My girlfriend has a 2005 Chevy Malibu Classic for just over a year, this past weekend it stopped running and I went to take a look at it. The car would crank, but ran rough, almost like it was not getting fuel. We had it towed to a shop, the mechanic there is a retired Army guy, and I am an Army guy. After checking it out, he says the engine is destroyed. There is oil in it, and it has oil pressure, he is saying for some reason, oil was not getting to the top of the motor. The Car has 39,000 miles and she does not have an extended warranty. I have searched the web for problems with this engine, and have not found anything. Can you guys help with information? Known issues like this? The mechanic found a ?rebuilt? with 45,000 miles on it for $800, will charge $1,000 for the install. The oil, when I checked it was full and did not smell ‘burnt’ or look black, she has the oil changed at Jiffy Lube, or Quaker State oil change places.
Thanks for your time
Is it the 4 or V6 engine and can you be more specific about the engine problem?
We had a 99 and then an 03 Malibu; same car as the 05 Classic. Both had the 3.1 liter V6 with no problems, not even piston slap. We traded the 99 at 70,000 miles and the 03 at around 30,000 miles. Some GM engines around 2000 plus or minus a few years had mostly harmless piston slap due to a little too much clearance. They tightened the fit to take care of that. Other than that, I know of no unusual problems.