trailer CHEVROLET MALIBU 2018 Owner's Manual

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
18 In Brief
Dual Automatic Climate Control System
1. Driver and Passenger Ventilated Seats (If Equipped)
2. Driver and Passenger Temperature Controls
3. MAX Defrost
4. Air Delivery Mode Controls
5. A/C (Air Conditioning) or Max/ Eco Air Conditioning (Stop/
Start Only)
6. Driver and Passenger Heated Seats (If Equipped) 7. SYNC
8. AUTO (Automatic Operation)
9. Fan Controls
10. Power (On/Off)
11. Recirculation
12. Rear Window Defogger
See Climate Control Systems 0196
or Dual Automatic Climate Control
System 0199 (If Equipped).
Transmission
Electronic Range Select
(ERS) Mode
ERS mode allows you to choose the
top-gear limit of the transmission
and the vehicle's speed while
driving downhill or towing a trailer.
The vehicle has an electronic shift
position indicator within the
instrument cluster. When using the
ERS mode a number will display
next to the L, indicating the current
gear that has been selected.
To use this feature:
1. Move the shift lever to L (Manual Mode).
2. Press + (Plus) or −(Minus) on
the shift lever to increase or
decrease the gear range
available.
See Manual Mode 0225.

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
Instruments and Controls 123
If the light is flashing :A
malfunction has been detected that
could damage the emission control
system and increase vehicle
emissions. Diagnosis and service
may be required.
To help prevent damage, reduce
vehicle speed and avoid hard
accelerations and uphill grades.
If towing a trailer, reduce the
amount of cargo being hauled as
soon as possible.
If the light continues to flash, find a
safe place to park. Turn the vehicle
off and wait at least 10 seconds
before restarting the engine. If the
light is still flashing, follow the
previous guidelines and see your
dealer for service as soon as
possible.
If the light is on steady : A
malfunction has been detected.
Diagnosis and service may be
required.
Check the following:
. If fuel has been added to the
vehicle using the capless fuel
funnel adapter, make sure that it has been removed. See
“Filling
the Tank with a Portable Gas
Can” under Filling the Tank
0 259. The diagnostic system
can detect if the adapter has
been left installed in the vehicle,
allowing fuel to evaporate into
the atmosphere. A few driving
trips with the adapter removed
may turn off the light.
. Poor fuel quality can cause
inefficient engine operation and
poor driveability, which may go
away once the engine is warmed
up. If this occurs, change the
fuel brand. It may require at
least one full tank of the proper
fuel to turn the light off. See Fuel
0 257.
If the light remains on, see your
dealer.
Emissions Inspection and
Maintenance Programs
If the vehicle requires an Emissions
Inspection/Maintenance test, the
test equipment will likely connect to
the vehicle's Data Link
Connector (DLC).
The DLC is under the instrument
panel to the left of the steering
wheel. Connecting devices that are
not used to perform an Emissions
Inspection/Maintenance test or to
service the vehicle may affect
vehicle operation. See Add-On
Electrical Equipment 0267. See
your dealer if assistance is needed.
The vehicle may not pass
inspection if:
. The light is on when the engine
is running.
. The light does not come on
when the ignition is in
Service Mode.
. Critical emission control systems
have not been completely
diagnosed. If this happens, the
vehicle would not be ready for
inspection and might require
several days of routine driving

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
160 Lighting
Lighting Features
Entry Lighting
Some exterior lamps and most of
the interior lamps turn on briefly at
night or in areas with limited lighting
when the Remote Keyless Entry
(RKE) transmitter
Kbutton is
pressed. See Remote Keyless Entry
(RKE) System Operation 032. After
about 30 seconds the exterior lamps
turn off, then the dome lamps and
remaining interior lamps dim to off.
Entry lighting can be disabled
manually by turning the ignition on
or to ACC/ACCESSORY, or by
pressing
Qon the RKE transmitter.
This feature can be changed. See
Vehicle Personalization 0138.
Exit Lighting
Some exterior lamps and interior
lights come on at night, or in areas
with limited lighting, when the driver
door is opened after the ignition is
turned off. The dome lamp comes
on after the ignition is turned off. The exterior lamps and dome lamp
remain on for a set amount of time,
then automatically turn off.
The exterior lamps turn off
immediately by turning the exterior
lamp control off.
This feature can be changed. See
Vehicle Personalization
0138.
Battery Load
Management
The vehicle has Electric Power
Management (EPM) that estimates
the battery's temperature and state
of charge. It then adjusts the voltage
for best performance and extended
life of the battery.
When the battery's state of charge
is low, the voltage is raised slightly
to quickly bring the charge back up.
When the state of charge is high,
the voltage is lowered slightly to
prevent overcharging. If the vehicle
has a voltmeter gauge or a voltage
display on the Driver Information
Center (DIC), you may see the voltage move up or down. This is
normal. If there is a problem, an
alert will be displayed.
The battery can be discharged at
idle if the electrical loads are very
high. This is true for all vehicles.
This is because the generator
(alternator) may not be spinning fast
enough at idle to produce all of the
power needed for very high
electrical loads.
A high electrical load occurs when
several of the following are on, such
as: headlamps, high beams, rear
window defogger, climate control fan
at high speed, heated seats, engine
cooling fans, trailer loads, and loads
plugged into accessory power
outlets.
EPM works to prevent excessive
discharge of the battery. It does this
by balancing the generator's output
and the vehicle's electrical needs.
It can increase engine idle speed to
generate more power whenever
needed. It can temporarily reduce
the power demands of some
accessories.

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
Driving and Operating 205
Driving and
Operating
Driving Information
Distracted Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Drunk Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . 209
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . 210
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
If the Vehicle Is Stuck . . . . . . . . 212
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . . 216
Ignition Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Engine Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Retained AccessoryPower (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Shifting out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Parking over Things That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Extended Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Running the Vehicle While
Parked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . . 224
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Brakes
Antilock BrakeSystem (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Parking Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . 228
Brake Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Hill Start Assist (HSA) . . . . . . . . 230
Regenerative Braking (Hybrid Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Ride Control Systems
Traction Control/ElectronicStability Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Adaptive Cruise Control . . . . . . 235
Driver Assistance Systems
Driver Assistance Systems . . . 242
Assistance Systems forParking or Backing . . . . . . . . . . 243 Assistance Systems for
Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Forward Collision Alert (FCA) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Forward Automatic
Braking (FAB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Front Pedestrian Braking (FPB) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Side Blind Zone Alert (SBZA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Lane Change Alert (LCA) . . . . . 253
Lane Departure Warning (LDW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Lane Keep Assist (LKA) . . . . . . 255
Fuel
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
California Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . 259
Fuel Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Filling a Portable Fuel Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Trailer Towing
General TowingInformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Driving Characteristics and
Towing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Trailer Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
214 Driving and Operating
3.Subtract the combined
weight of the driver and
passengers from XXX kg or
XXX lbs.
4.The resulting figure equals
the available amount of
cargo and luggage load
capacity. For example, if the
"XXX" amount equals
1400 lbs. and there will be
five 150 lb passengers in
your vehicle, the amount of
available cargo and luggage
load capacity is 650 lbs.
(1400-750 (5 x 150) =
650 lbs.)
5.Determine the combined
weight of luggage and cargo
being loaded on the vehicle.
That weight may not safely
exceed the available cargo
and luggage load capacity
calculated in Step 4.
6.If your vehicle will be towing
a trailer, load from your
trailer will be transferred toyour vehicle. Consult this
manual to determine how
this reduces the available
cargo and luggage load
capacity of your vehicle.”
See Trailer Towing 0265 for
important information on towing
a trailer, towing safety rules, and
trailering tips.
Example 1
1.Vehicle Capacity Weight
for Example 1 = 453 kg
(1,000 lbs).
2.Subtract Occupant
Weight @ 68 kg (150 lbs)
× 2 = 136 kg (300 lbs).
3.Available Occupant and
Cargo Weight = 317 kg
(700 lbs).
Example 2
1.Vehicle Capacity Weight
for Example 2 = 453 kg
(1,000 lbs).
2.Subtract Occupant
Weight @ 68 kg (150 lbs)
× 5 = 340 kg (750 lbs).
3.Available Cargo Weight
= 113 kg (250 lbs).

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
222 Driving and Operating
If you are towing a trailer and
parking on a hill, seeDriving
Characteristics and Towing Tips
0 262.
Shifting out of Park
This vehicle is equipped with an
electronic shift lock release system.
The shift lock release is designed to
prevent movement of the shift lever
out of P (Park), unless the ignition is
on and the brake pedal is applied.
The shift lock release is always
functional except in the case of an
uncharged or low voltage (less than
9-volt) battery.
If the vehicle has an uncharged
battery or a battery with low voltage,
try charging or jump starting the
battery. See Jump Starting - North
America 0343.
To shift out of P (Park): 1. Apply the brake pedal.
2. Turn the ignition on.
3. Press the shift lever button.
4. Move the shift lever to the desired position. If still unable to shift out of P (Park):
1. Fully release the shift lever button.
2. Hold the brake pedal down and press the shift lever button
again.
3. Move the shift lever to the desired position.
If you are still having a problem
shifting, see your dealer.
Parking over Things
That Burn
{Warning
Things that can burn could touch
hot exhaust parts under the
vehicle and ignite. Do not park
over papers, leaves, dry grass,
or other things that can burn.
Extended Parking
It is better not to park with the
vehicle running. If the vehicle is left
while running, follow the proper
steps to be sure the vehicle will not move and there is adequate
ventilation.
See
Shifting Into Park 0221 and
Engine Exhaust 0223.
If the vehicle is left parked while
running and the Remote Keyless
Entry (RKE) transmitter is outside
the vehicle, the vehicle will turn off
after one hour. If the vehicle is left
parked while running and the RKE
transmitter is inside, the vehicle will
turn off after two hours.
The timer will reset if the vehicle is
taken out of P (Park) while it is
running.

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
Driving and Operating 223
Engine Exhaust
{Warning
Engine exhaust contains carbon
monoxide (CO), which cannot be
seen or smelled. Exposure to CO
can cause unconsciousness and
even death.
Exhaust may enter the vehicle if:. The vehicle idles in areas
with poor ventilation
(parking garages, tunnels,
deep snow that may block
underbody airflow or tail
pipes).
. The exhaust smells or
sounds strange or different.
. The exhaust system leaks
due to corrosion or damage.
. The vehicle exhaust system
has been modified,
damaged, or improperly
repaired.
(Continued)
Warning (Continued)
.There are holes or openings
in the vehicle body from
damage or aftermarket
modifications that are not
completely sealed.
If unusual fumes are detected or
if it is suspected that exhaust is
coming into the vehicle: . Drive it only with the
windows completely down.
. Have the vehicle repaired
immediately.
Never park the vehicle with the
engine running in an enclosed
area such as a garage or a
building that has no fresh air
ventilation.
Running the Vehicle
While Parked
It is better not to park with the
engine running.
If the vehicle is left with the engine
running, follow the proper steps to
be sure the vehicle will not move.
See Shifting Into Park 0221 and
Engine Exhaust 0223.
If parking on a hill and pulling a
trailer, see Driving Characteristics
and Towing Tips 0262.

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
Driving and Operating 225
{Warning
Shifting into a drive gear while the
engine is running at high speed is
dangerous. Unless your foot is
firmly on the brake pedal, the
vehicle could move very rapidly.
You could lose control and hit
people or objects. Do not shift
into a drive gear while the engine
is running at high speed.
Caution
Shifting out of P (Park) or
N (Neutral) with the engine
running at high speed may
damage the transmission. The
repairs would not be covered by
the vehicle warranty. Be sure the
engine is not running at high
speed when shifting the vehicle.
For hybrid vehicles, the engine will
always be off while in N (Neutral).
The vehicle cannot charge the high
voltage battery while the shift lever is in N (Neutral). Only use
N (Neutral) when required. If the
high voltage battery state of charge
is low, the Driver Information
Center (DIC) will display a message
to shift out of N (Neutral). Shift to
P (Park), R (Reverse), D (Drive),
or L (Low) depending on the
situation. If the high voltage battery
is depleted too far, the vehicle will
shut down, requiring a shift to
P (Park) to restart the vehicle.
Caution
A transmission hot message may
display if the automatic
transmission fluid is too hot.
Driving under this condition can
damage the vehicle. Stop and idle
the engine to cool the automatic
transmission fluid. This message
clears when the transmission fluid
has cooled sufficiently.
D : This position is for normal
driving. If more power is needed for
passing, press the accelerator
pedal down. L :
This position allows you to
change gears similar to a manual
transmission. If the vehicle has this
feature, see Manual Mode 0225.
Operating Modes
The transmission may operate in a
lower gear than normal to improve
vehicle performance. The engine
speed may be higher and there may
be an increase in noise during the
following conditions:
. When climbing a grade.
. When driving downhill.
. When driving in hot
temperatures or at high altitude.
Manual Mode
Electronic Range Select
(ERS) Mode
ERS mode allows you to choose the
top-gear limit of the transmission
and the vehicle's speed while
driving downhill or towing a trailer.
The vehicle has an electronic shift
position indicator within the
instrument cluster. When using the

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
228 Driving and Operating
To set the manual parking brake,
if equipped:
Hold the brake pedal down, then
push the parking brake pedal down.
If the ignition is on, the brake
system warning light will come on.
SeeBrake System Warning Light
0 124.
Caution
Driving with the parking brake on
can overheat the brake system
and cause premature wear or
damage to brake system parts.
Make sure that the parking brake
is fully released and the brake
warning light is off before driving.
To release the parking brake, hold
the regular brake pedal down, then
push down momentarily on the
parking brake pedal until you feel
the pedal release. Slowly pull your
foot up off the parking brake pedal.
If the parking brake is not released
when you begin to drive, the brake system warning light will be on and
a chime will sound warning you that
the parking brake is still on.
If you are towing a trailer and are
parking on a hill, see
Driving
Characteristics and Towing Tips
0 262.
Electric Parking Brake
The vehicle may have an Electric
Parking Brake (EPB). The EPB can
always be activated, even if the
ignition is off. To prevent draining
the battery, avoid repeated cycles of
the EPB system when the engine is not running. In case of insufficient
electrical power, the EPB cannot be
applied or released.
The system has a
Yor PARK
Electric Parking Brake light, and a
8
Service Parking Brake light.
See Electric Parking Brake Light
0 124 andService Electric Parking
Brake Light 0125.
Before leaving the vehicle, check for
the
Yor PARK light to ensure that
the parking brake is applied.
EPB Apply
To apply the EPB:
1. Be sure the vehicle is at a complete stop.
2. Lift up the EPB switch momentarily.
The
Yor PARK light will flash and
then stay on once the EPB is fully
applied. If the
Yor PARK light
flashes continuously, then the EPB
is only partially applied or there is a
problem with the EPB. A DIC (Driver
Information Center) message will
display. Release the EPB and try to

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
11348460) - 2018 - crc - 5/3/17
Driving and Operating 241
{Warning
On curves, ACC may respond to
a vehicle in another lane, or may
not have time to react to a vehicle
in your lane. You could crash into
a vehicle ahead of you, or lose
control of your vehicle. Give extra
attention in curves and be ready
to use the brakes if necessary.
Select an appropriate speed while
driving in curves.
ACC may operate differently in a
sharp curve. It may reduce the
vehicle speed if the curve is too
sharp.
When following a vehicle and
entering a curve, ACC may not
detect the vehicle ahead and
accelerate to the set speed. When
this happens the vehicle ahead
indicator will not appear.
ACC may detect a vehicle that is
not in your lane and apply the
brakes.
ACC may occasionally provide an
alert and/or braking that is
considered unnecessary. It could
respond to vehicles in different
lanes, signs, guardrails, and other
stationary objects when entering or
exiting a curve. This is normal
operation. The vehicle does not
need service. Other Vehicle Lane Changes
ACC will not detect a vehicle ahead
until it is completely in the lane. The
brake may need to be manually
applied.
Do Not Use ACC on Hills and
When Towing a Trailer
Do not use ACC when driving on
steep hills or when towing a trailer.
ACC will not detect a vehicle in the