
Black plate (15,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
Vehicle Care 10-15
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter
The engine air cleaner/filter is in the
engine compartment on the
passenger side of the vehicle. See
Engine Compartment Overview on
page 10‑6for more information on
location.
When to Inspect the Engine Air
Cleaner/Filter
Inspect the air cleaner/filter at the
scheduled maintenance intervals
and replace it at the first oil change
after each 80 000 km (50,000 mi)
interval. See Maintenance Schedule
on page 11‑2. If you are driving in
dusty/dirty conditions, inspect the
filter at each engine oil change.
How to Inspect the Engine Air
Cleaner/Filter
To inspect the air cleaner/filter,
remove the filter from the vehicle
and lightly shake the filter to release
loose dust and dirt. If the filter
remains covered with dirt, a new
filter is required. To inspect or replace the engine air
cleaner/filter:
2.0L L4 Engine
1. Remove the nine screws on top of the engine air cleaner/filter
housing.
2. Lift the filter cover housing away from the engine air cleaner/filter
housing.
3. Pull out the filter.
4. Inspect or replace the engine air cleaner/filter.
5. Lower the filter cover housing toward the engine. 6. Install the nine screws on the top
of the housing to lock the cover
in place.2.4L L4 Engine eAssist
1. Remove the six screws on top of the engine air cleaner/filter
housing.
2. Lift the filter cover housing away from the engine air cleaner/filter
housing.
3. Pull out the filter.
4. Inspect or replace the engine air cleaner/filter.

Black plate (16,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
10-16 Vehicle Care
5. Lower the filter cover housingtoward the engine.
6. Install the six screws on the top of the housing to lock the cover
in place.
2.5L L4 Engine
1. Remove the five screws on top of the engine air cleaner/filter
housing.
2. Lift the filter cover housing away from the engine air cleaner/filter
housing.
3. Pull out the filter. 4. Inspect or replace the engine air
cleaner/filter.
5. Lower the filter cover housing toward the engine.
6. Install the five screws on the top of the housing to lock the cover
in place.
{WARNING
Operating the engine with the air
cleaner/filter off can cause you or
others to be burned. The air
cleaner not only cleans the air; it
helps to stop flames if the engine
backfires. Use caution when
working on the engine and do not
drive with the air cleaner/filter off.
Notice: If the air cleaner/filter is
off, dirt can easily get into the
engine, which could damage it.
Always have the air cleaner/filter
in place when you are driving.
Cooling System
The cooling system allows the
engine to maintain the correct
working temperature.
2.0L L4 Engine
1. Engine Cooling Fans (Out of View)
2. Coolant Surge Tank and Pressure Cap

Black plate (3,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
Service and Maintenance 11-3
Engine Oil Change
When the CHANGE ENGINE OIL
SOON message displays, have the
engine oil and filter changed within
the next 1 000 km/600 mi. If driven
under the best conditions, the
engine oil life system might not
indicate the need for vehicle service
for more than a year. The engine oil
and filter must be changed at least
once a year and the oil life system
must be reset. Your trained dealer
technician can perform this work.
If the engine oil life system is reset
accidentally, service the vehicle
within 5 000 km/3,000 mi since the
last service. Reset the oil life
system when the oil is changed.
SeeEngine Oil Life System on
page 10‑13.
Tire Rotation and Required
Services Every 12 000 km/
7,500 mi
Rotate the tires, if recommended
for the vehicle, and perform the
following services. See Tire
Rotation on page 10‑59.
.Check engine oil level and oil
life percentage. If needed,
change engine oil and filter, and
reset oil life system. See Engine
Oil on page 10‑11 andEngine
Oil Life System on page 10‑13.
.Check engine coolant level. See
Engine Coolant on page 10‑18.
.Check windshield washer fluid
level. See Washer Fluid on
page 10‑22.
.Visually inspect windshield wiper
blades for wear, cracking,
or contamination. See Exterior
Care on page 10‑97. Replace
worn or damaged wiper blades.
See Wiper Blade Replacement
on page 10‑27.
.Check tire inflation pressures.
See Tire Pressure on
page 10‑52.
.Inspect tire wear. See Tire
Inspection on page 10‑58.
.Visually check for fluid leaks.
.Inspect engine air cleaner filter.
See Engine Air Cleaner/Filter on
page 10‑15.
.Inspect brake system.

Black plate (14,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
11-14 Service and Maintenance
Maintenance Replacement Parts
Replacement parts identified below by name, part number, or specification can be obtained from your dealer.Part GM Part Number ACDelco Part Number
Engine Air Cleaner/Filter 55560894 A3128C
Engine Oil Filter
2.0L L4 Engine 12640445 PF64
2.4L L4 Engine 12605566 PF457G
2.5L L4 Engine 12640445 PF64
Passenger Compartment Air Filter 13271190 —
Spark Plugs 2.0L L4 Engine 12626906 41-116
2.4L L4 Engine 12620540 41-108
2.5L L4 Engine 12627160 41-115
Wiper Blades Driver Side –60 cm (23.6 in) 92231676 —
Passenger Side –47.5 cm (18.7 in) 20980551 —

Black plate (2,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
12-2 Technical Data
Vehicle Data
Capacities and Specifications
ApplicationCapacities
Metric English
Air Conditioning Refrigerant For the air conditioning system refrigerant type and charge amount, see the refrigerant label under thehood. See your dealer for more information.
Engine Cooling System 2.0L L4 Engine 7.0 L 7.4 qt
2.4L L4 Engine 9.6 L 10.1 qt
2.5L L4 Engine 7.1 L 7.5 qt
Engine Oil with Filter 2.0L L4 Engine AWD 5.7 L 6.0 qt
2.0L L4 Engine FWD 4.7 L 5.0 qt
2.4L L4 Engine 4.7 L 5.0 qt
2.5L L4 Engine 4.7 L 5.0 qt
Fuel Tank Base model 59.7 L 15.8 gal

Black plate (1,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
INDEX i-1
A
Accessories andModifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Accessory Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Add-On Electrical Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-50
Additional Information
OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
Adjustments Lumbar, Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Air Cleaner/Filter, Engine . . . . . 10-15
Air Filter, Passenger
Compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Air Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
Airbag System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-31
How Does an Airbag
Restrain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
Passenger Sensing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-26
What Makes an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-23 Airbag System (cont'd)
What Will You See after an
Airbag Inflates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
When Should an Airbag
Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-22
Where Are the Airbags? . . . . . . 3-21
Airbags Adding Equipment to theVehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-30
Passenger Status Indicator . . . 5-13
Readiness Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Servicing Airbag-Equipped Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-30
System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-19
Alarm Vehicle Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-13
AM-FM Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-14
Antenna Satellite Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-21
Antilock Brake System (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-18
Appearance Care
Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-97
Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-100 Armrest
Rear Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Assistance Program, Roadside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-7, 13-11
Audio Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-22 CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-22
MP3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-24
Audio System Backglass Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . 7-21
Radio Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-20
Theft-Deterrent Feature . . . . . . . . 7-2
Automatic Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-10
Headlamp System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26
Transmission Fluid . . . . . . . . . 10-14
Automatic Transmission Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Shift Lock ControlFunction Check . . . . . . . . . . . 10-26
Auxiliary
Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-25

Black plate (4,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
i-4 INDEX
Driving (cont'd)Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Wet Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Dual Automatic Climate Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
E
E85 Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-47
Electric Parking Brake Light . . . 5-17
Electrical Equipment,Add-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-50
Electrical System Engine Compartment
Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-38
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-42
Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
Emergency OnStar
®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2 Engine
Air Cleaner/Filter . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15
Check and Service Engine
Soon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Compartment Overview . . . . . . . 10-6
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-18
Coolant Temperature Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Coolant Temperature Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-20
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Cooling System Messages . . . 5-29
Drive Belt Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-4
Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Oil Life System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
Oil Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30
Overheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-20
Power Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Running While Parked . . . . . . . . 9-25
Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Entry Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Event Data Recorders . . . . . . . . 13-20 Exit Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Extender, Safety Belt . . . . . . . . . . 3-17
Exterior Lamp Controls . . . . . . . . . 6-1
Exterior Lamps Off Reminder . . . 6-2
F
Features
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Filter,
Engine Air Cleaner . . . . . . . . . 10-15
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-2
Flashers, Hazard Warning . . . . . . 6-4
Flat Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-66 Changing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-84
Floor Mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10-103
Fluid Automatic Transmission . . . . 10-14
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-23
Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
Fog Lamps Bulb Replacement . . . . . . 10-32, 6-4
Forward Collision Alert (FCA) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Forward Collision Alert (FCA) Warning Light . . . . . . . . . 5-19

Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2013 - CRC - 6/6/12
i-8 INDEX
N
NavigationOnStar®. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Net, Convenience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . . . 9-14
O
Object Detection System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 Trip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Oil Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10-11
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . 10-13
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Older Children, Restraints . . . . . 3-32
Online Owner Center . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
OnStar
®
System, In Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-26
OnStar®Additional
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5
OnStar
®Connections . . . . . . . . . . 14-4
OnStar®Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . 14-5 OnStar
®Emergency . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
OnStar®Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
OnStar®Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-1
OnStar®Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-2
Operation, Infotainment System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-9
Ordering
Service Publications . . . . . . . . 13-17
Outlets Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Overheating, Engine . . . . . . . . . . 10-20
Overview, Infotainment
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-2, 7-5
P
ParkShifting Into . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Shifting Out of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Parking Assist, Ultrasonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-39
Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Brake and P (Park)Mechanism Check . . . . . . . . 10-27
Over Things That Burn . . . . . . . 9-24 Passenger Airbag Status
Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Passenger Compartment Air Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Passenger Sensing System . . . 3-26
Perchlorate Materials Requirements, California . . . . . 10-3
Personalization Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
Phone Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . 7-35, 7-36, 7-40
Power Door Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Retained Accessory (RAP) . . . 9-22
Seat Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17
Pregnancy, Using Safety Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-17
Privacy
Radio FrequencyIdentification (RFID) . . . . . . . 13-21