general problems of the 2009 Chevrolet Malibu - part 1

I've been having an issue with my vehicle registering which gear it is in. The gears shift hard, and when placing the vehicle in reverse, the vehicle vigorously jerks back and forth. While driving the vehicle on the road, it slowed down to a complete stop in the middle of traffic. The vehicle would not accelerate, and when it finally did, it just takes off with no warning. When placing the vehicle on park, at times it would still roll. . There is also the power steering and traction control sensors that are both illuminated on the dashboard. The steering stiffening in the vehicle is an issue only sometimes. However, it still worries me while driving on the road with my toddler in the vehicle as well. I did research recalls associated with the make, model, and year of my vehicle and found that there is a recall in each area I'm having trouble in. However, when I spoke with a Chevrolet associate, I was told that there was nothing they could do for me. I won't drive the vehicle because I don't feel it's safe and I'm afraid of an accident taking place.

Power steering fails while driving. Dashboard will say "traction off, esc off" and I won't be able to move steering wheel. This has happened in busy intersections. I have to stop the vehicle and restart in order to gain power steering again. Mechanic has diagnosed it as torque sensor/steering column. This was recalled on many other Malibus, but not mine. A lot of people are having this same problem but weren't included in the recall. This has been happening since I purchased vehicle seven years ago at 80,000 miles (about once per year) and has gotten worse recently at 170,000 miles (multiple times per month). This is dangerous and very expensive.

Driving at about 60 mph on a straight away, car lost power steering and sensor light service esc/power steering started flashing. The steering felt no different prior to losing, no noises. Drove it this way until I reached my destination about 4 miles away. Car sat for 4 hours, turned it back on and had regained all steering and no warning lights came back on. I have noticed that for about the past 4 years, during the colder months, the service esc/service traction notification will randomly pop on for no other reason then the cold and I lose tire traction. Pretty positive this is what caused me to slide off the road 2 years ago. Whenever I have taken it to dealership for analysis, they claim they can't find anything wrong, because the light pops off as quick as it comes on. I have also specifically asked about and looked up a recall for this, and when my VIN is entered it shows that it is not needed. I found the recall from 2014 for the power steering issue, so either the prior owner had it fixed and it didn't last, or it was never done to begin with because something is definitely wrong here. This is obviously a major issue and the first time I have lost my steering. I have owned this vehicle for 7 years, staying on top of all required maintenance and then some. Gm needs to get a fix for this!!!.

Our 2009 Malibu just turned 67,000 miles today and the ecm started flashing service steering and no traction control on a two-hour drive home. After limping home by physically man-handling the steering wheel to make a turn, we made it home. Searched on-line for possible issues and found a multitude of other 2009 Malibu owners facing the same identical issue. Checked the gm website for any possible recalls and none were found. The same was true when contacting a local gm dealership. This is a serious safety hazard that could result in serious injury or death in the event of a crash that, will eventually happen if not fixed. Gm needs to step up and correct this issue.

I have a 2009 chevy Malibu and it's very unsafe to drive. I have a 4 cylinder car with electric power steering and it was not apart of the recall. Yet it's having the same symptoms as the recall cars. I had to have my car pushed out of a ditch yesterday because it's so hard to turn my steering wheel I lost control of my car. My traction control light is on, and pressing the button does not work. I sometimes don't have control to unlock my door and have to call someone to physically open it from the outside. My check engine light is on, also my battery light. And they are all good and up to date. My traction and system light is on too. And my head lights, brake lights, and battery is constantly drained and going out. It's hard to find reasonable price's from auto shops, and the dealership prices are too expensive. I shouldn't have to struggle to turn and work my car because of a computer system that's out. It's very dangerous. I'm going to upload a picture of my car after it was pushed out the ditch. But my steering wheel has been hard to turn and I've been having this problem since January of 2020. And it makes a loud whining noise while trying to turn the wheel.

When going over any bump or turning the front end shakes and makes a clacking noise. Esc is off. Traction control is always off. Error codes read p0010 p0449 p0013 p0722 p0011.

My traction light comes on and stops my whole car and drive extremely slow and my whole just messed up and I need it fixed ASAP I can't even get to work without my car messing up.

While I was driving on my way to work going 45 miles an hour the steering wheel suddenly locked up on me almost as if the car was off and I lost complete control of the car resulting in crashing into a street light pole head on.

Whenever it's extremely hot outside my vehicle start to act up as in the 2 front wheels would jerk like they're not getting enough power. My car would also stall out whenever it's extremely hot but the temperature gauge would still show as the car being 1/4 near cold. All of this would have at a stationary position or city street or highway position.

Car was driving fine, then all of a sudden the power steering went out. Esc light came on as well as the power steering and traction light. Became almost impossible to turn the wheel. Especially while going slower.

Was driving down busy street and then a service esc light came on my car and started loosing power to car and the dash board kept flashing service esc and power steering light. It kept doing the same thing like every minute. Even it finally starts running out starts jerking but then it looses power again but goes neck on.

The esc light comes on and the steering gets kinda stiff like it's going to lock up and then it flashes engine power reduced as I was at a stop sign I pressed on the gas to go and the car took off as normal then as I was turning onto the other street to enter the freeway on-ramp the esc light started flashing the steering began feeling like it was going to lock up and the engine power reduced started flashing.

Since 2018 my brake lights will come on without touching the brakes. When this happens, my cruise control won't work. I can tap the brakes and they'll go off for about 3-5 seconds and then come back on. After awhile, the esc and traction control lights will pop up on my dashboard. I've had the sensor replaced/reset 5-6 times since August of 2018, with the most recent June 2020. It worked fine that day, but the next day they all came back on. Today, it was fine, but later will probably be another story. ,.

When I bought it worked good for bout 2 days and I started noticing a light would be blinking like the engine light and a light with like a exclamation mark in side of like a bowl and the speed would reduce and then it would just quit even while your in traffic at a stop light ,going up a hill it would do it just when it got ready.

Recently bought a Malibu 2009 ,4 cylinder. When I bought the car the steering wheel was shaky as I drove the car. After a 4 days of purchase I went on the freeway and the service esc / power steering came on the dash board . I exited the freeway when making a left turn it was difficult to turn the steering wheel . I pulled over to the side and turned the car off and then back on the car was again drivable but after about 5 mins the car did the same thing again and I could not manage to steer the wheel to make left or right turns.

Power steering service ecs light loss of power shut the steering on mid road very dangerous it's a shame we don't have a recall yet and I read over 100 complaints of the same problems on these cars most on the 2009 chevy Malibu.

Post recall repair for breaklights, break lights stay illuminated when not pressing the break pedal. 3rd break light doesn't always turn on. Random episodes of car sputtering and then dash warnings including: service esc, service traction, service hill start. Head lamps requiring replacement every 3 to 6months.

Driving down the interstate yesterday and started feeling small jerks in the steering wheel. Like something on the other side jerking it in my hand. Not enough to move the car just in my hand. Now today go outside, crank it and steering wheel will not move. The esc and power steering indicators came on.

While driving at speed, steering intermittently stops working, and esc pops up on info system, making it very difficult to control vehicle. When I turn vehicle off and on again steering works again, for indeterminate amount of time.

Was driving home from work on Friday and the power steering went out and I almost ended up in a field, could not turn it. Stopped and turned it off and back on again and it went back to normal, and it went out again as I was pulling into the drive. The next day I started car up and it had its warnings across my dash and the steering was out again. I just picked it up from the shop and it cost me $1562. 00 to get it repaired. The steering assist motor, a new steering column(electric) and r&r steering column w/sgl switch and new turn signal switch. It's all connected. I have yet to find a recall for my car on my VIN number but yet there were a few recalls on many cars including my 2009 Malibu for this exact issue but yet I never received anything in the mail about it. I hope that they intend on doing something about this, I could have been killed while trying to take a curve and had to struggle just to keep it on the road in the other persons lane until I could get pulled off the road and out of the way. From reading all that I have read on here it seems that I am not the only one with the issue.

My vehicle has lost steering after starting several times over the last week. My info screen displays an esc and power steering message and my steering wheel is locked in place. Once the car is shut off and restarted the messages go away and steering is back to normal. I have found a recall related to this on certain vehicles of my year/make/model and also many forums of people having the same issues. However, when searching by VIN it says my vehicle has 0 recalls. I have also noticed when my vehicle is stopped, or in park my steering wheel will shake for a moment and then stop.

Power steering goes out and the traction control light comes on and service esc message comes across the message center. Turn the car off and back on and the light goes out, power steering comes back for a second then the light trips again and it's out again. I have lost power steering while driving down a highway and also while backing out of my driveway. It is not safe to drive this car. If I am in the middle of a turn and I loosing power steering, I have to slow down and pull over to turn off the car and hope that power steering turns back on.

Driving and esc comes on and power steering shuts off. Pulled to safe place, which was hard without power. . . And turned car off but it happened again shortly there after.

When driving my vehical all of a sudden the lower stearing went out and all these warning lights come on. It's super hard to steer I have 3 kids that ride in this car everyday and it's very dangerous. Also my headlight drivers side has gone out 4 times in the past 6 months and its very expensive to fix!.

Power steering has quit working unexpectedly while driving. . Electronic traction control has quit working also at the same time.

While sitting idle my steering wheel shakes erratically. Sometimes when I start the car the service esc and power steering shows on my dash, when I turn the car off and back on again it will not appear again and the steering is back. The steering wheel shakes while driving if I turn the steering wheel slightly to one side it stops. It seems to happen when it is very cold out.

I lose power steering while I'm driving. I have to stop and restart my car. After driving a few minutes the light comes on and says esc and I lose power steering again.

I was driving and the steering wheel was really hard to steer.

Vehicle has had power steering assist quit twice on two separate occasions while in a turn on county roads. Complete loss of power steering mid turn. Motor has been replaced once and is having the same problem again.

Over the past week, my vehicle was sending me a esc service message and I noticed there was something wrong with my power steering. This happens when my car is turned on. The power steering turns itself to manual steering making it hard to turn. I have to turn the car off resetting it to make the power steering work again. While the car is in motion the steering wheel is pulsating and I'm afraid it will go into manual steering. I brought it down to my mechanic and he informed me it was a torque sensor. He then said he did some research and found there was a recall back in 2014 (bulletin 14116b. ) this bulletin explains the exact same symptoms my car is having. He called hurd chevy in johnson ri and they told him there was a recall. I then called hurd and they told me there was no recall for my vehicle and there was nothing they could do. I then called the dealership where I bought my vehicle (diamond chevy, auburn MA) and spoke to an advisor named sean. He told me there was a recall but the special extended warranty expired 3/25/19 and there was nothing they could do. I then contacted gm on their website and explained to them the situation. They told me there was no recall for my vehicle and there was nothing they could do. The problem is, I never received anything notifying me of this recall. It sounds like diamond knew about the recall but they never contacted me or fix it the last time I was there for maintenance. Now I'll have to pay over $500 out of my own pocket to have my vehicle fixed. I have provided bulletin 14116b and the paperwork my mechanic researched and gave me.

Today I lost power steering again (also happened 2 times about a month ago). I was driving in downtown madison WI today when it happened, very unsafe situation. Gm's website says there was a recall for some 2009 Malibus in 2014, but when I just called gm now they say my vehicle wasn't included in the recall. But obviously, there is an issue with my vehicle. Based on all the other complaints on the website, gm should be forced to recall these vehicles again! this time, all of them.

The car will display an esc service light and then the power steering will go out once that happens. When you turn the car off then back on the light goes away and then the power steering will go out again and the esc service will display again.

While driving, I noticed the steering wheel would pulse, especially when turning the wheel left. After about 3 or 4 days, I left work(12/17/19), and "power steering service esc" showed on the dash display. Since that time, the power steering has been intermittent. Most times it goes out while I'm driving.

Stopped behind another vehicle, when I started moving again there was a severe shudder or vibration. Then my car did not want to start moving again. Once it did start moving it would not shift out of first gear.

Esc displays across driver info center when driving at any speed, followed by no power steering. Problem is intermittent, seems to happen in wet/cold weather. Based on forums this is a common problem and requires a steering wheel sensor.