Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
I am in the process of isolating where the leak is coming from. I checked the coolant with a block tester and there are no combustion gasses present. The oil looks normal, but I had it changed today because I was worried the high temperature reached when it overheated may have caused viscosity breakdown. I use Mobil 1 synthetic high milage. The engine runs fine as do heater and a/c. The oil change guy said it was leaking from the passenger side, which is where the water pump and heater hoses are.
GM must have known they were going to have problems, because most GM cars with the 3.8 liter engine have a computer program in the engine management system that disables half of the fuel injectors and turns them into reverse air pumps to cool the engine when total coolant loss occurs. Taken from a GM service bulletin: If an overheated engine condition exists and the
messages COOLANT OVER TEMPERATURE and
REDUCED ENGINE POWER are displayed, along with
the Check Engine light, an overheat protection mode
which alternates firing groups of cylinders helps prevent
engine damage. In this mode, you will notice a loss
in power and engine performance. This operating mode
allows your vehicle to be driven to a safe place in an
emergency; you may drive up to 50 miles (80 km).
Notice: After driving in the overheated engine
protection operating mode, to avoid engine damage,
allow the engine to cool before attempting any
repair. The engine oil will be severely degraded.
Repair the cause of coolant loss, change the oil and
reset the oil life system.
I am taking mine to a "GM Only" repair center this week to see if they can isolate the leak and get an estimate on the repair. I am very dissatisfied with our dealer's service department, as when the catalytic converter went out at 110,000 miles and cost us $2,200 in repairs, they were working right below the intake manifold and could have let us know that this was a potential trouble spot and recommended replacement of the intake gaskets at the same time. The convertor problem was a recall in earlier Impalas but is not covered anymore. No more GM cars for me! The poor milage condition could well be related, do you notice a fuel odor? A leaking intake gasket can play havock with the computerized fuel mixture controls.
Did you ever find where the leak was coming from? I had a similar problem and the intake gaskets were replaced in Aug. 09. Everything was fine until last Sat. when the car over heated causing me to limp home in low power mode. The dealer could not find anything wrong except for being a little low on coolant. I have a feeling that my issues are not over yet. In addition, the heat will not get hot until the car is driven and then the temp is unbearable. The heater issue and over heating may or may not be related.
Also, Verify that the electric fan is coming on. When the engine gets hot, pop the hood open and check to see if the fan comes on.
You may also have a defective thermostat.
Or, your worse case scenario, is that you have a leaky headgasket.
Good Luck
You do have a serpentine belt that operates the power steering, ac, and the waterpump. You may want to change the serpentine belt every 20k or 2yrs.
The belt costs about 20-25bucks and is easy to install.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-11-23-gm-steering_N.htm?csp=Cars
The head gasket probably went bad because your engine was overheating as a result of the defective thermostat. You may want to ask the dealer to give you a price break. I bet you can knock the price down to $600-800 for a the head job.
Good luck!!
2004, 3.4 engine, 50K miles.
The gas gauge has gone wonky. Last night it flipped to the way past full mark and my wife says it is now resting at the 6 o'clock position. Anyone have any idea what would cause this and how to fix it?
Also the speedometer and odometer quit working. However it worked fine today my wife says. This is slightly troubling as we have to leave for a 1500 mile round trip road trip on Wednesday.
The broken gas gauge I can deal with. The non working speedometer is not such something I want to try and deal with. I don't have a tach so I there is no way to know how fast I am going. So are these two issues related and where would I start to try and fix this???
Or maybe I'll just hope the speedometer stays put together long enough to get us through this road trip.
My 67 Chevelle was more reliable.
Did you ever have to replace the BCM or Passlock Sensor on your 2002 Impala?
How about the combination light switch and manifold gaskets?
My Impala must be a lemon. I am a tall guy and I like the roominess and smooth ride of my 2002 Impala but unforntunately my Imapala was a Lemon. :lemon
I hope you continue to have good luck with yours!! Best wishes!
all help is appreciated. thank you.
I hit the high beam switch and my lights went out. Chevy should recall these combination switches!
I purchased an aftermarket combination switch for about $150. and installed it myself. You will need to remove the fuse for the air bag system and you will need to get a steering wheel puller if you are doing it yourself.
If you go to the Dealer it is probably going to run between $400-500 dollars to have it replaced.
Good luck!!
For an 2004 Impala you should be able to find a shop in the Warminster area that will replace them for about $375 each side.
If it is not making any noises and your front tires aren't getting chewed up, I would let it go. When you take it in for your Pa State Inspection, the mechanic will tell you if you need them!
Good Luck! :shades:
The cruise control will maintain the speed set, even if the speedometer is reading wonky. If the speedo gets stuck at say 50 MPH I can still set it the cruise to what ever I want and then change it and the car will maintain that set speed. That tells me that the sending unit itself is working. The low fuel light also comes on when it normally does as I always reset the trip meter when fueling and so I know how far I have gone on each gas tank. The last two or three times I tested it, the low fuel light came on with 14 gallons used. So while the gauge itself is wonky, the low fuel light is not. And while the speedometer is wonky, the cruise control and odometer are not.
That tells me it is a gauge cluster? I just don't know or want to think about replacement costs and may not even worry about it, but it is a bit of a driveability issue and plus, I don't like things like this that don't work. It's like a check engine light or brake light on the dash. I don't like that there is something wrong...
You can probably find a good deal on an instrument cluster and a find shop manual that tells you how to install it!!
Good luck!
So my question is, when I do replace it, if I go to the junk yard and pull one from there (assuming the yards around here even have an Impala there, will I be stuck with whatever mileage is showing on the "new" cluster? Also would I be able to pull a cluster from different model years and or so a different model? Like let's say I found a cluster that has all the gauges - volt meter and oil pressure in addition to fuel and temp as well as a tach. Will it plug and play into what I have? I am assuming I have all the proper sensors as they are still sending info to the onboard computer so it can warn to impending problems like low oil pressure and that the gauges are not actual gauges in the sense that they receive a mechanical signal. Instead they receive an electrical signal from the various sensors and then either sends it to the computer where it is not seen unless a problem (like low oil pressure is senses) or if there is a gauge for that particular function it gets sent there as well. Right?????
So I am assuming I am receiving all the needed info, I just don't have a gauge to display it. So if I plug in a cluster that has those gauges, then theoretically I should be able to have that info???
Just throwing questions out there. If I have to replace the cluster and I can get a cluster that has that info like tach (especially the tach) and the oil and voltage, I would like that. If not, I have never had that in this car so it's not a big deal. But just thought I would ask. And the mileage reading also concerns me. I only have 50K miles and I don't want to get a gauge cluster that reads 110,000 miles and have my car reading 110,000 miles. That could screw up a whole bunch of paperwork and wreak havoc at the DMV. I would fear them rendering me a salvage title or an asterisk next to the mileage stating true mileage unknown....
Not that I am going to go to the "junkyard" per se, but that is where I am headed. E-bay is also my option, but those usually come from a salvage yard too. I am not worried about that as long as my "true" mileage isn't affected. I could go new, but I think that cost would be pretty high - much higher than I really want to pay.
Apparently this is not an uncommon problem. These gauge cluster's are prone to failure. So I did research and there are several options that I have found. One is to just live with it and use your trip meter to measure your fuel and get a GPS to measure your speed.
The other is to fix it. But you would have to take it to a dealer which is probably an astronomical cost. But there are repair facilities that will do it for you, but you have to ship the gauge cluster to them.
I did find a site though that will do that and offers "new" clusters as a replacement. He offers several different services. These cluster's are "plug-n-play". Meaning you can take one from any model year (2000-2005) and it will plug right in and work. You can also use any type of cluster, from the base model 3 gauge to the SS gauge cluster that has oil pressure, voltmeter, tach, water temp, and fuel....
He can also "update" the mileage on the "new" cluster to reflect the actual miles that you have on your car. You have to sign a waiver stating you are giving him the true mileage on your car but he can and will when he sends you a new cluster make sure that you get the correct mileage. This is important I think because the problem with going to the junk yard or trying ebay is that when you do find a cluster, you are stuck with whatever mileage was on the car is came from. So being able to update the mileage on a "new" cluster for me is a BIG plus and almost worth the cost alone, which in my opinion is fairly reasonable for what he is charging.
Here is the site:
http://www.bbengineer.com/cars/impala/store.htm
I won't attest to his "quality" as I haven't bought from him yet (I just found it yesterday and funds are limiting my purchase right now) and you must be able to remove your old cluster and be able to install the "new" one. Being mechanically inclined is definitely required, but if that is you then this could be a real money saver..
If you feel that you are not able to do this, then send in your cluster. this procedure is what the cluster rebuilders are doing.
Really?????????
Anyway, I suspect there might be a few old timers from the early days of this thread who still check in here from time to time, so I felt it would only be right to post a note here to let folks know. Up until today I've always looked twice at any silver Impala to see if it might be mine; it'll be sad to get out of that habit now.
The mechanic explained that the drain on the 2004 Impala was unusually small. Normally it's 3/4 or 1 inch but the Impala was 1/2 inch. My driveway is below several trees. The debris from the trees gets sucked into the air intake on the right side just under the windshield. Apparently over time this debris can accumulate in the condensation drain and result in a blockage. The water diverts to the passenger side floor wells. Unfortunately there is wiring in the area where the water accumulates that runs between teh radio and amplifier. This wiring has now shorted out and I have no sound. Now that I've fixed the root problem I'm hoping to get my radio back working.
ORIFICE TUBE
The orifice tube, probably the most commonly used, can be found in most GM and Ford models. It is located in the inlet tube of the evaporator, or in the liquid line, somewhere between the outlet of the condenser and the inlet of the evaporator. This point can be found in a properly functioning system by locating the area between the outlet of the condenser and the inlet of the evaporator that suddenly makes the change from hot to cold. You should then see small dimples placed in the line that keep the orifice tube from moving. Most of the orifice tubes in use today measure approximately three inches in length and consist of a small brass tube, surrounded by plastic, and covered with a filter screen at each end. It is not uncommon for these tubes to become clogged with small debris. While inexpensive, usually between three to five dollars, the labor to replace one involves recovering the refrigerant, opening the system up, replacing the orifice tube, evacuating and then recharging. With this in mind, it might make sense to install a larger pre filter in front of the orifice tube to minimize the risk of of this problem reoccurring. Some Ford models have a permanently affixed orifice tube in the liquid line. These can be cut out and replaced with a combination filter/orifice assembly.
Mine was clogged, but that wasn't the real problem. There's a short piece of rubber under the cowling and above the cabin air filter. It's not put on with adhesive and it eventually comes off, allowing water into the blower motor which then leaks onto the floor. I didn't know that was the problem until there was enough water in the blower to hear it. I ended up replacing the blower resistor and blower motor.
To fix the rubber piece, raise the wipers, and remove the push pins and one screw in the cowling. From the front of the cowling peel the weatherstrip back halfway to the center and lift the cowling. You'll see the cabin air filter and the rubber above it which should be part-way off. Use adhesive to reattach it. You can replace the cabin air filter too. Then put the cowling back into place. That takes about 15 minutes and a few minutes more to locate the condensation drain.
Haven't had the water problem again after doing this.
I'd be curious as to what other OCI of the last generation Impala owners have been running.
I heard on my local news channel that modern blends of detergent motor oils can go up to 10-15k and still maintain their viscosity.
So, basically you may go 10-15 k between oil changes without damaging your engine. (Under normal driving conditions)
QUESTION: DOES WATER PUMP REPLACEMENT(RADIATOR FLUSH,) HAVE ANYTHING IN COMMON WITH TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS, OR IS THIS JUST BAD LUCK????