2003 Chevrolet Impala: sudden loss of power

Filed Nov 12, 2024 · Electrical · DC

My car sometimes cuts off while driving. Was on highway 301 running about 60 mph in the middle lane and just lost power no warning. No code no nothing. Sacred me, I truly feel that's a safety issue, for me and the cars behind me. It's bad not knowing when or where this will happen again.

Filed Apr 16, 2018 · Engine · 89,724 miles · SC

Second car affected. First car burned and totaled . Second car found loss of power still driving puled over found egr motor stuck in full open sending hot exhaust into intake. Melting plastic intake wiring and fuel line. Fuel line melted but did not burst. Towed home. This should at least have a fire line at top of intake. This is a plastic line .

Filed Nov 13, 2017 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 73,000 miles · CA

Vehicle is in parked and im about to start the vehicle it seems to slowly fail or backfires during multiple times of trying. While in motion on the streets driving at 10-35 MPH or in motion on hwy 40-65 MPH the vehicle will shut off or sometimes it would loss power even if my foot is on the gas petal. On hwy this could cause a series accident

Filed Dec 25, 2016 · Electrical · 224,000 miles · IL

The fuel gauge is not working properly. I ran out of fuel while traveling on the illinois highway 106. Luckily no other vehicle was near me at the time, as I lost all power controls on the vehicle at that time. The fuel gauge started fluctuating between full and empty and I had no idea how much fuel I had left, hoping to reach white hall, il to fill-up the gas tank.

Filed Sep 17, 2016 · Acceleration, Electrical · FL

When I am driving down any road, stopped and turning the ABS system engages causing grinding noise. Loss of power and periodically brakes lock up and gas pedal locks. When pulling off from a stop I can not accelerate & RPM goes almost red line, car starts to jerk and and transmission doesn't shift. I have to let off gas pedal and allow to shift. It has stalled numorus times when pulling into traffic and almost caused me to be hit. The service traction control/ABS warning light dings and stays lit. I manually turn off ABS but problem still occurs. Also the wiring thru out the car has failed to my rearview mirror, domelights and radio panel. My gas mileage has significantly decreased. The problem started around the beginning of the year and has progressively gotten worse to the point I and scared to drive my car.

Filed Feb 4, 2016 · Engine · 138,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a complete loss of power without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the intake was leaking oil into the ignition switch, wires, and cam sensor. As a result, the components needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure occurred three times prior to this failure. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v701000 (engine and engine cooling); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 138,000. Vin tool confirms parts not available.

Filed Dec 19, 2015 · Engine · 88,000 miles · TN

Gasket for intake manifold allows oil to escape from engine. Eventually results in loss of oil pressure, which could lead to loss of engine power and/or vehicle control. Gaskets tend to fail routinely. This has been an issue since the car was new.

Filed Oct 27, 2015 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 40,000 miles · CA

My passlock system has been malfunctioning for years now (2007-2015) and at random intervals, my car will not start and I have to wait 15 minutes before the engine will start. Sometimes the "security" light will turn on while I am operating the vehicle and after I have parked it, the security light will flash and I can't start the engine until after the 15 minute cycle has concluded. Not only has this issue been an inconvenience, but I have had occasions where it has put me in danger. I am not responsible for the passlock system failure, nor do I have the funds to repair or remove it. I believe that passlock was a faulty system from the beginning and the fact that it has not been recalled shocks me. I am very afraid that one day the passlock system malfunction will occur when the vehicle is in motion and that I will lose power steering, braking, and other vital operational functions. Noticeably, the passlock malfunction has become more frequent, so I needed to file this complaint. I have talked to service experts at my local chevy dealership and they have told me on more than one occasion that this issue is widespread, including many gm vehicles, and that eventually my car just won't start anymore. The quoted prices to fix this issue (either repairing it or removing it entirely) have been ridiculously high and I don't understand why I should be forced into paying for a well-known gm/chevrolet problem.

Filed Oct 7, 2015 · Electrical · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet impala. While driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the ignition failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v400000 (electrical system). The contact felt that the recall remedy was performed incorrectly and failed to repair the vehicle. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.

Filed Feb 22, 2015 · Acceleration, Airbags · 197,000 miles · OK · crash · 1 injury

I was traveling on a 2 lane road. A truck pulling an enclosed trailer was in front of me turned on his right blinker and began to brake to make the turn. I was traveling 77 MPH, so I moved to the oncoming traffic lane (the left lane) in order to pass the truck. At the last second the truck swerved into the left lane in order to make a wide turn. I abruptly jerked the steering wheel right to avoid collision with the truck, but the vehicle seemed to lose power steering as well as power brakes. I was unable to straighten the steering wheel back after jerking it to the right to go back into the right lane; my vehicle hit the back of the enclosed trailer and then hit steep ditch where my back passenger tire popped and the vehicle flipped onto its roof. The vehicles airbags failed to deploy even though the vehicle has significant damage to the front , top and sides of it. I regained conscientiousness I attempted to turn the car off and remove the keys from the ignition. But I realized that the keys were not I n the ignition.I crawled out of the passenger window to exit the vehicle. The keys were later found by my husband loose in the vehicle. I hit my head hard when the vehicle flipped, good deal of blood on me from what ended up being multiple superficial lacerations as well as a deep wound in my left knee, which required 12 stitches to close up. I will have a scar from it for the rest of my life. I was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and was released around 9 pm. 2 days later we received the ignition switch recall notice in the mail gm refuses to answer any of our questions regarding this wreck. Gm did retrieve the black box info from the vehicle., they refuse to provide us with any explanation to why the airbags failed to deploy or why there seemed to be a malfunction within the car which LED to the accident.

Filed Oct 9, 2014 · Electrical · 143,000 miles · CO

Tl* the contact owns a 2003 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that the ignition became difficult to turn to the start position and the engine was losing power. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was previously repaired under the federal safety agency campaign number: 14v400000 (electrical system). However, the failure persisted and recurred on several occasions. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 143,000.

Filed Apr 15, 2009 · Engine · 99,104 miles · NJ

In the past several weeks, my vehicle has began to lose power, especially in low RPM range. The vehicle spits on sputters on hard acceleration and takes several (30 or better) seconds to reach 55 MPH. I am an ase trained mechanic and diagnosed the vehicle as having a faulty catalytic converter. A vacuum test determined that the pressure drops significantly above 2500 RPM's and to 0 by 4000 (when it misfires). The cat makes noise and even jumped the hanger (telling me the converter is twisting from the back pressure). Once I diagnosed it, I looked at a list of gm tsb's for this vehicle and this was listed on there along with instructions to the dealer / tech to replace free of charge until the service life has reached 10 years or 120k. My vehicle fits both conditions as it is a 2003 with 99k. I contacted my dealer and was told they would not replace it free as the warranty on emissions items is 80k. When I even gave them the tsb number (special policy adjustment - catalytic converter # 05551 - (9/14/05)) they said that was just in the case of plenum damage resulting from the clogged converter. Despite the fact that it in no way even mentions the plenum. This is the only vehicle I currently own and I have been out of work for a while. I can't afford to replace it, nor to have my vehicle tied up for days to do a 2 hour job. However, if it continues, it will blow up. How can I resolve this?