2016 CHEVROLET MALIBU ABS

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
Introduction 3
{Danger
Danger indicates a hazard with a
high level of risk which will result
in serious injury or death.
{Warning
Warning indicates a hazard that
could result in injury or death.
Caution
Caution indicates a hazard that
could result in property or vehicle
damage.
A circle with a slash through it is a
safety symbol which means“Do
Not,” “Do not do this,” or“Do not let
this happen.”
Symbols
The vehicle has components and
labels that use symbols instead of
text. Symbols are shown along with
the text describing the operation or
information relating to a specific
component, control, message,
gauge, or indicator.
M: Shown when the owner
manual has additional instructions
or information.
*: Shown when the service
manual has additional instructions
or information.
0: Shown when there is more
information on another page —
“see page.”
Vehicle Symbol Chart
Here are some additional symbols
that may be found on the vehicle
and what they mean. For more
information on the symbol, refer to
the Index.
9: Airbag Readiness Light
#:Air Conditioning
!:Antilock Brake System (ABS)
%:Audio Steering Wheel Controls
or OnStar®(if equipped)
$: Brake System Warning Light
":Charging System
I: Cruise Control
`:Do Not Puncture
^:Do Not Service
B:Engine Coolant Temperature
O:Exterior Lamps
g: First Responder
_:Flame/Fire Prohibited
#:Fog Lamps
.:Fuel Gauge
+: Fuses
3:Headlamp High/Low-Beam
Changer
j: LATCH System Child Restraints
*:Malfunction Indicator Lamp
::Oil Pressure

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
40 Keys, Doors, and Windows
To replace the cap:1. Pull the door handle to the open position.
2. Insert the two tabs (6) at the back of the cap (7) between
the seal (4) and the metal
base (5).
3. Move the cap forward andpress to snap the cap in place.
4. Release the door handle.
Power Door Locks
Q: Press to lock the doors.
K:Press to unlock the doors.
The indicator light in the switch will
illuminate when the door is locked.
Locking or unlocking the doors will
also lock or unlock the trunk. See
Trunk 042
ii.
Delayed Locking
This feature delays the actual
locking of the doors until
five seconds after all doors are
closed.

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
102 Instruments and Controls
Instruments and
Controls
Controls
Steering Wheel Adjustment . . . 103
Steering Wheel Controls . . . . . . 103
Heated Steering Wheel . . . . . . . 104
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Windshield Wiper/Washer . . . . 104
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Power Outlets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Wireless Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Warning Lights, Gauges, and
Indicators
Warning Lights, Gauges, andIndicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Instrument Cluster (Base Level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Instrument Cluster
(Uplevel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Trip Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Tachometer (Non-Hybrid) . . . . . 115
Fuel Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Power Indicator Gauge (Hybrid) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Engine Coolant Temperature
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Safety Belt Reminders . . . . . . . . 117
Airbag Readiness Light . . . . . . . 118
Passenger Airbag Status Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Charging System Light . . . . . . . 119
Malfunction Indicator Lamp (Check Engine Light) . . . . . . . . 120
Brake System Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Electric Parking Brake Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Service Electric Parking Brake Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Antilock Brake System (ABS) Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Lane Keep Assist (LKA) Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Vehicle Ahead Indicator . . . . . . 123
Pedestrian Ahead Indicator . . . 124
Traction Off Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
StabiliTrak
®OFF Light . . . . . . . . 124
Traction Control System (TCS)/ StabiliTrak
®Light . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Tire Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Engine Oil Pressure Light . . . . 125
Low Fuel Warning Light (Uplevel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Low Fuel Warning Light (Base Level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Security Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Vehicle Ready Light
(Hybrid) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 127
Lamps On Reminder . . . . . . . . . 127
Cruise Control Light . . . . . . . . . . 127
Door Ajar Light (Uplevel) . . . . . 128
Information Displays
Center Stack Display . . . . . . . . . 128
Power Flows (Hybrid) . . . . . . . . . 128
Energy Information (Hybrid) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Driver Information Center (DIC) (Base Level) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Driver Information Center (DIC) (Uplevel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Vehicle Messages
Vehicle Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Battery Voltage and Charging
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Brake System Messages . . . . . 136
Compass Messages . . . . . . . . . . 137
Cruise Control Messages . . . . . 137
Door Ajar Messages . . . . . . . . . . 138
Engine Cooling System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Engine Oil Messages . . . . . . . . . 139
Engine Power Messages . . . . . 139
Fuel System Messages . . . . . . . 139

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
Instruments and Controls 123
brake system to work at a reduced
level. The vehicle can still be driven,
but should be taken to a dealer as
soon as possible. SeeElectric
Parking Brake 0238
ii. If a message
displays in the Driver Information
Center (DIC), see Brake System
Messages 0136
ii.
Antilock Brake System
(ABS) Warning Light
For vehicles with the Antilock Brake
System (ABS), this light comes on
briefly when the engine is started.
If it does not, have the vehicle
serviced by your dealer. If the
system is working normally, the
indicator light then goes off.
If the ABS light stays on, turn the
ignition off. If the light comes on
while driving, stop as soon as it is
safely possible and turn the ignition off. Then start the engine again to
reset the system. If the ABS light
stays on, or comes on again while
driving, the vehicle needs service.
If the regular brake system warning
light is not on, the vehicle still has
brakes, but not antilock brakes.
If the regular brake system warning
light is also on, the vehicle does not
have antilock brakes and there is a
problem with the regular brakes.
See
Brake System Warning Light
0 122
ii.
For vehicles with a Driver
Information Center (DIC), see Brake
System Messages 0136
iifor all
brake-related DIC messages.
Lane Keep Assist (LKA)
Light
If available, this light comes on
briefly while starting the vehicle. If it does not come on, have the
vehicle serviced.
This light is green if LKA is available
to assist.
LKA may assist by gently turning
the steering wheel if the vehicle
approaches a detected lane marking
without using the turn signal in that
direction. The LKA light will turn
amber.
This light is amber and flashes as a
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
alert, to indicate that the lane
marking has been crossed.
See
Lane Keep Assist (LKA) 0265
ii.
Vehicle Ahead Indicator

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
Infotainment System 197
.Maximum Speed –the maximum
vehicle speed recorded.
. Overspeed Warnings –the
number of times the speed
warning setting was exceeded.
. Forward Collision Alerts –the
number of times the driver was
notified when approaching a
vehicle ahead too quickly and at
potential risk for a crash.
. Forward Collision Avoidance
Braking –Also referred to as
Front Automatic Braking, this is
the number of times the vehicle
detected that a forward collision
was imminent and applied the
brakes.
. Stability Control –the number of
events which required the use of
electronic stability control.
. ABS Active –the number of
Antilock Brake System
activations.
Delete Report Card Data
Data is saved for all trips until the
data is deleted using the PIN or until
the maximum count is exceeded. Each item will report a maximum of
1,000 counts. The distance driven
will report a maximum of 64,374 km
(40,000 mi).
To delete Report Card data, do one
of the following:
.
From the Report Card screen,
select Reset.
. Select Clear All Teen Keys/PIN
from the Teen Driver menu. This
will also unregister any Teen
Driver key and delete the PIN.
Forgotten PIN
See your dealer to reset the PIN.Bluetooth Phone/
Devices
Pictures and Movies
(Audio System with
Touchscreen)
The infotainment system can play
the music files contained in the USB
storage device or iPod/iPhone
products.
Audio System Information
Using MP3/WMA/OGG/WAV Files
. Music files with .mp3, .wma,
.ogg, and .wav file name
extensions can be played.
. MP3 files that can be played are:
Bit rate: 8 kbps to 320 kbps -
Sampling frequency: 48 kHz,
44.1 kHz, 32 kHz, 24 kHz, 22.05
kHz, and 16 kHz.
. Files with a bit rate above
128 kbps will result in higher
quality sound.
. ID3 Tag information for MP3
files, such as the album name
and the artist, can be played.

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
Driving and Operating 215
Driving and
Operating
Driving Information
Distracted Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Drunk Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . 219
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . 220
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
If the Vehicle Is Stuck . . . . . . . . 222
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . . 226
Ignition Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Engine Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Retained AccessoryPower (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Shifting out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Parking over Things That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Running the Vehicle WhileParked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . . 234
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Brakes
Antilock BrakeSystem (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Parking Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Electric Parking Brake . . . . . . . . 238
Brake Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Hill Start Assist (HSA) . . . . . . . . 240
Regenerative Braking (Hybrid Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Ride Control Systems
Traction Control/ElectronicStability Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Adaptive Cruise Control . . . . . . 246
Driver Assistance Systems
Driver Assistance Systems . . . 253
Assistance Systems forParking or Backing . . . . . . . . . . 253 Assistance Systems for
Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Forward Collision Alert (FCA) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Front Automatic Braking (FAB)
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Front Pedestrian Braking (FPB) System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Side Blind Zone Alert (SBZA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Lane Change Alert (LCA) . . . . . 263
Lane Departure Warning (LDW) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Lane Keep Assist (LKA) . . . . . . 265
Fuel
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
California Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . 269
Fuel Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Filling a Portable Fuel Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Trailer Towing
General TowingInformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Driving Characteristics and
Towing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Trailer Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
218 Driving and Operating
Steering
Electric Power Steering
The vehicle has electric power
steering. It does not have power
steering fluid. Regular maintenance
is not required.
If power steering assist is lost due
to a system malfunction, the vehicle
can be steered, but may require
increased effort.
See your dealer if there is a
problem.
If the steering wheel is turned until it
reaches the end of its travel and is
held against that position for an
extended period of time, power
steering assist may be reduced.
If the steering assist is used for an
extended period of time, power
assist may be reduced.
Normal use of the power steering
assist should return when the
system cools down.
See specific vehicle steering
messages underService Vehicle
Messages 0143
ii. See your dealer if
there is a problem.
Curve Tips
. Take curves at a reasonable
speed.
. Reduce speed before entering a
curve.
. Maintain a reasonable steady
speed through the curve.
. Wait until the vehicle is out of
the curve before accelerating
gently into the straightaway.
Steering in Emergencies
.There are some situations when
steering around a problem may
be more effective than braking.
. Holding both sides of the
steering wheel allows you to turn
180 degrees without removing
a hand.
. The Antilock Brake System
(ABS) allows steering while
braking.
Off-Road Recovery
The vehicle's right wheels can drop
off the edge of a road onto the
shoulder while driving. Follow
these tips:
1. Ease off the accelerator and then, if there is nothing in the
way, steer the vehicle so that it
straddles the edge of the
pavement.
2. Turn the steering wheel about one-eighth of a turn, until the
right front tire contacts the
pavement edge.

Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual (GMNA-Localizing-U.S./Canada/Mexico-
9087641) - 2016 - crc - 9/3/15
Driving and Operating 221
Winter Driving
Driving on Snow or Ice
Snow or ice between the tires and
the road creates less traction or
grip, so drive carefully. Wet ice can
occur at about 0 °C (32 °F) when
freezing rain begins to fall. Avoid
driving on wet ice or in freezing rain
until roads can be treated.
For Slippery Road Driving:
.Accelerate gently. Accelerating
too quickly causes the wheels to
spin and makes the surface
under the tires slick.
. Turn on Traction Control. See
Traction Control/Electronic
Stability Control 0241
ii.
. The Antilock Brake System
(ABS) improves vehicle stability
during hard stops, but the
brakes should be applied sooner
than when on dry pavement.
See Antilock Brake System
(ABS) 0237
ii.
. Allow greater following distance
and watch for slippery spots. Icy
patches can occur on otherwise clear roads in shaded areas.
The surface of a curve or an
overpass can remain icy when
the surrounding roads are clear.
Avoid sudden steering
maneuvers and braking while
on ice.
. Turn off cruise control.
Blizzard Conditions
Stop the vehicle in a safe place and
signal for help. Stay with the vehicle
unless there is help nearby.
If possible, use Roadside
Assistance. See Roadside
Assistance Program 0388
ii. To get
help and keep everyone in the
vehicle safe:
. Turn on the hazard warning
flashers.
. Tie a red cloth to an outside
mirror.
{Warning
Snow can trap engine exhaust
under the vehicle. This may
cause exhaust gases to get
inside. Engine exhaust contains
carbon monoxide (CO), which
cannot be seen or smelled. It can
cause unconsciousness and even
death.
If the vehicle is stuck in snow:
. Clear snow from the base of
the vehicle, especially any
blocking the exhaust pipe.
. Open a window about 5 cm
(2 in) on the vehicle side
that is away from the wind,
to bring in fresh air.
. Fully open the air outlets on
or under the instrument
panel.
. Adjust the climate control
system to circulate the air
inside the vehicle and set
(Continued)