[jfoy1984]

Whats up everyone? My name is Justin and just recently I started looking around for a new daily driver. I now have a new interest in the 2000-2004 Impalas. I have a found a couple that interest me but was wondering if there are any major problems that are known with the 3.4 or 3.8 engines?

Heres the info on the 2 I am currently looking at:

1) 2004 with the 3.4 and 114000
2) 2001 with 3.4 and 108000.

Both carfaxs are showing clean histories on both of them.

Just wanted to know if anyone could give me any info as to any major mechanical issues these cars have. And with them having over 100000 miles on them am I looking into a lot of repairs? ALso when I go look at these vehicles is there anything I need to look at/for other than the oridinary things you check when buying a car?

Again sorry for all the questions. I am used to the jbody gm cars and the blazers/jimmys. dont know a whole lot about the impalas. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[POPIMPIN CUSTOMS I.N.C]

the impala you speak of is not a bo body they are f bodys for front wheel drive pieces!!!!! get a 94 - 96 impala or caprice pref. 9c1 ( cop car ) and you will never regret it + you have a lt1 ( corvette motor ) instead of your 3.4 and 3.8 wrong wheel drive :biggrin: hope this helps someone will chime in about the f body reliability etc:biggrin:

oooops or is it w body sry wwd guys

 

[blusail]

Lower intake manifold gaskets, hub assy's, Intermediate steering shaft, and clusters are just a few. Dont get me wrong they have there fair share of problems but what car doesnt. I am on me second 7th gen impala and i love them but one of these days i will finally get me a 9C1

 

[jfoy1984]

When you say clusters are you refering to the dash cluster for the fuel gauge, tach, and all that stuff? I have read that these things have electrical problems. AS far as the intake manifold and hub assembly. Those were pretty common with that year range of GM vehicles I believe. I know I have changed both hubs on the front of my Jimmy already and it only has 55000 miles on it. The intake manifold problems, are they related to the whole dexcool thing? For 4000 dollars do you think one of these cars are worth it?

 

[POPIMPIN CUSTOMS I.N.C]

4000 is not a bad price but when u can get a 300 horsepower out of the b bodys its hard to pay 4000 for a fwd , i bought my 95 9c1 for 1500 and u can find these all day for the same price or lower :biggrin:

 

[blusail]

Yea the majority of the GM vehicles with the 3.1, 3.4 and 3.8 have the LIM problems on them

 

[04DetroitLS]

find one w/ a 3.8 and save yourself the headache of the 3.4

 

[jfoy1984]

There was an 04 there with the 3800 however when you hit the gas you could smell a very strong burning smell. I am not sure where it was coming from as it was very windy. However it had 120000 miles it and nice leather interior.

the 01 impala had a white smoke coming out from somewhere above the manifold. I thought (because the engines were extremely clean) that maybe they had degreased the engine bays and that this smoke was some excess degreaser burning off. Or is this white smoke coming from that pos intake gasket? Any help would be good. Any ideas what that burning smell could be?

I am going to go in the morning and restart them and look somemore so anything i can check or look at that will help me from getting a real pita would really help

 

[Danny_Boy]

the impala you speak of is not a bo body they are f bodys for front wheel drive pieces!!!!! get a 94 - 96 impala or caprice pref. 9c1 ( cop car ) and you will never regret it + you have a lt1 ( corvette motor ) instead of your 3.4 and 3.8 wrong wheel drive :biggrin: hope this helps someone will chime in about the f body reliability etc:biggrin:

oooops or is it w body sry wwd guys

The LT1 in the B-bodys are NOT the "Corvette" motor.The LT1 in the Corvette is a 4 bolt main with different heads,cam,ect...

What ever Impala you get,like Detroit said,try to get one with the stronger 3.8L.

My Impala has 105K on it and runs fantastic

 

[Lingenfelter]

White smoke could be leaking coolant due to lim gaskets.

The 3800 is a better motor than the 3400, always has been. Both could have lim gasket issues, but I hear a lot more of it on the 3400s.

When you're past 100k, you should be checking the suspension and making sure there are no visible leaks from the motor (though if they clean the motors they will be hard to spot). Also make sure the transmission shifts smoothly and the car is not lagging during acceleration.

The coolant should not be sludgy and the transmission fluid should be red - and not smell burnt. Make sure the oil doesn't look like chocolate milk - the coolant and engine oil are good indicators of a LIM gasket leak.

As for the burning smell.. what does it smell like? Somewhat sweet, and it's likely coolant. Rubber is likely tires rubbing on strut plates or wheel well liners.

Don't mind Popimpin Customs, since he clearly has no idea what he's talking about... knowing nothing about the 00-05s except the two motor options.

 

[luke_fairs]

White smoke could be leaking coolant due to lim gaskets.

Also make sure the transmission shifts smoothly and the car is not lagging during acceleration.

what do u do if the transmission doesnt quite shift smoothly and the car lags during acceleration?

 

[Lingenfelter]

Rough shifts could be a few things, but the trans solenoid is a somewhat common problem in our cars.. have them replace it, as it's expensive to do.

If the acceleration is lagging, the catalytic converter could be plugged up. It should be covered if it's within the emissions warranty (8 years, 80k miles, I think). Otherwise I think a new cat is a couple hundred bucks+ install.

 

[jfoy1984]

as for the burning smell it isnt a sweet smell. the car was sitting still as i played with the throttle under the hood. so its not likely that it had to do with tires. I really dont know what it smelled like. dont know if that helps. I am going to check the fluids in it tomorrow and see how it goes.

I know that doesnt make sense but the smell was new to me.

Thanks for all the info and suggestions!

 

[Lingenfelter]

Can't really tell you much else about the smell your're getting, unless it's some spilled oil or detergent burning off.

 

[jfoy1984]

That exactly what I thought it was. I am pretty sure they degreased the engine bay. I will have to ask tomorrow. Also is there a way to check by VIN or something to see if the gasket was fixed with the whole class action thing for dexcool for gm? May be a dumb question but was curious.

 

[blusail]

If you give me the last 8 I can check and see what has been replaced by a dealer on the vehicle

 

[jfoy1984]

Well thank you!

Here they are:

2002 - 2G1WH55K329268052

2001 - 2G1WF52E319375623

2004 - 2G1WF52E549415818

Let me know if ya find anything. They go on sale tomorrow morning.

Thanks again!

 

[POPIMPIN CUSTOMS I.N.C]

White smoke could be leaking coolant due to lim gaskets.

The 3800 is a better motor than the 3400, always has been. Both could have lim gasket issues, but I hear a lot more of it on the 3400s.

When you're past 100k, you should be checking the suspension and making sure there are no visible leaks from the motor (though if they clean the motors they will be hard to spot). Also make sure the transmission shifts smoothly and the car is not lagging during acceleration.

The coolant should not be sludgy and the transmission fluid should be red - and not smell burnt. Make sure the oil doesn't look like chocolate milk - the coolant and engine oil are good indicators of a LIM gasket leak.

As for the burning smell.. what does it smell like? Somewhat sweet, and it's likely coolant. Rubber is likely tires rubbing on strut plates or wheel well liners.

Don't mind Popimpin Customs, since he clearly has no idea what he's talking about... knowing nothing about the 00-05s except the two motor options.

^ first off lingenfelter u can suck my dic* second of all your right y the fuk would i care about a fwd piece !!!!! i was giving him some starting pointers idiot third hmmmm look at the quote below , screw a 7th or 8th gen and screw lingenfelter go touch some boys walking around canada u sped.....:biggrin:

Lower intake manifold gaskets, hub assy's, Intermediate steering shaft, and clusters are just a few. Dont get me wrong they have there fair share of problems but what car doesnt. I am on me second 7th gen impala and i love them but one of these days i will finally get me a 9C1

 

[blusail]

Well thank you!

Here they are:

2002 - 2G1WH55K329268052

2001 - 2G1WF52E319375623

2004 - 2G1WF52E549415818

Let me know if ya find anything. They go on sale tomorrow morning.

Thanks again!

'02- On this one the only thing that has been done threw the dealer is the cat has been replaced at 59K.

'01- This one has had both outer tie rod ends replaced at 20k and the BCM replaced at 6k

'04- This one has had the throttle body replaced at 3k and the a/c compressor replaced at 3k also.

Now this is just the problems fixed at a GM dealer and does not include anything done at a mom and pop shop. Hope this helps ya out some

 

[luke_fairs]

'02- On this one the only thing that has been done threw the dealer is the cat has been replaced at 59K.

'01- This one has had both outer tie rod ends replaced at 20k and the BCM replaced at 6k

'04- This one has had the throttle body replaced at 3k and the a/c compressor replaced at 3k also.

Now this is just the problems fixed at a GM dealer and does not include anything done at a mom and pop shop. Hope this helps ya out some

how do u find this info out?