Recall Register

1979 Chevrolet Malibu: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 5 recall campaigns for the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu. The newest campaign is 85V048000. NHTSA received the report on 29 Apr 1985. The NHTSA record gives the component Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components / Drum / Wheel Cylinders. NHTSA has 4 complaints on file for this model year. 1 NHTSA investigation names this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 85V048000, in the NHTSA record

Add a part to prevent wheel cylinder from rotating.
NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

5 campaigns, newest first. 10,799,001 units in total.

  • 85V048000Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components / Drum / Wheel Cylinders
  • 84V149000Power Train / Axle Assembly / Axle Shaft
  • 81V025000Suspension / Rear
  • 81V022000Visibility / Glass, Side/Rear
  • 79V196000Seats / Front Assembly / Head Restraint

  1. 85V048000Received . 1,810,000 units.

    Service Brakes, Hydraulic / Foundation Components / Drum / Wheel Cylinders

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Excessive enlargement of the wheel cylinder pilot hole in the rear brake backing plate could allow the wheel cylinder to rotate and cause loss of brake fluid. Consequence of defect: a loss of brake fluid leads to loss of rear brake action, creating the potential for an accident. Front brakes would remain operational.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Add a part to prevent wheel cylinder from rotating.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP..

  2. 84V149000Received . 3,100,000 units.

    Power Train / Axle Assembly / Axle Shaft

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Rear axle assembly may have axles that were improperly manufactured. This condition may result in separation of the axle shaft and wheel assembly from the vehicle.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    The dealer will inspect the rear axle to determine whether it was manufactured at the buffalo plant. If so, they will make axle measurements and if necessary replace or modify affected axle components without charge.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  3. 81V025000Received . 5,821,160 units.

    Suspension / Rear

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The bolts that attach the lower rear control arm to the frame may fracture. The rear control arm supports and positions the rear axle. Fracture of the bolts would allow the control arm to drop free.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Both rear control arm attachment bolts will be replaced without charge.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  4. 81V022000Received . 67,350 units.

    Visibility / Glass, Side/Rear

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The electro-clear rear window defoggers contain a defect which causes the glass to shatter without impact during or some time after use of the defogger. Vertical electrical strips may deteriorate and cause hot spots that can result in breakage of the rear glass.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Vehicles will be inspected for presence of a particular weatherstrip. If present, a layer of a special conductive epoxy will be added to the vertical bar on the rear window glass. This epoxy is a new conductive material which will not react with the weatherstrip.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  5. 79V196000Received . 491 units.

    Seats / Front Assembly / Head Restraint

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The invovled vehicles fail to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 201, "occupant protection in interior impacts". Incorrect head restraints may have been installed.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealer will inspect and, if necessary, install new head restraints at no cost to owner.

    Report filed by GENERAL MOTORS CORP.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

4 complaints, 4 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. This model year has fewer than 50 component mentions, so the table shows the number of mentions only.

1979 Chevrolet Malibu: component mentions in complaints
ComponentMentions
Service Brakes, Hydraulic3
Seat Belts1
Complaints that report a crash
0
Complaints that report a fire
0
Injuries in the complaints
0
Deaths in the complaints
0
Date of the newest complaint
19 May 2005

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1995, with 2 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
EA86006Engineering analysisBRAKE BACKING PLATEService Brakes, Hydraulic27 Nov 198528 Nov 1988

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

  1. 19640
  2. 19731
  3. 19740
  4. 19750
  5. 19771
  6. 19787
  7. 19795
  8. 19805
  9. 19812
  10. 19822
  11. 19832
  12. 19860
  13. 19890
  14. 19974
  15. 19983
  16. 19991
  17. 20003
  18. 20012
  19. 20022
  20. 20032
  21. 20046
  22. 20053
  23. 20066
  24. 20073
  25. 20084
  26. 20095
  27. 20103
  28. 20113
  29. 20122
  30. 20139
  31. 20146
  32. 20153
  33. 20169
  34. 20174
  35. 20186
  36. 20191
  37. 20201
  38. 20212
  39. 20221
  40. 20232
  41. 20242
  42. 20251

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 1979 Chevrolet Malibu: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/chevrolet/malibu/1979/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
30 Sep 2026
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
GENERAL MOTORS CORP.

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu?
10,799,001 units in 5 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Chevrolet Malibu have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 66 recall campaigns for the Chevrolet Malibu, model years 1964 to 2025. 5 of them name the 1979 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu name most often?
Service Brakes, Hydraulic: 3 of 4 component mentions.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1979 Chevrolet Malibu open?
No. The 1 investigation that names this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.