Chevrolet Malibu Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

What did you do to your Malibu today?

83K views 329 replies 77 participants last post by  Unfettered 
#1 ·
Had 2 new tire put on the front. 60,000 miles and I'm pretty sure its riding on the factory originals. I'll get 2 more in a few weeks.
 
#180 ·
I use a red spot light when I'm coyote hunting lol.

Welp the Maxx is finally going to the dealer in the morning the get the power steering recall fixed.
 
#182 · (Edited)
Sorry for no updates. At first it wasn't going good because maybe 20 minutes after I dropped it off they called my saying everything was ok and there was no codes and that I could pick up my car. I told them I don't see how there was no codes because it had be having symptoms for a while. Also told them if it didn't need fixed for a recall i shouldn't have gotten the paper saying so. The guy asked me to hold and when he come back on the line he said he didn't check the paperwork and the that entire column needed to be replaced and that they didn't keep them in stock and they would have to order it. The tech in the background said they had one and could get it done that day. I kind of laughed to myself and thought that column was probably for my car because i made an appointment earlier that week. Long story short they called about 4 hours later and said it was ready. We picked it up and everything has been good so far. The steering is a lot tighter, more responsive, and the problems are gone. I'm really glad it was a warranty job because they said that it was over $1000 to fix.
 
#185 ·
Thanks Michelle Sarah? With 76,000 on the clock so hopefully we have many for miles .
 
#186 ·
You’re very welcome NomaCane07!

Sarah is one of my co-workers that help me on various forums I monitor when I’m out of the office as I have been on and off for the past couple of weeks, taking care of my husband.

We hope you have many more great miles in your Malibu as well.

Happy weekend

Michelle, Chevrolet Customer Service
 
#187 ·
Got my reclining racing seat delivered today.
It's a Corbeau CR1, will be dropping it off at the race shop tomorrow morning to get custom brackets made and have it mounted along with making sure my alignment is set for the May HPDE event at VIR.

 
#191 ·
Changed the oil and balanced the tires. It was 7 months and 5 days on the oil, 3619 miles, with 33% oil life remaining. Had a thin, pasty accumulation on the end of the drain plug magnet but no larger particles. Not concerned with that.

Used Pennzoil Ultra as I usually do, but installed a generously donated Royal Purple filter. Put about a cup of oil in the filter prior to installation.

Rotated and balanced the tires, nothing to report really, the one lousy tire is still lousy and on the LF now, that should make life more enjoyable. I paid some attention to tread wear since I had the time to play around a bit today. This [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Longacre-50560-Tread-Depth-Gauge/dp/B000VAOH8A[/ame] is the gauge I used. My alignment is/was pretty much in the middle of spec and tire pressure ran about 32 to 33 psi cold, give or take, so about 10% over spec on the door.

Very minor inboard to outboard shoulder wear difference with the inboard shoulder showing ever so slightly more wear. Also noted the center tread was deeper than the edges, car is driven conservatively so I'm going to say a slight under-inflation. All four tires exhibited about as close to identical wear as I think you can see in 16K miles of driving. I think I'm going to shim the rear hubs with a few extra tenths of a degree of camber so I can get rear camber just on the positive side of the middle of spec. Can't get there with the existing adjustments, not enough range.

I bumped inflation pressure to 34 all the way around, might go 35 for the winter though. I set my tires with a digital gauge accurate to 1/2 psi, then relearned the tire positions. Car was not driven for almost 7 hours when I set pressures and tire air temperature was 75 to 77 degrees as reported by the TPMS sensors. I had the same pressure indicated on all four tires by the TPMS tool after some tweaking, seems to be accurate to about 3 or 4 tenths of a pound. Previously, I noticed the LF tire was always different from the rest, usually 2 psi lower on a cold tire and then all 4 would even out as I drove. I want to see if that trend now continues. Some customers seem to think we don't do our job right since all 4 tires aren't exactly the same. I couldn't spend the time I did today setting tire pressure on every car like I did on mine, the boss would have a bird. I don't think you can get all four tire sensors to change at the same rate, due to a variety of reasons, on most cars, most of the time. We'll see.

As I drove, tire pressures had already started to vary. After almost 10 miles of driving, three tires showed 37 and one was 36 and today was cool around here. About a 3 psi jump on a cool day, imagine what happens on a hot mid-summer day. I think I'm going to find the sensor that was on the LF previously and now on the right rear will still change at a different rate than the other three pressure sensors.

Last observation I made was to look at the exhaust outside diameter changes. Pipe coming from each bank seems to be 1.875" outside diameter at the bends in the pipe and 2" in the straight runs. Once the two banks dump into one pipe, outside diameter ranges from 2" at numerous places, from just forward of the last catalytic converter, through the bends heading for the muffler, to 2.5" just forward of the resonator. I don't understand why the inlet to the resonator has this very abrupt diameter reduction from 2.5" to 2". No need for it. I've been tempted to change resonators, one for a bit more sound and, secondly to work around the pipe diameter change. After the measurements I took today, it's either change everything from the Y on back or leave it alone. This would involve changing the inlet to the last catalytic converter, the outlet is fine, and then everything from there back.

Ideally, I think I would want to run 3" pipe, through a new 3" converter and run 3" pipe to the split for the dual exhaust at the rear. Probably 2.25" out the back is fine, once your past the split back to two pipes. A lot of dreaming on my part, not going to happen anytime soon, if ever. Gains would be all top end and I don't drive there often enough to justify the cost for the few ponies I think you'll gain anyway.

Okay, just my 3 cents worth.
 
#192 ·
I started color matching interior trim pieces. For the record you all have seen the 99 ish looking 'bu that is bright green with the 1200.00 concept body kit? I'm building it identical only in light blue. Pics coming soon if interested.
 
#194 ·
I touched up a gazillion paint chips on my hood and polished out some scratches. The PO must have lived in a gravel quarry.

Also changed my oil and did a coolant system flush.
 
#196 ·
In the past week, I bought my 3rd set of Bridgestone Turanza EL-400 tires (Car came with them as OEM and went 71,000 miles, I bought a replacement set at that timeand they went 76,000 miles, and I am on my 3rd set at 147,000 miles). Today I replaced the third brake light, which wasn't as bad as I thought it was....
 
#199 ·
Replacing all 4 Eagle LS2's in the morning, can't take the steering wheel shimmy anymore. Wish I could put Michelin Defenders on but the cost is prohibitive right now. Settled for BFG Advantage T/A's, as long as it rides smooth, I'll be happy.

Also installed some LED lighting this past week. Put these http://www.ebay.com/bhp/cree-921-bulbs in for reverse bulbs. About the same brightness as the conventional 921 bulb but a whiter white. More bluish than I'd prefer, I like the SuperbrightLED's bulb color better, but the bulb just didn't light things up very well. Put a SuperbrightLED part number WLED-RHP5 http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...led-bulb-5-smd-led-wide-angle-wedge-base/206/ in for rear side markers, I put an RL4410-CWHP9 http://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/festoon-series-bulbs/561-led-bulb-9-smd-led-festoon/244/ in for a dome lamp and two WLED-CWHP15-TAC http://www.superbrightleds.com/more...194-led-bulb-15-smd-led-wedge-base-tower/910/ in for front reading lamps. Still have to get a trunk light bulb and rear reading lamp bulbs, the ones I used up front are too big for the rear lamp application. I put the WLED-CWHP15-TAC in for a license plate bulb a while back.
 
#201 ·
Today I chiseled off over an inch of ice from the roof and sunroof after the rest of the car had magically "thawed" in sub-freezing sunshine. Now all I have is a few stubborn spots still stuck to the top.

Today, high : 31°, low: 19°.
Tomorrow, high: 35°, low: 12°.
Gradually "warming" to 40 by weekend... :eek:
 
#203 ·
I changed a thermostat and temp sensor. Took the drivers door panel off to see why my window would not roll down very well, but would go up without a problem. Found 2 nuts missing, the other to about to fall off and a bolt missing. Also checked why my drivers side mirror was not working. Looks like I need a new up down motor, I got the left right part to work.
 
#205 ·
I'm letting mine sit in front of the house getting a free car wash from all this rain. Soon as I finish writing all these checks I'm hitting the bottle :eek:
 
#207 ·
Today, by which I mean last night, I had Best Buy install the iSimple ISFM23 Bluetooth FM modulator in my Maxx LS and it works like a charm.

Then I woke up this morning and mysteriously it has snowed an inch overnight (which is interesting, because I was up until 3 and no show of snow), so I get to clear of the Maxx for the first time!
 
#209 ·
My 2006 had a broken sun visor on the driver's side. Some tiny piece of something broke off, so it wouldn't stay in. I found a replacement at the salvage yard for only $25 and installed it today. Someday maybe I'll go back and actually reconnect the wiring for the mirror light. :eek:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top