So I have a 2005 Malibu LT 3.5L, been in the family since new and now passed down to my college kid. Its been a pretty great car overall @ 202K, if I forget about the catastrophic transmission failure @ 160K miles and the replacement Jasper...

Anyway, I've got a series of start issues with it. I am replacing the starter tonight, which will solve one problem (the bendix gear not engaging for long enough and periodically it just wont engage if it is hot). So assuming that the starter is not the issue, I do however also have a hot start problem with it. Driving it on errands, sometimes it will not start for 5-10 minutes. It'll crank, but never catch. This has been a long term issue, however it has gotten a lot worse over the past 8 months. The only errors that I am getting are:

P01 25_00 - Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT) insufficient for closed loop fuel control
P1 877_00 - Up and down shift switch performance-range switch in D3

The P01 25_00 has been an issue for about a year. I replaced the engine temp sensor (the old one crumbled as it was removed), but the error only went away for a little while. It has a pretty new water pump and coolant about 6K miles ago. The thermostat was not replaced at the time (I know, it was dumb that I did not request the shop do this, but it was an emergency repair when my daughter was out of town with it and she saw a small puddle underneath), but everything works just fine, the temp is always good. I'm not at all sure that this is related with the no-start issue, the periodic no-start has been an ongoing issue for several years, but it has gotten much worse over the past year that seems to coincide with the appearance of this code.

The P1 877_00 is a new code, and honestly I have not a clue what to search for this...

I've gotten the car back from my daughter to fix and setup for long-term college life since the periodic no-start has become a major problem (part of it is the starter for sure and this will fix the immediate huge problem, the hot no-start is not going to be solved by this).

Any list of things to check for the hot no-start?

Any suggestions for clearing the P01 25_00 code?

Any suggestions for the P1 877_00 code?

 

So I replaced the starter, relatively simple deal for sure, car runs great. I have not experienced the hot start issue yet, as we have some unseasonably moderate temperatures in the area.

I am however still looking for guidance on potential issues to investigate, and particularly about the codes that I posted. Surely someone has seen these codes at some time?

 

Surprised to see zero comments...

An update, I got the car to do the hot start issue. When hot, it will crank but periodically will not start. Add some gas pedal, and it will start. But when hot without adding a bit of gas pedal, it will just about catch, but never quite so.

 

That makes two of us.

 

Yep, still no solution and still have the issue. Bit disappointed honestly.

 

Where are you getting those codes from? They don't look like typical DTC codes, at least nothing I've ever seen, but that probably isn't saying much.
I have a 2005 'Classic' w/ the new Ecotech 2.2L engine in the older body style (4th gen).

 

From my 2 scan tools. The codes are not necessarily related to the problem, but are there nonetheless.

 

I don't know why your scan tool garbles up the codes like that. They are normal 'P'owertrain codes Pxxxx. i.e. P0125, P1877, etc.
Look them up on obd-codes.com and follow the steps there. That site is an excellent troubleshooting starting point.

 

The P1877 fault is a little more obscure. It has to do with the TAP shift system (manual gear selection). Diagnostics and repair are fairly involved and frankly I would just clear the code and ignore it. It's not a vital car function and not worth putting a whole lot of time into on a 18yo car.