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Chevrolet Impala: Problems & Solutions
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Comments
thanks
thanks
Denice
How do you check air pressure of the original spare tire? My new '04 car was purchased end of last November, but made about a year before I purchased it. The tires lost a lot of air pressure.
I have a digital tire pressure guage, and am able to get the tire pressure of the four regular tires ok. To make a good seal for accurate reading, I hold the stem with one hand, and the guage with another. Takes some effort, but I can make it work.
The spare, however, is another matter. The stem is hard to reach, and impossible to hold while checking the air pressure. It's under the metal "cover" of the middle of the tire.
This is the second time I have tried to do check the spare's tire pressure. I think the tire pressure is 45psi, vs the 60psi that it should be. But I could have measured wrong. After trying this last time, I figured I'd give up because I'm afraid I could break the stem. :confuse:
Anyone have ideas? My next idea is to take it to the dealer, but I'd hate to wait for hours for them to check the tire pressure of my spare. On the other hand, I'd also hate to get a flat and not have enough air in the tire.
Check some of your local automotive stores for an Air Valve Extension. Someone use to make one. That may help.
also, if youre refilling up your tire pressue make sure you reset you tire pressure monitoring system.
reread the resetting istructions carefully. I have no problems with restting anything on my 02 LS imp. if you still have problems, then i would go to your local dealership and see what they can do.
also, you must have reinflated your tires too.
Yoiu can try using your light switch again, but dont pull it all of the way out. pull it to the first catch 3 times. i think that how i got mine to reset once. i mostly use the radio to reset everything.
hate to say it,but this could end up to very expensive. right now i have the same
prob.and after talking to many people,this seems to be a common prob.
for starters,get a computer read out to see which wheel is causing the prob. it
could be a loose connection. anyways the abs sensor which is part of the
bearing($500.tax incl.)GM PART--which tells the comp.to apply the brakes to
slow the wheels down is defective. very bad design and should be a recall. when
you put part/lab. not far from $900.
i called GM, and there is none. this is on 2000 impala. anyways,if you hear of
something new, let me know.
hope this will help, jim
i had same prob. last summer. just like that car would not start. after a towing
(caa)we found the pos. pole on batt.was broken. real cute.
jim
I forgot about resetting the tire pressure monitoring system. Thanks for the reminder! I'll add that to the reminder that tells me to check tire pressure.
Not quite. Under braking, when the control module sees a lower frequency signal from a wheel speed sensor it releases the brake on that wheel to allow the tire to regain traction.
If the traction control portion of the system detects a higher frequency signal from one of the drive wheels, it cuts back engine torque then applies the brake on the spinning tire to regain traction.
So what's right.. what's wrong? Because here we are four months later and I have the tapping again.
Kinsley
Kwhittum
KWhittum
Everything else works...radio, lights but it just, occasionally, doesn't start! You can hear some kind of clicking noise when the key is in the "ON" position like something is just not connecting.
Anyone have any advice?
CJ
CJ
Sounded far fetched to me at first, but the more I think about it, there might be something to it... thought I'd run it up the flagpole here and see if folks here thought it was legit or akin to "changing air in the tires". :-)
Thanks in advance
The brake rotors on the Impala are the same ones used on the Police Impala...... no major complaints from them...... in fact it beat out the Police Crown Victoria in brake testing for police vehicles.....
It isn't the ability to brake - its the fact the rotors don't hold up. I replaced front AND REAR rotors on my 01 at 30,000 after having rotors turned under warranty at 14,500. Turned again at 46,000. Does anybody notice a pattern here. Friend at work has had her 00 rotors replaced 4 times in 104,000 miles. I believe the problem is the wheels are too open allowing water to hit and warp the rotors when driving in the rain. At $500 a pop, this isn't cheap - except the quality. Have never had the brake problems like this on my wife's 79 Camaro (112,000 miles), my 91 Astro (147,000 miles), my Corsica (105,000 miles) or my wife's 00 Malibu (currently 96,000 and climbing).
. If you stop at the point you are at now you have no further reason to complain...... its up to you to take further action! Thats how things happen!
Sounds like a typical GM employee remark. No I disagree with you in that because we not only put our money but our trust and faith in Chevrolet, we have earned the right to complain. We worked hard and paid good money for an inferior product. That gives us the right to complain. It shouldn't be our responsibility to fix what should have been done correctly the first time.
At the end of WW II, the Japanese were in ruin as we all know. One of the people that went over there to help was a gentleman with the phone company named William E. Demming. After dinner, he would tell them of his work in statistical quality measures. He promoted a whole new idea of quality where we got rid of slogans and instead worked together to make a better product. (Example: You make a product that does in a can. 5% of the cans you purchase are defective or don't meet standards. Who pays the cost? Typical answer, "The company that makes them does since we send them back and they ship new ones." WRONG ANSWER! You the purchaser pay in the end. All costs are passed to you. It is in your interest to help solve the problem.
The Japanese adopted his philosophy and today the number three car company in America is Toyota. GM has had its bonds reduced to junk reflecting the long term view of Gm to pay its debt. People all over are having to sell their GM bonds if they are in situations that require them to hold only investment quality instruments. (I wa sin this situation as custodian for my mother). Many mutual funds are in this situation.
The William E. Demming award is one to the most coveted industrial awards a company can achieve. IIRC only one or two American companies have ever achieved it. Few know who he is. He is one of the principle Americans that taught the Japanese quality. We should have listened to our own instead of making the "most cost effective (cheapest".
I like many others am tired of the problems I have had with my American cars, primarily Chevy. My wife's 00 Malibu had to have ALL 6 pistons replaced at 21,000 miles due to noise). The CD radio failed . My Impala has a leak up front, the rotors have to be turned every 15,000 miles and replace front and rear approx every 30K (Unlike ANY car I have ever had. Its NOT my driving style.)
Bought my daughter a 00 Honda Civic in college to replace the POC Cavalier that we inherited from my mother when she passed away. My daughter swore at the Cavalier (and I did too) but she sears by the Civic. Says she plans to keep it forever. (The Cavalier spent the last summer in the shop most of the time and sometimes didn't make it home before breaking down. Had less than 35,000 miles on it.
List me as one of the many that are abandoning GM. I can't afford to buy a $24,000 car that four years later is only worth $4300 trade in or $5100 Car-Max. My next vehicle looks right now to be a Honda Pilot. Some have recommended the Rod Freestyle but I don't trust the transmission and it looks cheap. Sorry GM but you have had too many chances, call me when you have a quality product. Till then, Honda, Toyota, Nissan are my vehicles of choices.
And yes I have still have the right to complain. I have earned it over the years. And yes, "it is up to" me. to take further action. My action is to go buy a decently built vehicle that works properly, has good reliability,and will have decent resale value.
Edit: Forgot about the front wheel bearings going bad. Since they are sealed in the hubs the total cost was $900!!!.
I had to replace the dead battery in my 2000 LS with a new battery and the car started fine. The next day the car wouldn't start again. I tightened up the battery connections and the car started right away. I realized I had not put the little red plastic cap over the positive connection. As soon as I put that cap on, the car again would not start. I took that cap off permanently and car has started fine for the last three months.
Compared to the '84 Buick Skyhawk I had back in college that required brake pads about once a year, the Impala has been a relatively problem free car!!
If you don't take further action with your complaints then you have no reason to complain..Its your investment, and responsibilty to ask to speak with the service manager, area representative, write a letter to the dealership owner, call GM etc...I would be very disappointed with one of my adult children if they just walked away and didn't at least go to the next level.... walking away just makes GM believe that your vehicle was giving you trouble free service...just going to another manufacturer will never rectify or solve any problems you had.......The Impala is the top seller for Chevrolet and I intend to buy another new Impala next year.....good luck with your Honda.
I've never heard of nitrogen filled tires, but as an engineer, I doubt the statement that the pressure doesn't increase with temperature. All gases increase pressure to some extent with temperature increase and air is about 80% nitrogen already so I doubt if 100% nitrogen acts much differently than air does. Maybe there is some other advantage like less leakage or less heat build up. Does a nitrogen fill cost extra?
The only solution I know is a routine fuel system cleaner to include the intake system. I run a bottle of Techron in my '01 Imp about every 1,000 miles and do fuel system cleaning at the shop about 7-10K. I've never had any valve clicking.
cal2
I do see what is meant by being able to look thru the spokes and see the wheel parts. I can't understand why that isn't sealed up!
Thanks
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/disc-brake.htm
Mine will only work on speeds higher than # 3.
By the way transmission went out at about 28,000 miles, under warranty (they said sprocket came apart).
Then transmission scrambled at 38,000 miles. New transmission installed by Moorone Chevrolet under extended warranty. After first time I purchased the GM warranty for a additional 4 years and 50,000 more miles.
Front brake rotors cut down by independent shop about 15,000, then replaced with a aftermarket set of rotors 6 months later. Work great now with 57,000 miles on it.
After all these problems I still like the car. Still get 21+ mpg in south Florida traffic, and 30 on the highway