2005 and Earlier Chevrolet Impala

mediumfry

I had the old 'junk amp' in my '01 LS built in 11/00. It sounded crappy at low volumes but the bass woke up at higher volumes. The new amp I had installed in June really increased the bass. Actually, it increased it too much. Without a sound intensity meter and diagnostic CD, the bass is obviously WAY too much at low volumes. But as one turns it up, things equal out.

Why GM couldn't get a system set up that keeps things equalized flat when the tone controls are flat is beyond me. BUT I am not too upset. I wanted the new amp and they gave it to me. I prefer too much bass to none at all.

Thus my point. Some like it to thump, some can do without. A perfectly accurate system would be ideal but at least GM tried to make it right. I gotta give them credit for that.

[Deleted User]

It also has a lot to do with the speakers. The speakers they use don't seem to handle the increased bass levels of the newer amp very well.
Tweeters in the upper doors, instead of at your ankles, would've helped too.

blckthree

I got mine from www.gmpartsdirect.com about 6 months ago. I don't remember the price anymore, but you could try them if you don't find them anywhere else.
Mike

spider717

A few questions about the JET mod. You have to use the 92 octane fuel now right? Also does it get rid of the 107 MPH limiter?

00impala

I just got an e mail from the place I ordered the Rear ones from saying "Thanks" so maybe they are on the way? I tried a bunch of places online and the front ones show up, but the rear ones are starting to drop from the search features on those GM part sites. I am convinced they have stopped making them, just a matter of finding a place to part with a set, despite the recall of them from Parts Departments according to Hutton. Since they still bolt right onto early 2000 models without the Liners, and we know how to modify them to fit 2001-2002's Thanks Don

frankf3

Have you gone on that trip to Oshawa yet ? If not, you really have to let me know your thoughts of when you make it up there. My Silver LS is still going fine, now has about 7500 miles on it. The only thing that may need attention is the passenger side roof trim.

Frank

crosley4

The stereo in our 2k Silverado sounds waaay better than our 2k Impala with early amp. Bass, treble and all is easily adjustable, I like it.

Does GM still offer the "Boze stereo' setup?? I have not paid any attention to this....

On the subject of On Star: I read in another section of Edmunds where a lady was real disapointed in On Star. Why , you ask? Her new vehicle was troublesome and then quit running. When she called the On Star ppl they could not tell her what was wrong with her vehicle.

She thought On Star could diagnose the car trouble through a computer link. That is not possible .........yet.

Tony

[Deleted User]

I was under the impression that they can receive the error code in a "check engine" condition. That doesn't mean they can diagnose every problem that occurs, most of which occur without the check engine light coming on. Maybe that's what happened to her.

yurakm

OnStar was advertised as having the capability to diagnose under-the-hood problems remotely:

http://www.onstar.com/visitors/html/ao_remoteDiag.htm

The lady was so naive to believe the advertising.

woo_by

yes, I have to use 92 octane gas (I was doing that before the mod anyways, so no biggie)

I haven't tried going over 107, so I couldn't tell you firsthand...but from what I understand, it does not remove the speed limiter

crosley4

I see where the trouble "lies". The ad is about Cadillacs and diagnosing trouble.

The lady I read about owns a common Chevrolet.
((-; I would imagine the On Star system is the same or close though.

In the automotive trade journals I have read the capiblity is quite limited to what info is transmitted by the On Star system in relation to the diagnostic system of the vehicle. The articles I have read talk about only a few items (the airbag deployment & a couple of others) are setup to transmit, not the main diagnostic program of the PCM on board system of the vehicle.

So many things can stop a vehicle in it's path that the diagnostic system does not always help.

FYI: the on board diagnostic system has different areas where codes are availible. The engine & transmission have separate code values. You can also have "no" code set in the system and a sensor can be out of "programed in parameters" and cause trouble.

Why GM does not keep systems more similar from vehicle to vehicle is a valid question here. The Impala will unlock all doors if you press and hold the remote. Use the drivers door key and hold it the system will open all doors.

On my 2k Silverado this is not true. I must push the remote twice and holding the door key does nothing. I checked the owners manual and nothing is listed for changes in the operation of the remote set-up to operate similar to the Impala.

I could post some of the items that the Federal gov wants on the new OBD III systems of automobiles and availible for transmitting to satillites. It really opens your eyes up to the phrase : " Big brother is watching"

Tony

b4z

2002 LS at my dealer has a sticker that says 19mpg city and 29mpg hwy.
Mine says 20 and 30mpg. What is up with that?

socalchev

My 01 sedan has a rattling noise at freeway speed coming from the glove box area. I took everything out of the glove box and even taped down the passenger wiper arm that seemed to be moving in the wind. I thought it was maybe something in the ventilation system, but I turned it off and it still has the noise. Anybody else have this problem?

00impala

The place I thought I ordered a set of the Rear Sheilds does not have them either! I geuss I will drive around with a set of front ones in place and none on the back? I have them on my 2K LS and I bought my second Impala in late August and they were gone by then, I just orderd them from 3 different places on line that show them in their inventory just to be e-mailed a day later that they are not available, Your are right the gmpartsdirect site has the best price for the front ones @ $19 a pair. I geuss I can stop looking for them , Not worth the hassle of actually going to a dealer and facing a Parts Guy at a counter just to be run off. Don

teo

Your problem is caused by the flimsy glove box latch mechanism that it is rattling. If you leave open the glove box, I am almost 100% certain that your rattle will go away. The latch's strike plate needs to be readjusted to minimize the clearance between the glove box door and the strike plate that causes the rattle.

licavy1

I had the new amp installed and I agree that there is too much bass. On every song I have to change the equalizer or leave it on manual. It's still better than no bass

spence30

I posted this message in the owners list as well, but more people read this page... any help you have would be great.

I bought my 2000 Impala in May 2000. I have 47,000 miles on it right now. I wish I could say I have had the good luck that many of you have had. I'll start off by saying I love the car, but I have several issues that I feel GM should address.
I am on my 3rd set of rotors, the first 2 warped and were replaced, the rear brakes have squeaked from day one.
I had the "clicking" sound from the front end by 2500 miles, the dealer had the TSB that stated they need to reinforce the welds due to the sub-frame flexing. That issue is fixed.
I have experienced hesitation upon acceleration when pulling out into traffic, it feels like the car is getting too much fuel and choking itself. This last about 5 to 7 seconds, then the car surges forward. It is an intermit ant problem that has occurred about 15 times, but CAN'T BE DUPLICATED BY SERVICE"
I have also experienced a transmission "buck", The car jumps when it shifts almost like it was stuck in gear and suddenly let loose to shift. When I turn the car off, it is almost like the tyranny resets it self, and the problem is no more.
Most recently I had my steering shaft replaced, the dealer covered it under "Good Will Terms Warranty". They told me that Chevy is aware of an issue with the shaft and are working on a fix. The symptoms was a clunking sound from the front end almost like something was loose and rolling around. I was able to feel it in the steering as well as hear it. If you experience this bring it in and get it fixed. Like I said, I am out of warranty, but the dealer I went to replaced it FREE.
The final straw that has really made me mad was an ignition issue. There were time that I would put the key in the ignition to start the car, but the key wouldn't turn. I pulled it out, tried again and invariably it would work again. If you have experienced this, tell you dealer immediately, and have them make a record of it. I learned the hard way to the tune of $600. The ignition switch and cylinder needed to be replaced. I have written to Chevy Customer Care. My feeling is the ignition have no bearing on the number of miles you put on a vehicle, and mine is 17 months new.
I would love to hear if anyone else has experienced the ignition, transmission, or acceleration issues.

baveux

Spence30,your situation makes me remember how miserable was my malibu 97.Front end problem,brake problem,ignition switch problem....

My next car will be either a Camry or more likely a Century,yes the Century doesn't have the look or the same "flavor" compared to the Impala,but the owners reports are much much better.

I've read to many problem on the Impala to make me buy 1 confidentely.
Air bag light,cradle,brakes,seat track,tranny shifting,engine hesitation,steering shaft,are reported on a regular basis on that board, and I am not prepared to deal with that.

The base Impala is a very nice car,priced right, but I spend so much time in the dealership with another Chevy product that I am not interested to do it again.This is why I'll buy a smaller car(not a lot smaller btw) with a smaller engine,for about the same money,This car(Century) is coming with a much better reputation and this is what I'll buy this time , like most of the peoples buying Japanese.

impalaboy2001

Well, I just started taking apart my 2001 Impala LS. I'm in the process of installing an Eclipse 7002 Display Unit and an 8 disk CD Changer. So far I have taken the dash off and pulled out the radio, and in the process of hooking up wires.....its a nightmare. I'm trying to take pictures of my installation along the way. I'll post them on my website when I'm finished.
Chris

impalaboy2001

I've been installing a new Eclipse Headunit and changer during the last two days, and along the way I fried something. After driving down the highway this evening I've noticed that my dashlights aren't coming on, so I cant tell how fast I'm going. Its strange cause my domelights and headlights work just fine. I'm thinking I might have fried a fuse or tripped a breaker, but I cant find the location for the fuse. Any help will be greatly appreciated. :-( As of now I cant drive my Impala LS at night. It sucks.

Thanks
Chris

impalanator

To all those that have had their radio amp replaced, don't forget to reprogram your preset stations. If not, then every time you select a station it will come up with the presets (autotone, which I think is useless BTW or the manual bass/treble) that you originally programmed resulting in you usually hearing way to much bass.

baveux - all of the problems you mention are almost entirely related to the 2K and early 2K1 models. Warning to anyone, if you buy the first year of an entirely new model vehicle you should expect a few problems. Not to expect this is just plain naive. Sorry if this sounds harsh. I for one have absolutely no problems in recommending a new Impala to anyone. I still believe it's the most car you can get for the money.

impalaboy2001 - sounds like maybe you left a wire unhooked during your dash removal and reinstall. Hopefully thats your case and not something more costly. Either way, sounds like you'll be pulling the dash again.

jerseyimpala

To the person who posted the OnStar problem. I recently used the OnStar feature of diagnosing a system code problem. MY Air bag light came on when I started my car and stayed on during my trip. I pressed the OnStar button and they were able to receive the engine codes from the system while I was driving and diagnosed the problem as a fault in the Air bag light. They saved the code and I reported the problem to my dealer who was able to contact OnStar and get the code from them, as opposed to the "Cannot Duplicate" BS response that they give you. I think that you have to have the Premium Onstar package to utilize the diagnostic feature of Onstar. To anyone who has ever needed directions even once will certainly agree that the $200/year price is well worth it's weight in gold to get the service!

impalaboy2001

In addition to my dashlights, my tail lights and rear defogger aren't working. I took my car to the dealership today, so they can take a look at it. Hopefully they wont blame it on my radio install. I'll let you know what they find.
Thanks
Chris

teo

I have to agree with Impalaboy on this one. Having owned both a brand new 2000 Impala LS and now a brand new 2001 Impala LS, I can attest to the fact that some of the problems pertaining to the engine cradle, intermediate steering shaft and some cases of engine hesitation are mostly limited to first year production cars. Any first year car can have its share of issues specially after a major redesign. However, almost 100% of the Impala's powertrain is carry over from the Lumina and other GM W-body sedans, nothing new there. If you buy a Buick Century it will not make a significant difference from buying an Impala, Pontiac Grand Prix or Buick Regal...all of them are essentially the same cars with different skins and emblems. Just for your information, the Buick Regal, Century, Chevrolet Impala and Montecarlo are assembled in the same exact manufacturing plants Oshawa 1 and 2 auto complex in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Again no difference there whatsoever.

My 2000 Impala LS had problems with the intermediate steering shaft, A/C compressor and to an extent the engine cradle. In all fairness the car never gave me any sort of engine, electrical, body integrity or brake related griefs for the 15K miles I had it. My 2001 Impala LS does however feel a lot better than my 2000 LS did. You can tell the improvements they made on the car from the first to the second production year in invisible places, but boy what a difference do they make!!. In almost 6K miles my 2001 Impala LS has had ZERO problems, no cradle issues, no steering shaft issues, no brake issues, no engine issues, no A/C issues, nothing, zilp, zero, NADA!!! This car is still rock solid as the day I first drove it off the dealer's showroom...it has been impressive and ticks like a fine Swiss Rolex watch.

Again, the cradle issues, engine hesitation issues (Which are caused by faulty software and electronics, not mechanics), intermediate steering shaft issues all have been already corrected in 2001 and 2002 Impalas. If buying a new leftover 2001 Impala buy one with a build date of 1/2001 and beyond with PLENTY of confidence.

The moral of the story: Never buy a first year car as you can expect to have some bugs creeping up. This applies to the 1.0 version of any car by any manufacturer. The same logic applies to the 1.0 Version of any new computer software product.

To the person that has driven 47000 miles in 17 months...wow that's a lot of mileage! Almost 3K miles per month. Have you had the car properly serviced at regular intervals for the kind of demanding driving you do? Have you changed the oil on a monthly basis? Transmission service? Coolant?

You have put an equivalent of FOUR YEARS of non-stop service in just 17 months!!! Just putting some of your brake related and engine complaints into perspective, that's all.

My sister just bought last week a new Navy Blue 2001 Impala Base sedan with ABS/Alloys/CD stereo/Cruise/Front bench seat and 3400 V6 engine for just $19K with ZERO percent financing. They couldn't be happier with their car. The car is very, very smooth...incredible product and value, you just can't beat it. The build date on the car is 6/2001.

So after having owned 3 brand new Impalas between me and my immediate family I can tell you that do not let this message board shy you away from one of the best quality, best full size sedan values in the market today. Buy with confidence and taste the Impala BY YOURSELF!.

harraka

Hi everyone, I have been posting on the radio forum about the terrible experience I had with my dealer with regard to getting my amp replaced. Well this AM I went to a different dealer who was more than happy to resolve my problem and order the 103 AMP. To make a long story short the dealer where I bought my car told me there was nothing wrong with the amp and that anyone who said they got a replacement under warranty was lying, that the part numbers were bogus and that it was an internet scam. Well I talked to GM customer service who told me they would replace the amp if it was not working like an amp should. My dealer would have none of it and they refused to sit in my car and a new impala to compare. I found a dealer who would and they have ordered the new amp this morning!! I am very happy and will start my letter writing campaign to give credit to the good dealer and to blast the bad dealer. I will never do business with MJ Sullivan in New London, CT again. They took my money and then ignored my problem. I will however be a loyal customer to Bob Valenti Auto Mall in Mystic, CT. Thanks for listening!

tpken

And good to see you posting here again. Your sister's car sounds beautiful.

Have you or anyone else here seen a new 2002 LS Sport edition yet?

Ken

hunter39

Hey Teo, nice to see you around again...

Hey Ken we got back from New England on saturday, sorry we didn't get in touch with you, we really didn't get very close to ME as it was. We did get up to central NH and VT though and enjoyed the vivid colors. Unfortunately my rental car wasn't an Impala but a land yacht Buick Park Avenue. Cripes the thing floated all over the road and took some getting used to. We put in almost 1200 miles driving on the trip. The weather was beautiful and the scenery lovely.

When I got home I was really glad to get into my quick handling, stiff suspension Impala. "Bluish" didn't seem to mind the 7 days of no use and responded when I mashed his accelerator to get up to freeway speed as I expected he would. I enjoy vacations but am even more happy to be home.

Just an aside though concerning air travel, I'm trying to figure out where all that 20 Billion dollars went to for the airlines, every plane I was on was full to capacity and yet the ticket agents were few and far between. Don't even get me started on baggage claim! When we landed in Phoenix it was at the same time as three other flights. United and US Airways apparenty share baggage handlers. They unloaded one plane at a time to one carrosel! Fortunately our plane was second unloaded and it only took me 50 minutes to get my luggage...I never once felt unsafe though, but I sure would like to know what all the money was for to bail them out.

[Deleted User]

One of the wires to the headunit is for the internal lighting of the buttons and controls. This is on the same circuit as the other dash lights and, quite often, the tail and parking lights as well.
I've always put new stereos in all my cars, with the exception of the Impala where I only replaced the speakers, and have on a couple of occasions fried the very same circuit!
Check every fuse. I'm sure you'll find a blown one (probably labeled "Taillight" or "Parking Light", maybe "Instrument Panel". It may even be a fusible link that feeds multiple circuits/fuses.
However, it'll keep blowing until you trace the source of the problem. It is probably a short between the stereo lamp circuit and ground. Double-check the color codes on the wiring harness. It's easy to mistake the stereo lamp wire for the ground wire on some harnesses. Like I said, I've done it twice!

00impala

http://abacus.sj.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/10783450e98d55717a52e02bac/i-4.JPG

It is a rear pic of a 2000 White Impala that had the Grey Mouldings painted White, I have a pic of a Red Impala with this done on my webpage, first I've seen another color, and I am suprised more people have not done this, I think it looks great on the White. Don

spence30

I don't know if you read the first line of my message, I do love the new Impala, my frustration lies in GM's inability to properly take care of the individuals who bought the Impala the first model year. You said the engine hesitation is just a software issue, do you now if a dealer can correct the problem w/out duplicating the issue??

I am curious if anyone has had ANY type of ingition switch problems...

b4z

Got 29.6 mpg at 80 mph on my trip to the mountains last weekend. Pretty darn good considering i went over 80 many times.
Pulled over 30 mpg on a rural stretch where i drove 65-70 mph.
Great highway car.

norbnancy

Just back from 3- weeks in Europe. Over 200 posts to read & catch up. My son used my car for 3- weeks and enjoyed it. It has almost 25000 miles and has not been back to the dealer for anything and, it doesn't need anything. This 2000 LS is by far the best new car I have ever owned. I agree with Teo and others that a first year model usually will have some problems, but on the other hand, the manufacturer is usually interested in the cars success so they make sure it is corrected with as little inconvience to the owner as possible. Anyone reading the posts on this forum should keep in mind that when someone mentions a problem that doesn't mean that all similar cars have it. Even the 5 to 10 persons mentioning engine cradle problems is a very small percentage. Any how, my 2000 LS is the best. Just rotated the tires yesterday. Tread wear seems normal. forecast about 50000to 60000 total miles before tire replacement. Checked the brake pads and they hardly look worn. My brother's 2000 LS has over 40000 miles and he has had only one problem when car had about 3000 miles--- a cross threaded brake line going into the master cylinder. Brake warning lite came on, took to dealer, fixed in one day. In past years I would have traded in by now but, I really like the LS so I will drive it until something comes along that I can't live without. Enjoy the ride.

impalaboy2001

I got my car back from the dealership, and they found a bad fuse, they replaced it and that fixed all my problems. Dashlights, Taillights and rear defogger were operational again. Thanks for you Help. I just need to install my StarMod Module now for Onstar, so that I could intergrate Onstar with my new Eclipse headunit. BTW, I'm getting a whistling sound from the speakers when I accelerate, it goes from a low pitch to a high pitch and it does the same thing when the car shifts gears. Does anyone know what I could do to fix that problem?
Thanks
Chris

[Deleted User]

Try buying a noise filter for the stereo's power circuit. Radio Shack has them. It filters out ignition and other induced noises. It should go on the ACC power in, which powers the audio section. The 12V power in is for the clock and memory.

licavy1

I have a 2001LS built date 8/00. I have 6k miles on it and so far its been perfect. Only problem was the actuator for the trunk release was noisy and I had it replaced. I also had the stereo amp replaced under the warranty.
I asked my buddy about painting the black moldings to match the car. He couldn't guarantee that the paint wouldn't peel because the body side moldings were texture. Was there special paint used. I would like to get it done and would appreciate any info. Frank

tpken

Glad you had a good vacation and saw New England's famous foliage. IT certainly has been beautiful - we took a day trip thru the NH White Mtns Sunday the 7th and it was spectacular.

So you rented a Park Ave - Gee - you coulda had a BONNEVILLE!! LOL

Glad your all home safe and enjoyed the time away. Best Impalaphile wishes to you.

Ken

00impala

I'm not sure if it is different paint, it must have some elastic properties added to it, The guy who installed my Exhaust and did the Red car on my webpage said it was difficult, But it can be done, I bet 75% of the effort is in preparing the surface for the paint. Don

hunter39

Actually we needed the extra room. We wanted a Minivan but there were none at the week long advertised 199.00 special. Alamo wanted almost 700.00 for a van for the week! When we got to Providence we saw they had Impala's but it was too late, they were not advertised when I booked online. Anyway it turned out all the realtives we thought would be tagging along didn't, so we didn't need the room, Oh well it made the leaf peeping that much more enjoyable.

BTW, we skipped the White Mountains and cut across I89 from Concord and went to Lebannon NH since I wanted to visit the Shaker Village near there (I'm in to the furniture) We ended up staying in VT and hiked into the QueeChee Gorge and did some antiquing. All in all a very pleasant trip.

tpken

Dan - sounds real nice. Vermont is sooo pretty in fall. Glad to hear of your great time.

Ken

norbnancy

I think the paint required is the same paint used on flexible panels like the F & R bumpers etc. I purchased the prep solvent, primer, & color for doing the flexible factory mud guards so the mud guards would match the black body of my 2000 LS. It took several coats of primer, sanded each time, to smooth out the roughness of the mud guards. ( same, or almost same roughness as the moldings). I think it would be a lengthy process because of the number & length of the moldings. I personally wouldn't spend the time but, the matching moldings do look good. Be a nice upgrade for future Chevrolets. If you decide to go with it, I'll look up the product names I used. Enjoy the ride.

mediumfry

You don't need the Premium Onstar package to get remote diagnostics. I can't explain why some problems can be remotely detected and others can't but certainly the Safety & Security package includes all the diagnostics. The remote ECM has to have a code logged and possibly the SES light has to be lit to get a good remote diagnostic. If the engine died for the person who couldn't get a remote diag, maybe the ECM puked altogether and wasn't able to transmit a code. ???? Notably, Onstar can't pick up a code unless something in the car is transmitting it.

Teo, can't stay away can you? That's OK, good to have you around, even if occasionally.

Garypen I'll have to try some new speakers if I get disgruntled with the '103' sound. How did you blow a fuse replacing the speakers?

[Deleted User]

I didn't blow any fuses in the Impala. All I did was change the speakers. However, I've put new head units in all my other vehicles over the years, maybe 6 or 8 altogether. A couple of those times I blew that same circuit, the one for the instrument/tail lights. It should have only happened once, though! :-(
I didn't do anything to the Acura stereo, either, even though it really needs it. The boss won't let me.. It's her car.

hvan3

You don't need special paint to paint the moldings. When I had my Honda Accord, I told the body shop person that I wanted my lower black moldings to match the car paint. Basically, what they did was put additives (adhesions) to the paint. The additives would make the paint bond to the plastic molding stronger. No sanding, priming, anything done to it prior to painting.

I had my Accord for 5 years. Never once did the paint peeled off from the black moldings.

The cosmetic difference between the LS and the base model is the matching paint lower molding (below the car doors) on the LS. Totally makes a BIG difference.

Chevy needs to do more to differentiate the LS from the base model. On the Honda EX vs LX,the EX has matching color moldings.

00impala

Since the Cavalier a few years ago had the entire front and rear bumper covers non-painted on the cheaper model, kinda like the imports, ever see a really base model Neon from a few years ago? the entire Bumper cover was molded in Red or Blue or Black, you could bang it up and if it scratched it just scratched into the color that the entire piece was made from (Blue,Red, Black etc). unique? Yea, but ugly up close! DW

b4z

Impala sales are up again! 2000 more sales in September than Sep. of 2000. 14,000 more sales YTD than last year. No reason why they couldn't sell 200,000 a year.
Statistics are from www.autosite.com.

[Deleted User]

Now I can be like the Accord owner that has another Accord on either side of him at the stop light. ;-)

teo

Yeah Gary, but instead of taking 5 miles to reach 60 miles an hour, you can dust the generic pill Accord Owner and dissapear in the horizon...;)

[Deleted User]

I do it every morning on my commute. Hey! I gotta get to work!

teo

YTD sales of the Impala are 150,599 units as of September 2001. The Impala right now is the best selling large sedan in the GM lineup and it is ranked as the 8th best selling sedan in the market!

I don't doubt the 2001 Impala will brake the 200,000 unit barrier by the end of the year.

The Buick Regal, Pontiac Grand Prix and Olds Intrigue all are suffering in the sales charts. For instance, the Regal has sold 3K less units in september 2001 compared to Sept '00.

b4z

The problem is that there aren't any on the lots. Especially here in SC.