NHTSA Complaint #11432061 — 2009 CHEVROLET MALIBU

Occassionally and unpredictably, the service ESC, power steering, traction control and anti theft light come on and the car goes on limp mode, unable to shift past first gear. Also power locks do not work (all four doors) and tire pressure sensor is on and service tire sensor pressure light is on all the time. Took car to an independant mechanic who stated that when using his diagnostic tool, no code or fault indicated for ESC, power steering, traction control or anti theft device. It should be noted that these reset themselves when car is turned off and then go back on unpredictably, once you start driving the car. This mechanic then tried fixing the powerlocks, and stated that after replacing two of the powerlocks, he realized that they still did not work. This mechanic contacted GM and was told that the issue with the powerlocks came from the the body control module, which aparently was causing the powerlocks to fail and was also the cause of the tire pressure sensors being on all the time, since the body control module controlled the powerlocks and the tire pressure sensors. He also stated that the Chevy dealer was the only ones who could change the body control module, since they were the only ones who reprogram the new module to the car. This mechanic also stated that all four tires pressure sensors were working. I took the car to a Chevy dealer with same problem. The dealer claimed that gasoline which contained a high level of ethanol was causing the ESC, traction control and limp mode problem. They suggested for me to run the gas out and fill the car up three times with regular gasoline (87 octane) and that this would resolve this issue. They claimed that the tire pressure sensors on two of the tire were not reading properly and needed to be replaced and that the power lock switch was the root of the powerlocks not working, since two of them (the ones that were not replaced by the first mechanic) were not working. Problem with ESC wasnt resolved