Listen to your Chevrolet Malibu when it starts up. If you hear persistent grinding noises coming from the engine, then your starter is most likely not fully engaged with the flywheel. If this happens often enough, your flywheel's geared teeth can degrade, leading to a costly and difficult repair. However, if you are highly skilled at auto mechanics and have specialized tools such as engine support fixtures, engine lift and multiple floor jacks, you can the Malibu's flywheel yourself.
Disconnect the negative battery cable. Remove the battery and the air intake and filter box assembly.
Place a floor jack underneath the middle of the engine and raise the Malibu. Support the sides of vehicle with jack stands.
Remove the lower engine splash shields, using a screwdriver or socket wrench. Remove the front tires. Place two floor jacks underneath the transmission to help support the transmission once it is unfastened from the engine.
Use a torque wrench to unscrew the hub nut and remove the rotors, tie rod ends, steering knuckles and ball joints. Remove the starter from the engine. The starter can be found by tracing the positive battery cable, which splits between the starter and alternator.
Unbolt the shift linkage and wiring connections to the transaxle. Install engine support fixtures to hold the engine in place while the transaxle is being removed.
Remove the front suspension support brace. Unscrew the engine mount strut from the strut bracket. Install more engine support fixtures for the suspension support assembly, then remove the bolts from the suspension support assembly so you can disengage the steering coupling from the transaxle.
Unscrew the fastener bolts from the drive axles, disconnecting them from the transaxles. Unscrew the engine-to-transaxle bracing. Unscrew the transaxle converter cover's retaining bolts. Use a marker and pieces of tape to designate the proper locations of the bolts and assembly for the flexplate-to-torque converter and unscrew the bolts.
Unscrew the transaxle mount-to-body fastening bolts, using a torque wrench. Make sure any connections, hoses or wiring between the engine and transaxle are completely unfastened before lowering the vehicle.
Lower the transaxle from the vehicle slowly.
Use a marker to mark the position of the flywheel on the crankshaft. Use a torque wrench to unscrew the flywheel mounting bolts, then remove the flywheel and its shim or spacer (if it is equipped with one).
Use thread locking glue to coat the bolts of the flywheel as you install the new one. Hand tighten the flywheel mounting bolts. Tighten the mounting bolts in an alternating star pattern, so that bolts opposite from each other on the bolt circle are tightened one after another. The mounting bolts should be tightened using a torque wrench to 22 foot-pounds on a 2.4 liter engine and to 52 foot-pounds on a 3.1 liter engine.
Tighten the transaxle bolts and fasteners according to the specifications for your year and model. For a 2000 Chevy Malibu, the transaxle-to-engine mounting bolts should be tightened to 99 foot-pounds. The flexplate-to-torque converter should be tightened to 46 foot-pounds and the converter shield to 18 foot-pounds. The transaxle-to-engine brace bolts should be tightened to 32 foot-pounds.
