8.4
pretty bad- Typical Repair Cost:
- $1,000
- Average Mileage:
- 87,800 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 55 complaints
Most common solutions:
- replace intake manifold gasket (19 reports)
- not sure (15 reports)
- gm must replace intake manifold gaskets (9 reports)
- replace the intake manafold gaskets (5 reports)
- replace manifold gasket (4 reports)
- replace gasket, flush coolant system, and refill (2 reports)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Chevrolet dealer.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Add me to the list. Gone at 88,000. This just isn't fair at all. Why isn't GM stepping up and doing something about this? Another cash-grab for them I guess. I've also had rustproof warranty issues with them and drive with the air bag light on permanently. What quality work! Bring on the imports!!!
- Kevin F., St. Catharines, ON, Canada
This is a known problem, GM has issued TSB pertaining to the problem. Every 2003 3.4l impala has the issue, any where from 50k to 65k. Due to GM engineering. Why hasn't a warranty recall been issued. I posted my complaint with the government at
http://www-odi. nhtsa. dot. gov/ivoq/
- swar12, Lake Orion, MI, US
I have a 2003 impala. nice car, right? yea looks nice, until i hit 91000 miles, just this past friday december 14th. i start my car, get a really loud ticking from my engine then a bang, and there goes all my oil all over the ground. turns out my oil pump was shot. so i figured ok easy fix, the gm dealer had ALREADY replaced it this past march for the same problem....or so i thought. apparently the reason my oil pump seized up on me was from the intake manifold being shot and pouring anti freeze into my engine and it gummed up my pump and the pressure was way to high. now i can only wonder....how the F*** did they not stop this problem the first time around? So i asked them this. there answer was, well there was no sign of a leak of rust or anything so we didnt even look. so now I am stuck paying $1000 roughly for them to replace the gasket and in the meantime for the past week ive been without a car. all i can say is ive been loyal to chevy since ive started driving....and now they lost me. their incompetence and/or just plain lying to me, made them lose me as a customer. I can not afford to buy cars that are going to cost me twice as much in the long run in repairs.
And one last thing....its kind of odd that the first time....this past march, when my car was still under warranty, there was no sign of gasket failure, but now, what a coincidence, now that my warranty is up they spot this problem that i can promise has been there for a long time.
- Josh L., Bristol, CT, US
My impala only 4 years old, and already too many problems with it. Some people said that they had some kind of light on, i did not have any lights on such as low coolant or anything. I had no heat in my car for a while, now since i have a baby i had to fix it... cost me 1100$ seems a lot, but i had to get it fix... If there is a law suit, consider me in it, b/c do not want to pay for some cheap plastic part over a thousand dollars.
- usarmy132, Hoffman Estates, IL, US
the impala had problems at about 35000 but we did not know how serious until 36100... so we missed the warranty by 100 miles... cost $700 ... time to try toyota
- Steve S., Clinton, OH, US
I've had a Buick 3.1 with this issue, a GM van with this issue (replaced twice, then finally blew head gasket) and lastly this Impala which has had two sets of gaskets so far at ridiculouly low mileage, both done under warranty. The most recent utilized the upgraded gasket set. I'm not holding my breath. GM seems content to sell the buyer down the river with their design defects. Finished with them, no more.
- nomoregm, Ottawa, ON, Canada
I bought my car ( a 2003 impala) used with 29000 miles on it and I feel there should be no problems till the car has altleast 50000 or more miles on it. I was told it was a leaking valve for the power steering $190.00 repair and then find out it's intake value gaskets leaking and that's a $890.00 repair bill On a car that shouldn't technically have any expensive repair at this point. I read that this is a problem with cars with atleast 74000 miles or more on them and I'm 30000 plus mile away from that . I have to say it make me think about the quality of the parts our car companies are putting out and how much we are paying the expensive junk there producing
- Darcy C., Haslett, Michgan, US
i can't believe that gm . is well aware of the defect in the manifold gasket. and is not trying to rectify the problem. or at least compensate the owners who have had this problem. i have always depended on and had good luck with gm cars in the past. but i will never buy a gm product ever again. unless they rectify this problem and apologize for the huge inconvenience that it has caused me.
- Norman C., Saint John, NB, Canada
oil leaking into radiator. it's maddening to buy a new car with payments only to have to make repairs. $800.00 on intake gasket. next time i will buy toyota. chev is unreliable, very poor product.
- Bill L., Prince George, BC, Canada
I had owned my impala for six months when I noticed oil was leaking into my coolant and coolant leaking down the side of my engine. After taking my car in and finding out that my intake gasket was bad I also learned this is a common problem for this engine. I was lucky to have a friend who helped me do it myself. It is running fine for now. I am very angry that chevy produces a car that is known for having an extremely engine damaging problem and not rectifying the problem.
- Ian K., Woodbury, MN, US
This is now the second IM Gasket to go on this car. First went at 40,000 miles and was replaced by Chevy dealer at no cost (even though my warranty expired at 36K). Was assured that this isn't a problem that will happen again... here I am 50K later! I wish that there was a class action suit over this issue, I would join it in a heartbeat. I am a GM man... but my next new vehicle will be Japanese - it's no wonder Toyota is kicking GM's tail!
- Paul C., St Joseph, MO, US
My intake gasket manifold went out also around 50,000 miles,I had what you call a internal gasket leak which had no warning signs at all. Not a low coolant light, not a service engine soon light or nothing. It got replaced. 3 weeks after it was replaced my check engine light came on. Ok... I take my car back to the dealer, all they could find wrong was a fouled out spark plug, remember I only had 59,000 miles then, so i asked them all kind of questions about why would 1 spark plug go bad. They suggested I try a better grade of gas. Ok... I did not and even a year later my check engine light comes on again, by now the damage is done, i mean code 300, 742, and 1811 major problems . Like a bad piston or valve , the transmission is shot , I read that if the leaking manifold if not caught in time can damage your engine so thats where I'm at with a little over 81,000 miles. Let me make it known that those are highway miles also. I put a 100 miles a day on my car going back and forth to work.
- Sexy S., Flint, MI, US
I have a 2003 Impala with 50,000 miles on it and the intake manifould gasket let go. A gasket should last longer than 50,000 miles. I will ask for a break on the price, If i do not get one it will be the last Chevy i buy. I am on a fixed income and $1,300 is a lot of money for me to put out. Chevrolet may not give me a break but at least I can say something on AutoBeef. I hope this will help someone else if they have a gasket go bad.
- Leo R., Twinsburg, OH, US
GM is trying to downplay the intake manifold gasket problem on 3.4L engines. They don't have the decency to issue a recall and help their loyal customers. Instead they silently and selectively help a token few while abandoning others. Hey GM, paint us all with the same brush will you! Help is universal. This issue is a two way street. You designed and sold these unreliable engines. Shame on us, we purchased cars from you with these 3.4L engines.
GM might be number one in sales but they are last in support. Jim D.
- Jim D., Brampton, ON, Canada
I was told that due my fault my intake manifold gaskets must be replaced. I was told by the dealership that my antifreeze had been contaminated
- Brigitte D., Irmo, SC, US