NHTSA Complaint #10438526 — 2009 CHEVROLET MALIBU

THIS PROBLEM IS VERY INTERMITTENT AND IMPOSSIBLE TO DUPLICATE BY GM SERVICE TECHNICIANS. IT IS VERY INTERMITTENT TO ME AS THE DRIVER TOO, AND I HAVE TO DATE BEEN UNABLE TO KNOW WHAT TRIGGERS THIS. IT SEEMS TOTALLY RANDOM. INTERVALS HAVE BEEN AS LITTLE AS ONE WEEK AND AS LONG AS TWO MONTHS. THE EVENT IS CAR ENGINE HAS NEAR COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER; ENGINE TIMING PINGS HEAVILY, ENGINE POWER SURGES THEN COMPLETE LOSS OF POWER. THIS IS THE MOST SEVERE SYMPTOM. THE CAR ALSO ENCOUNTERS MODERATE PINGING, LOSS OF POWER THAT CAUSES THE CAR TO BE VERY DIFFICULT TO DRIVE. I HAVE TO PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE STREET EVERY TIME DUE TO THE UNPREDICTABILITY OF ENGINE POWER. THE CAR HAS DIED ON THE INTERSTATE FREEWAY AND WHEN I PUSH ON GAS PEDAL, ENGINE POWER GETS WEAKER AND ENGINE PINGING IS EXTREMELY STRONG. COASTING TO SIDE OF FREEWAY IS ONLY SAFE THING TO TRY. *TR