[Sthull1]

We are having the same issue, 2017 Premier 2.0T. Primarily seen after sitting for 24 or more hours. Battery and starter sound fine (i.e. crank speed sounds normal). No issues for the day after the initial start. We are thinking something fuel system related.

 

[Sthull1]

You can see a video of the long cranking on Youtube. Search for "2017 Malibu 2.0T takes a long time to fire after 36 hours"

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CMF Edit: YouTube video added for member...

 

[Sthull1]

Yes I would doubt the carbon idea. Less than 12k miles on the engine. But we'll see what the dealer can find.

 

[Sthull1]

We just got the car back from service. They replaced the fuel sending unit. By monitoring the low side fuel pressure sensor they noticed that the fuel pressure dropped to 0 psi over time after the engine was shut off. This allowed the fuel to bleed back into the tank and the long cranking time was caused by having to refill the fuel lines from the tank to the engine.

After the replacement, the low side pressure was 57 psi after shut off and remained stable over time. We'll see if the problem re-occurs but this sounds promising.

All done under warranty, which is good because you have to remove the fuel tank to replace the sending unit. That would be $$$ if done out of warranty.