So this morning I took my car in to firestone to get new tires installed and to have the wheels aligned. Everything seemed to be running smoothly until I got into my car to leave. I turned it on, put the car in drive, and immediately noticed that the car wasn't rolling forward as it should. I then tried giving it some gas and the engine revved but the car did not move. I checked the e-brake, it wasn't applied but I pushed the pedal in and released it anyways. I put the car in park and then back in drive and tried giving it some more gas and I still wasn't going anywhere.
After a brief moment of cursing I tried turning the car off and back on again, but this time when I put it in drive I gave it a mild and steady push on the gas pedal, and finally I started moving. I drove around the lot and noticed that my car was driving as if the e-brake was applied, as in it felt like the car was working harder than it should to go 5-10 mph. I got to a dead end in the lot and tried to put my car in reverse, and it wouldn't budge. I put it in drive, and again had to give it a steady amount of gas before it would move, but I managed to turn the car around and pull up to an empty space near the front of the store.
I went in, told them the issues I was having, and when the technician(s) came out to look at it he told me a few things:
1. the car's cable was still shifting and he couldn't tell me why it wasn't moving
2. told me he had never seen anything like this
3. said he thought it might be something with the transmission, but there was fluid in it and the car is young
4. they had to tow the car in to the shop because they couldn't push the car, even when it was in neutral the car acted as though the parking brake was applied.
I called the service department at the chevy dealership near me and they told me they weren't sure what it could be and speculated that there could be something wrong with the transmission. If my car had over 115k miles on it I might have bought into that idea, but my car only has 76k miles and it's been taken care of very well by myself and the previous/original owner.
My gut reaction is that the firestone tech's did something when they were installing the tires that's causing the wheels to lock up, but on the lyft ride home I remembered a problem with the car I recently had that was never resolved. In early January I had an issue with the throttle body, one day I used my remote start to warm my car up (in 15 degree weather) and when I came outside ten minutes later my car was displaying some of the typical symptoms of an issue with the throttle body: the car was shaking/sputtering and displaying engine power loss + check engine light on the dash.
So I took the car to an independent shop that diagnosed the problem as a faulty throttle body; however, they told me GM would cover the cost of the repair if I took it to the dealer (and GM does do this, as it turns out, because it's an issue that happens to a lot of these malibus). I confirmed this with the dealer and arranged to take my car in at their next available opening (which was in two weeks time). In that time the weather has been warmer (40-50 degrees vs. 10-15) and I hadn't driven the car at all. When it came time to take my car in, it drove fine on the way to the dealership (which I wasn't surprised by because I had read on this site that issues with the throttle body tend to be intermittent). I got there and they told me that since the shop reset the codes and the check engine light wasn't on that GM would not reimburse me, and they wouldn't be able to determine what part of the throttle body and the 6 or so parts that are attached needed replacement. So without having any work done on the throttle body I've been driving the car for almost three weeks with no issues/lights on the dash at all, until today.
I'm sorry for the novel but I'm still feeling a little flustered by this and I figured that everything I wrote is relevant in some way. Maybe the throttle body has something to do with it, ormaybe the good ol' boys at firestone messed something up putting my tires on. I'm just hoping that by posting this someone a bit more knowledgeable than myself could give me a clue as to what's going on.
Thanks in advance for any insight you might be able to give me, cheers!! :serious:
After a brief moment of cursing I tried turning the car off and back on again, but this time when I put it in drive I gave it a mild and steady push on the gas pedal, and finally I started moving. I drove around the lot and noticed that my car was driving as if the e-brake was applied, as in it felt like the car was working harder than it should to go 5-10 mph. I got to a dead end in the lot and tried to put my car in reverse, and it wouldn't budge. I put it in drive, and again had to give it a steady amount of gas before it would move, but I managed to turn the car around and pull up to an empty space near the front of the store.
I went in, told them the issues I was having, and when the technician(s) came out to look at it he told me a few things:
1. the car's cable was still shifting and he couldn't tell me why it wasn't moving
2. told me he had never seen anything like this
3. said he thought it might be something with the transmission, but there was fluid in it and the car is young
4. they had to tow the car in to the shop because they couldn't push the car, even when it was in neutral the car acted as though the parking brake was applied.
I called the service department at the chevy dealership near me and they told me they weren't sure what it could be and speculated that there could be something wrong with the transmission. If my car had over 115k miles on it I might have bought into that idea, but my car only has 76k miles and it's been taken care of very well by myself and the previous/original owner.
My gut reaction is that the firestone tech's did something when they were installing the tires that's causing the wheels to lock up, but on the lyft ride home I remembered a problem with the car I recently had that was never resolved. In early January I had an issue with the throttle body, one day I used my remote start to warm my car up (in 15 degree weather) and when I came outside ten minutes later my car was displaying some of the typical symptoms of an issue with the throttle body: the car was shaking/sputtering and displaying engine power loss + check engine light on the dash.
So I took the car to an independent shop that diagnosed the problem as a faulty throttle body; however, they told me GM would cover the cost of the repair if I took it to the dealer (and GM does do this, as it turns out, because it's an issue that happens to a lot of these malibus). I confirmed this with the dealer and arranged to take my car in at their next available opening (which was in two weeks time). In that time the weather has been warmer (40-50 degrees vs. 10-15) and I hadn't driven the car at all. When it came time to take my car in, it drove fine on the way to the dealership (which I wasn't surprised by because I had read on this site that issues with the throttle body tend to be intermittent). I got there and they told me that since the shop reset the codes and the check engine light wasn't on that GM would not reimburse me, and they wouldn't be able to determine what part of the throttle body and the 6 or so parts that are attached needed replacement. So without having any work done on the throttle body I've been driving the car for almost three weeks with no issues/lights on the dash at all, until today.
I'm sorry for the novel but I'm still feeling a little flustered by this and I figured that everything I wrote is relevant in some way. Maybe the throttle body has something to do with it, ormaybe the good ol' boys at firestone messed something up putting my tires on. I'm just hoping that by posting this someone a bit more knowledgeable than myself could give me a clue as to what's going on.
Thanks in advance for any insight you might be able to give me, cheers!! :serious: