Alexey Malashev

we have a 2005 chevy malibu that has some weird tranny problems. most of the time in drive it just revs and creeps slowly until it gets to a certain speed. then it shifts and acts a bit better but still RPM's don't match the speed. ones the car gets over 30mph it shifts perfect and drives great at high speeds. sometimes it even works great in low gears, it seems to be pretty random. i got a fluid flush a while ago at the dealership but it made no difference. disconnected the battery and adjusted the shift cable today and when i got into the car it drove great, then my girlfriend went to drive it and it went back to the way it drove before. similar situation happened after i replaced the ECU (different issues) i drove it and it was fine. next day she got into and it just revs and creeps. i am blaming it on "woman driver" but i don't think it's holding up anymore. reverse works great (i was told it stopped working ones before) but that was just once. same thing happens when i have it in a manual mode. 1st 2nd 3rd gear it just creeps. shifts down with no problems. i will do another flush myself just to check the fluid color and if there is any dirt or debris (i also don't trust dealerships, especially after reading everyone else s posts regarding their experiences at them) when the tranny heats up it wont engage at all (don't ask how i figured that one out), but after sitting overnight it starts to act as it has before. also on the days it works better, the shifts are very rough and jerky through the first few gears. just to add, transmission fluid has not been changed until there was about 200k miles on to my best knowledge. the car was bought with 100k on it and i don't know what was done to it prior. i know there was no maintenance done to the transmission until few months ago and that was about 5 years after the purchase. anyone know what might be causing this behavior?

Chevrolet Customer Service

Alexey Malashev,

I am sorry to hear you are having this concern with your 2005 Malibu. You stated that you had a concern with going to the dealership. We are here to assist you in this concern. If you change your mind, please let us know. We are always here.

Erica Tiffany
Chevrolet Customer Service

LovemyMalibu

My 1997 Malibu is doing that as well. Almost the same thing! We have changed the tranny filter and fluid but its doing it, just not as bad. Have you gotten this fixed and if so, how!?

Alexey Malashev

Yes and no, i replaced the transmission, got a used one for 450$ off of the internet. the job took me about 15 hours total and was a pain in the *** but doable in a driveway. i would strongly recommend getting a second person for this and it could be done in 6-7 hours and much less cursing. I just had to get an engine lift which i sold right after and a book from autozone that had step by step on how to do it. DO NOT GO TO A DEALER, they will charge you few thousand. when i took the old one apart, it had clogged fluid paths and a burned clutch, cleaned the whole thing, replaced the clutch and sold the tranny for 350$. clogged channels probably caused the clutches to burn out... so entire process was maybe 200$ out of pocket. good luck, and sell that thing the second you have a chance. after taking it apart i can see why they keep breaking. newer chevies are complete ****...