2002 Chevrolet Impala: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed Jan 3, 2011 · Brakes · 97,566 miles · TN

My ABS light stays on and having an issue with the brakes, making awful grinding noise while driving on a straight away. Does it rather roads are wet or dry. This is very dangerous . I have read many many owners of the 2002 chevy impalas are having this issue. The problem needs to be addressed before someone gets seriously injured or result in a fatality.

Filed Aug 21, 2010 · Driver assistance · 150,000 miles · NY

My 2002 chevy impala 3.8l v-6 has a problem with the traction control engaging when braking in turns to the left. This causes the brakes to slip and grind. A humming sound can be heard when this occurs. The traction control and sometimes the "check ABS " light becomes illuminated at the same time. The car has been taken to a local chevy dealer for repair. Both right and left front wheel hub assemblies were replaced. I requested a check of wiring harnesses to see if there was deterioration. None was apparently found by the shop. Im afraid to drive this car or allow others in my son to drive it incase the brakes cant engage properly. From reading online accounts of other drivers, I am not the only one with this problem with a chevrolet of this model. After having the right front hub assembly replaced, I thought it was fixed. Then after having the left front replaced as well to the tune of around $350.00 a piece, I though the problem was fixed. Not so. Where does this end. I urge you to look into a recall of this model and have gm ultimately fix this problem and avoid allowing for a possible accident with injuries or death. This is something that gm knows there is a problem and again should be recalled.

Filed Jul 31, 2010 · Driver assistance · 110,000 miles · PA

My 2002 chevy impala 3.8l v-6 has a problem with the traction control engaging when braking in turns to the left. This causes the brakes to slip and grind. A humming sound can be heard when this occurs. The traction control and sometimes the "check ABS " light becomes illuminated at the same time. The car has been taken to a local chevy dealer for repair. Both right and left front wheel hub assemblies were replaced. I requested a check of wiring harnesses to see if there was deterioration. None was apparently found by the shop. I'm afraid to drive this car or allow others in my family to drive it incase the brakes can't engage properly. From reading online accounts of other drivers, I am not the only one with this problem with a chevrolet of this model. After having the right front hub assembly replaced, I thought it was fixed. Then after having the left front replaced as well to the tune of around $500.00 a piece, I though the problem was fixed. Not so. Where does this end. I urge you to look into a recall of this model and have gm ultimately fix this problem and avoid allowing for a possible accident with injuries or death.

Filed Apr 13, 2008 · Steering · TX

Car has approximately 50,000 miles. The steering shaft was serviced under warranty. The steering began to squeal when turning and now there is a clunking noise. There is no slack in the steering. A tie rod end was replaced also when the steering shaft was service. The service manager stated that there was a tech bulletin on the shaft but no recall. This problem definitely should be recalled. Steering failure is a possibility.

Filed Jun 15, 2005 · Brakes · 19,755 miles · MI

Our 2002 chev impala is a vacation and long trip vehicle, very little city driving. At first we drove it very little, then the first winter we drove it and parked it in the garage till spring. The vehicle then gave us problems with shimmy and shaking along with noisy grinding when stopping. I took it to a dealer under warranty and they said it had warped rotors and then turned all 4 rotors down at 19755 miles. Then in june of 2005 I took it back in because of a constant grinding sound when backing up and the shimmy when braking was returning more everyday. The dealer then tells me that it is out of warranty and that it needs 4 new rotors because they are warped and pitted. This is a pep car from the company and I mistakenly thought that it was still under warranty till end of july. I was informed this is not true and that the repair will be $732. This vehicle has 30,335 miles on it and has had bad rotors and stopping since we started to drive it in 2002/03 winter and then parked it till spring of 2004. This I believe is a definite saftey hazard and according to the service advisor they see this problem on the impalas and the malibus alot. According to the advisor gm will not let them replace the rotors only turn them to specs. This I equate to getting open heart surgery and only using bandaids and tape to close the arteries and incisions. I am totally disgusted with the quality and service work done by general motors. Inferior parts and substandard materials seem to be the way to go at gm to get their required profits at customer expense. The advisor says that the rotors they found were the cheapest and manufactured in china. I don't think the chinese care much about providing americans consumers with a quality product. Gm is selling us out for their bottom line and we suffer as the end user who will be the injured party if the parts fail on the roads of america.

Filed May 25, 2005 · Transmission · 49,000 miles · AL

Dt: on 4/20/05 while driving,grinding noise was heard. Vehicle began to slow down unintentionally ,and upon pushing the gas pedal, car would not speed up. This occurred on dry pavement on highway. Car was regularly serviced with records available. This problem occurred about every 6 months.

Filed Jan 13, 2005 · Acceleration, Electrical · 45,000 miles · IN

When the consumer accelerated from a stop he heard a clicking noise. *nm the transmission had gone out. The battery had gone dead and had a crack in it. Also, while the vehicle was in motion, going 65 MPH in cruise, the motor suddenly sped up then slowed down and a grinding noise was heard. *sc

Filed Apr 6, 2004 · Brakes · 47,000 miles · ME

At around 10000 miles, after braking at an intersection, heard a loud squealing sound coming from left front tire. Took car to dealership and they said the caliper had seized. They repaired the caliper, replaced the brake pad and turned both front rotors. Now at 47000 miles, again after pulling away from an intersection, with no previous indicators, I heard a horrible metal on metal grinding sound and vehicle was barely drivable to get off the road. Took the car back to dealership, and they said that the left inside brake pad was practically gone even though there was no noise from a wear indicator, and as a measure of "good faith" they would replace the caliper, but because the left rotor was damaged, I would need to again have both front rotors turned before new front pads could be installed. Dealer denies any responsibility or fault for not having replaced the defective left front rotor in the first place. I'm stuck with a $200 bill for new front brakes without any warning from a brake wear indicator, or any obvious pulling, shimmy or other normal indicators that new brake pads might be required.

Filed Aug 13, 2003 · Brakes · 26,000 miles · MD

Consumer states that when applying brakes steering wheel shimmies excessively, and hears a grinding noise. Dealer advised consumer that new brake pads and rotors were needed. Vehicle only has 26000 miles.

Filed May 12, 2003 · Brakes, Electrical · 34,860 miles · TX

I wanted him to check my driver side back door because it wouldn't open very easily at times, and the window to that same door would not open at times. Also, my trunk wouldn't open when one would use the trunk release button at times. I also had him check my dimming headlights, my steering which had a jerk in it when I went around curves, clicking sound in engine and an over all check since my warranty is about to run out in 1,000 miles. Turn out-after leaving the dealer my air conditioner was humming like a helicopter, my brakes were horrible and grinding and the car feels like it has no get up and go power. I took my car to brake check after leaving because when the dealer did the overall check of my car they said I needed a front brake job. And they wanted to charge me over 200.00 dollars. The dealer told me it was not covered under my warranty. Well brake check took off all four tires and found that my problem was due to left and right caliper problems on the inboard side and left rear hard wear problems and wear on the outboard side. The caliper is engaging but not disengaging and caused my pads to wear out and my rotors are ate up. The pads are not worn evenly which is definitely a sign of caliper problems. Also, the dealer upon the overall inspection of my car said that my intake gaskets were ruined and leaking coolant. They said they replaced them, however I am afraid that there is further damage to my vehicle that they are not telling me, just like my brakes. Due to the fact that steve at lone star told me that it was caused due to lack of oils changes and gil said it was a problem with the gaskets being improperly seated from the factory or just a defect in the gasket. Well is this why my car has no get up anymore? My car also made a grinding sound when hitting bumps under the right front fender area that nothing was done about and my headlight problem they said was due to a faulty battery cable.

Filed May 2, 2003 · Steering · 8,650 miles · NJ

The vehicles steering column was very loose and produced a loud squeaking noise.