2002 CHEVROLET IMPALA Complaints

2002 CHEVY IMPALA 3.4L 84,000+ MILES LOW COOLANT LIGHT COMES ON. LEAKING ANTIFREEZE BUT NOT SURE WHERE. CONTINUALLY HAVING TO ADD ANTIFREEZE TO OVERFLOW TO MAINTAIN LEVEL. CAR SMELLS LIKE BURNING ANTIFREEZE AFTER BEING DRIVEN. NUMEROUS COMPLAINTS FOUND ONLINE AT CAR FORUMS WITH OTHER CONSUMERS HAVING THE SAME TROUBLE. CONTENTS IN RADIATOR AND OVERFLOW IS THICK, OILY-LIKE SUBSTANCE. SO FAR, WHILE CHECKING OIL, IT IS OK. NOT MILKY OR CLOUDY. NUMEROUS REASONS WHY VEHICLE HAS COOLANT PROBLEMS. ONE THEORY IS DEXCOOL CAUSES THE SLUDGE. ANOTHER THEORY IS FAULTY INTAKE VALVE & GASKET. MAIN THEORY IS PROBLEM ORIGINATES FROM INTAKE VALVE (GASKET) AND DOMINOS. *TR

OWNER OF 2002 CHEVY IMPALA THAT HAS AN INTAKE MANIFOLD LEAK. FAMILY MEMBER ALSO HAD AN IMPALA, 2003, AND HAD THE SAME ISSUE. WHY IS THIS SUCH A PROBLEM? WHEN I SEARCHED THE ISSUE ONLINE I FOUND MANY OWNERS THAT HAD THE SAME ISSUE. GM NEEDS TO ISSUE A RECALL ON THIS PROBLEM AND HAVE PROPER GASKETS INSTALLED IN THEIR CARS. THIS CAR IS NOT A CHEAP CAR, AND TO HAVE THESE PROBLEMS IS A SIGN OF A POOR QUALITY. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 CHEVROLET IMPALA. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 70 MPH, THE HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF INTERMITTENTLY. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO TURN THE HEADLIGHTS BACK ON INITIALLY, BUT NOW THEY WILL NOT ILLUMINATE UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. THE DEALER COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 107,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 105,000. UPDATED 020209 *BF THE DEALER DETERMINED THAT THE MULTI-FUNCTION SWITCH FAILED. UPDATED 02/03/09.*JB

IN READING NHTSA ACTION NUMBER : PE06017 - I WANT TO REPORT THAT I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY 2002 CHEVROLET IMPALA - THE HEADLIGHTS FAIL WITHOUT PREDICTION. *TR

2002 IMPALA TURN SIGNALS WORK INTERMITTENTLY. VERY DANGEROUS! HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR 4-5 YEARS. OUT OF WARRANTY. DON'T HAVE MONEY TO REPAIR. *TR

CAR IS HAVING MULTIPLE STRANGE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. TURN SIGNALS WORK INTERMITTENTLY - WILL OFTEN NOT WORK AT ALL. SOMETIMES HAVE TO TURN ON EMERGENCY FLASHERS TO GET TURN SIGNALS TO WORK. ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL, THE FUEL GAUGE IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY - DOES NOT SHOW THE CORRECT FUEL LEVEL. WILL SOMETIMES SHOW FULL WHEN THE TANK IS EMPTY, WILL SOMETIMES SHOW EMPTY WHEN THE TANK IS FULL. MOST OFTEN SHOWS HALF FULL, REGARDLESS OF ACTUAL FUEL LEVEL. GM CERTIFIED MECHANIC VERIFIED THAT FUEL PUMP AND SENDING UNIT ARE NOT FAULTY. THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 YEARS. BCM WAS REPLACED, NO CHANGE IN PROBLEMS. POSSIBLE ISSUE WITH INSTRUMENT PANEL CLUSTER (IPC). BECAUSE OF TURN SIGNAL PROBLEMS, I HAVE HAD SEVERAL "NEAR MISSES" IN ACCIDENTS BECAUSE I WAS UNABLE TO PROPERLY SIGNAL FOR A TURN. FUEL GAUGE PROBLEM HAS CAUSED ME TO BE STRANDED WHEN I RAN OUT OF FUEL UNEXPECTEDLY BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH FUEL I ACTUALLY HAD. *TR

WAS STRANDED FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES BECAUSE CAR WOULDN'T START ON MY 2002 CHEVY IMPALA THE ORIGINAL SECURITY SYSTEM PASSLOCK DOESN'T LET THE VEHICLE START. HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES ABOUT 10 AND I HAVE ONLY HAD THIS VEHICLE FOR 4 MONTHS I HAVE READ SOME FORUMS IN THE INTERNET AND IT'S A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH GM AND A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE THIS PROBLEM AND A RISK SINCE THEY ARE TRYING TO FIX IT BY WORKING BY THE STEERING WHEEL AND TRIGGER THE AIR BAG. SOME PEOPLE SAY IT COULD BE THE BCM I DON'T KNOW BUT GM DOES. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2002 CHEVROLET IMPALA. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TURN SIGNAL LIGHTS WORK SPORADICALLY AND THE VEHICLE SHUTS OFF AND ON INTERMITTENTLY. HE STATED THAT THE FAILURE WAS DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL FAILURE. THE DEALER STATED THAT NOTHING COULD BE DONE BECAUSE THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. THE MANUFACTURER HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED. THE VIN AND ENGINE SIZE WERE UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 100,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 102,000.

HEADLIGHTS SUDDENLY GO OUT WHILE DRIVING AT NIGHT. IT IS IN AT THE DEALER NOW FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A WEEK. THIS COULD KILL OR INJURE SOMEONE. I JUST PURCHASED THE CAR A MONTH AGO (2002 CHEVROLET IMPALA). *TR

OUR 2002 CHEVY IMPALA'S STEERING COLUMN BEGAN TO SHOW ALOT OF PLAY. WE TOOK OUR VEHICLE INTO OUR MECHANIC WHO DETERMINED THE INTERMEDIATE STEERING SHAFT BECAME CRACKED. WE THEN HAD IT REPLACED. *TR