Malibu next year. The '08 will have the (expensive) 3.6L DOHC as the V-6 choice, because so many Internet junkies (and the media) have complained that the OHVs are ancient-tech and noisy. But, bet I'd never see 35 mpg on the highway in the 3.6L, as I do in the Maxx. And the EPA rates my vehicle at 30 mpg highway.....

Still, I'll try the '08 when it comes out, but won't buy before '09. No more first-year gremlins for me.

[slls]

Originally Posted by wpbharry

The 3500 in '04+ Malibus are of two different types. Those in the '04 - '06s (such as my '04 Maxx) are based on the old 3400. The 3500 VVT in the '07s is a totally different engine. That one is based on the 3900, which was also a totally new engine.

The 3500 VVT is just the 3500 with variable valve timing , it is not the 3900.

[wpbharry]

Originally Posted by slls

The 3500 VVT is just the 3500 with variable valve timing , it is not the 3900.

Incorrect. The '07 3500 VVT is 3900 (which has VVT only in the '07 Impala; it's non-VVT in all other models that use it) based, NOT the old (non-VVT) 3500 based. It's too old to find now, but press releases prior to the '06 Impala's intro clearly delineated this. The 3500 VVT has absolutely no relation to the non-VVT 3500.

Members in a GM forum that I subscribe to (and myself, to be honest) were in hysterics over the expense of developing yet another 3500 so soon after the non-VVT 3500 was introduced. While the 3500 and 3900 VVT will see some use for a few more years, looks like GM is converting to DOHC V-6s, which makes all the development expense for the 2 3500s and the 3900 seem a waste. That's GM.

[Jqueenie33]

Originally Posted by Negatoro

Well I'll say that besides general maint. items I have had little unexpected trouble with my Malibu. This vehicle seems to have quite a few quirks about it, but that's what you get; No car is perfect. Take the good with the bad or sell your car and go buy whatever might please you. My LIM gasket went right quick at 65k miles, I replaced with GM's updated gasket and bolts, cleaned injectors, cleaned every part that was disassembled for the repair, reman. water pump, tstat, full coolant flush. I still use dexcool and have had no problems yet at 194k miles.

Take care of your car, it will take care of you.

..or..

Don't take care of your car.. force a recall?

-Mark T.

Well Mark,
I have tried to take care of the malibu like any good owner should, but unfortunately maybe I just happened to not get such a good one anyway. Maybe my next purchase I should just try Mazad...lol

[Negatoro]

JQueenie33,

I think that I, too, have a 'not-so-good' Malibu. I used the phrase 'general maintanence' loosely. This vehicle has definately tried to nickel and dime me, and I've had nightmares about its pesky quirks. Although I've had many problems with the Malibu I still feel that I can't bash it. The day I say something really negative about it is the day damn car will leave me stranded 20 miles out of town.

To sum it up..

I found a buyer, and I'm selling her finally.

-Mark T.

P.S.
Mazda.. That's FoMoCo right?

Long Live Ford!!!

-'88 Lincoln Mark VII LSC
-'89 Ford Mustang GT
-'92 Ford f-350 diesel

The Fords have treated me with much more respect.
<duck and hide from the chevy guys>