Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

2006 Malibu LT

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    2006 Malibu LT

    Long story short, my lady friend's 2002 Sunfire's subframe snapped and she needed a new (different) car immediately. I helped her find one, so now I have to help her sort the damn thing out. We got 4 new tires thrown in the deal, and her brothers put front brakes on it about 1000 miles ago. It needs a right front wheel bearing, rear brakes eventually, and the intermediate steering shaft is doing the clunk-clunk dance they're known for and has bound up once. None of this is too concerning or matters. They are known defects and should be easy and relatively cheap to fix.

    Problem is, I can't read codes off it. I need to check the grounds (if I can find their locations), but I stuck my electroprobes into pins 4 & 5 grounds, & 8 or 16 whichever the positive power hole is, and it's reading 13.92v steady at idle (which is too high) I didn't rev the motor or anything to see if voltage jumped with engine speed (would this jumping mean it might need a new alternator/voltage regulator?). I still need to trace wires under the hood to make sure nothing looks screwy if you guys don't tell me to throw an alternator on it. I haven't done a lot of electrical troubleshooting, so if there's a process you recommend, please tell me which setting to put the multimeter on. Thanks.

    It's in pretty decent shape otherwise, with a new alignment, and only 69,954 miles on it when she got it. It has the 3.5 v6 (the recent evolution of Chevy's 60-degree v6 series of motors, I don't trust the 3.9HO v6 because I've seen a few late-model GM front drivers Lacrosse/Lucerne? with blown trannies with that motor, may just be dumb people didn't service it and it nuked the trans, but I've seen multiple instances of nuked trannies with the 3.9), and 4-speed automatic transmission so it should hopefully run forever. I know it's basically a car for people who don't give a shit about cars or how they drive, but it was probably the best choice available at the time (that met her standards). One thing my dad pointed out at the time, your hip will hit the b-pillar getting in and out if you have the seat all the way back for tall people, guess that's the price for a decent back seat. It's basically the Malibu Maxx style car without the station wagon/hatch or w/e.
    ,
    Slicktop '91 GS HO 4.30 rear. '82 Mark VI Tudor HO, '90 F-150 XLT, '62 project Heep, '89 Arizona Waggin' and '88 donor in PA, getting combined.

    #2
    13.9V is in the normal range.
    03 Marauder DPB, HS, 6disk, Organizer Mods> LED's in & Out, M&Z rear control arms, Oil deflector, U-Haul Trans Pan, Blue Fuzzy Dice
    02 SL500 Silver Arrow
    08 TC Signature Limited, HID's Mods>235/55-17 Z rated BFG G-Force Comp-2 A/S Plus, Addco 1" rear Sway, Posi Carrier, Compustar Remote Start, floor liners, trunk organizer, Two part Sun Visors, B&M Trans drain Plug, Winter=05 Mustang GT rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R-2 235/55-17
    12 Escape Limited V6 AWD, 225/65R17 Vredestein Quatrac Pro, Winter 235/70-16 Conti Viking Contact7 Mods>Beamtech LED headlight bulbs, Husky floor liners

    Comment


      #3
      Can't read codes? Like ECM codes? Worked on a 2005ish Chevy Express and the thing wouldn't talk to the scanner. Plug it in and all the gauges would go to zero while running. Cigarette lighter fuse blown. Replaced that and then you could read codes fine!
      1990 Country Squire - weekend cruiser, next project
      1988 Crown Vic LTD Wagon - waiting in the wings

      GMN Box Panther History
      Box Panther Horsepower and Torque Ratings
      Box Panther Production Numbers

      Comment


        #4
        Thanks, Jay.

        Originally posted by Tiggie View Post
        Can't read codes? Like ECM codes? Worked on a 2005ish Chevy Express and the thing wouldn't talk to the scanner. Plug it in and all the gauges would go to zero while running. Cigarette lighter fuse blown. Replaced that and then you could read codes fine!
        I saw that on various forums online, but her cigarette lighter power point works. I will have to pull the fuses to check them, and trace down the grounds, hopefully it's something simple. The only thing that has dropped to 0 is her gas gauge afaik, but it popped back up shortly while driving. Also she got some ABS light and brake light stuff on the dash once or twice BRIEFLY, but that might be the wheel bearing sensor crapping out or something.
        Last edited by sxcpotatoes; 07-05-2017, 10:53 AM.
        ,
        Slicktop '91 GS HO 4.30 rear. '82 Mark VI Tudor HO, '90 F-150 XLT, '62 project Heep, '89 Arizona Waggin' and '88 donor in PA, getting combined.

        Comment


          #5
          Those things seem to be riddled with electrical problems. Ashley's parents had one that even the GM tech center couldn't fix. Would randomly crap out when driving with no warning.
          1985 LTD Crown Victoria - SOLD
          1988 Town Car Signature - Current Party Barge

          Comment


            #6
            Completely unrelated to your electrical issues, but before it gets new tires and alignment do check the front bushings of the front lower control arms. If they are what I think they are, it's the idiotic design that mounts their axis vertically so when the suspension cycles it twist the shit outta that bushing sideways. It's a fuckin stupid setup, yet just about any front-wheel drive GM vehicle of those model years has it. The OEM bushings start to crack at around 100k miles and usually by 150-ish or so they are pretty torn apart and the LCA is just banging on the subframe. OEM-style aftermarket replacements are total shit, not even worth your time looking at them let alone actually using them (unless you feel like redoing the job in a year or so). Moog has an updated design which is basically a high-misalignment spherical joint, which is what the damn things should have been in the first place. RockAuto carries them, they're usually listed as the high-end replacement parts, yet their price is not a whole lot higher than the junk parts stores carry, like only about $10 more per side. Also available are 2-piece polyurethane rear bushings for those same front LCAs, which is what you should be using if you value your sanity, since the OEM-style 1-piece standard rubber bushings are a total bitch to install even with liberal amounts of grease and a shop press to do the hard work.
            Last edited by His Royal Ghostliness; 07-06-2017, 03:07 AM.
            The ones who accomplish true greatness, are the foolish who keep pressing onward.
            The ones who accomplish nothing, are the wise who know when to quit.

            Comment


              #7
              Thanks Ivan, we had a safety check done at the Goodyear store up the road, and the tires and alignment are from there, it will probably take her about 5 years to put 30k more miles on the car. They said the front end was good/tight/no problems etc. After her brother did the brakes he claimed it pulled to the right, swore up and down the alignment was off, but idiot doesn't know you're supposed to COAST to check the alignment, you hammer on the throttle at 50mph, no shit torque steer is going to dance you the fuckin' way the road crowns!
              ,
              Slicktop '91 GS HO 4.30 rear. '82 Mark VI Tudor HO, '90 F-150 XLT, '62 project Heep, '89 Arizona Waggin' and '88 donor in PA, getting combined.

              Comment


                #8
                Why on earth would you put a control arm bushing 90 degrees to the axis it rotates in?
                86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                Originally posted by phayzer5
                I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                Comment


                  #9
                  Because replacement parts.

                  Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein
                  rides: 93 Crown Vic LX (The Red Velvet Cake), 2000 Crown Vic base model (Sandy), 2003 Expedition (the vacation beast)
                  Originally posted by gadget73
                  ... and it should all work like magic and unicorns and stuff.
                  Originally posted by dmccaig
                  Overhead, some poor bastards are flying in airplanes.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
                    Why on earth would you put a control arm bushing 90 degrees to the axis it rotates in?
                    The standard reason why stupid designs that offer no cost savings of any kind get implemented anyways - fuckin NVH. Moog's "uniball" front bushing when combined with the poly rear one does transmit noticeably more vibrations than the rubber shit does.
                    The ones who accomplish true greatness, are the foolish who keep pressing onward.
                    The ones who accomplish nothing, are the wise who know when to quit.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
                      Why on earth would you put a control arm bushing 90 degrees to the axis it rotates in?
                      Because GM.


                      -ryan s.
                      08 Lincoln Navigator L - 233k
                      03 Mercury Marauder- 63k
                      97 Ford Crown Victoria HPP "Tank of Justice III" (TOJ3) - 194k -->578.9 miles on ONE tank of gas<--
                      94 BMW 325i Convertible - 135k
                      73 VW Super Beetle "Bunky" <----- Wifey's
                      12 Mini Cooper S - 90k <---- Wifey's
                      Originally posted by pantera77
                      Well my buddy tells him he knows exactly who loves buying shitboxes.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I tend to not shit talk GM too terribly much, considering I've been driving the same GM product for longer than half the people on here have been driving anything but they sure did have some stupid ass ideas in the 80s and 90s. My truck was designed in the 80s, based on things designed in the 70s. Its not fancy but it makes sense and it works.
                        86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                        5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                        91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                        1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                        Originally posted by phayzer5
                        I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by SVT98t View Post
                          Because GM.
                          Ford does the same shit tho, nowadays they all do. Like VW & Audi's 8 front control arms, four arms per side and I forgot what other shit you have to remove so you can pull out the bolts holding the arms to the rest of the car. Because non-serviceable ball joints where the arm is the ball joint's body.
                          The ones who accomplish true greatness, are the foolish who keep pressing onward.
                          The ones who accomplish nothing, are the wise who know when to quit.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by SVT98t View Post
                            Because GM.


                            -ryan s.
                            ^^^This.

                            Every GM product I've owned or driven has had just weird, asinine, or just annoying issues, design flaws, bullshit repeated failures, etc. Not saying I haven't experienced my share of quirks with the Fords, but for some reason they're not the same kind of stupid or irritating. Couple that with the fact that GM will flat out make crap, try it out on customers, then ask you to buy more of said crap after you didn't like the first batch is just unreal. Considering the bailout as well, I figure they owe me a car anyway, sure to hell won't pay for one. If they gave me one i'd sell it and buy a townie anyhow. That's my new muse.
                            Last edited by knucklehead0202; 07-08-2017, 12:58 AM.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Knucklehead, you do know that the suspension of your beloved Townie, up until '02 at least, is actually a GM design, right?

                              In any case, what you said there actually sounds exactly like what Ford did with a whole bunch of their creations - they rushed production with underengineered stuff (or stuff that was well engineered by someone else and Ford just fucked with it despite being told not to do so) and then made the customers eat the cost of repairs using bullshit excuses like "acts of God" (aka lightning strikes) and abuse by the customer (cause apparently you can't buy a bigass stupid-powerful truck and actually tow anything decent with it in the first however ridiculously-many miles). But on the flip side the same customers demand new and better shit all the time, yet they don't wanna wait for proper R&D (the whole instant gratification mentality again), so something's gotta give, and therefore all of the OEMs are forced to pull the same stupid stunts, it's not just one of them.

                              And for the love of God enough with that fuckin bailout thing already - upper management financial foolishness should not be what determines whether you buy a company's product or not, quality of said products should be, and their attitude towards people like you. Lest we forget that Ford may not have taken any bailout money, but it was also not GM or Dodge that went after a number of independent internet sources of vehicle-related information that was extremely useful to those of us who tinker with said vehicles. Remember FordFuelInjection.com? The site that told you all about how EEC-IV and EEC-V work and a whole lot more - Ford lawyers shut him down, just like they did with a bunch of other sites... Idk about you but I will never willingly support a company that goes out of its way just so it can fuck with people with interests like mine (and yours). So again, fuck modern-days FoMoCo!
                              The ones who accomplish true greatness, are the foolish who keep pressing onward.
                              The ones who accomplish nothing, are the wise who know when to quit.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X