i had my car at a gm dealership, and firestone to try and dx the problem of my car not starting. they told me everyting except for what the problem really was. from fuel injector needing to be replaced to needing new belts! The car just wouldn't start one day after pulling out of the garage. A mechanic friend came over, checked the compression and it had none! He towed my car to his garage and took the motor out to find that the timing chain was shot and the vales were bent, and the head gaskets were blown.

Has GM had a recall on this problem before? How does one find out. I cannot afford to get my car fixed and I'm just about finished paying off the loan of 5 years. I love my car and now I'm back where I started,..not having a car.

I had no warning about this problem. No knocking noises, car ran smooth, no indication there was a problem. I parked my car, tried to start it 5 hours later and it wouldn't fire. I bought a new battery, poured 2 bottles of Heet, used carb. quick start fluid (It was below zero the day this happened. Thought gas line was frozen). Finally had to have it towed only to find out my 3 year old car had thrown the timing chain. Not too bad to replace until they found 8 of 16 rods were bent while the timing chain wasn't working properly. The only fix was $2100 for a used engine or $1700 for a new cylinder head. It was suggested I get the new cylinder head. Aside from being cheaper, the mechanic found out the engine they use in the 2004 Malibu tends to have this problem. Something in the cylinder head was not built strong enough. They fixed the problem with in the new parts. So after 2 weeks and $1700 I have my car again.