Owner-reported complaints naming the fuel system system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming fuel storage or delivery — tanks, pumps, lines, injectors and fuel leaks. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 59 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 59, in the owner's own words
I have had experience with the "SHIFT TO PARK" error and I have had the "reduced engine power" error message resulting in an UNEEDED $2200 dollar repair only for it to break down 2 months later, same message this time with fuel spraying under the hood. I NEARLY BLEW MYSELF UP TRYING TO START MY CAR! How is it that I cant find this DANGEROUS defect on the recall list when I easily found the RECURRENT problem online? HELP
Fuel is leaking and it is messing up my emissions. I had the emissions fixed for my safety inspection. But soon after 2 days later fuel keeps leaking and the smell of gas is so strong in my car. This is a safety hazard of not only becoming inflammable but also the smell is toxic to my health and my grandchildren. I have asthma and all of the following i have experienced headaches, dizziness, and respiratory problems, and long-term like asthma exacerbation that is flaring up my asthma and i am afraid it will cause potential cancer.
Engine light is on, message pops up stating "engine power is reduced" and pedal acceleration is limited. I received a message from Onstar stating there is a recall on some GMC vehicles regarding this issue, however my vin is not part of the recall, but it should be, as all the elements stated in the recall are the exact issues in my vehicle.
Last year I started getting the dreaded shift to park issue. Takes usually about 30 seconds to realize its in park, even though the dashboard days its in park. WHY is there no recall? I see hundreds of thousands of complaints for this. Plus im constantly getting the P1101 code. I know this is a common issue with this car for the dirty throttle body or MAF sensor. Why isnt this under recall? I dont have the money to pay for repairs that the dealership should be recalling. The shift to park issue is so common. This is getting ridiculous. Plus the code. Please fix this ASAP.
The car smells strongly of gas. And has a problem accelerating. Check engine light came on and I got a code p1101 which is a code for the MAF SENSOR. This is not the first time that this has happened. It happened less than a year ago maybe 9-10 months ago. I don’t drive the car in fear of it catching a fire. The car has stalled before in the middle of a turn. I had to turn the car off and turn it back on. I called onstar who have no idea what was wrong with it.
The transmission stalls to get up and go after it has been driven for a short while causing it to slow down traffic and causing a slight risk trying to pull over to the side to allow drivers behind pass by. Once the driver stops at more than 5 stops is when the vehicle begins to hesitate to work properly.
Fuel leaking from engine
Engine power abruptly stopped while driving causing drivers behind me to almost rear end me. Dashboard displays ‘Engine Power is Reduced.’ It has happened since I purchased the vehicle in 2017 but had not done this in a few years. I’m on top of maintenance and did mention this issue to the dealer but no one reached out or offered a solution.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving northbound at 70 MPH, an unknown BMW crashed into the passenger rear quarter panel of the vehicle. The impact spun the vehicle around and hit a guardrail. The air bags did not deploy. The driver and child occupant sustained minor bruises and were provided medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a body shop. There was no reported fire. After adding fuel, the contact noticed fuel leaking. The passenger's front and rear seat belts failed to latch. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the fuel line, seatbelt latch, and buckle needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V649000 (Seat Belts) , NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V358000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.
High pressure fuel pump blew out while driving on the highway going to Minnesota from Illinois. Fuel was spraying onto the engine and leaking onto the ground. I immediately pulled over and stopped the car, turned off the engine and raised the hood. The car was taken to a Chevy dealership today and I was informed that the high pressure fuel pump literally "blew out." This could have resulted in an engine fire and fortunately that didn't happen. Online research reveals that Chevy had a recall on some 2016-2018 model Malibu's for this very reason.
The warning light comes on and off and is showing (P0498/P0449) which is the evaporative emission system vent control electrical circuit signal has low voltage for a predetermined period of time. Its calling to replace the evaporative emissions canister vent solenoid and I have seen 3 vehicles the same as mine needed the same thing fixed. When the vehicle is in park you can feel it jerk and also while pressing gas when you pull off it stalls. When cranking you can smell fumes .
On numerous occasions while driving on highway my dashboard will display reduced engine power and engine light comes on. My traction control light also comes on. Car loses power quickly and will not accelerate. I’ve had to pull over numerous times almost being hit by cars behind me. Took it to get repaired and had to have fuel pump replaced as wires had melted to side of pump. Three months later same problem happened. This car is scary to drive
In February 2023, we took the Malibu into the dealership for reduced engine power dashboard notification. Light went off when in shop, got the car back and light on once again. When at a red light that turned green, accelerated but car would not go over 20 MPH. Almost rear ended. Dealership replaced the vacuum pump gasket and seal. Fast forward one year later. Once again, reduced engine power notification came on again. Once again at red light, when light turned green, car wouldn't accelerate and was very close to being rear ended and difficult to make it through the intersection. Currently at dealer (1/18/24) with dealer having no idea what is wrong with car (today is 1/24/24). The dealer today stated it will be another 1-2 weeks. That will make it three weeks for a diagnoisis. With reduced engine power, it is very dangerous to drive a vehicle like this. Of course, there are hundreds of other complaints for this issue/make/model.
Issues with fuel pump. Other 2017 Chevrolet Malibu's already have this recall
Issues with fuel pump
bought this kind of new and while still under warranty reduced power engine light came on & engine is reduced to 20 mph have to pull over shut it off wait a few minutes and start it back up and then it will be all right for a while we called dealer made an appointment but by the time the appointment came around the light had gone out they said the light needs to be on in order for them to diagnose the problem the light goes off after about 50 miles after this happens so we could never get it into them within that 50 mile time frame we gave up after a while now it's happening more often and I hear that maybe a class action suit coming they don't seem to be able to solve the problem. we still own this 2017 Chevy Malibu and it is still doing it today.
So basically when I'm driving it automatically I don't know where says engine power reduce which cuts the power down when you're on the highway and see if you're doing 70 miles per hour and all of a sudden that light comes on your check engine light comes on and it reduces the strength of the vehicle so ithe vehicle so we can cause multiple accidents
When vehicle is engaged in auto stop, it stalls out completely or bucks forward when at a complete stop(sign or red light). Upon review, two mechanics stated it has to do with the transmission and tork converter. Repair is upwards of $4000-$6000. 2017 Malibu has less than 75000 miles. Will be contacting dealership today 4/10/22.
The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Malibu. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, the accelerator pedal sensor failed with the check engine vehicle entered reduced power mode, the vehicle independently slowed down as the contact pulled to the side of the road. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and took the vehicle to a dealer. The dealer informed him warning light and several other unknown warning lights illuminated. As the that the accelerator pedal sensor was defective and needed to be replaced. The contact was also informed that the parts to repair the vehicle were unavailable. The contact then had an independent mechanic replace the accelerator pedal and the sensor. The contact also stated that while merging onto a highway at 60 MPH, the vehicle stalled with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle entered reduced power mode as the contact pulled off to the side of the highway. The contact was able to exit the highway and drove the vehicle slowly back to his residence. The following day, the vehicle was towed back to the dealer where he was informed that the high-pressure fuel pump failed and that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V358000 (Fuel System, Gasoline). The manufacturer was not notified of failure. The vehicle was repaired but remained at the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.
My 2017 Malibu suddenly had the "check engine" light come on, and a message indicating that a "reduced power mode" had been initiated. I drove the car immediately to the local dealer, who said I needed an appointment to have it checked. I checked the OBD2 codes with my personal meter, which showed a p2138 code, indicating a problem with a throttle body sensor. When I started my car the next morning the MIL light didn't come on. At the dealer I was told they couldn't do anything with the car because the light wasn't on. I pointed out that the failure codes were stored in the ECM, but they said diagnosis wasn't possible with the light off. The service writer indicated the problem was not uncommon on GM cars and that even his wife's car had similar problems. When this occurred I was fortunate to be on a local suburban road where reduced speed was not that great of a problem. Much of the time I am on freeways in several major Midwestern cities where aggressive drivers are packed together. I read a number of complaints on the NHTSA site indicating same complaints from Malibu owners. A sudden reduction of speed in a congested area is a recipe for disaster. The service writer even stated that GM had an extended warranty on the pedal assembly and TPI sensors. But he refused to try and diagnose the issue, unless I brought the car in immediately if and when the MIL light was illuminated, even if I was 500 miles away. As this intermittent behavior is a known and common issue I feel that GM should be compelled to do something to correct these defects before a truly dangerous incident occurs, causing devastating results. But I'm sure that this will go on until misfortune causes those in power to ask. Why didn't somebody do something?
I have a 2017 Chevy Malibu, I have 10 months with me since I bought last year ,it and it was 25000 mille now is 30000 m my real problem is on several times driving in freeway or hiway my car drop the speed from 55 to 40 to 20 and appear a light says POWER ENGINE REDUCED , after that my car LOOSE POWER - CHECK ENGINE IS ON I got nervous for what happens and is really confused I just buy my first car from dealer and now this !!!! This is not fear help please I read a lot of comments regarding with this problem in this cars models and everyone from 2016 to 2018 has the same problem POWER ENGINE REDUCED. and dealers just charge and charge and don’t resolve the problem thank you blessings all
Engine Power is Reduced
Driving on highway at about 65 mph on family trip to Delaware. . Car suddenly gave reduced acceleration error and speed started declining while in traffic. No warning.checked chevron app on phone and it did not see anything wrong. There was NO check engine or anything. Got to a dealer and they said it was probably a sensor for gas pedal. 5 days later driving home to Georgia from trip on highway around same rate of speed. No warning . The check engine light and reduced engine power warning message came on. This time the Chevrolet app notified me of trouble and said I needed the car seen within a day. .Got to a dealer and now they say they think it may be the cam shaft based on the code but they cannot replicate issue. I took a photo of the alert from the second incident . Car has about 46,000 miles and is well maintained . Our safety was at risk both times but especially the first time as we were in traffic and speed declined .
I was going 70mph on the highway, when I got a sudden alarm from the car saying "reduced power". The car would not accelerate and started slowing rapidly, almost resulting in a collision. The car would not go more than 20mph. I had to pull off to the shoulder, restart the car several times, and then was able to get the power to come back, but the check engine light remained on.
While driving received recurring check engine light for p2127/p2138 code. Has been to Quirk Chevrolet twice previously for same issue, drives fine for a week or two and light comes back. Third service appointment scheduled for Monday 6/7/21. Recurring issue has made vehicle unusable while effected as car goes into limp mode while in motion limiting speeds to 25mph which was interesting to say the least as it happens while in motion.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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