Wish I found this site sooner! I drive A LOT for my job thus my car is a tool for me. The past few weeks, it has overheated constantly. I flushed/changed the cooling system, changed thermostat (MAJOR PITA to do yourself), changed coolant temperature sensor, bled air out of the system with the 2 bleeder valve screws... ALL with the same end result--low coolant light & chime several times a day, overheating almost to max, but wait, sometimes it ran fine and I saw relief, then it overheated again.
A friend of my cousin is a mechanic. I told him what was up. He immediately said it was the intake gasket that this car HAS PROBLEMS with this all the time. I asked him to fix it. He did. Just got it done (same day) and he charged me $378 for parts and labor (I'm in a very small town, so I know I would have been robbed in a large city.) I ran the hell out of it and the temp didn't go past the middle. Stopped it, idled, revved it up stationary and never got past half way... ITS FIXED! GM needs to stay on top of their game and issue recalls and fix their design flaws! My mechanic said (and showed me) that the original was made of plastic and silicone. The new one is metal. Now I'm hoping I will be good to go at least another 100,000 miles as my job kills cars.
Overall, I love this car for the space and comfort! The only other things I had to do was replace the heater core about 80,000 miles, thermostat about 90,000 miles and again at 155,000 miles, but this is negligable and acceptable to me because things do happen and these were low cost, but the major thing like the gasket happening on ALL of them is unacceptable!
My Mother had a 2000 Impala and had the steering knuckle problem, but mine doesn't have it.
ive been annoyed by the low coolant level light and chime coming on every 5 minutes. i already took out the radiator and had it proffesianaly cleaned and flushed checked for leaks. flushed the whole system again and still no fix. until someone told me that these cars have the same problem. it cost over a grand to fix, i have to keep checking to see if it has enough coolant, i cant afford to have it fixed so i have to flush my system evry month, and the coolant it needs is like 13 bucksx12months=a ton of cash as well
got the Impala about a couple yrs ago. And like everyone before me has stated, after time there was a leak.... then the coolant light would come on and off..... then the light stays on..... now then the car started to run really hot so i took it in.... ohh yea you know whats next.... manifold replacing time.... cost about 1100 bucks anywhere i go. Thanks GM for screwing me over and not stepping up to take care of a problem you know is going on..... add me to the list for the class action law suit and let's get this done...
general motors sells a stop leak for this problem. they come in a 4 pack of round pill looking things. It worked great. I had to flush the system with water because of a oil like substance inside of the system.
Well I was a mechanic by trade so I was able to replace the gaskets myself on a Saturday morning. But I feel bad for the people who can't do it for themselves. GM knows it's a problem and should be paying for it. I now sells tools for a living and we make a tool just for the 3.4 and 3.8 liter V6 to make the job easier and quicker for the techs who work on the car. So sign me up for the class action suit and add me for the transmission problem also.
I took my car to the dealership 3 times telling them I could smell an anti freeze smell whenever there was a climate change and I had to switch from heat to air or from air to defrost. They couldn't find anything wrong--go figure. I still have the smell and now I am told I need a gasket replaced. Seems to me that this should have been a recall thing--since the man who works on my car said he has fixed 5 or 6 cars in the last couple of years with the same problem. Whats the matter Chevy think they might loose a little money over this or what???
My 2002 Impala went in for a minor problem and they found the Lower Intake Gasket leaking. I guess I should be glad they found this ahead of time, but the cost to fix and repair this was more than I had bargained for. $800. They said it was a problem in the Impala. How come General Motors did not offer a recall or offered to help pay for the cost of this repair.
This is the second time that my impala has a major problem. The first was the front end sounded like it was was coming loose and chevy had to replace the complete steering rack. This time I brought the car in for the same steering noise and the dealer told me he had good news and bad news. The good news was that the steering noise was minor (needed grease in the gear box) and the bad news was that I needed a intake manifold casket and a water pump to fix what they told me was a coolant leak. Of course I didn't believe them until I noticed the car running warm. So far I replaced the thermostat and the water pump which neither of these fixed the problem of the car running warm. It's time to trade the car in for a toyota.
Where to start. First of all my Impalas check coolant light keep coming on and off. Had coolant flushed. Then light stayed on, replaced intake manifold gasket. The light went off. Then the engine blown at 80,000 miles, I replaced with a GM duplicate engine. Car is at 100,000 miles, just had coolant flushed and check coolant light stays on and off. I'm in the process of replacing the Coolant sensor, along with leaking reservoir tank.
OK. SO I AM A SINGLE MOTHER OF 2 BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN AND I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO AFFORD MY 1ST (NEWER THAN A 1995) CAR. AFTER MANY MONTHS OF RESEARCH AND HAVING ALSO OWNED A 1995 TOYOTA AVALON WITH 200,000 MILES AND NO(NONE) NOT THE 1ST PROBLEM, I DECIDED TO BE PRO-AMERICA AND BUY A CHEVY IMPALA BECAUSE I REALLY WANTED ONE THINKING THEY ARE NEW CARS. I HAVE HAD THE CAR NOT EVEN 6 MONTHS AND AFTER 78K MILE I NOTICED THAT MY LOW COOLANT LIGHT IS ON. AFTER FILLING IT UP, MY LIGHT WAS STILL ON. I HAVE NOT TAKEN IT TO GET IT CHECKED BUT EVERYTHING THAT IS NOTED IN THIS CASE HERE ON THIS PAGE DESCRIBES MY PROBLEM TO A TEE... OH AND DID I MENTION THAT THE GUY AT AUTOZONE FILLED MY CAR UP WITH THE WRONG COOLANT :(. SIGN ME UP FOR THE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PLEASE... I WILL NOT BE BUYING ANOTHER CHEVY IMPALA.
I JUST HAPPEN TO STUMBLE UP ON THIS WEB-SITE. I BOUGHT MY 2002 3.4 CHEVY IMPALA NEW. I HAVE RELIGIOUSLY TAKEN GOOD CARE OF MY CAR, I HAVE EVERY RECORD OF REPAIR ON IT, AND NEVER HAD ANY MAJOR PROBLEM UNTIL NOW! MY COOLANT LIGHT CAME ON AND I FILLED IT UP WITH COOLANT AND WATER, IT WOULD THEN GO ON AND OFF, I TOOK IT TO A MECHANIC AND I WAS BLESSED THAT HE TOLD ME IF I WOULD GET THE INTAKE GASKET SET, HE WOULD REPLACE IT FOR ME, AND I DON'T THINK HE IS GOING TO CHARGE ME THE NORM, BECAUSE HE IS A FAMILY MEMBER. I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED AND VERY UPSET. THIS IS MY 3RD NEW CHEVROLET, HOWEVER, I DON'T KNOW IF I WILL BE BUYING ANOTHER CHEVROLET IN THE NEAR FUTURE AFTER THIS AWFUL EXPERIENCE!!!!! OH BY THE WAY, I ALMOST FORGOT YES!! I WANT TO BE ADDED TO THIS CLASS ACTION SUIT!
Car overheated in Baltimore, Md. area. Very hard to find a place to fix the problem without getting ripped off. Had the car in the garage for a week and left me without a car. Now I have the same problem after only 20,000 more miles. My husband and I are retired and can't afford to pay out a $1,000 to have it fixed every 20,000 miles.
Really upset. Can't drive the car past 10km without filling up with water. It has damaged my head gasket and now i have to replace that which is costing me over $1000. Not happy with GM... don't think my next car will be one. Add me to the class action law suit.
It started with my coolant light on. Then the intake gasket leak picked up pretty good. Then the car began to run hot. I used some gasket repair stuff from the store for $3.99. It worked perfect!... for about 2 months, then.... Boom! coolant everywhere, I couldn't make it to the auto shop without pulling over every 8 miles to refill with water this time. Please sign me up for the class action lawsuit. Because I hurt my heads in the process, its gonna take about $1200 to fix my problem.
The first thing to go wrong was my ABS. One day the light came on for now reason and it hasn't worked since then. I took it to get it fixed and they want like $2000 for a new abs system. Then my engine overheated so i took it in all of my coolant was brown sludge it cost be $100 bucks and they flushed it. Then at about 90,000 miles i noticed my coolant was getting low about once a week then the oil was getting low about every 3 weeks. When it was last inspected there was oil in the cooling system. Most likely it is some type of gasket.
I have been having to add the Dexcool coolant every week so that the low coolant sign would turn off in the car. Well I took the car in to have an inspection done and I was told that there is a leak from the intake manifold. The reason that I have not seen the coolant on the ground is because it is sitting on top of my engine and it is evaporating before it can hit the ground. I have only had this car for 2 years and I have done nothing but baby it. I love this car and this is the thanks that I get. GM should really step up to the plate and pay for this repair because it is not something that I caused, it was there poor design. I would like to join in the law suit against them. I do not have a warranty on the car and I sure can not afford $1,000 to repair it.
Obviously, GM manufactured a poorly designed cooling system for the 2002 Impala. I've owned only GM vehicles up until now. I also own a Trailblazer that has had its share of problems that GM hasn't owned up to. It's unacceptable to have this kind of expensive failures in the cooling system of a vehicle that is way under 100,000 miles. I had sworn I'd never buy a Toyota or a Honda, but I can tell you know that's what I'll be buying. It's sad to see GM go downhill but they deserve it. Add me to the class action suit!!!!
I've owned several cars, I have never had a problem with a leaky lower intake coolant gasket with any car I've ever owned let alone a car with only 65,000 miles and less than 5 years old. I was also told the car needs a water pump. There clearly seems to be precedence here for a class action suit against Chevrolet regarding the coolant system of the 2002 Chevy Impala. Please add me to the list of any suit. If Chevy doesn't clear this matter up with an immediate recall, then they are going to pay through the nose not only through class action but through a continuing degrading reputation.
Car in for regular service and leaking intake gasket was found, replaced lower intake gasket, 1 stat and resealed oil. Cost for just gasket replacement w/labor $946.13, doesn't include the engine oil flush of $189.99 and Cooling System Flush of $149.99, yet alone taxes and shop fees. My dealer also mentioned seeing al ot of this problem with the impala, good news is the gasket has been redesigned so the same gasket isn't going back in. I have been green antifreeze from time of delivery, had car converted to green following delivery. Dealer seemed surprised as all others have been the other and that is what they have been putting back in. Anyone know if GM is considering a recall?
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Wish I found this site sooner! I drive A LOT for my job thus my car is a tool for me. The past few weeks, it has overheated constantly. I flushed/changed the cooling system, changed thermostat (MAJOR PITA to do yourself), changed coolant temperature sensor, bled air out of the system with the 2 bleeder valve screws... ALL with the same end result--low coolant light & chime several times a day, overheating almost to max, but wait, sometimes it ran fine and I saw relief, then it overheated again.
A friend of my cousin is a mechanic. I told him what was up. He immediately said it was the intake gasket that this car HAS PROBLEMS with this all the time. I asked him to fix it. He did. Just got it done (same day) and he charged me $378 for parts and labor (I'm in a very small town, so I know I would have been robbed in a large city.) I ran the hell out of it and the temp didn't go past the middle. Stopped it, idled, revved it up stationary and never got past half way... ITS FIXED! GM needs to stay on top of their game and issue recalls and fix their design flaws! My mechanic said (and showed me) that the original was made of plastic and silicone. The new one is metal. Now I'm hoping I will be good to go at least another 100,000 miles as my job kills cars.
Overall, I love this car for the space and comfort! The only other things I had to do was replace the heater core about 80,000 miles, thermostat about 90,000 miles and again at 155,000 miles, but this is negligable and acceptable to me because things do happen and these were low cost, but the major thing like the gasket happening on ALL of them is unacceptable!
My Mother had a 2000 Impala and had the steering knuckle problem, but mine doesn't have it.
- jcloninger, Rogersville, TN, US