Gas Recirculation Valve (egr Valve) problems of the 2001 Chevrolet Malibu

Myself and many other 2001 chevy Malibu owners have had to replace all the major engine gaskets in their cars. I am disabled an the car would stall everywhere putting my safety in jepordy. The engine can't maintain compression because of the leaks. Gm refuses to even resond to my emails. I urge you to check into this matter. I even had to replace the air conditioner. It's not fair to the consumer to let gm get away with this. It has cost a lot of money not to mention the safety factor. Please check the mycarstats. Com to see all the other complaints. Egr valve also had to be replaced. In the process of filing my complaint with the bbb and the doj the dealer inadvertly provided documentation that tha engine had been leaking before we purchased it.

5/05 coolant leak- replace intake manifold gasket $1100. 00 8/05 coolant leak(continued)- replace head gasket, completely replace the air conditioning unit-$1085. 00 1/06 replace egr valve, solenoid, gaskets $435. 00 I've been around cars all my life, my father was a mechanic. My point is that I know if you take care of a car it will last longer. I take very good care of this car and I know gaskets should not deteriorate the way these did. Looking at the reports on mycarstats. Com it appears to me that what ever material was used for the gaskets in this car must be defective. There are way too many complaints for this to be any thing else. Maintaining my car is a priority for me as I am disabled. To have a mechanical breakdown is a major issue. This cars engine was unable to maintain compression because of the leaky gaskets. It kept stalling repeatedly, I feel putting my safety at risk. I have tried to work this out with the dealership but it's clear to me what their priority is and it's not me or my car. I believe there should be an investigation into this matter. I have been told that the gasket material they used in this model was different from other years. I believe this is a bigger problem than gm is ready to admit.

In November of 2004, car stalled while driving and would not restart. Got it towed to repair shop. Was told that fuel pump had gone out. Paid $350 for repairs. Replaced pump and car stalled again after driving about 150 miles on highway. Luckily (wife and our 2 kids were with me and it was 15 degrees f outside) it restarted and was able to make it home another 100 miles away. Took it to dealer (ogden Chevrolet-630-986-8000) to get it checked. Was told that it had a bad intake gasket and needed new water pump and drive belt-total cost approx $1100. 00. Got the water pump and belt replaced but not intake gasket. Paid $500 for repairs. Did research on the internet and found that this was a recurring problem. Gm had more than 900 complaints about bad intake gaskets causing expensive repairs on their vehicles 2 weeks later, car would not start. Towed it to repair shop. Was told that 2 ignition coils were burnt and needed replaced. Got this done with new plugs, wires and tune up and antifreeze. Paid $520 for repairs. Feb 2, car would not start again. Got it towed to repair shop. Car started ok and could not replicate problem. Was told that the head gasket was blown and would need replaced. Costs $700-$1000.

The contact had the egr valve, thermostat, water pump, intake gasket, and head gasket replaced. Additionally, she had the block inspected for cracks. It has been 18 months since the replacement of the aforementioned defects, and the check engine light came on again ,and there was a decrease in the amount of gas mileage. The dealer reprogrammed the computer, and informed the contact that the vehicle was running properly. The manufacturer has only offered a discount on a new vehicle.

Engine has experienced "valve-slap" since approx 5000 miles. The dealer advised that this is inherent in the design of this particular engine to make it economical. Chevrolet offered 100,000 mile extended warranty on the engine. The (check engine) light activated several months ago. Code indicated "small emissions leak". Made sure gas cap was on tight, then cleared code with reader - issue resolved. Approx a month ago, check engine light on again. Code was p1404 (temporary code). Tried to clear out code with reader, came back. Dealer advised that this was caused by faulty egr valve so replaced the egr valve with genuine chevey part, cleared code with reader - approx 20 miles later (check engine) light back on. I suspect that issue is related to the valve-slap problem and related wear on pistons.

My 2001 Malibu has 45,000miles and I now have to change the intake manifold gasket, because it is leaking coolant. This I'm told is a frequent problem with the Malibu 3. 1 liter motor. Is this possible? I've never heard of such a thing? I also have had the egr valve changed 3 times by the dealer. It now seems to be fixed?.