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2005 and Earlier Chevrolet Impala
13618 messages, Last post on Mar 19, 2013 at 11:54 AM
You are in the Chevrolet Impala Forum.What is this discussion about? Chevrolet Impala, Sedan
#6773 of 13618 GM Niagra District Supervisor by charts2
Nov 29, 2001 (12:21 pm)
This morning (thursday) My friend and I (we both have 2001 Impala LS cars met (for 1 1/2 hours) with the Niagra District GM Supervisor at a local Chevy dealership. He is responsible for all of the GM dealerships in the Niagra corridor in Southern Ontario Canada. My friend had a list of issues to deal with including the DIC problem. Right off the top he informed us that in the past 2 days he contacted the technician division of Chevrolet and found that they are having problems with these devices. Several complaints and found they average 18% in accuracy on the low side. The major complaints were people travelling on holidays and this device calculating the various totals. He said totally unacceptable. He had a lap top computer with him, and said if this thing was out 18% in retrieving or accepting information he couldn't use it. He also said you wouldn't accept your pay check out 18%. He said it is a computer not a guesstometer. He is going to get back to us.I spoke to him about ISS and engine cradles and said they have been a huge problem, but they are now doing more repairs on both rather then replacing which is a tremendous expense. He had an ISS in the trunk of his car used to show customers at different dealers how they remedied the problem with these. and informed us that they are drilling out existing ones, puting on a grease fitting and pumping them full of grease, in the lower end.
I asked about the other gauges in the cars and he said very rarely problems with gas gauges or speedometers. Years ago speedometers were mechanical with a magnetic device that pulled on the needle ran off a steel cable a series of gears, the past 15 years most electronic speedometers are certified within 1 mph on the whole scale.(thats pretty accurate)
Talked about engine oil. He said in the past 2 years they have been informing all dealers that frequent oil changes are not needed. The tolerances in todays engines are so close today because of the current engine computers and pollution controls that oil contamination has dropped considerably. I believe the manual says you can travel up to 10000 miles before an oil change. The oils used today are 100% improvement just in the last few years alone, he says.
Are you still with me........ Talked about police Impalas. (I saw one out back) He wasn't too positive about these. I was surprised he said that (this guy is the GM District Supervisor) Several are used by our provincial police in the area. Lower sticker price, better gas mileage than the old Caprices and current Crown Vics but much much higher maintenace costs. I was in emergency services for 30 years and I know how vehicles can be driven. While I was out back at the dealers a 2 week old 2002 OPP police Impala (highway car) was there for service. 4800 KM or 3000 miles on it. I asked a technician why was the car here and he showed me the front plastic/rubber valance at the front below the rad was broken and dragging on the road. He said after a short time they are all coming in for this item and bent front end components. I guess its a trade off for lower sticker price, and better gas mileage. But I don't think police departments can afford too much down time of their vehicles. He said the Police market is a huge business for manufactures not for selling the vehicles but the service maintenance contracts. The late model Caprices 1996 with their detuned Corvette engines were a strong favourite at the time and the rear wheel drive was superior in rugged police work. in late 1995 Chevrolet decided that building Pick up trucks at their Arlington Texas plant was financially more beneficial then to continue with the aging Caprice at the time.
John
#6774 of 13618 John by garypen
Nov 29, 2001 (12:28 pm)
Very cool and informative post. He seems like an honest and straightforward guy. Nice change of pace for a corporate mouthpiece. I particularly like "guesstometer".I was also wondering how the Impala would stand up to the rugged use of police and other emergency services. No surprises there. I bottom out that stupid plastic valence/cowl thing every time I leave my driveway, and I smack or scrape it on the concrete stoppers every time I park in a lot.
If you talk to him again, could you ask him about any problems with seat tracks or adjuster motors causing a loose or wobbly power drivers seat? Chevy changed the design of the seat tracks in mid 2001. A number of people, including myself, have had this sympton.
#6775 of 13618 by teo
Nov 29, 2001 (12:30 pm)
That stupid cowl is responsible for redirecting air to cool the radiator. For the Intrigues, GM has issued a shorter version of the chin air dam to avoid scraping.Haven't had a problem with mine..I am more carefull when approaching driveways, ramps,etc.
#6776 of 13618 Charts by teo
Nov 29, 2001 (12:33 pm)
While you are at it, please get us purchasers of the DIC a credit for the faulty DIC from GM. Nothing a firmware update can't fix...big deal!I think we should also get credit for the engine oil life monitor too.
What's next? The radio's clock?
#6777 of 13618 teo by garypen
Nov 29, 2001 (12:37 pm)
I don't think I should have to drive gingerly to avoid scraping the less-than-optimally-designed (or "stupid") cowl. A police officer definitely shouldn't have to.#6778 of 13618 by teo
Nov 29, 2001 (12:41 pm)
I haven't seen a Police Impala up-close so I can't verify whether it has the chin spoiler or not. Sure it should not have to, after all is a piece of plastic that can be modified to have better clearance if needed be.#6779 of 13618 Gary by teo
Nov 29, 2001 (12:51 pm)
I avoid hitting the concrete tops in parking lots. Regardless of the car I am driving I always leave some space between the front wheels and the concrete top. You know what made me learned this?When I bought my then new 1995 Acura Integra sedan, I was pulling up in our parking space and next the wheels touched the concrete top...but what happened next was unbeliavable....there is a plastic lid that runs well below the front bumper assembly support..ride above it all the engine belts are located. Well, when I hit the concrete top, the plastic lid piece bent inwards and caught up with two belts shredding them to pieces...the noise was horrible and I immediately shut off the engine. When I open the hood to check for damage, there were shredded pieces of belt everywhere in the engine bay and under the car. Called Acura's TLC (Luckily that was the first year Acura had introduced the free road side assistance) and the two truck was there in 30 minutes. Took the car back to the dealer and the service advisor told me...all Integras have this problem of shredding the engine belts when the plastic lid bents and makes contact with the running belts...I have seen at least 5 Integras coming in with the same issue. They kept the car there for a day, replaced the damaged belts and presto no more problems after that.
I friend of ours has a '99 VW Jetta engineered in Mexico and the whole front bumper got ripped apart when she parked too close to a concrete top and she was pulling away.
Anecdotes such as these have teached me that one should never park too close to sidewalks or concrete parking spot tops..today's cars are very low.
#6780 of 13618 by garypen
Nov 29, 2001 (12:58 pm)
Perhaps I too will learn the hard way!You mean engineered in Germany, don't you? They're only made in Mexico!
#6781 of 13618 2002 Impala Taxi Package 9C6 by teo
Nov 29, 2001 (1:16 pm)
http://www.gmcanada.com/english/fleet/information/vehicles_taxi.html#anchor4
As for the engine cradle it says:
"Heavy-Duty Engine Cradle with High Strength Side Rails - Standard"
Oh and by the way the DIC is not included in the Taxi package...you know, you don't want those NYC cabbies all pissed off because of the 18% margin error...
The axle ratio of the 9C6 Taxi package is 3.29
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