05 malibu 3.5 fails to start only when motor is warm, meaning driven a short distance ,not fully hot yet, replaced plugs,battery,starter,air and fuel filters,mechanic scanned,no codes,
Did your mechanic check for leaking fuel injectors and/or a defective fuel pressure regulator?
If not, you may need a new mechanic, simply because the symptoms that you describe point toward these two areas as the probable cause of the problem, rather than a clogged air filter/fuel filter, bad battery, etc. It sounds like your mechanic just throws parts at the problem–at random and at added expense to you–until he finally hits on the actual cause of the problem.
Details… We need details. Will the engine crank but not start? Will it crank after it cools? Why was the starter and battery replaced? Why was anything replaced?
Any seven year old vehicle can develop the need for some repairs, even Hondas and Toyotas. This is not a mark of poor quality, it’s age and wear and tear. GM didn’t develop huge financial problems because your seven year old Malibu sometimes doesn’t want to start. It probably had more to do with a combination of corporate greed and bean counting rather than developing what the customer wants, and a lack of consumer confidence due to memories of the nightmares of the late '70s and '80s.
Having said that, we will need a lot more information to get to the bottom of why your Malibu is failing to start. Anything is possible on a seven year old vehicle, regardless of make. Mileage? Maintenance up to date according to the factory schedule? What exactly does it do when it fails to start? Does it stall and you are unable to restart it? Does the engine crank, but will not start? Will it start briefly, then immediately stall? Do you hear nothing when you turn the key to “crank”? If you hear anything, does it sound normal or different? Any aftermarket remote starters or alarm systems? Any security light on in the dash, on steady or flashing, especially when this problem arises?
None of the parts changed so far could cause this symptom.
You need to find a mechanic who is willing and able to do tests, not just change parts.
He/she needs to duplicate the problem, then test for spark, fuel pressure and pulses to the fuel injectors.
Now I know why bobtheroofer’s mechanic can afford a boat.
Find a real mechanic … one that can troubleshoot your problem and fix it. Your mechanic is just throwing parts at the problem in the hope he will get lucky.
Stop blaming GM for the fact that your mechanic is incompetent.
Sincerely,
whiteytheknowitall
To be fair to bob, my 1986 Buick Skyhawk, 1991 Cavalier, and 1992 S10 cured me of wanting a Chevy ever again. I come from a “Chevy family” but after so many failure prone cars, I am scared to sink my money into anything GM makes again. My 1975 Impala and 1985 S10 were awesome, as was my mother’s 1987 Cavalier.
My 1975 Impala and 1985 S10 were awesome, as was my mother’s 1987 Cavalier.
They must have improved the S10 in 85…because my 84 GMC S-15 (same as the S10) was a piece of crap…Junk by 100k miles…
To be fair and give both sides of the story, I loved my 1985 Buick Skyhawk. It withstood all kinds of punishment and kept going, kind of like the Toyota truck in this video:
I could say the same about my grandmother’s Chevy van. That thing withstood severe neglect and just kept driving.
There are 3 parts to that story, and it’s on the set of the show, too.
The show used to be called Top Gear, but they changed the name…late 90’s, I think.
No, it is still called Top Gear, and it is still as highly scripted and non-spontaneous as it always was.
Don’t get me wrong. I do enjoy the show for its entertainment value, but as to objectivity and authenticity…ummm…no.
One guess given the temperature issues is your coolant sensor may not be working properly reading stone cold when engine is warm causing your start issues.
Also your thermostat may be sticking or stuck open.
Both may not have any codes appear.
Good luck if you still are around. And yes some GM in mid 2000’s were abysmal vehicles.
If your mechanic is replacing filters and plugs in a misguided effort to cure a no-start problem then you have a problem with your mechanic, not GM.
At this point, I haven’t even seen the no-start condition clarified as to what that means.
Starter motor cranks engine over without starting, won’t crank over at all, clicks only, starts and dies, etc, etc, etc.
Based on the large Pile O’ Parts your mechanic threw at it I’d say he was trying to cover all of the bases.
now i know why gm went under
UAW killed GM
HOLD ON GUYS…ok bobtheroofer, who put the parts on? You stated a mechanic scanned and no codes but, did you replace all these parts yourself?
As stated, the car is not the problem even though it has a problem. The problem is the parts installer.
“UAW killed GM”
Partly, but not entirely. The UAW management seems to understand that they need to change to remain a factor in automobile manufacturing, but I’m not sure the general membership does.
Mechaniker, I am confused. Who runs GM, its CEO, its board, or the UAW? From where I sit, there’s plenty of blame to spread around.
You don’t happen to serve on GM’s management team, do you? Am I talking to the 1%?
“Who runs GM, its CEO, its board, or the UAW?”
They all do.
If the top brass at GM had agreed to forfeit all their salery and bonuses, GM might have stayed solvent for what? Five more minutes? Fifteen more minutes?
Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to treachery or malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity or incompetence.
I believe GM’s downfall was a result of a perfect storm consisting of a decade of record low fuel prices causing consumers to buy large thirsty SUVs en masse and the car companies gearing up to produce mostly these high profit vehicles. Then the gas prices suddenly jumped to $4/gal and the domestic car industry suddenly found themselves with a product that there was no demand for. And then came the recession and people just stopped buying new cars.
GM suddenly found itself with a fleet of vehicles that they almost couldn’t give away while people got on waiting lists for the opportunity to buy a new Prius.
thanks andrew, thats exactly what i was thinking,all those parts were changed by me not to solve this warm start problem, but as preventive maint so my daughter could move to Boston with the car, when this happens the engine turns over fine , fires a little but not steady enough to run, this happened to my daughter several times during short trips to the store, i “could not duplicate the problem” until i went to Boston to visit and drove about half a mile to a store, I took it to the mechanic only to change the tranny fluid, he always scans before he begins working on anything, hadnt asked him to solve this, the engine runs beautiful, 33 mpg highway,just passed emissions