Problems with 2004 Chevrolet Malibu ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Electronic power steering system failure with no warning. i started up my 2004 chevy malibu and as i was backing up off the drive way, my steering wheel started to lock up. no warning lights came on. this is a safety problem, what if this happened while driving at high way speeds! here is a link to this particular concern that i found online. http://www.lemonlawclaims.com/malibu_brake_and_steering_problem.htm i hope you guys can be able to check it out and make it safe for the driver and the public to drive in peace. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that after turning the engine off, he was unable to remove the key from the ignition switch. the defect had occurred several times. the vehicle was diagnosed by the dealer and the ignition switch was replaced. the manufacturer was not notified of the defect. the failure mileage was 11,000. *tr

We own a 2004 chevy malibu ls sedan with 66,000 miles on it. in march we had the front right turn signal light bulb replaced, and within a week we had to replace the rear left turn signal. then on may 1st, we were on a trip when the rear right turn signal went out, so we replaced that. the next day the front left turn signal went out for four hours, started to work again for a while, and went on and off again for two days. we brought it into our dealership because we suspected that there might be an electrical problem. the service person called us to report that we had to replace the electrical harness which had been cut (somehow) and it would cost a large sum of money. as with any fear of major electrical problems in an automobile, we gave him permission to replace it. however on the bill it only states that the bulb was replaced for a lesser cost and said nothing about the electrical harness that he had mentioned (which we never even knew existed). we are going back in to talk with the head service manager about this. our concern is that there are so many reports listed here about turn signal problems. we are reporting this to chevrolet and hope other people will contact chevrolet at so they will be aware of and look into these problems. *tr

Sometimes you can't take your keys out of the ignition after putting it in park. i have to shift it back to reverse and then back in park for it to let the ignition switch to turn all the way off so i can remove my keys. *tr

Some time in december of 2007 the speedometer of my 2004 chevy impala began to malfunction. it is very erratic in that sometimes the needle doesn't move, sometimes it shows 100+mph, sometimes it appears to be accurate, and sometimes it just stays fixed on a speed and doesn't move. we had a mechanic look at it and he said only a dealer could fix it and it would most likely cost over $1,000 to do so. we have chosen to live with it in hopes that chevrolet will put out a recall. *tr

I have had several issues with my steering column that hopefully now have been repaired. my most recent problem is related to the headlights. the front marker lights have burned through the plastic casing. it has overheated my bulb resulting in turn signal going out. in the process of repairing. *tr

We bought the car used with 34,000 miles on it in 3/2006.there was a clunking in the steering when the steering wheel was turned. the dealership replaced the steering column on 12/2007 with 66,000 miles. the clunking was still there and we were told that this is normal. since then the steering has gotten worse. the dealership has tried to find the problem but says it can find nothing wrong. yet sometimes the steering will lockup at low speed when backing up or turning while stopped. it has not done this while driving at road speed (or i would not drive it). however at road speed the steering is very vague. it requires an almost quarter turn of the steering wheel to get the car to respond to a steering input to turn left or right. this is not safe. there is also warning lights that come on the dash, and warning bells that sound, and sometimes they go back off other times car needs to shut off and restarted and it is ok then. check engine light stays on most of the time, again dealership can not find the problem. sometimes the whole dash cluster goes out, the car stays running and they come back on after a time and again if you cut off and restart the car it is ok again for a while. the car currently has 150,000 on it and i have an independent mechanic checking it over to see if he can find the problem. the chevrolet dealership can't find what is wrong to fix it, or so they say. *tr

The horn on my vehicle failed. this led to a near collision as i was unable to utilize the horn to alert the other driver to my presence. i took my 2004 malibu to my mechanic who replaced the fuse. the horn worked for about a day and then when being operated by another driver, he tried to use the horn when another vehicle ran a red light and the horn did not work. per the mechanic the fuse blew again. he ran a check on service notices for the vehicle and found that condensation forms in the location of the horn due to a known defect in the location. gm is aware of this, but has not issued a recall even though the mechanic states that it causes the horn to quit suddenly and the average consumer will believe it is the fuse, repair that only to have the horn fail again within days. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. immediately after purchasing the vehicle in february of 2007, the exterior and interior lights would lose power intermittently. while driving approximately 50-60 mph, the exterior and interior lights lost power and caused the contact to pull over to the side of the road. she turned off and parked the vehicle for a while and eventually the lights illuminated again. the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. approximately a year later, she drove the vehicle back to the dealer due to the exterior and interior lights losing power intermittently. the mechanic replaced the entire instrument panel, but the failure recurred a month later. the vehicle has not been repaired. the dealer and manufacturer were notified and stated that they were not liable for the repairs. the vin was unavailable. the current mileage was 112,000 and failure mileage was 47,000.

I have 3 recall letters and each states the parts aren't available. those recalls are:14116,14152;13036. these recall repairs state that they affect the safety of this vehicle and yet we are forced to drive a vehicle with possible life threatening issues while the parts are not available. the safety issues aside, the recalls affect the value of this product by the implication it's defective. these issues should be dealt with swiftly as to minimize possible fatalities and if no parts are available, then a safe rental vehicle of like kind should be available at no cost to the owners. *tr

Vehicle's anti-theft system frequently locks up, preventing driver from starting car for a minimum of 10-15 minutes. has failed on average once per two months since 2005. have had the ignition switch replaced multiple times yet the problem persists. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that the electrical locks failed and the doors failed to lock. in addition, the windows failed to open or close. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 14v400000 (electrical system). the approximate failure mileage was unknown.

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. while attempting a turn at approximate speeds of 10-15 mph, the power steering failed causing the contact to barely avoid crashing into another vehicle. a police report was filed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer three times for concerns of the power steering failing. the dealer replaced the power steering column, ignition switch and throttle body. the approximate failure mileage was 50,000 and the current mileage was 120,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. while driving at approximately 40 mph, the vehicle stalled. the contact received a notification of nhtsa campaign number: 14v400000 (electrical system) but the recall part was not available. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown. updated 02/23/16*lj updated 4/18/18*jb

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated while driving various speeds, the steering wheel seized and excessive force on the steering wheel was required. the service soon warning light illuminated prior to the failure. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for a diagnosis. the technician stated that the power steering sensor needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact received a notification for recall nhtsa campaign number: 14v252000 (electrical system, electronic stability control, exterior lighting, service brakes, hydraulic, vehicle speed control), nhtsa campaign number: 14v153000 (steering) and nhtsa campaign number: 14v224000 (power train). however, the parts needed were unavailable to service the vehicle under the recall. the dealer was uncertain when the parts would be available. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 62,000.

This vehicle is equipped with remote start, which allows you to start the vehicle from the key remote. on friday 8-19 the "service engine soon light" came on briefly when vehicle was started but did not come back on after i shut the vehicle off and restarted. the following monday 8-22-05 after making a stop, shutting off the engine, and getting off the car the engine started on its own and stayed on for appx a minute, it then shut off and restarted in less than a minute. this cycle repeated for about 8 mins or so on its own. i got back on the car after dropping my child off at school and drove at hwy speeds with the cruise on, after a few minutes of hwy speeds the cruise control shut off and was non responsive. i got off the hwy parked and shut the vehicle off. again the engine started on its own, this time staying on for several minutes. i drove the vehicle to a chevrolet dealership and explained the problem. the service dept replaced the keyless entry module and reprogrammed the brake ecu as they said the keyless module was malfunctioning and causing the engine to start using the remote start feature. they also said the brake module could have caused the cruise control to be non responsive. this malfunction concerned me greatly as the vehicle was garaged kept until this happened and i no longer trust to put the car in the garage in fear of possible carbon monoxide poisoning from the engine starting on its own while in the garage, specially at night while asleep.

Dt: the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the horn is not working. contact does not know how long she has been driving without a horn. she noticed it on saturday june 18, 2005. the contact had numerous problems with the vehicle. gm stated that they could not do anything else for her. every since gm closed the file for her account she was still having problems with the vehicle. *ak

Key is not released from ignition unless shift lever is put again back in drive and then park after car is off. gm has replaced both ignition components and shift components but has not solved the problem since car was new, malibu 2004 lt, and it means sometimes having to leave car with key in ignition if can't remove it.

2004 chevrolet malibu with noise in the steering wheel customer states that this problem has been going for 2 years without correction from the dealership**cc the dealer replaced various parts in the steering, however the problem remained the same. the battery was replaced. the vehicle hesitated to start. the dealer found the ignition switch had shorted out internally. the horn was replaced. the cd player made a clicking sound. *jb

Number one complaint. 2004 malibu is having problems with intermittenly not starting. purchased the car with 6000+ miles. the problem started right after purchase. dealer can't find anything wrong. was told to drive it until it becomes frequent problem. last episode was on 12/8/04. also have had warning come up on regarding the powers teering, took to dealer. they had to "reprogram the car". haven't had that problem since. very concerned over the issue of car not starting. worried it my quit running while driving, and cause accident.*ak

When starting/driving the vehicle, the instrument panel lights failed to work intermittently. provide more information. *jb

Dt: the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the contact states that vehicle will not start. the car will die while it is idling. when getting out of vehicle and turning it off and then get ting back into the vehicle it will not start again. this happened four different times. the cd player will not work, and sometimes when he tried starting vehicle the trunk will open. so it had been several different electrical problems with this vehicle.*ak

Electrical problems and numerous starting problems. while driving, the door locks unlocked, engine dies with no warning. *bf nar *jls the steering wheel locked up, the hazard lights stopped working, the alarm would go off, the power rear view mirrors were inoperative, the vehicle would buck and surge, the steering wheel would shake, the vehicle would start rough and the tachometer would bounce. *sc *jb

i have had many problems with my 04 malibu. rough idle, power steering faliure many times took to dealer 3 times could not duplicate, brought in with power steering out at it was duplicated, but could not figure out for a while told me to continue to drive, no safety factor.finally thought they figured out put in a new steering column, 9,000 miles later back to having problems with power steering. also problems with hard shifting,and also with ignition sticking or continuing to turn over after leeting go of the key. i would not recomend this car to anyone and they should all be crushed.my wife is terrified of the car and will not drive.car is at dealer right now we are driving a loaner. *jb ea04018_cat

While driving 60 mph the steering wheel locked. the consumer pulled over and restarted the vehicle. the horn did not work as well. *jb ea04018_cat

On march 22, 2004 at 2,715 miles steering column locked while driving 56 mph. during the attempt to unlock the steering column consumer broke the steering wheel. at the present time, vehicle stalled while driving 45 mph. consumer believed the problem was due to the computer module. dealer was not contacted during both incidents. *ak ea04018_cat

While driving, the air bag light illuminated on the dashboard. the vehicle was taken to the dealership and the mechanic told the consumer not to panic, because it was normal. *ak the passenger side door was permanently lock from the outside. *jb

Reporting multiple issues. increased problems after recall work performed..items 2 and 3. item 1 from the original purchase and no gm solution on what has been a wide spread part quality problem documented. drivers side seat early on from purchase dealer welded break once. broke again driving with broken seat now leg nerve back problems. concern on safety if in accident a..no recall why no option to get replacement parts or seat why????? while driving vehicle power steering went out reduced acceleration dashboard varying lights random varies off and on able to coast out of traffic. no ability to restart. towed dealer indicated need to replace generator and battery both performed vehicle drains unable to start jump start runs fails again later - no solution problem started after dealership recall work done on ignition switch related to recall work???? sitting in driveway - do we tow back to dealership that had us replace the generator as an unnecessary expense??? selector malfunction not working serviced now no ability to use low gear selection push button. stays on 3 why again related to recall work performed??? some sensations of slippage between gears as well. why?? like the vehicle and want it to be safe to drive and keep in service. loyal gm family member that is considering changing manufacturers. saturn owner - no longer available pontiac owner grand am no loner available pontiac vibe owner chevrolet blazer owner chevrolet camero. chevrolet impala our family list goes on. more difficult to keep the family loyal drop down box on vehicle never displayed.

While driving at 35 mph all gauges failed. consumer didn't know the speed. dealership inspected vehicle several times, and could not duplicate or correct the problem . wanteds to buy the vehicle from the consumer. *ak

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that the day after purchasing her vehicle it would not start. the vehicle was taken back to the dealership where they diagnosed that the wiring was not connected. the contact experienced multiple electrical issues with the vehicle since the failure was diagnosed. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was unknown and the current mileage was 282,456.

Three issues with my 2004 chevrolet malibu ls v6... 1. the steering gear needs to be replaced at 48,000 miles. 2. the starter stays engaged periodically or has trouble turning over to start the car. 3. a/c not cooling vehicle. entire unit eventually replaced. the vehicle has been brought in numerous (13) times to various gm dealers and only has 48,000 miles. *jb

First two occurrences i would be completely stopped at traffic light and my malibu would go completely dead. no warning lights on the dash would light up. the third occurrence my husband was backing out of the parking lot at home and the car went dead again. also, at times when turning the key in the ignition the car would take 3 times to start. the first time the engine would just click like the engine wasn't turning over so to speak, then the other attempts of trying to turn the car on it would just make this god awful noise like it was trying to start but nothing would happen. i am currently filing the florida lemon law on this vehicle.*ak

When driving, the vehicle to cut off. the dealer could not find any defects. *jb

The car cut off while i was driving and in heavy traffic more than once. there was no warning that this would happen. the car was serviced before for this problem but it continued to happen. i have had 3 recalls, the horn fuse has been replaced twice, and the blinker is currently out. the steering collar has also been replaced. this car was supposed to be a new car.

Consumer complained about an electrical problem. consumer took vehicle to dealership and had the work done on july 1, 2004. vehicle had only 100 miles. on august 13,2004 the dashboard lights failed, and the tail lights were out. on august 23, vehicle had the same problem. consumer parked the vehicle and the locks automatically unlocked while the vehicle was still running. also, the air conditioner was running when the key was not in the ignition. *ak

While traveling at any speed vehicle stalled. without consumer had several close calls of being rear ended. vehicle was serviced several times, but problem recurred. *ak

Traveling down street at low speed when a sudden but light jolt from the engine is felt. moments later slowing down for a traffic light total lose of electrical power. this does not happen all the time. vehicle is in for repairs on this date. *ak ea04018_cat

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet malibu. the contact stated that the brakes, steering, and electrical wiring for the headlights failed. the failures have occurred since 2004. while making left turns, the steering wheel was difficult to maneuver. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the contact had been submitting complaints to the manufacturer since 2004. the failure mileage was 35,000. updated 10/23/14*cn updated 4/13/2015 *js

The light with a wrench came on many times. had car serviced three different times (2/19/04, 3/04/04, and 03/11/04). after the third service it was determined that loose ground at left core support was the problem.*ak

While drving or sitting the alarm would go off at anytime, including the vehicle's engine turning on/off while the alarm going off. told by dealer service department that the car could start/turn off on its own while being driven. turned into service department numerous times and problem not fixed, they replaced the computer in the car and removed the accessory alarm, but factory secrurit system would still go off. it is cuurently in the shop today 4/29/04 for the 3rd time to be "fixed" again. while this problem is occuring the infomation panel (trip miles, mpg, average speed, oil life,etc.) would reset.

2004 malibu anti theft light and radio lock light illuminates, problem with seal on the rear left window. *ts the steering was stiff, the molding on the let rear window came out of place when the window was rolled up. the vehicle would vibrate while driving. there was a rubbing noise coming from the front of the vehicle, the check engine light illuminated several times, the temperature and fuel gauge light illuminated. the trunk would not open properly when using the remote. the vehicle started by itself and all the lights illuminated which caused the battery to die. *jb

While driving at any speed and without warning, the vehicle lost power steering. this problem happened four times in four months. the vehicle was taken to a dealer, who replaced the steering column unit. also, the abs light came on and the brakes made a screeching noise when depressed. the dealer replaced the abs module and front brake hubs. although the repairs had been done, the same problems recurred. *ak there were electrical failures with the dash dimmer switch and headlight dimmer, the keyless entry needed to be replaced and grease leaked from the left front wheel. *sc pe04031_cat *jb

Problems with keys getting stuck in ignition.*mr *mr

Key gets stuck in the ignition, will not come out. chevy service buffed key, graphited lock, but still the key is getting stuck! service said there is nothing more they can do which is totally unacceptable!!! it's a brand new car!!*ak

After putting the key in the ignition, it became stuck and was not able to be released right away. the consumer took the vehicle to the dealership several times, but the mechanic could not resolve the problem. *ak when the power steer locked up, the consumer had trouble turning the wheel. *cb *jb steering column and steering position sensor replacedcw. pe04031_cat