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Comments
The base bracket welds on the rear frame supports of the 2000's are simply not enough due to the stress and high temperatures in that area of the frame, that I can tell you for sure.
Now, for the entire engine, suspension and steering to go south, that would have to be a catastrophic failure of the entire cradle supports...that ain't gonna happen.
The left and right lower suspension arms attach directly to the side bars of the engine cradle.
The 2001 Impala/Montes are much better welded cars..I say a 2001 should not have any problems after witnessing the way they are welded at the assembly line.
I agree that today's "Automotive Technicians" have forgotten the old troubleshooting techniques. In their defense, today's car's have more computing power than the space shuttle (kinda scary thought, huh?) and all the feedback is done electronically vice mechanically so you need a computer to figure out what's the problem.
Thanks for the info about the magnetic oil plug. I was unaware that Chevy had one. I stick a magnet on the bottom of my oil filter with a drop of silicone. When I change filters, I pop the magnet off and stick it on the new one. That way any metal particles will be trapped in the filter. Dunno if it does any good, but using a magnet makes sense.
That was a very informative post re the engine cradle. Thank you. I await the pics and then will check under my 10/00 2001 to see if I have the modified version. Fingers are crossed!!
BTW
Have you thought about dropping your Impala by 1-2"? I have yet to see one on the road with the drop. I'm dying to see in person what it looks like.
Teo, great post on the cradle, how come it took so long to find all this out?
teo-2k_impala_ls took the words right out of my mouth(thanks for the initiative!). Are all the improvements/welds, etc. on just the engine cradle(other than the rear wheel liners)? Are the replacement cradles for warranty work going to be the new corrected cradles, or leftover defective '00 stock? I paid cash, and a lot of it for my fully loaded '00 LS and expect the quality product we all deserve. Thanks for the info. I still may get another Impala LS later, like I said below, but for now, I still want the best I can have. This car fits all my needs and is the best value all around for what it is. Maybe Chevy will be forced to resurrect the SS to be competitive, since Mercury is soon releasing the 300+ HP Maurader(RWD). Maybe at least the SC engine, and the 4T65E HD or 4T80E? transmission from the police Impala/SC 3.8L or Caddy respectively, and of course with the HD police front hubs/spindles and 130amp alternator(Does the LS/3.8L already have the bigger alternator?)
BTW-my 01/00 build date car(like yours, formerly) may be starting to show signs of steering problems, sometimes not exactly dead center(may be my imagination) and slight clicking on turns, felt, not audible. Cradle may be clicking a little on full turns at stop. If they can be fixed up to '01 specs under warranty, I'll be happy for now, until I possibly get the "flawless, corrected, new improved Impala!" SS, maybe, we'll have to see...
There was a sale on gas at my station, TESORO(don't know if anyone out of Hawaii has this gas), all grades same price, so I got the 92 Octane fill-up. Have been running the 87 regular for awhile with no problems, knock, etc. But, it seems the difference in performance is night and day, will probably stick to 92 now. Tires chirp, traction control engages more often, at even slight pressure of the accelerator. Other than that the above mention possible(well known) problems, my car, especially the engine, runs flawlessly and smooth.
Except for the stereo, of course. Until we, or super tech-sleuth night_owl1 find the proper connector to put in a real amplifier, I may upgrade the speakers on mine. Like the goodies in the the MC SS, why couldn't we have the Monsoon Sound system from the Buick Regal GS/others, or the Bose systems from other Chevys. Haven't heard them, but am sure they sound better, especially for Chevy's "flagship sedan." They could at least have put all the extra control feature in a different module than the stereo deck. I don't think they would be losing that much profit from people not getting their "ahem" premium system, or even changing it to aftermarket after paying for the stock radio. They should at least include a plug with the proper bridging for the amp bypass to use at our own discretion. since they obviously purposely made it so we could not change the system easily.
JACOB
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/impala/
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010220/ca_invoicedealers.html
With all the investigative work done by Teo and Night_Owl about this problem they have restored my confidence in purchasing a 2001 LS in the very near future. I look forward to seeing these cradle pictures of the 2001, that Night_Owl will be showing. Can anyone confirm that these shims and extra welds on the cradle were installed after 10/00 or was this addressed when the 1st 2001's rolled off the assembly line back in July 2000. Thanks again to Teo and Night_Owl. Three cheers for you guys! Keep up the good work!!! charts2
http://copartfinder.com/cgi-bin/detail.dtw/disp
This car seems to hold pretty well on most crashes.
Re air bag - the mechanic blew a bag up for us and he said it would destroy the dash and the windshield would break for about $3000 CDN in damage. Because of this increased cost he says the auto body shop looses money because the cost of repairs are too much for the value of the car in many cases.
If he truly knows about the engine cradle subject, the problem with the 2000 model year cradles was the insufficient welds on the two rear support cradle support brackets. The problem was remedied in the 2001's (I saw it personally and took pics of the cradle on a new 2001)since GM has now revised the welding manufacturing procedure at the assembly line. These two rear cradle support brackets now feature FULL welds not only at the bottom of the bracket assembly but also on the sides. He is right on one thing...the engine cradle has never been changed or modified only the WELDS.
The problem obviously has been resolved in the assembly line. Remember that dealing with re-welding aluminum parts is a very difficult and often frustrating endeavor...this is the reason why GM has stopped re-welding the cradles on cars already built (2000 model year)and issued the TSB with the reinforcement Shim Material for the back brackets.
I don't think this technician understands the engine cradle problem too well. Trust me, my Service manager has 35 years experience under his belt and the guy really knows as to what is he talking about...his explanation during my visit yesterday to the dealer was extremely detailed and helpful.
Been a while since I've been on the board, but I'm back, and the 2000 Impala LS has about 11,000 kms on it now(mainly highway). So far, no real problems, EXCEPT
1)Had a rough idle after starting it, and after pressing accel down, seemed to be smooth, any ideas? This is the second time it's happened to me, and both times I Wimply cranked the engine, does that have anything to do with it?
2)Keep getting this wierd groaning/revolution noise from the front of the car, don't know what it is and very hard to explain.
3)The steering wheel, since day 1, has always been a wee bit off center, at about 2000km's had to take it in for an alignment, it was horribly off center, and since then, on the highway, it's never straight and pulls a bit...
4)Car was in again for Remote entry problems, they have now opened up a case file for the problem with GM (Factory I guess), seems to be okay, but I don't have much confidence it will remain okay for long.
5)no engine cradle problems(thus far) Build Date of 6/99.
6)the ABS system engaged for the first time I got the car, and man the brake peddle vibrated, AND it made the worst noise, is that normal? It was like a hammer hitting metal.
Ok, that's about it!
TEO-Sorry to hear about your buyback, lets hope the 2001 is better!:)
Paul
Makes me feel better with a 2001, build date 12/00
Teo, see if my descriptions match what you told me.
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/impala/
Bill
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/impala2000
I hope everyone else after seeing these pics can get a better picture in their minds about the engine cradle problem.
I was checking out the chevymall and saw some cool impala and chevy hats ...some as cheap as 6 bucks but there is a 7 dollar shipping charge.
anyone know of any other places to get chevy hats cheaper and possibly without shipping?
TIA
New Steering Shaft.
Very faint slight click in cradle barely noticeable, will probably not take in for this now.
Monday will return car for strut shaking noise coming from front struts. took it in last week and all they did was add grease and didn't even test drive it.
4 visits to find a bad ambient light sensor. The SIL would come and go in defense of the dealer and set no codes.
1 visit for a bad blower fan motor.
No visit for a battery that puked so bad that it would not jump start or charge from a battery charger. I bought an Optima gell cell battery.
2 visits for a faulty door panel(drivers side).
There is prolly more but I dont want to go look at the records for the car and I keep the auto records on my iMac puter.
Have teo's cradle comparision photos been posted yet??
Loganpd, you are welcome. Thanks to Teo for the photos.
I am seeing more and more Impalas in my area. Today, in a parking lot, all within 10 parking spaces were 3 Impalas.
Eight days later, I finally got my car back. The keyless entry now has a TSB according to the NHSTA.gov site. The instrument cluster needs to be replaced. Dealer went through 12 clusters, before one didn't light up, show a speed while in park, or show over heated when the car was started cold. It took them eight days to get a good cluster.
The steering binding or tugging I complained about that everybody thinks was the intermediate drive shaft, ended up being the cradle assembly. Dealer replaced that and steering is not tugging on those slow right turns. Even the 3.4L have bad cradles.