2001 Chevrolet Impala Transmission Problems

Which parts fail

• Automatic transmission
  45
• Automatic transmission › Park/neutral start interlock switch
  3
• Automatic transmission › Control module (TCM/PCM/tecm)
  3
• Axle assembly
  1

Components named in complaints (automatic and manual transmissions, CVT, axles, driveshaft, 4WD/AWD).

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  719%
• 25k–50k
  1335%
• 50k–75k
  1027%
• 75k–100k
  411%
• 100k–150k
  38%
• 150k+
  00%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2001 Chevrolet Impala owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

I had a rebuild engine in the car a month after l purchase the car. Since then my car has been back to the deal twice about the engine and now a year from then my last problem. My transmission isn't working and now I have to find away to fix it. Mrs.[redacted] baltimore city resident

While accelerating from a stop sign, car shook all over and I heard a loud bang. The car would not move at all. I coasted to the edge of the road where I waited for a tow truck. The dealerships service manager informed me after about a week, that my planetary gear had exploded. He also stated that the fluid filter was full of metal shavings. He stated to us that there was nothing that I could have done to prevent this from happening. My new transmission cost me $2200. This car has just 55000 miles on it. It is absolutely insane that I am paying all of this money to repair this car, that is practically new. I have contacted GM's corporate customer service people and they will offer no assistance in this matter. The service I received from them was poor. The case was actually lost once therefore I had to start all over again. …

We've had numerous issues over the last few years including intermittent electrical issues, engine cutting out, engine lurching, and difficulty starting. Two particularly dangerous times were especially scary -- one time the engine cut out, without warning, while my son was driving in traffic, on a four lane road, with children in the car. The other time was when I was driving down a hill in a snow storm at night. The roads were slippery and I lost all power including the lights and power steering. We've spent at least $2000 for diagnostics/repairs for fuel system checks, electrical checks, new ignition, new ignition wires, new A/C compressor (A/C wouldn't cool), and one fuel injector replaced. For several months it didn't cut out but the engine would still lurch once in awhile. …

I currently own a 2001 Chevrolet Impala ls, 3.8l v6. Before 36,000 miles I took my car to the dealership. The vehicle was running poorly and when it was cold the transmission would slam into gear. Dealer made some repairs and told me the fuel system needed to be serviced. I declined the fuel service at the time and the transmission slamming into gear from a cold start continued. The problem worsened at 47,000 miles. I took the car back to the dealer and after 2 days I was told that the problem was the fuel system service. At 50,000 miles the transmission began slipping severely. I tried to get the car home and it failed to engage while pulling into traffic. I got the car home to perform the 50,000 mile service to the transmission and found a handful of metal in the pan. Had the car towed to the dealership and found out that the transmission was completely totalled. …

My 2001 Impala began having loss of power/slipping during acceleration at low speeds around 30,000 miles, dealer looked at car and could not duplicat 2 times. Car scontiued to have the problem and dealer felt that the valve body should be replaced and toe set. At 37,400 miles I was driving along and suddenly loss operation of vehicle whil going through intersection, coasted into gas station tried all gears of car and was unable to move car forward or reverse. Had car towed to dealership. Transmission repair of planetaries and bands was performed that was August 25, 2003. On September 10 check engine light came on and I had it diagnosed at independent mechanic shop and was told that 2 transmission codes were coming up they were 742 and 748. …

My vehicle has a problem with the transmission running rough, nearly stalling, and a 0742 code being activated. The car has 123,000 miles on it, so it is well out of warranty. A local transmission shop stated that the transmission needed to be rebuilt and quoted a price of $1400 to rebuild the transmission. I know that the car has a great deal of mileage on it, but I expect a little bit more for the money I paid for the car. After looking on this web site at the number of complaints and problems people are having with this car/transmission, and seeing that the 4t65e transmission is used in over 20 GM cars, when are you going to do something about GM taking advantage of this before it costs the American public thousands of dollars? Anything you can do to push GM to make this problem right would be appreciated. If you cannot the only thing I will do is buy japanese.

We heard a low rumbling noise while accelerating from a stop, we barely made it through the next major intersection as the car was hardly moving forward any more and coasted to a boulevard off of a major road. The car jumped forward in park when we restarted it and then it would not respond whether we tried to put the car in drive or reverse. This is a 2001 vehicle now in need of a refabbed transmission for a whopping $2700! The dealer never opened the transmission to find out exactly what went wrong (they guess it's the gear set) and they refuse to let us get a 3rd party to examine it. They will charge us a $700 non-refundable core fee even if we return the core to them in a timely manner. Also, the time table for them to return the part to GM just went to 24 hours. Originally they said it usually takes around a week for them to send the part back!

While driving transmission slipped gears and lurched forward. Dealer replaced the original transmission with a rebuilt transmission. The rebuilt transmission also slipped gears and lurched forward. When vehicle was brought to the dealer on first failure of transmission, consumer noticed that the color of the fluid in the trans axle was different from the one in the bottle. Consumer decided to replace the transaxle and fluid after vehicle was driven for a number of miles because the fluid color gets darker. After repair, just after warranty period, transmission blew up then vehicle quit driving forward; transmission technician and could not tell the cause of failure. Consumer spoke to the service department manager and said there was a possibility of an axle bearing or bearing failure.

Transmission failure--2001 Chevy Impala with 45,000 miles--basically no advance notice--stopped at a traffic light, depressed accelerator and transmission took awhile to engage before moving forward. Happened again at the next two (2) lights. Got car home intending to take to dealer in morning. Backed car out of garage--went 5 ft and it would not move further. Pulled forward and able to put in reverse to back out of driveway. Managed to get to dealer. Going to teardown transmission tomorrow. Should not happen on a vehicle with 45,000 miles---90,000 maybe, 45,000 no. This is my 3rd transmission failure with a GM product since 1980. Like their styling but don't know if I can continue to purchase their products.

My husband said that his car was driving poorly for about a month or so before it broke down on a busy road. Since this is the third Chevrolet transmission to break down on both my husband and I we knew that was the problem. As a result we were without a car for about a week. Luckily there was no accident but there very well could have been. The car just died at a red light. Chevrolet replaced this transmission with a rebuilt transmission,because it was still under the original factory warranty. The warranty on the rebuilt part was for only 90 days. Last year when we had to pay for the transmission to be replaced on my 1997 venture after only 52,000 miles the warranty given was for one year.

Transmission complaints in other Impala years