Ok so this is my first post on this forum by starting it off with a HELLO!!! to the fellow malibu peeps on the forum. Alright then I got my 2001 Malibu from my inlaws since it was sitting in their drive way the last 4 months collecting dust. I went to pick it up and thats when hell broke loose! The car needs tires the front driver side wheel bearing is done sounds like a motocross bike when im driving and the ac unit sucks due to it only works at 5 but shuts on and off and the Efans are not working to the car over heats. And it needs another front 02 sensor. I got alot on my hands and its going to take some time to get the demon running again. I got the tire,wheel bearing and 02sensor problem figured out but the AC and Efans ordeal i need some help i think it might be the resistors for the AC problem but i have no clue no the efans???? Anyhelp would be great thanks!

Sal

 

It could be the system is low on the refrigerant and the fans not coming on could be a bad relay or cooling temp switch or cooling temp sensor.

 

The fan resistor needs to be replaced. I have gone thru that a couple of times myself. Make sure there is current going to the efans. You can always run a straight 12volts to the plug of the efans to see if they are working or if they are the problem. If they work doing that then you need to go back to the relay and see if that might be the issue.

 

sorry to sound stupid but what is an "efan"?

 

I imagine he was meaning the interior fan. Other than that I was staying with his terminology to avoid confusion.
The reason the a/c light on the switch goes on and off is because the contacts on the a/c controls need to be cleaned. You have to pull that panel out and take it apart and clean with alcohol. I have found I have to do this at least once a year.

 

The fan resistor is located in the passenger side foot well on top left side in dash. Very hard to get at but not impossible. I replaced the resistor for my 2001 Chevy Malibu, but that was not the problem. I fixed the problem (overheating) as follows: I replaced the coolent bottle (ebay). Then opened **** valve on radaitor, then installed inline garden hose tee in the hose going to the heater. Then hooked up garden hose and flushed system for 10 min. Then drain all water from rad. Close all valves and caps. (Garden hose tee was left in system w/cap. Buy this from Prestone.) First fill rad with 1 gal. of DEXCOOL (orange) only. Now fill the rest with water. Also the cylinder shape outside air vent control door was not working. I glued the door shut. I gained access to this vent door via the engine compartment. Open hood, remove or lift up plastic grill on pass side exposing the cylinder shaped vent door. If you can move the cylinder by hand then the control arm that moves the vent is broken. I did not want to take apart the whole dash to replace the arm, so I used epoxy and some cloth to seal vent in the closed position. (I never used the outside air control anyway). Also your A/C may need a shot of freon. Good luck and don't give up.