[TLCHP1987]

Good evening. I have a 2016 Chevy Malibu 2016 hybrid model (reg) not LT. Yesterday I experienced a slight issue. I went to put the car in reverse and it said shift to park. All my electronic on the car were working. I shifted to park and the message went off. I put in back in reverse and the message came back up. So again I placed it in park and turned off the car. I turned it back on and got the message along the lines of “battery charging system” I turned the car off and back on the message did not show. However when I’m driving the car feels weird. When I come to a stop it’s no roughly stops and when I driving it’s feels like it using more battery than it did before. I took it to autozone. I was told I had a bad battery. He tested it from the front then said wait, this isn’t a battery. Then I remember the dealer telling me the battery is in the back of the tunk. So he tested it and said it’s was bad.

This is what’s under the hood, if you lift the cover off its a fuse panel

this is in the trunk. It looks like a reg battery

I have a couple of question. How am I to replace the battery in the trunk

and the battery going bad, would that cause the problems I stated above?

almost all the things I looked up, none of the Malibu from 2016 had batteries in the trunk. Like this.

 

[campb292]

The hybrid has two batteries. One is the high voltage, the other is the 12V like you have taken a picture of. I am always cautious of recommending any electrical procedures on the Hybrid because of the big high voltage battery. If you do something wrong, you die. My common sense tells me if you disconnect the negative of that 12V battery it must be isolated and harmless. Yet, only hybrid 12V replacements I have read of are done at the dealer. Dealer might save you money in the long run.

I am hopeful the battery is causing your problem since it tested bad. There is a shift to park issue that affects all trims. What you wrote isn't how that manifests. Unfortunately there is a separate "shift to park" issue that is much worse and can affect the hybrid. Hopefully the battery fixes your behavior and we don't need to explore that.

 

[TLCHP1987]

The hybrid has two batteries. One is the high voltage, the other is the 12V like you have taken a picture of. I am always cautious of recommending any electrical procedures on the Hybrid because of the big high voltage battery. If you do something wrong, you die. My common sense tells me if you disconnect the negative of that 12V battery it must be isolated and harmless. Yet, only hybrid 12V replacements I have read of are done at the dealer. Dealer might save you money in the long run.

I am hopeful the battery is causing your problem since it tested bad. There is a shift to park issue that affects all trims. What you wrote isn't how that manifests. Unfortunately there is a separate "shift to park" issue that is much worse and can affect the hybrid. Hopefully the battery fixes your behavior and we don't need to explore that.

Thank you. I wasn’t planning on changing it myself because it’s look entirely so different and too complicated with all the wiring. I wanted to buy a battery from the store like Walmart because they’re cheaper and taking it to the dealer, and letting them install. Which battery should I get ? Does Walmart have them or is it a special kind of battery. I talk to Chevy, and they want to run a diagnostic first which is going to be 150 plus tax and then I have to let them work on the car (change the battery) at whatever cost they tell me. Which I think is ridiculous, because I am more than certain it is the battery. I don’t want to pay 150 for you to tell me that’s what that it is. Then it’s 300 plus for their battery and I have to pay for the he install. But the dealer I bought the car from (not Chevy) said they would install the battery without running test.

 

[campb292]

GM dealers will usually require they supply the part. If you have an alternate dealer willing to install one you provide, go for it. The OE 12V battery in a 2016 Malibu Hybrid is the ACDelco 47G. You could walk in to a GM dealer and buy one at the parts counter. At Walmart the Everstart Platinum aren't too bad but I don't think they have your size.

 

[repairman54]

Take it into the dealer and let them fix it. That money you have been saving on fuel pays for repair and maintenance of a more complex hybrid vehicle.

 

[TLCHP1987]

Take it into the dealer and let them fix it. That money you have been saving on fuel pays for repair and maintenance of a more complex hybrid vehicle.

I think I may buy the battery online or at another store, cause it cheaper. They told 300 plus labor to install. Plus the 150, but I can get the battery for half that. But idk if Chevy will let me, but the dealer I bought the car from they don’t mind if k buy battery from another store. They will install. I bought the car from Nissan. Should I do that?

 

[TLCHP1987]

i have a chevy malibu 2106 hybrid. as mentioned in another post, my car had flashed something about battery charging system.... so i assumed it has something to do with the battery going bad, as i drove the car home from work, it felt like it was driving funny. when coming to a complete stop the car feel like it shutting off and kind of jerks to a stop, whereas before, it was a smoother transition, and the engine would still ran unless I was at a stop too long, and then it could turn off. When going the engine would kick off automatically and run, and from time to time, the battery would kick in at a certain speed I would say. But now, it feels like it using way more battery than engine, and when i take my foot off the gas, the car feel like the speed is decrease and the battery kicks right in. the battery voltage, varies from time to time and day. Yesterday 12.5, the other days it goes between 13.6-13.8 but whenever i get in the car and start, its at 15.0 and then drops ounce i start going.

I have this video if it helps understand, what I am trying to say.

IMG_3036

dont mind th sound, my speaker in my phone has a bunch of flour and dust in from work. so its muffled and goes in and out.

 

[campb292]

The hybrid has two batteries. One is the high voltage, the other is the 12V like you have taken a picture of. I am always cautious of recommending any electrical procedures on the Hybrid because of the big high voltage battery. If you do something wrong, you die. My common sense tells me if you disconnect the negative of that 12V battery it must be isolated and harmless. Yet, only hybrid 12V replacements I have read of are done at the dealer. Dealer might save you money in the long run.

Take it into the dealer and let them fix it. That money you have been saving on fuel pays for repair and maintenance of a more complex hybrid vehicle.

These highlights still seem your best bet. The Hybrid has a long list of positives. It's larger than your average hybrid was 7 years ago, it has a smooth advanced system, the battery quality is good. One of the negatives is it is more complicated and that complication sometimes lends to the training of a dealer tech. The GM dealers usually have a tech or two that gets extra GM-specific training on how to work on the Volt, Bolt, and hybrids.

I watched the video... at least some of it. I don't see anything too wild there. I see engine and battery working together, regen when braking, some battery alone, some engine recharging the battery. One thing that hasn't been asked or maybe I missed it somewhere but how many miles on this car? At one point you had mentioned having the 12V changed and I'm not sure if that happened. Have you ever scanned this car for codes with a good reader (one that reads all 4 code groups)?

 

[rhbrooksjr_4356]

I replaced the 12V battery on my 2017 Malibu Hybrid last year. The battery was still good condition and had no issues, but I decided at five years old it could go at any time. I did buy the replacement battery at the Chevy dealer and then installed it myself to save some money. It was a little awkward to get to it in the trunk but otherwise not much different from my last non-hybrid car I had. You should be fine with having your Nissan dealer change it out if that is cheaper.

 

[TLCHP1987]

These highlights still seem your best bet. The Hybrid has a long list of positives. It's larger than your average hybrid was 7 years ago, it has a smooth advanced system, the battery quality is good. One of the negatives is it is more complicated and that complication sometimes lends to the training of a dealer tech. The GM dealers usually have a tech or two that gets extra GM-specific training on how to work on the Volt, Bolt, and hybrids.

I watched the video... at least some of it. I don't see anything too wild there. I see engine and battery working together, regen when braking, some battery alone, some engine recharging the battery. One thing that hasn't been asked or maybe I missed it somewhere but how many miles on this car? At one point you had mentioned having the 12V changed and I'm not sure if that happened. Have you ever scanned this car for codes with a good reader (one that reads all 4 code groups)?

I haven’t changed the battery yet. It wasn’t as much as I thought. I called another Chevy dealer and they told me 135 for the battery and 49 to install. I wanted some opinions on if the battery could be causing the issues before I dissed out 200. I don’t know how old the battery in the car is, I bought the car back in July. Dealer never mention the battery being new that I can recall. Which I’m sure they don’t know how old or used it was. There’s 123,000 miles. I got the car @116,000

 

[campb292]

One quick question: does your VIN end 5566? Please say no!

 

[TLCHP1987]

One quick question: does your VIN end 5566? Please say no!

Nope 7353

 

[campb292]

Nope 7353

Nice. I saw that mileage and it set an alarm off. Long story, different owner sold a car near your mileage and in that timeframe. That car was a real donkey. Carry on.

 

[TLCHP1987]

Why is it that different dealers are charging different prices than other Chevy dealers for the same things or lesser value. I didn't want to drive 45 minutes to this one dealer, but its looking like I will. (45 min) dealer, told me it was 135 for the acdelo 47g battery and 40 to install. 42 month warranty. So I generally assumed, all the dealers would be the same. wrong. The dealer literally up the street from me, like 5 minutes away. Tells me yeah the battery is 135 for your car but to install is 112 $. plus they refuse to install unless I let them run diagnostics for 150$. I called another one, 15 minutes away, they tell me 40 to install, and 285 for the battery, with a warranty of only 36 month. so basically they want me to pay almost 300 for a battery that's only 3 years at a higher rate. like what the hell

 

[campb292]

Dealers are independently owned and operated. They follow guidelines from GM for things like warranty service, pricing, disclosures, etc but service departments for non-warranty work run just like any business. Some advertise lower prices to get you to drive and give them a try. Some charge more because they are high volume, have comfy waiting areas with wifi, coffee, donuts, loaners, TV, magazines, car washes etc. Some bait you in with a low price then try to sell more work. Some charge high prices because their local client base either doesn't care or doesn't know any different and they know the alternative is... heh... 45 minutes away 🤪

 

[TLCHP1987]

Dealers are independently owned and operated. They follow guidelines from GM for things like warranty service, pricing, disclosures, etc but service departments for non-warranty work run just like any business. Some advertise lower prices to get you to drive and give them a try. Some charge more because they are high volume, have comfy waiting areas with wifi, coffee, donuts, loaners, TV, magazines, car washes etc. Some bait you in with a low price then try to sell more work. Some charge high prices because their local client base either doesn't care or doesn't know any different and they know the alternative is... heh... 45 minutes away 🤪

thanks for the info, you've been extremely helpful. Yeah thats looking like my best bet at this point. There are two dealer 45 minutes from me, both were extremely lower in price. both close to each other, probably like 5-10 minutes apart from one another. One wanted 135 and 40, the other 158 and 40. Whichever one can do the work, I'll end up going to them. I just hope replacing the battery, cuts out the issue, but if not I'll just have to save for other repairs if need be. All ya'll been extremely helpful and knowledgeable. really appreciate it!!

 

[nfrosty]

Not sure if this is anything to be concerned about but in your first picture it looks like your low on coolant. May be the start of exhaust heat exchanger failure.