2014 Chevrolet Malibu

THE ENGINE VARIABLE TIMING OIL CONTROL VALVE IS MALFUNCTIONING AS I HAVE SEEN WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHERS ON THE INTERNET. GM IS NO LONGER MAKING THE PART. I WAS DRIVING MY CAR ON A HIGHWAY AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. THE CAR DROVE NORMALLY, BUT WHEN I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE TO MERGE ONTO ANOTHER HIGHWAY, THE CAR SEEMINGLY STOPPED ACCELERATING EVEN WITH MY FOOT ON THE GAS. THE CAR WAS STUCK WITH NO PROPULSION FOR A FEW SECONDS BEFORE I COULD ACCELERATE AGAIN. THE CAR NOW ONLY SLOWLY ACCELERATES, OR DIES IF I TRY TO ACCELERATE QUICKLY. MY FUEL ECONOMY HAS BEEN WORSE AND ACCORDING TO REPORTS THE EMISSIONS OF THE CAR ARE WORSE. NO ACTION IS BEING TAKEN BY GM TO FIX THIS ISSUE. *TR

REQUEST #282669 COMPLAINT15 APRIL, 2020 TRACKING # 11321107 THE FOLLOWING COMPLAINT REFERENCES MY 2014 CHEVY MALIBU, ECOTEC 2.5L DOHC ENGINE, VIN #[XXX]. PURCHASED 9/15/2014 FROM GEORGE HAHAS CHEVROLET IN WILDWOOD, FL. THE VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY UNDER EXTENDED WARRANTY WITH ~23,300 MILES ON IT. IN OCTOBER 2019, THE VEHICLE BEGAN RUNNING ROUGH AT 20-25 MILES PER HOUR (ODOMETER: ~21,000) AND THE VEHICLE ENGINE LIGHT TURNED ON. THE ENGINE GAS MILEAGE ALSO DECREASED. I TOOK IT IN FOR REPAIR AND WAS TOLD THAT THE ROCKER ARM VALVE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED (UNDER WARRANTY). IN ADDITION, THE ENGINE WOULD NEED TO BE CLEANED DUE TO THE EXCESSIVE CARBON BUILD UP DUE TO THE MALFUNCTIONING PART. THIS CLEAN-UP WAS NOT UNDER WARRANTY, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CAUSED BY A DEFECTIVE WARRANTED PART. I WAS TOLD IT WAS SAFE TO DRIVE THE CAR UNTIL THE ENGINE LIGHT BEGAN TO FLASH. AT THAT POINT I WAS TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND HAVE THE VEHICLE TOWED AS IT WOULD NO LONGER BE DRIVABLE. THIS REPAIR WAS ATTEMPTED DURING THE GM WORKER STRIKE AND THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE. AFTER THE STRIKE, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE FROM GM OR ANY AFTERMARKET MANUFACTURER. AFTER WAITING UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR, I AGAIN CONTACTED NAHAS CHEVROLET AND WAS TOLD THAT THE PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE, AND GM HAD NO PLANS TO PRODUCE IT. FURTHER, A WARRANTED PART WAS NOT AVAILABLE FROM ANY MANUFACTURER. I WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT OVER 20 VEHICLES AT THIS SINGLE DEALERSHIP NEEDED THIS SAME PART. ON MARCH 2, 2020 I CONTACTED GM CONSUMER SERVICES (CASE # 9-5847264087). THEY INFORMED ME THAT THEY WERE INFORMED THAT GM HAD NO PLANS TO MAKE THIS PART AND KNEW OF NO AFTERMARKET MANUFACTURER WHO COULD SUPPLY A WARRANTED PART. THEY TOLD ME OF THREE UNWARRANTED MANUFACTURERS, BUT IF THE PART EVER CAUSED FURTHER DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE, THE REPAIRS WOULD NOT BE UNDER WARRANTY. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING 20-25 MPH, THE VEHICLE HESITATED WITH THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO GEORGE NAHAS CHEVROLET (4135 FL-44, WILDWOOD, FL 34785, (352) 504-4538) WHO INFORMED THEM THAT THE REPAIR FOR THE ROCKER ARM VALVE WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY, HOWEVER, THE PARTS FOR THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE PARTS WERE NO LONGER BEING MANUFACTURED. THE CONTACT WAS ALSO INFORMED THAT A THIRD-PARTY PART WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE MANUFACTURER OPENED A CASE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 21,000.*DT*TP

WHEN I COME TO A FULL STOP AT A RED LIGHT OR STOP SIGN, WHEN MY CAR TRIES TO USE THE AUTO STOP FEATURE THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME IT FAILS TO START BACK ON WHICH CAUSES IT TO FULLY TURN OFF WHILE THE KEY IS STILL TURNED AND THE CAR IS IN DRIVE AS IF THE CAR WAS STILL DRIVING. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS PROBLEM IS NOR DO I KNOW WHAT'S CAUSING IT. I CHANGED MY SPARK PLUGS THINKING THAT MIGHT OF BEEN THE PROBLEM BUT IT STILL CONTINUES TO DO THE SAME MALFUNCTION. PLEASE HELP.

THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC. HE TOLD ME THAT THE VALVE ROCKER ARM OIL CONTROL IS BAD. HE TOLD ME I AM THE 9TH IN THE QUE JUST FROM LANSING AREA AND THE PART IS BACK ORDERED SINCE AUGUST 2019. HE ORDERED THE PART FROM SHAHEEN CHEVROLET. I CALLED THE GM HELP LINE. INITIALLY THEY WERE VERY HELPFUL BUT LATER THEY CALLED ME AND SAID THEY CAN'T DO ANY THING. THE CAR IS STANDING OUTSIDE ON THE ROAD AND I AM PAYING THE INSURANCE AND JUST PAID THE REGISTRATION. THE DEFECTIVE PART NUMBERS ARE 12633613 AND 12634467 (GASKET + PART). GM CASE NUMBER IS 9-5813783154. THE PERSON WHO TOOK MY CALL WAS THANNA AND THE DATE I CALLED WAS 2/13/2020.