Blower motor issue causing trouble.

170

Asked by SunnyB Feb 23, 2015 at 09:00 PM about the 2012 Chevrolet Malibu LS FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Hi, i have a chevy malibu 2012 which
apparently bought in august 2011.
Now, all of a sudden my blower
motor started making noise and than
stopped. It only has 65k kms on it. I
heard that a lot of malibus had the
this problem and it was the exact
same issue as mine. In fact GM had
a recall on this issue well, however
When i went to Wheaton Chevrolet
their service advisor bluntly refused
to handle that issue despite low kms.
Thats really frustrating. Can anyone
advise?

23 Answers

825

I'd start by checking the blower fuse and relay. Remove the fuse and replace it with another one. A diagram of which fuse and where it is located should be in your manufacturers owners manual. I highly recommend the website: http://www.chevymalibuforum.com/forums/ The resistor or blower motor control module is probably your problem. When you replace the component, take a good look at the connector you take off and make sure there are no signs of overheating the connector, like burnt spots. Autozone has the part and at the bottom of the page is a diagram on the location of the part: http://www.autozone.com/cooling-heating-and-climate-control/a-c- heater-blower-motor-resistor/duralast-a-c-heater-blower-motor- resistor/chevrolet/malibu-lt/2012/4-cylinders-0-2-4l-sfi- dohc/200929_0_0_8531/

48 people found this helpful.
170

I really appreciate you taking time and responding to my question. I was hoping that GM team would respond, but I was probably expecting a lot from Them. Anyway, yes, i've checked all of that and there's nothing wrong but the blower motor it's making some wierd sound too. Fuse, resistor and connectors are all in place without any issue. When i actually knock underneath my dash motor starts again. So i am pretty sure that it is nothing else but the motor itself.

11 people found this helpful.
825

Sorry to hear that. If it is still under warranty, I'm guessing it's not, I'd take it to another GM dealership (Buick, Cadillac) to have them work on it. I have not replaced one on a newer model and always use an aftermarket product for something that is so new that it needs to be replaced. My 2010 Malibu will be my last Chevy because of things like this and the difficulty in dealing with GM dealerships.

8 people found this helpful.
170

Actually it's not just over by 4k. To be honest with i was so firm after my last one that i wont go for it but dont know what went wring with me that i agai

1 people found this helpful.
170

Actually it's not just over by 4k. To be honest with i was so firm after my last one that i wont go for it but dont know what went wrong with me that i again went for another chevy but i am firm niw that it is going to be my last. GM dealerships and their customer service really sucks!!!! Japanese and Germans are the best in my opinion.

1 people found this helpful.
143,795

The bearing in the blower motor is bad,this is what the recall was about.

7 people found this helpful.
170

Than how come they refused to entertain my issue? Any idea?

1 people found this helpful.
143,795

Sunny,that is a good question,did you receive a recall notice?And some time,s there is a time limit on these recall,s,and if not done in a certain time ,the dealer will not cover the cost.

2 people found this helpful.
170

Nope, i never received any auch notice from GM. However, i did hear that there was a recall for the blower motor but mine wasn't. How come mine wasn't, despite being the same year?

3 people found this helpful.
143,795

Lot,s of time,s certain car,s are over looked by the recall,s,and would probably explain why you did not recieve one,dealer,s have a list with vin number,s to go by on the recall,s,and if your vin was not on there,they will not cover it,yes this is not fair,but this happen,s alot,

1 people found this helpful.
90

im having the same issue with my 2010 ltz 3.6l (ly7) malibu. its a short,the blower would work, then stop, then work, it stopped for a good long minute one day so i started beating around close to floor board got so sick of it i hit the blower motor control knob out of anger then wala! started working, thinking the short is somewhere in the climate control box, maybe a bad ground or something?

9 people found this helpful.
160

i have a 2011 chevy malibu ltz ive owned since new, i have went through 3 blower resistors since 65,000 miles, and it only has 100,xxx miles on it now, today i put a new blower resistor in and it lasted about 10 minutes, i have no idea whats going on, any ideas? Any help would be much appreciated, And you can run a 12volt jumper wire to blower motor and it kicks on.

16 people found this helpful.
60

*Fuses* I had the same problem. 2011 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ V6 3.6L New fuses fixed it for me. I fixed several problems by changing fuses in this car. It's worth a shot.

6 people found this helpful.
40

I am finding this all amusing *not* as I'm sitting at the dealership costing me 250.00 to fix this very problem

4 people found this helpful.
20

I have a 2011 Chevy Malibu LT V6. I bought this vehicle brand new, and it now has 93,000 miles and is paid off. My 100,000 warranty expired May 7, 2016, and I have now been informed by my mechanic that it has 2 cylinder heads that have low compression (which was making my engine knock). To replace these 2 cylinder heads, it is the same price it will cost me to have a used engine put in!! How much you ask???? $5,000!!!! I have had noting but problems with this car!! From having to have my driver seat replaced thee times due to it getting a tear in the same place, my locks going crazy and having a mind of their own, to a small leak in the transmission that had to be fixed, and now this!!!! I will never buy another Chevy!! They don't stand behind their product, the service team sucks, and they don't build quality cars! Moving forward Japan will be getting all my money, at least when it comes to vehicles!!!

2 people found this helpful.

does any of you that own a chevy Malibu have issues with getting light headed and drowsy also like tunnel vision when only driving as I own a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu and nobody can seem to find this issue

20

see if you can buy a Carbon monoxide detector for your car. there are ones that you can purchase and they just stick on your dash - they change color if it detects carbon monoxide. (we use similar one in aircraft.) they are about 10 bucks

2 people found this helpful.
40

I tried the blower, the relay and blower motor resistor nothing worked?

4 people found this helpful.
120

I'm going through it myself. Mine appears to be the wires/connection for the blower motor resistor. After testing the fuses, the motor, and the resistor I remembered that the air kicked on when my girlfriend kicked the dash. I tapped the connections of both the blower and the resistor. The air turned on when I tapped the resistor wires. When I wiggled the wires it turned on too but the wires were scalding hot.

5 people found this helpful.
40

Arty12malibu I'm having the same exact issue. If you bump the dash, the AC will turn on. How did you go about fixing that? Did you have to replace all the wiring?

4 people found this helpful.
120

The problem was that the blower motor was drawing too many amps because it was dying. (So when testing, unless you test how much current it's taking you'll think "oh I hooked it up to a battery and it worked fine.") This caused the resistor to overheat and as a result melt the connection between the resistor and resistor connector. All three (blower motor, blower motor resistor, blower motor resistor connector) needed to be replaced. If it is the first time replacing the blower motor you'll have to spend money on the blower motor bracket kit since GM decided to semiperminantly attach the blower motor to the dash. You literally have to cut it out.

7 people found this helpful.
10

I have a 2011 malibu LTZ Im having issues also with blower. One day the motor did not kick in I tapped on the main CCM on the dash it came on until one day i smelled burning and the blower has never came back on. I tested power to the motor i was getting up to 11 volts. Not sure what to do . Where is the resistor module located not sure where anything is located

1 people found this helpful.

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