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the clunking is an easy fix, look under the dashboard for the ISS (intermediate steering shaft., they had a problem with them binding up because of the loss of lubracation. Take some wd-40 or any type of lube oil, you will see a rubber boot. inside that boot is a mini u-joint that slides on a splined shaft. peel back the boot and spay some stuff in there, your clunk is gone. You can also try putting some grease in there instead. I have to spray ours about once a year, a 5 minute job. Don't let the dealer try to sell you an ISS
Another thing I discovered towards the end of my Impala's time with me; if you wipe down the weather strip around the doors with silicon spray (spray it on a rag, then rub on the rubber to avoid over-spray) it REALLY quietened the ride. As the rubber dries out it starts to squeak, but applying silicon made mine sound as quiet as new (well, except for the occasional ISS clunking).
(Oh, and if anybody cares, I DID finally find my pin set that I got for taking part in the 2001 Impala brochure...they were in the one stack of boxes in the garage that I didn't go through last time. Also found a couple of other items I cherished as much, that I'd accused my wife of throwing away, so had to eat a little crow on that one.)
I first noticed a couple days ago after I walked up to it after it had been parked awhile. How long it had been parked I don't recall. But I noticed a wet spot in front of the pass. front wheel. I also smelled that tell tale sign of coolant. I dip my fingers in the couple of spots and could tell it was coolant. A little concerned I popped the hood and checked the coolant level. It was a little low, but not too bad. I also hunted for where the drops could have come from. I couldn't really tell, but I could tell that at the bottom corner of the radiator, some coolant had leaked recently. I didn't worry about it much to be honest however and just told myself I would keep an eye on it.
Well tonight was a good night to keep an eye on it. I walked into the garage and noticed a good sized puddle on the floor. Sure enough it was coolant. The car had been driven twice that day. First into town, a distance of about 20 miles round trip. The second trip was to the bank, a distance of about 3-4 miles round trip. It was after the bank trip that the car decided to leak. The previous trip didn't produce any leaks. I also didn't notice the when the leak happened because I didn't drive the 2nd time and it was this evening when I had noticed the leak, several hours after the car had been parked.
So I popped the hood again and this time I spotted where I think the leak is coming from. I am posting pictures to hopefully clarify this. It appears to be at the top of the radiator at the mount right next to the cap. It appears to have been a semi-force-able spewage as there is evidence on the hood liner and the radiator hose. Again refer to the pictures. I started the car to see if I could duplicate this while I watched. Parked the car did nothing. So I took it for a spin around the block to warm it up.
While driving I paid close attention to the temp gauge. It seemed to warm up much quicker than I seem to remember. That however could be attributed to the fairly warm night (about 70 F) and the fact that it had been driven just that afternoon on a warm day. The other times I paid attention to the warm up times were in the dead of winter when I watched the gauge to know when I could turn the heater on. As I drove, I noticed the gauge fluctuate. The first was when it got to the half-way mark, then it dropped just above a quarter and then rose again. Then it would rise, but not quite to the halfway mark and then fall a little. It did this during the entire time I drove. It never got above halfway, but it never stayed steady. I have never noticed this type of variation before. It may be because I don't pay attention to the gauge as I should, but I would think that if the temp gauge varied that much I would notice it?? I also do not drive the car much as it is my wife's daily drive and she wouldn't know what to look for. I was varying my speed from a residential speed of 25-30 MPH to a highway speed of 60 MPH, but the temp didn't seem to follow a pattern based on my speed.
After I got home, I again popped the hood to look for any evidence it had leaked while driving. I could find no fresh evidence. I let the car run for a couple more minutes and then shut it off to see if the cooling down cycle would produce anything. It didn't. It still hasn't as of this post...
So I am open to suggestions as to what it might be. Any thoughts?
Pictures to help visualize the problem...
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It is unusual to have a coolant leak with only 37k on the vehicle.
I suspect that you have a small leak in the radiator hose wich is leaking onto the serpentine belt and then getting sprayed onto the underside of the hood.
You need to look closely at the hoses while it is running and see if one of the hoses is leaking. (Keep your hands clear of the pulleys, belts and fan!)
Also, the picture that identifies the waterpump is correct.
My 2002 Impala does not have a "Cabin" air filter.
I am not sure how difficult it is to retrofit the cabin air filter into the non-equipted Impalas.
:confuse:
http://www.wixconnect.com/assets/wixcabinairbrochure.pdf
:shades:
I took the car to Mr Goodwrench. He found a bad wire harness going into the front right tire hub. The tips on the harness were a color green. He checked all the other hubs and all were fine with those conections. He replaced the wire harness on that wire, and afterwards all was fine. Check your harness tips. You might have a little corrosion. Goodluck.
Anyone know where to find this Diagram?
http://www.wixconnect.com/assets/wixcabinairbrochure.pdf
If it restarted and the engine ran and you didn't move, it could be a transmission problem.
So my question is this? Is it normal for the 3.4L motor to take several cranks to turn over. What would cause it take several more cranks to start, like the 6-7 that my wife has mentioned?
Does anyone know how to replace a fuel pump? Do i need to drop the gas tank?
If you have a habit of running the tank until its almost empty, all the dirt and residue gets sucked into the fuel filter causing it to clog.
I would start by replacing the fuel filter. If that doesn't fix the problem, than you may have a "electronic" problem with a sensor or computer.
Also, in an earlier post someone mentioned that some Impala's have defective catylitic converters. If your cat converter is clogged that would cause loss of power and cut outs.
We have 2 Impalas with the 3.8L. The 2001 now has 103k and the 2004 has 120k.
In Sep-06 at 92k the 2001 suddenly started cranking longer to start. This car had always started on 1 crank. The problem started 1 week before my 6yr/100k extended warranty expired.
Dealer replaced fuel pump and ignition module under the warranty but that didn't fix it and they couldn't duplicate the problem and of course no codes.
Then it started stalling out intermittenly too, but it always restarted. My wife only does local low-speed driving and it seemed to stall out when it was cold, like the first drive of the early morning, after going a few miles.
Both problems occurred randomly for 2 months and I spent many hours searching the net for a most likely cause.
Finally it stalled after going 100 feet - her first start after work- and wouldn't restart. Towed to the dealer and left it there for several days for them to try to duplicate the problem.
I had seen in my research that the CPS could be the problem but the service mngr (who was a very good) said the flow charts don't point to the CPS for the 2 problems when combined.
I said to replace it as a last try because we didn't have a drivable car anyway.
End of story is they replaced it at no charge, and the car's been fine for 2.5 years. I got lucky - it could have been an intermittent electrical problem.
Repair history for the 2 cars:
2001 - upper intake coolant leak and cat converter (Chevy warranty), thermostat, fuel pressure regular, one rear ABS sensor, one front wheel bearing assembly, blower resister, fuel gauge sensor and the crank position sensor.
2004 - I drive this one 500 miles a week - one oxygen sensor, a thermostat, one front wheel bearing assembly, and a slow leaking lower trans coolant line.
Overall, not bad for 223k total, and if the CPS had been diagnosed quickly, no major problem issues. They also get serviced - fluids, filters.
The cars look good, still feel solid and always plenty of power.
Not sure what would be causing your problem, but I don't think it has anything to do with the DIC?
oh ya - I also flushed out the coolant too.
Thanks!
thanks again
Recently, while my girlfriend and I were taking the car for a drive, the car overheated (luckily as we were pulling into a parking spot at home); I checked the coolant level in the reservoir and there was none in the reservoir. I proceeded to put coolant into the car as instructed in the owner's manual (e.g. opening the bleed valve, adding 50/50 dexcool to the radiator until full, turning the car on to cycle, adding more, etc., filling the reservoir, etc., closing the bleed valve (maybe closing the bleed valve before filing the reservoir, I can't remember, but I know I followed the instructions in the manual.)) Since then, the car hasn't had any issues with overheating and the fluid level seems to be remaining pretty constant (or there hasn't been enough of a loss in the reservoir for me to notice).
However, since I refilled the coolant, I've noticed a severe drop in fuel efficiency. For example, tonight I filled up and compared gallons to miles on my trip meter and realized that since the last fill up I was only getting about 10.5mpg when normally, even in the worst stop and go conditions, I would expect around 18-21mpg.
I'm not sure that the empty coolant system and the fuel efficiency issues are related, however, it seems likely that they are since they sprung up around the same time. I guess it could be coincidence, but again, I think that's unlikely.
I've checked the oil which doesn't seem to show any indication of coolant/oil mixing (e.g. milky white color) and appears otherwise normal.
The climate controls in the car seem to be operating normally (e.g. both the heat and air conditioning operate and seem to normally heat up and cool down, respectively) without appreciably effecting the temperature of the engine.
I haven't check the fuel or air filters as of yet, but they haven't been changed in over a year.
The car seems to run just fine, that is, there don't seem to be any issues behind the wheel like rough starting, rough or loud engine noises while driving, or anything like that; or at least, the car seems to be running alright to me.
I haven't noticed any white smoke coming from the exhaust pipe and when I was running my car after I refilled the coolant, I didn't notice any bubbling over of the coolant reservoir or any bubbles forming in the coolant reservoir. (I think these are symptoms of head gasket issues).
I haven't really checked anything else and don't have any more information about the state that the car's in at this point.
So, my questions are:
What would cause a slow (almost unobservable) coolant leak and a drop in fuel efficiency? Does it seem plausible that these issues are related?
Could these be unrelated issues that popped up at the same time by coincidence? What could be causing either of the problems if they are unrelated?
What other symptoms should I check for to report back about? Or is there any other information that would be necessary to give at least a semi-educated diagnosis of the problem?
That's all I have for now. Thanks.