Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
We have 100,600 miles on our 2001 Impala with the 3.4 engine. The following except for the intake gaskets (no. 10) are things that have gone bad and were fixed over the last couple of years.
1) Are the brake lines under the car rusted? If so is this one of the years that the custom pre-bent factory brake lines are no longer available. Also, when replacing the rusted out brake lines it is wise to also replace the rusted out fuel tubing. The custom pre-bent fuel tubing should be available from some company in Canada. Expect to pay $170.00 for the pre-bent fuel tubing, and because of its extra long size expect to pay $150.00 for shipping. And since the custom pre-bent fuel tubing is no longer available expect to pay some shop about $600.00 to custom bend and install and bleed the fuel tubing if you can find someone who is willing to do the job.
2) The main drive pulley that drives the serpentine belt is also the harmonic balancer. It is made of two pulleys, one inside the other with a black rubber between them. The black rubber goes bad somewhere between 80,000 to 95,000 miles of use. Have someone who know about them inspect it and see if it is going bad. When it does go bad the outer pulley becomes un-aligned with the inner pulley and that causes the serpentine belt to fall off. When that happens you loose the power-steering, alternator, water-pump, and A/C. So it is something that you want to keep an eye on and replace it before it goes completely bad.
3) The power windows have a drive unit called a regulator. That part goes bad. Also the mount for it can rust out and when it does the window will not go up. Also the switch on the door that controls the window can and will go bad. Rock Auto sell the regulator and switch. When the mount rusts out someone will have to make one from scratch.
4) The spring that is part of the upholstery (under the front seat) goes bad. A good upholstery shop can fix it for somewhere between $90.00 to $140.00
5) There is part of the steering control that can go bad. Expect to pay about $600.00 to get it fixed.
6) The evap system for the fuel tank venting has several parts that can go bad. Expect to pay $80.00 to $250.00 to get it fixed depending on how many parts have to be replace until the correct part is found and replaced.
7) The thermostat in the cooling system can go bad. It is not an easy part to access. Expect to pay about $250.00 to get it replaced.
8) The radiator can go bad. Expect to pay about $450.00 for a cooling system flush, new radiator, new hoses, and anti-freeze.
9) The lug-nuts on the wheels will wear out. Expect to pay about $60.00 to $80.00 for all new lug-nuts.
10) The intake manifold gasket design is junk. When it goes bad it leaks anti-freeze to the outside of the engine. We had it replaced under warranty shortly after we bought the car with 30,000 miles on it. And it went bad again at about 60,000 miles. The cost to have it replaced is about $700.00 When it was first replaced we were told that the replacement gasket is a new and improved design. When it went bad the second time we were told that the new gasket is an even newer second improved design.
11) There are three parking brake cables. One is under the carpet and the seats and carpet must be pulled up to replace it when it breaks. The other two are under the car and are a little easier to access when they break (assuming the person working on it has a lift).
12) The gas tank fuel level sensor went completely. Rock Auto has them for around $20.00 plus shipping. The gas-tank has to be dropped (preferably when it is low on gas) to replace it. This is something that requires the vehicle to be up on a lift when it is done.
13) The plastic in-front of the head-lights turns yellow. There are ways to fix this shown on youtube. I bought a re-finishing kit from a auto-parts store and tried it but it did not work. Soon it will require attention.
All of the above except for the intake gasket happened during the last two years. If I had known all of the things that went bad were about to happen a couple of years ago, I would have gotten rid of that car before they went bad.
Thanks JimPghPa!
Hopefully nobody goes and buys this tomorrow before I do, when I go out to take a look. We have to see what all was done for this "customer's car at the shop." Again, my co-worker has an 09 seems to be having an ECU issue but he loves it. Thank you for your helpful and informative post.
We have 100,600 miles on our 2001 Impala with the 3.4 engine. The following except for the intake gaskets (no. 10) are things that have gone bad and were fixed over the last couple of years.
1) Are the brake lines under the car rusted? If so is this one of the years that the custom pre-bent factory brake lines are no longer available. Also, when replacing the rusted out brake lines it is wise to also replace the rusted out fuel tubing. The custom pre-bent fuel tubing should be available from some company in Canada. Expect to pay $170.00 for the pre-bent fuel tubing, and because of its extra long size expect to pay $150.00 for shipping. And since the custom pre-bent fuel tubing is no longer available expect to pay some shop about $600.00 to custom bend and install and bleed the fuel tubing if you can find someone who is willing to do the job.
2) The main drive pulley that drives the serpentine belt is also the harmonic balancer. It is made of two pulleys, one inside the other with a black rubber between them. The black rubber goes bad somewhere between 80,000 to 95,000 miles of use. Have someone who know about them inspect it and see if it is going bad. When it does go bad the outer pulley becomes un-aligned with the inner pulley and that causes the serpentine belt to fall off. When that happens you loose the power-steering, alternator, water-pump, and A/C. So it is something that you want to keep an eye on and replace it before it goes completely bad.
3) The power windows have a drive unit called a regulator. That part goes bad. Also the mount for it can rust out and when it does the window will not go up. Also the switch on the door that controls the window can and will go bad. Rock Auto sell the regulator and switch. When the mount rusts out someone will have to make one from scratch.
4) The spring that is part of the upholstery (under the front seat) goes bad. A good upholstery shop can fix it for somewhere between $90.00 to $140.00
5) There is part of the steering control that can go bad. Expect to pay about $600.00 to get it fixed.
6) The evap system for the fuel tank venting has several parts that can go bad. Expect to pay $80.00 to $250.00 to get it fixed depending on how many parts have to be replace until the correct part is found and replaced.
7) The thermostat in the cooling system can go bad. It is not an easy part to access. Expect to pay about $250.00 to get it replaced.
8) The radiator can go bad. Expect to pay about $450.00 for a cooling system flush, new radiator, new hoses, and anti-freeze.
9) The lug-nuts on the wheels will wear out. Expect to pay about $60.00 to $80.00 for all new lug-nuts.
10) The intake manifold gasket design is junk. When it goes bad it leaks anti-freeze to the outside of the engine. We had it replaced under warranty shortly after we bought the car with 30,000 miles on it. And it went bad again at about 60,000 miles. The cost to have it replaced is about $700.00 When it was first replaced we were told that the replacement gasket is a new and improved design. When it went bad the second time we were told that the new gasket is an even newer second improved design.
11) There are three parking brake cables. One is under the carpet and the seats and carpet must be pulled up to replace it when it breaks. The other two are under the car and are a little easier to access when they break (assuming the person working on it has a lift).
12) The gas tank fuel level sensor went completely. Rock Auto has them for around $20.00 plus shipping. The gas-tank has to be dropped (preferably when it is low on gas) to replace it. This is something that requires the vehicle to be up on a lift when it is done.
13) The plastic in-front of the head-lights turns yellow. There are ways to fix this shown on youtube. I bought a re-finishing kit from a auto-parts store and tried it but it did not work. Soon it will require attention.
All of the above except for the intake gasket happened during the last two years. If I had known all of the things that went bad were about to happen a couple of years ago, I would have gotten rid of that car before they went bad.
Thanks JimPghPa!
Hopefully nobody goes and buys this tomorrow before I do, when I go out to take a look. We have to see what all was done for this "customer's car at the shop." Again, my co-worker has an 09 seems to be having an ECU issue but he loves it. Thank you for your helpful and informative post.
