Problems with 2000 Chevrolet Impala ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Nar 04/10/2003 since the consumer purchased the vehicle nothing but problems has occurred the check engine light flashes on with out any notice of problems , the vehicle would frequently cut off while driving because of a bare wire detachment. the alarm system installed by chevrolet had to be removed because it was defective and sometimes it would shut down the vehicle. the consumer feels that the car has met all the standards to be determined a lemon. and requesting that her car be replaced at no cost. * cb

Consumer states as engine was starting the vehicle back fired, resulting in an engine fire. dealer notified. please provide additional information. ts referenced in ea02-030

Vehicle starts one time daily as owners manual states on starting vehicle. there after it requires two to four efforts to start the car with multiple cranks of the engine. sometimes the vehicle will start the first time, after the car has first been started, but more often it will not. vehicle taken to dealer who could not find any engine codes but advised me that the negative battery cable was loose and therefore not communicating to the computer properly. vehicle driven from dealership, stopped, and thirty minutes later in trying to start, it took two cranks of the ignition. went back to dealer who then advised that this problem was happening in other chevrolet models. advised that they would contact gm to see of a fix and advise me. after several days on no response from the dealer, went back and was told this time that gm would have to figure out a fix or something. but keep checking with them. i can hardly wait to get my questionaire about customer satisfaction of repairs.

Passlock system failure 3 times in 100,000 miles $300 repair each time. stranded in parking lots till the car resets then will start. my wife is scared to death when she is in the parking lot just sitting there waiting for the car to reset. intake gasket failure 2 times in 100,000 miles $600 each time. sub frame failure intermediate shaft failure 3 times. *jb

Consumer states that while driving at any speed the engine light comes. there is a loud noise coming from the engine. dealer notified. *mr

While in motion or at a complete stop the vehicle stalled without warning. the dealership serviced the vehicle several times for this problem and change several different parts, but the problem still exist. *ts *nlm

While traveling on the highway the steering wheel make loud knocking noise. due to a crack inside of the engine. please provide additional information. dealer is aware of the problem. ts

Low coolant light came on while traveling. vehicle was checked by dealer who determined that gasket around intake manifold was leaking. vehicle was out of warranty. consumer insisted that problem was occurring before warranty expired. *ak jlg

The vehicle stalled without warning, at a traffic light. *jb

When pulling out into traffic the car hesitates. this usually happens on the second or third start. have brought it back to the dealer. they rerouted some wires on 10/9/01, it happened again 10/12/01. have brought the car back two times since. they cannot reproduce the problem. i am afraid to put my kids in this car. i called chevy and was given the run around. finally they admitted that this was a characteristic of the car and that they were working on a fix. and then told me that they could not fix the problem until they could see it happen for themselves. i don't know what to do, but i can tell you i don't trust the car and do not want to put my kids in it.*ak

While traveling on highway vehicle will stall and shutdown. dealership is aware of problem.*ak

I hope you can help me. i have a complaint i'd like to register with you about the warranty of a car made by chevrolet. the vin (vehicle identification number) is [xxx]. i am unable to fill my car with gas at a pressurized gas pump which is basically at all gas stations. at times i've had to go inside the gas station just to purchase a gas can so i would be able to fill my car with gas. i've had my car in for repairs 3 times and next week will be the forth. chevrolet has been called several times concerning this issue. nothing has been done. in fact they are refusing to help with this problem. they have declared this an environmental issue and nothing can be done to fix it. that is untrue. the design of the gas tank is what is at fault and chevrolet will not accept that. here's what i would like to see you do to provide resolution: i would like chevrolet to acknowledge that there is a problem that needs to be addressed and that this is not an environmental issue as i've been repeatedly told it is. could there possibly be a new design made to the valve and cannister area as i feel this would remedy our problem. thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. i look forward to hearing from you soon.*ak information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Consumer was driving for 1 hour and 10 minutes and got off highway when vehicle stalled out suddenly and could not restart. vehicle had to be towed to dealer. but, dealer could not determine cause at this time. *ak for the second time the vehicle stopped. the gm advised, the cause was the wire harness which dealer installed. *yh

Most serious problems are stalling and electrical malfunctions. *ak

Upon cold starting, vehicle experiences severe hesitation upon acceleration and surging of the engine's rpm's, on one occasion vehicle began shaking and despite depressing the accelerator, the pedal would not move, consumer turned off the key and restarted vehicle in neutral while blocking traffic, dealer updated the software calibration, however this did not help problem. nlm

During normal operation of vehicle engine will stall, leaving consumer stranded. dealership has examined vehicle numerous times, and cannot determine a cause for the problem. please provide any additional information/attachments.*ak

Vehicle has enough gas to accelerate. once out in the open it hesitates 5-8 seconds before moving at its speed. dealer put a black box to register problem, but nothing showed up. this is an ongoing problem that consumer is scared to keep going through. dealer and manufacturer still haven't found a remedy. please add vin#.*ak

When in park the vehicle shakes and smells of oil burning. the dealer says they cannot find the problem. *ak

The engine imtermittently looses acceleration power on the highway and stalls out when making turns, the vehicle has been taken to the dealer on several occasion but the problem still exist. nlm

Water pump leaking. nlm

While vehicle was parked for several minutes noticed smoke coming from front hood area,then huge fire ball from hood area,entire engine compartment burnt.dealer contacted and have car,waiting for there response.

Driving 35-40mph vehicle stalled out and died, resulting in loss of steering/ braking, causing a collision. driver sustained minor injuries. *ak air bag failed to deploy. *yh

The engine stalls while driving and is hard to restart, it has been taken to the dealer twice. nlm

Complete stall on highway at 50mph. almost rear ended by truck. car rolls back when at stop. steering wheel vibration while stopped. gas sloshes while in tank. *ak

Complete stall on highway at 50mph. almost rear ended by truck. car rolls back when at complete stop. steering wheel vibration while stopped. cas sloshes while in tank.

Vehicle stalled while traveling at highway speed of 50 mph. vehicle towed to dealer shop, and informed consumer that a bag got caught up into vehicle induction and caused the air filter to flatten. also, dealer informed consumer that repairs would be at consumer's expense. please feel free to provide any further details. *ak

Plastic bag bypassed air intake vent leading to the air filter and cut off all air flow to the engine while on the freeway. auto completely went dead on a very dangerous part of the 205 overpass in west linn, oregon. large truck almost rear ended us from behind due to the sudden stop. had car towed from west linn oregon to curt warner chevrolet in vancouver, washington. had car repaired by curt warner and wanted to know why the air intake vent was able to let foreign objects into the air intake vent and completely cut off all air flow to the engine. would think all air vents on all cars are covered by a screen to prevent anything from covering the air filter. curt warner would not cover the charges of $107.22 (labor = $74.00 & parts = $18.15 , misc. charges = $7.40, tax = $7.67) to replace the air filter and take a plastic bag off the air filter. extremely concerned about this issue. allot of 2000 chevrolet impala police cars may have the same problem while on duty. this will cause a accident. i sure hope no one has a fatality before gm corrects this dangerous problem.*ak

While traveling at 60 mph vehicle died in the middle of the highway. comsumer said sometimes it happened while using cruise control. uniroyal tires came with vehicle. consumer said sidewalls blewout on all 4 of the original tires.*ak

When vehicle encountered slight vibration is common highway roads surfaces, the vehicle will jump, jerk and wander from side to side, favoring the right side. the rear of the vehicle without warning will brake away and try and begin to spin first left and then right.. when road conditions are wet from mist or rain, the vehicle will constantly try to begin a right rear sliding action as if the rear of the vehicle is try to come to come around and get in front of you while in a forward motion. speeds at which this accurs is 45 to 70 miles an hour. loss of forward, directional control will accure, vehicle wanders back and forth. vehicle will fishtail on wet road conditions. very sever corner to corner tire wear. rear tires conpletely bald. constant tire rotation proves worthless. vehicle will pull to right front when brakes applied. front to rear alighnment problems. no specs available from dealership for alighnment. set rear camber, both sides by eye. an uncontroled highway spin resulted in sever vehicle damage. engine stalls at upon acceleration, slow speeds, street lights, stop sighns., etc. vehicle will roll forward while in a reverse action such as; backing out of a parking lot, drive way.,ect. purchase dealership refuses to scknowledge complaints of vehicle failures, facts, conditions. was told by general service manager that the problems and issues surrounding this vehicle and it's accident, " its a legal issue of libality, that we no longer can not and will not have anything further to do with you or this vehicle." was told by service technician that in regards to the facts or conddtions surrounding this vehicles problems causing the sever tire wear conditions that, " i was screwed"...*ak( dot number: 1089ms tire size: p255/60r16 )

After driving(full warmup),car parked. restart car 45min to 1 hr. later.put in drive,engine has faltering/hesitation upon leaving parking space. "falls on face. w/ 2 or3 dull percussion sounds as throttle increased." won't repeat. runs fine after. particularly evident @ temp. above 75 deg. & high humidity. dealer could not replicate. no computer codes. dealer claims no adjustments."need new factory downloads for computer if widespread problem supported by customer complaints. jlm zip14519 *ak

Engine failure - sputters, stalls, battery light / engine check light blinks, rpm rev, etc. on 9 separate instances - no solution from dealership. *ak

While driving could see the battery light come on, then engine will stall. consumer will turn ignition off for 10-15 minutes, then restart again. on last visit to dealer, they found the problem to be due to improperly connected wires. repairs were made, no problems since. *ak *ml

Pe 00005; while driving vehicle stalled unexpectedly, and would not start for 15 minutes, which may have caused a crash. dealer could not determine cause of the problem. *ak the vehicle was leaking oil excessively. the dealer was unable to locate the problem. *yh

No summary listed for abov evehicle. *ak

Engine/trans partial failure, almost stalling in intersection. instrument cluster had system managment lighting in dash flashing for no reason. replacment of instrument cluster actually worsened uncommanded light flashing. initial repair of engine problems diminished severity of stalling, however did not completely correct the problem. unable to duplicate stalling on a consistant basis. *ak

Scorched wires found under the dash, r-134a leaking into car from independant tester, daytime running lights occasionally, exhaust system damaged from excessive heatand fuel economy is only 10 mpg

This has happened three times. stopped at a stop sign t and engine just cut off. started it up and moved to park. it was fine until 10-mar-200o when again at a stop light engine cut off. contacted the dealer, was not able to duplicate the problem. *ak

Intermittently while driving vehicle stalled unexpectedly which may result in a crash. been to dealer numerous times, but dealer could not determine cause. problem still exists. please provide further information. *ak

The vehicle stalled on highway due to engine failure. yh

After car had been driven several miles, then shut off for 45 to 60 minutes, upon starting and trying to get back on highway the engine would hesitate at about 5 mph car speed, for 2 or 3 seconds, with the accelerator pedal pushed trying to speed up, the engine would finally catch up to the gas pedal setting and spin the tires. this happened 4 times one day. four visits to the dealer didn't help. since one chevy dealer replaced a control on the transmission, the engine has hesitated going around a corner at 20 mph. three other times it hesitated when i tried to leave ny driveway.*ak

Engine will cut off or stall without warning while traveling at any speed. dealership has examined vehicle numerous times and has been unable to effectively remedy the problem. *ak armrest cup holder broke. blower motor whistling, belt making noise. when applying brakes car shimmies, front rotors are out of round. when using a/c vehicle fills up with fuel smell, fan motor bearing worn, dealer replaced. dashlights illuminated. vehicle experiences hard start condition, dealer replaced wiring harness. consumer has to give gas inorder to stay running, fuel pump presure low, dealer replaced fuel pump assembly. *tt

Engine hesitates after car has been driven and sits for 45min. to 1 hr. on restart, took to dealer and of course could not find anything. have heard of others with this same type of engine having the same problem. manufacturer is bound to know what the problem is. *ak