Ain't that the truth! If you want to test the concept, outside of the bounds of a personal relationship, just buy any car made by GM in the past 15 years or so, and you will know the truth.
We owned a 2009 Malibu. Ran it up to 190k miles with minimal repairs and all the regular maintenance. Gave it my brother, he drove it for another 15-20k. Gave it to our niece and it now has 230-240k miles with pretty minimal repairs and all the regular maintenance. Pretty good car actually.
Thank you so much for this!!! My son was stranded almost 2 hours away from home and this is exactly what happened! He had it towed thinking his engine went out and we had it running in less than 30 mins
I had a customers vehicle with the exact same issue, it was an 07 Malibu, was just at Chevrolet for some service work and shut down on the freeway. In this case, the throttle body had ingested the entire rubber gasket,lol. Tried to get just the rubber, but it is a non serviceable item. GM wanted $235 for a new resonator assembly, found one at a local salvage yard for $50, same procedure as what you did, a bit of silicone paste, and it was back on the road again. Thanks for the awesome content Ivan, keep em coming.
Crappy design of a part that needs to come on and off hundreds of times. The cover needs to be designed to easily come off, even by people who don't work for GM.
@@HouseCallAutoRepair It also prevents testing anything with cover taken off even temporarily, as we can see in this video. Crappy design, whatever the original intent of its designers was. If they really thougth the cover was so crucial and didn't want it to be discarded they could make it so that the intake pipe is held in place by the cover - but still leave the possibility to attach (without properly securing in place) the intake pipe without the cover mounted. But the best design is to not overcomplicate things that don't need to be complicated in the first place. Also, if the cover is eliminated because someone breaks it - this design forces you to buy a new one, while it is acutally not needed for anything except aestethics. Some engines even today don't have the cover at all.
@@HouseCallAutoRepair The cover is not an essential part and the logo will only ever be seen outside the the dealership in a video like this so if owners whant to discard it it should be at their discression, Stupid sullotion.
I just did an 06 Malibu ecotec with 141000 on it that jumped time and bent 8 exhaust valves. The statement that manufactures make that timing chains last for the life of the engine is correct because when the chain or tensioner fails the life of the engine is over. Nice video
Great teaching video, including the bonus footage. I'm wondering if the rubber grommet got torn following a TAC motor replacement from a salvage yard, there was an un-factory-like yellow crayon marking on the TAC motor. (I think it was L 7). Keep up the great work. Craig
The last time i checked that gasket was part of the whole engine cover over $200. Happened to mine i went to the parts store and bought a $5 cold air intake reducer adapter and put it on there. Mine has 134k on it and only consumes less than 1 qt in 5k miles using Mobil 1 its whole life.
I liked the optimism you showed when you glued the rubber gasket together and reinstalled it with anti-seize, and then said "Let's crank it up and take it for a spin." Last time I saw the "engine disabled" money light on a GM V-8, the oil pump had apparently failed while on a trip out of town, triggering the money light, and it cost quite a bit to get the light cut off (and the oil pump allegedly replaced) at the nearest dealership.
My understanding is never open the butterfly by hand to clean the TB cause it will screw it up. I turn the ignition on and put a brick on the gas peddle am I wasting my time or what's your thoughts
You my friend are a blessing because I was doing my morning commute when all of a sudden my car shut off I sat inside of my car watching your video did everything you did and found the exact same problem where the gasket went into the throttle body pulled it out and I was on my way to finish the repair. Thank you so much!
When I'm working on ANY car, the only thing I look for is any actual oil on the stick. Even old oil will still lubricate. Doesn't mean I won't HEAVILY recommend an oil change if I see fit tho. Ivan had oil on the stick, so what ever was going to be damaged, probably already was.
I had a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee do the same thing with the throttle but it was cable and it happened going down the road. Let’s just say the engine was not disabled on it
It's good to see you Ivan. I agree with everyone that's a terrible design of an engine cover. Unfortunately an inexperienced person manhandled that cover one too many times. The car is in need of some basic preventive maintenance. Take care of your car and your car will take care of you. As usual an awesome Russian repair!!!
Thanks for putting this video up. I broke down in my malibu an hour away from home last night all alone. I found this video when I searched the symptoms and this is EXACTLY what my car was doing and EXACTLY what was wrong with it. I was able to do a temporary fix right there to make it home. Life saver. Thanks so much
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics I had a crack in the copper band under the fuse box. Had it soldered 3 yrs ago. Havent had a problem since. Acted like the battery was dead. Starter wouldnt do anything but had bright headlights. A mechanic out in California told me what to look for. Sure enough. He has ran into this many times.
I'm betting it isn't far off from needing a wheel bearing. My 09 did something similar before I ended up with a howling or roaring noise at highway speeds. It took about 6 months of looking for problems and trying to figure out what was rubbing the tires before it made a bunch of clunking and grinding noises. At that point it was obvious (and scary) when I jacked the wheel off the ground. It has one of those sealed one piece bearings with a non serviceable wheel speed sensor in it. The wheel flopped around pretty easily and I'm not sure why it stayed on the car.
I've got a relevant inner CV joint story for you, maybe it will make you smile. We had a 1st generation Chrysler LH car, base model Intrepid 3.3 specifically. A seller I frequently bought from on fleaBay that sold store returns, Etc. had a complete brand new not reman passenger side half shaft for a 2nd gen LH car and it was dirt cheap and getting no bids so I bought it to have a just-in-case spare. The only difference between 1st and 2nd gen here is the style of the ABS tone ring, but my car didn't have ABS so it didn't matter. Oddly enough a few months to a year later the car developed that characteristic shake under load and it was that passenger side inner joint that had failed. The needles came out of the roller bearing of one of the tripod rollers. No leaked grease or torn boots. I just found it an odd yet very much in my favor coincidence that it happened this way.
I would say the last person tore it during installation. Likely didn't tear itself. Guess its an engine protect so you don't grenade it during startup?
The code p2121 may lead u in direction need for code 2121 it's fault with accelerator pedal sensor may be reason engine is disabled because of a safety feature
I have a diesel croma the air filter pipe is stitched with cable ties and sealed with hot glue proper Russian repair because the part is £150 and it runs good with that so that’s how it’s staying
Need new o- ring gasket that may leak air, and get false air mixture reading. Yes I would check the trans fluid and the other:s. I can see the car has no wheel covers?? That tells me poor maintenance by the owner.
OMG… thank you so much! My car just did ‘Engine Disabled’ while trying to speed up to merge this morning! I was stuck on the side of the road on the interstate for over an hour! Thanks to this video, a temporary fix and made it safety back home!
Having worked on the 2010 2.4 engine more than I'd like to admit, I'd say you were mighty brave to take the first test drive without topping off the oil, knowing you would be blamed for any engine disasters that occurred during your drive. Thanks for the quick diagnosis; that's a new one on me. For gluing gaskets together, 3-M sells a special primer (3M Scotch-Weld Instant Adhesive Primer AC79) for priming rubber parts, and a special CA glue to use with that primer. I have an idea that the primer works with any C/A glue, but the primer helps. If you look at the MSDS you will find that it is a 99% acetone mixture, which may mean that regular acetone would work as well, but I doubt it - must be a secret ingredient in the mix somewhere.
It's the Drive By Wire safety, if the computer picks up something other than the norm, for safety purposes it goes into limp mode or shuts it down. Up here in the Midwest where it gets really cold a dirty throttle body will cause that to happen. The sticky goo gets thick when cold and delays the throttle for a micro second and kicks in the limp mode.
Well, it's kind of obvious the way the engine cover installs, coming in on an angle could have easily contributed to the gasket tear, especially when you can't visually see it and can only go by feel. Smart idea pre-lubing for some added assurance. Did you replace or repair only?
If you had the recall service done on the 2.4L it runs fine and doesn't use oil anymore, just fyi as I have one. I had the service done not long after I bought it used and haven't had an issue with it since.
@@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics Actually it is a top end rebuild if I remember right, pistons, rods, rings, bearing timing chain I would have to see if I can find the paperwork but it was done several years ago. I don't know if they are still doing them but were valid till 120k miles I believe. Ours used oil like mad on the highway they did the oil change the wife took it to visit her niece and it was sucked dry. The thing I was most worried about was the cats, but so far so good on them. I'll try to find the paperwork for it, I just remember being shocked at all the work they did cause it was done in a couple of days that's why I remember. I kept the paperwork for trade in or future sales reasons so I just have to find it.
I couldn't find the original paperwork but I called the dealer that did the service and got them to put one together, they did pistons, rings, timing chain kit, gaskets and what not. No rods, for some reason I thought they did. I also needed some other things done (2 different sensors but I don't remember) after that all of a sudden were bad but I got them to pay for the parts.
Mine wont start 2010 malibu 2.4 lt says it's running lean and then goes in to power reduce mode I look for leaks vacuum leaks cant find any now car wont start
The second you told us the symptoms i guessed it would be something electromechanical in either the throttle body or the throttle pedal. But i was thinking bad potentiometer, or a bad stepper motor. Would not have guessed it was the rubber gasket, but looking at that design i can see how that could easily become a problem. If that gasket becomes stuck on the throttle body it looks like you can't get access to gently pry it off, thus it gets ripped when someone yanks that whole assembly off. Bit of a stupid design.
Check front brake rotor runout on both sides and possibly rears if has rear disk. I've also seen very rusted and falling apart rotors show up as shimmy or vibrations.
Crazy, I had the same exact thing happen to a Saturn Aura I bought from auction years ago. I got it for $600 as a non runner with the same engine disabled and throttle body codes. The same rubber gasket was jammed in the throttle body.
Some good some bad. First the good. Great job in getting the problem diagnosed, great job in temporarily patching the defective gasket. Now comes the sketchy parts. Car should have beed scheduled for replacing the throttle body gasket. Patch is not going to last forever. Wheel wobble problem was not finished. Fix or replace the wheel. CV joint. Needs further diagnosis. Traction control issue was not investigated. Should have looked further. Little problems are easy to fix. Big problems are expensive to fix. This car *only* has 175k miles on it. It should go at least 250k. Better to pay a mechanic to properly service it than to make payments.
Hey ivan, nice video. I see those rubber gasket tear all the time from mishandled or improper seating or installations. Especially with fancy plastic covers, silicone would be best option for use.! Nice video! Malibu suffers from bad axles, it's common problem. I've replaced one or two of those when they start to shimmy. Bad design by GM. Oh well. Many thumbs up!!!
Surprised our daughters car hasn't "engine disabled".....her "mechanic boyfriend" can't read a d/s to save his life, I've already replaced the t-chain once shortly after purchase and they still can't change the darn oil. Don't know how many times I've seen that car since repairs and no oil on the d/s....
Sounds like a non mechanic made the gasket mess, they just don't jump from an outside fit and appear inside :-( The low oil does sound bad :-(, hope the owner realises the need for servicing/checks is a smart thing to do. I find it cheeky that the customer moans about a wobble fault that must have existed for ages. How you cope with daft people, i just don't know lol.
Last time I jacked a car like that and did that kind of testing I forgot to roll down the window and the car locked on me with the key in it. Lol. Had to call the customer and ask if they had another key...all the while it's running on jack stands. I had a 2007 Impala that had a shimmy under load...turned out to the be the CV shaft. Could feel the play in the inner joint just as you described. Also found a trashed side engine mount.
@@TheCrazy243 I thought about buying something like that. Most likely if it happened again I'd have everything I need except for every car but the one I'd need it for. I decided it was easier to roll the window down on every vehicle and just not do it again! Vehicles that auto lock the doors at a certain speed will get you!
Every time I say the internet is inherently bad, in steps a "life saving" video. Before I even finished typing the car symptoms into google it auto finished the wording due to this video. I had the luxury of being a block away from work where we have a key programmer that can do basic code reading and it showed the same P2101 code that came up on your scan tool. And also code P1516 came up for mine if that makes a difference for anyone in the future. Anyway, thanks for the video. My new grommet is on order and I gently drove my car back home after getting that piece out. Thanks for the bonus footage as well. Insightful! I will probably use that knowledge in the future.
Thank you for this video, I thought my car was DONE but I looked under the cover and BOOM the exact same issue. Took out the gasket and it fixed it. Much love my G
I had one Malibu that died at 140k miles, the transmission went. Very smooth car! Other one I had over 200k. These are used as beaters by teens nowadays and are all dented up and trashed. 2.4l uses a lot of oil in my experience.
Thank you so much! Was headed home 2AM and this happened. Had to tow it back home the next day n was thinking I needed a new motor. Thanks a million buddy!
When you clean TAC always use the scanner to open the throttle angle to avoid damaging the motor and gears. Your way will bite you someday, just sayin..
@@seftonplayer32 lol I used to do the same until it happened to me. The shop I work at doesn't do that anymore because of buying a few that went sour. You'll see.
THIS WAS MY EXACT ISSUE!! Mine was in a Pontiac G6. That damn rubber piece is sold with that entire plastic engine cover for $300 at the dealer. Junk yard, here I come! Thanks for the video!
Spring Peepers are little frogs (Body size is 1-1.5 in). They live mostly in the Eastern U.S. and Canada. They make a whole lot of noise for being so small.
Your video helped so much as my car did the same thing and died on the side of the road. I loosened the air intake after the MAF sensor and manhandle the engine cover off. Rubber was stuck in the throttle. I pulled it out and it cranked up but died. I removed the MAF sensor and the car drove well enough to get me home. Ordered a performance air intake since that part is so expensive from dorman.
Try to get educated from his videos to fix my cars. So far the extent of my abilities are oil and plug changes, brake and rotors and timing belts. I did remove the V6 Toyota manifold to change out the plugs. Holy crap just for 3 plugs by the firewall! Pretty useless when check engine light turns on even armed with a code reader.
What does ECOTEC stand for? or in realistic definition mean? Environmentally friendly? Economic Technology? ECOTEC: def:= Engineers Cooperative Over site Tell Everyone to Clinch (your ass)
Ivan I had that same wobble on my Chrysler Van. We took off the wheel and observed the axle turning slowly. It was bent maybe 1/16 of an inch. I got a new axle and the wobble went away. I would not use a rebuilt axle.
With 174k on the vehicle, I would be surprised if the original CV joints weren't ready for changing. That is a lot of revolutions, and they aren't like U joints, with bearings inside them that hardly move. Those CV joints live a hard life, getting twisted around a lot in all kind of directions. Not to mention, if even a tiny bit of road salt got inside them, look out. Even fresh water will wash the lighter fractions of the grease out of them, given enough time. That is what happened to my old 2000 Expedition with the ball joints. All 4 rubber boots were torn up from turning. Water transformed the little grease left inside into solid goo. Even then, the ball joints were barely worn after 140k miles. The cheap Chinese ones I put in won't last that long. Then again, you don't need great parts, when you only drive about a thousand miles a year. Love the videos.
My car is doing the same thing as the one you had in the video but there was no rubber or anything caught in between the throttle body what else could be keeping it from not starting. PLEASE ADVISE !!!
Do you know anything about the 2009 Ltz Malibu power lock issue,.... got 33,000 miles on it.hot weather after driving 10 miles on 80 -90 degree days, car locks won't open ??help..
I have a 2010 chevy Malibu that my mobil mechanic said it is the.... 1.throttle position sensor switch A circuit pz0121 2.ecm/pcm power relay sensor curcuit high p0690 ignition switch run/start position start low p2534 My car just didnt go one morning, now here we are .can you help me out ,never said engine disabled so dont think its transmission like our friends say..250,000 miles
You have to ask yourself, What Would Scotty Do. Hmmmmm, Buy a Toyota Maybe. Next they will be towing them in to get the windshield cleaned, or forbid a Flat Tire.Reminds me of that song. Money For Nothing. Clicks For Free. Back to the Man Lifts Please.
