Wow, sorry to hear about your misfortune with the car. I've never had anything like that happen to me in my Malibu, but had a similar experience in an Expedition a few years back. It would shake at highway speeds, pretty bad too. Turned out it was the air pressure in the tires (too low).

Maybe some of our other members can help, I'll be honest though. This is the first I have heard of this problem (on here anyways). Good luck.

 

Yes, it is odd. My mechanic just finds this so odd and he is frustrated he cannot pinpoint what is happening. Thank GOD he is an excellent mechanic/supervisor/etc. The entire dealership is awesome.

However, it doesn't excuse the fact that this car (my particular one) is a lemon in my standards. Since I bought it, I have had suspension problems (still squeaks), the "thud" in the front end when I turned (fixed!) and now my back doors won't lock unless I push them down with my hands. I will get that fixed this week sometime.

I am just so sick of it. All the problems should not be happening!

 

Oh, and I make sure the tire pressure stays good. I have some stupid OCD thing with checking the instrument panel (avg speed, avg MPG, trip calculator and tire pressure).

Come to think of it, I have had them reset the tire pressure thing too. My rear was reading my front tires and my front tires were reading as my rears. Odd.

 

From the video it makes it sound like pulsating rotors, but you said you had them refinished. So, since it doesn't happen all the time I would have to think it is an issue with the ABS. Do any lights come on when this happens or warning messages on the information center? I have never encountered anything like that. Have you taken it up with GM again with the problems you are encountering and the disrespect that you are getting from the dealer? That's all that I can think of to do, I hope someone figures it out before something more dangerous happens.

 

No lights come on on the dash. Nothing.
They replaced something to do with the ABS and double checked it already. Comes back fine. Computer reads and all.

May '09 it happened on a roadtrip back from Alabama. I called onstar in the middle of it happening and had them run a diagnostics. The guy on the other end said everything came back fine, but he could hear what I was talking about just based on the background noise.

My mechanic at the dealership I bring it in to is a great guy. He has tried everything he knows of to get this fixed/diagnosed. He is stumped.

I currently have my THIRD case open with GM on this same matter (third one in a year and a half). Hopefully my call with the regional rep will get me somewhere, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Keep fightin! My respect for you for being so understanding and patient with that problem. You must really enjoy and love your Malibu to stick with it for this long. Like I said before, I wish you the best of luck with the issue.

 

Thank you so much. It's not that I love the car (ducking from all the tomatoes being thrown at me from all the 'bu lovers here), it's that I'm endebted in it LOL.

I had 3 SUVs in a row before this car. Last was a Trailblazer. I regret getting rid of it every day. I miss that thing........and now they no longer make them

The last conversation I had with my regional rep really didn't go all that well. Alot of tears on my end and alot of manuscript reading on the other saying "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do" type of thing. Or "What would you like me to do to fix the problem". My brain wanted me to scream alot of obscenities, but I knew that wouldn't get me anywhere. SIGH.

 

See about getting them to put a VDR in your car. It's a Vehicle Data Recorder. They hook it up to the car's computer data port and data is continually flowing through it, like water in a pipe. When your event happens you press a button to record it and it remembers the last 20-30 seconds before you pressed it plus about another minute or two, depending on different variables. Kinda like trapping water in a garden hose.

If it doesn't record any germane data then they can program in other criteria to monitor in an effort to track it down.

I hope you get it fixed real soon, just like the others replying do. Once you do you'll be able to start liking the car all over again. You seem like a very communicative person so I'm sure we'll hear about it when you finally succeed.

 

I'm with chevyguy. It sounds like an ABS problem to me as well. As long as the wheel speed sensors outputs are reasonable among themselves, there isn't going to be an ABS light. It may be a marginal sensor, loose or misaligned sensor (hub moving laterally affecting the air gap to the teeths on the ring), connectors, or wiring problem (it's a twisted pair for a reason, continuity alone is not enough). Whatever the cause, the sensor's signal may be fading out beyond a threshold compared to the other one on the same axle during these incidents. The EBCM will then kick in to keep that wheel from "locking up." Of course, this is not a malfunction event as far as the EBCM is concerned and thus there'd be no trace.

 

Sounds exactly like warped rotors never mind resurfacing rotors because that doesnt always solve it if they didnt replace them with new u could still be experiencing that same feel even if they were refaced and new pads because if the rotors still had a warp to them from factory then they will wear down new pads just the same. . I would try a brand new set of rotors and recheck the pads again. . also stop at a gas station buy a cheap air pressure tester and check all the pressures around dont go by the comp. cause it could be off as well. . on top of all that it could also be a combo of the brakes and the steering, gm had the problem with the steering boxes in the malibus i had mine replaced not long ago and the wheel would act crazy at times so just remember it can always be a combo of things as well even though u may think its only one fix its not always the case but i would def start at the new rotors.

 

Also one other thing to check is the parking brake is tied into the rear calipers on that car and that may also be hanging up when you are braking and u could get that feeling at high speeds because it wont completley stop the car

 

Make them keep it till it's fixed or One word: Attorney. Don't play around with your family's safety, stand firm and demand that they repair your car or get a attorney. I hate this crap "can't reproduce" or "we can't pinpoint where it's coming from" B.S. If you continue to drive this car with this doing this, something WILL come loose! Speaking from experience on dealing with GM, Don't back down, make them keep the car until they find and fix it, or call a attorney and get the ball rolling on straightening this mess out. Your paying a lot of money for this car and don't let them throw you under the rug, like they tried doing with me. Stand your ground!!!!

 

Hi all. Thank you so much for all the replies.
First off--yes, I am done playing GM's game. This has gone on all too long. I refuse to be GM's "crash test dummies".
Unfortunately, the GM rep didn't call me back until tonight, the ONLY 2 minutes of the day I didn't have my phone on me She said she didn't realize that I was waiting on a call back from her. Whatever.
I talked to a lemon law layer today.
If GM refuses to buy back my car, that's the route I'm going. The lawyer I talked to said they would be very interested in looking at this case. Of course, I will give GM the chance to buy it back to save time and headache, but I'm willing and very well prepared to take that fight.
Just to be sure that the little accident it was in before I took possession didn't cause anything, I took it to an autobody shop for a lookover. He wants me to bring it back tomorrow so he can lift it to check the steering and make sure everything is straight and to see if there is any evidence of damage caused. In the process....he found an oil leak.
Dear Lord--does this get any worse? Should I even be asking that question?

 

And Red Ryder. When you say "like they tried to do to me", did they give you the run around also? I'll snoop around the boards and see if your posts explain any of it. Thanks!

 

It's well documented here. You may see that me and the wife truly loved the car at first, but that soon turned bad very quickly. I tried over two years to get my car straight with GM, but nothing/no one helped. We went above and beyond with everyone we had to deal with to get our problems resolved, but in the end, it went to court. As I've stated, I no longer have the car. Remember that not every new car is going to be the "car from hell", so my experience is not typical. But my experience with GM's customer service (at every level) was appalling and down right "wrong".

I truly hope that you can get some satisfaction one way or another.

Good Luck to you and your family.

 

I don't think you are getting an ABS activation. Usually when that happens there is a message on the instrument panel and it also sounds quite a bit different.

It looks from the video that your wife didn't really apply the brakes very hard since your daughter holding the camcorder didn't move around much when they were applied. I would have jammed them on just short of activating the ABS (not quite a panic stop) and ridden the speed down to about 10 mph, then gotten on the throttle and taken it back up to 60 and repeated several times. One of the big problems with a lot of people is they don't use their brakes hard enough. If you baby them you can get all sorts of issues.

Bill

 

Liz

Sorry to here you are having that problem. GM is trying to get customers back. The key sentence for you to say while talking to any GM rep is **** " I AM NOT A VERY SATISFIED CUSTOMER " ****

GM does not want to hear that -- they are afraid you will spread that around.

Either A) Get a lawer
B) throw in the dealers face that he sold you a car that was in an accident and he did not check out the car correctly now you have SAFTY ISSUE.
C) Let them make you a GOOD DEAL on a trade in for a new one.

your key words are -- Im not satisfied, and safety issue -- it throws up red flags.

Good luck !

 

From the video it sounds exactly like my issue which is "fixed" everytime the dealer resurfaces the rotors but then comes back in 6-8K miles.

 

Liz,
I have an 09 Malibu and i had them resurface my rotors twice before it was time or new ones. before i replaced them i literally literally had the SAME EXACT problem that YOU HAD.. steering wheel and thudding noise. changed all the rotors and pads and it all good. Its the rotors that is causing it to do that. nothing with your suspension or steering. I know its a late, but i hope this helps anyway!

 

What I am seeing here is warped rotors, plain and simple.

You can get warped rotors a few ways. Riding the brakes, or having a caliper stuck can do this. Overtightening the lug nuts can cause a rotor to warp too. My suggestion, replace the GM rotors with good aftermarket (NAPA, Brembo, etc.) and brake pads. Make sure there is not a stuck piston or pad binding cauing constant contact with the rotor. Also, make sure the lug nuts are torqued correctly and not put on with an impact gun. This should solve your issue.