2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA Complaints

FIRST NOTICED A PROBLEM OVER A YEAR AGO WHEN THE TACHOMETER WENT TO ZERO WHILE CRUISING DOWN THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. THE NEXT TIME I DROVE THE CAR IT WAS FINE. RECENTLY I NOTICED THAT THE COOLANT TEMP GAUGE WAS READING WAY PAST "HOT," HOWEVER THE CAR WAS NOT OVERHEATING. IT CONTINUES TO READ THIS WAY. NEXT IT WAS THE SPEEDOMETER READING MUCH FASTER THAN ACTUAL SPEED, APPROXIMATELY 50 TO 70 MPH HIGH. ONCE AGAIN THE TACHOMETER HAS GONE HAYWIRE AS WELL. SINCE THIS STARTED I HAVE NOTED THAT THE TACH AND SPEEDOMETER ARE FUNCTIONING, (THEY MOVIE HIGHER AND LOWER WITH CHANGES IN ENGINE AND VEHICLE SPEED) BUT APPEAR TO HAVE LOST THEIR "ZERO" REFERENCE. I RECALLED THAT THEY WOULD NORMALLY DROP TO BELOW ZERO AND THEN SNAP TO ZERO WHEN THE KEY IS FIRST TURNED ON. WITH THE ENGINE OFF I REPEATEDLY CYCLED THE KEY ON THEN OFF, GRADUALLY BACKING THE TACH AND SPEEDOMETER TO ZERO. THEY THEN FUNCTIONED PROPERLY FOR A SHORT TIME BEFORE WIGGING OUT AGAIN. IT IS MY GUESS THAT THE PROBLEM LIES IN THE GAUGES LOSING THEIR HOME PULSE. SO FAR, THE FUEL GAUGE HAS CONTINUED TO OPERATE NORMALLY. THIS FAILURE IS VERY DANGEROUS AS WELL AS LEAVING ME OPEN TO SPEED RELATED TICKETS AS I CAN ONLY ESTIMATE MY SPEED BASED ON EXPERIENCE. AFTER RESEARCHING THIS PROBLEM AND DISCOVERING THE HIGH NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS ALREADY FILED WITH NHTSA IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THIS PROBLEM SHOULD RESULT IN A RECALL OF THESE VEHICLES. *TR

SPEEDOMETER MALFUNCTIONING. THERE WERE NO KNOWN SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES THAT LED TO THE OCCURRENCE OF THIS ISSUE. ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO, DURING A ROAD TRIP, I NOTICED THAT I WAS DRIVING SLOWER THAN NORMAL TRAFFIC BUT MY SPEEDOMETER STATED I WAS DOING THE SPEED LIMIT 65 MPH. WHEN I LOOKED AT MY GPS, IT STATED I WAS DOING ABOUT 47 MPH. WHEN I SPED UP TO 65 MPH ACCORDING TO MY GPS, I WAS IN THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC. AFTER I STOPPED, IT "RESET" ITSELF BACK TO ZERO WHEN THE CAR WAS IDLE. ABOUT A WEEK AGO, IT WON'T RESET ANYMORE. WHEN THE CAR IS OFF, THE NEEDLE POINTS STRAIGHT UP. WHEN THE CAR IS IDLE, THE NEEDLE GOES TO ABOUT 80 MPH. WHEN I'M DRIVING, IT GOES PAST 120 MPH. SO I'M CONSTANTLY USING MY GPS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN THE PROPER SPEED. I'VE BEGUN TO RESEARCH ON THE INTERNET ANY INFORMATION ON THIS ISSUE. THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINT WEBSITES WHERE VARIOUS IMPALA OWNERS (2004-2006) THAT ARE ENCOUNTERING THE SAME ISSUE. I'M NOT WILLING TO REPLACE THIS PART; I HAVE OVER 126,000 MILES ON MY CAR. BUT THERE WERE OTHER OWNERS WHO DID NOT HAVE NEARLY AS MANY MILES AS I HAVE WITH THE SAME ISSUES. *TR

THE NIGHT OF 12/13, MY TEMPERATURE GAUGE WAS READING VERY HIGH. I CHECKED MY COOLANT AND DID SOME TROUBLE SHOOTING. MY CAR WAS NOT OVER HEATING AS INDICATED ON THE GAUGE. TWO DAYS LATER, THIS PROBLEM RESOLVED, HOWEVER ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH THE SPEEDOMETER DEVELOPED. ON 12/15, MY SPEEDOMETER WAS READING 60MPH WHILE I WAS PARKED IN A PARKING GARAGE. AS I ACCELERATED (GOING NO MORE THAN 10MPH) MY SPEEDOMETER WAS READING 120MPH. IT NOW RESTS AT 120MPH WHILE PARKED AND THE NEEDLE GOES ABOVE ANY READABLE MPH WHILE DRIVING. SINCE DEC 15TH, I HAVE NO IDEA HOW FAST I AM ACTUALLY DRIVING. *TR

2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA SPEEDOMETER MALFUNCTION. INDICATES VERY HIGH SPEED (90-100 MPH) EVEN WHEN BARELY MOVING. *TR

THE SPEEDOMETER ON MY 2004 CHEVY IMPALA IS DEFECTIVE, IT HAS NOT BEEN WORKING FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. AS THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE SAME ISSUE WITH THE SAME CAR, IT SHOULD BE A GM RECALL. *TR

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER FOR SPEEDOMETER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED BECAUSE SPEEDOMETER READS 45 MPH WHILE STOPPED AND AT 30 IT READS 80 MPH. *TR

2004 CHEVROLET IMPALA SPEEDOMETER WITH 60K MILEAGE COMPLETELY WENT OUT OF ORDER. IT COULD POINT AT ANY SPEED GAUGE IN DRIVING. VERY DANGEROUS ON THE ROAD. THOUSANDS OF IMPALA OWNERS REPORTED THE SAME PROBLEM ON THE WEB. GM SHOULD RECALL BEFORE ANYONE HAS ROAD ACCIDENT. *TR

NEW 2004 CHEVY IMPALA LS FIRST USE 3/23/05. THREE TIMES SINCE PURCHASE I'VE HAD TO REPLACE A WHEEL BEARING & HUB ASSEMBLY. MARCH OF 2006 THE RIGHT REAR, JANUARY OF 2008 THE LEFT REAR, OCTOBER OF 2009 THE RIGHT FRONT. EACH TIME THE ABS AND SERVICE TRACTION SYSTEM LIGHTS WERE ON. I PAID $636.31 THIS LAST TIME. THIS APPEARS TO BE A POOR DESIGN AND A SAFETY ISSUE WHICH COULD LEAD TO THE CAR BEING UNDRIVEABLE. I WAS TOLD THAT THE TIRES WOULD BEGIN TO WOBBLE AND THE STEERING WOULD BE AFFECTED IF NOT REPAIRED WITHIN A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME. I'VE SEEN ON LINE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS HAD A PROBLEM WITH THIS DEFECT. I'M CONCERNED THAT THE 4TH ONE WILL FAIL, OR THE OTHER 3 THAT HAVE BEEN REPLACED WILL FAIL AGAIN. I AM #1 CONCERNED WITH MY SAFETY & THE SAFETY OF OTHERS ON THE ROAD. I AM ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT THE MONEY I'VE HAD TO PAY BECAUSE OF THIS DESIGN DEFECT. *TR

SPEEDOMETER HAS A MIND OF IT'S OWN SOMETIMES IT WORKS, SOME TIMES IT DOESN'T, THIS IS A REAL SAFETY CONCERN WHEN I CANNOT TELL THE TRUE SPEED IN WHICH I AM DRIVING. *TR

INCIDENT DESCRIPTION = I PURCHASED RAIN-X WIPER AT WALMART FOR MY 2004 IMPALA VEHICLE. IT COST $17.99+ AND WAS A 22-INCH MODEL. A WEEK OR SO LATER I RAN INTO A HEAVY DOWNPOUR WHILE DRIVING WEST ON I-40 FROM MEMPHIS TO LITTLE ROCK. THE WIPER PORTION OF BLADE ASSEMBLY BEGAN TO WORK ITS WAY OUT OF THE END OF THE HOLDER AND QUICKLY REACHED ABOUT 5 TO 6 INCHES OUTSIDE THE HOLDER. THE RUBBER BEGAN TO WHIP AROUND AND I HAD TO PULL OFF THE HIGHWAY TO PUT THE RUBBER PART BACK IN PLACE. THIS HAPPENED 3 MORE TIMES BEFORE I HAD TO STOP AND SEARCH OUT A MINI-MART WHERE I COULD BUY A ROLL OF ELECTRICAL TAPE TO TAPE THE RUBBER END TIGHTLY ENOUGH SO IT WOULD STOP FLYING OUT OF THE HOLDER. *TR