In Need Of Serious Help

[marus1608]

Hey guys im new here and got some questions. Im not all that good with cars, but i know the basics. I'm havin some problems with my 2001 Impala 3.4. 75,000 miles.
Recently I have noticed a serious loss in power of the car. My car is chugging gas like its water...and i mean chugging. I would say im right now im getting about 11 mpg. Now i know it shouldnt be that low... its ridiculous. When I accelerate i hear this loud whooshing sound coming from the engine and its getting worse everyday. I just recently changed the plugs, wires, fuel filter, and air filter. Thinking maybe that would help the gas waste. But no. Its getting worse now. What the hell could be wrong with the car? Someone had mentioned to me that the intake manifold gasket could be shot, and that thats why the car has lost so much power, and is wasting soooo much gas. Guys please help what do you think could be wrong here? What should I do? whats the best place to take it to get it checked out without being ripped off?
-Mark

[crazy Jim]

Although it is true that the intake manifolds on these engines have issues it I do not believe it will make the engine guzzle fuel. My intake gasket went to crap but did not affect the gas use at all. More then one person on this site have suggested that that the catalytic converter can come apart and clog itself or the muffler, thus causing a serious lack of power and fuel mileage issues. If true it would seem that this may be your problem as well.

[Robertwav1]

Originally Posted by marus1608

Hey guys im new here and got some questions. Im not all that good with cars, but i know the basics. I'm havin some problems with my 2001 Impala 3.4. 75,000 miles.
Recently I have noticed a serious loss in power of the car. My car is chugging gas like its water...and i mean chugging. I would say im right now im getting about 11 mpg. Now i know it shouldnt be that low... its ridiculous. When I accelerate i hear this loud whooshing sound coming from the engine and its getting worse everyday. I just recently changed the plugs, wires, fuel filter, and air filter. Thinking maybe that would help the gas waste. But no. Its getting worse now. What the hell could be wrong with the car? Someone had mentioned to me that the intake manifold gasket could be shot, and that thats why the car has lost so much power, and is wasting soooo much gas. Guys please help what do you think could be wrong here? What should I do? whats the best place to take it to get it checked out without being ripped off?



-Mark

Whoa....before you get ahead of yourself. Error Codes??? What are they? Your problem could be as simple as a O2 sensor. 75K....hmmm, has it ever been changed? Usually an indication of a bad O2 would be that the vehicle seems to run good cold and gets worse as it warms up. In open loop as it is called the sensor is not used till it gets hot enough. The computer uses a default voltage until then. In closed loop, the sensor takes over and controls fuel. If you don't have a code reader or computer take it to advanced auto, I believe they will read the codes for free.

[crazy Jim]

Originally Posted by marus1608

. When I accelerate i hear this loud whooshing sound coming from the engine and its getting worse everyday. I-Mark

I may be wrong but I was baseing part of my answer on this particular symptom, which I do not believe would be caused by an O2 sending faulty info.

[maxwedge]

Originally Posted by marus1608

Hey guys im new here and got some questions. Im not all that good with cars, but i know the basics. I'm havin some problems with my 2001 Impala 3.4. 75,000 miles.
Recently I have noticed a serious loss in power of the car. My car is chugging gas like its water...and i mean chugging. I would say im right now im getting about 11 mpg. Now i know it shouldnt be that low... its ridiculous. When I accelerate i hear this loud whooshing sound coming from the engine and its getting worse everyday. I just recently changed the plugs, wires, fuel filter, and air filter. Thinking maybe that would help the gas waste. But no. Its getting worse now. What the hell could be wrong with the car? Someone had mentioned to me that the intake manifold gasket could be shot, and that thats why the car has lost so much power, and is wasting soooo much gas. Guys please help what do you think could be wrong here? What should I do? whats the best place to take it to get it checked out without being ripped off?
-Mark

Your catylytic convertor has failed/blocked, GM has extended the warranty on these to 120k. Get it to A Chevy dealer. Could have saved yourself a lot of problelms by letting a pro check this out for you first.

[marus1608]

So your saying all i have to do is just take to any chevy dealer and they will repair for free if in fact it is the catalytic converter that is faulty?

[maxwedge]

Yes, there is a special policy on 2001-2 cats in that body style.

[marus1608]

maxwedge... so you think its the cat converter huh?

[BNaylor]

Sounds like a bad CAT to me. Get it checked out. See GM notice below.


Dear General Motors Customer:

As the owner of a 2001-02 Chevrolet Impala, Monte Carlo; Pontiac Grand Prix; or Buick Regal model vehicle, equipped with a 3.4L or 3.8L V6 engine, your satisfaction with our product is very important to us.

This letter is intended to make you aware that some 2001-02 Chevrolet Impala, Monte Carlo; Pontiac Grand Prix; and Buick Regal model vehicles, equipped with a 3.4L or 3.8L V6 engine, may have a condition where the catalytic converter is replaced due to complaints of lack of power or illumination of the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL). This may be due to the front endcone insulation from the catalytic converter breaking away and blocking the front of the first catalyst brick and preventing the free flow of exhaust gas through the converter.

This is not a recall. Do not take your vehicle to your GM dealer as a result of this letter unless you believe that your vehicle has the condition as described above.

What We Have Done
General Motors is providing owners with additional protection for the Catalytic Converter. If this condition occurs on your 2001-02 Chevrolet Impala, Monte Carlo; Pontiac Grand Prix; or Buick Regal model vehicle, equipped with a 3.4L or 3.8L V6 engine, within 10 years of the date your vehicle was originally placed in service or 120,000 miles (190,000 km), whichever occurs first, the condition will be repaired for you at no charge .

What You Should Do
Repairs and adjustments qualifying under this special coverage must be performed by a General Motors dealer. You may want to call the service department at your dealer to find out how long they will need to have your vehicle so that you may schedule the appointment at a time that is convenient for you. This will also allow your dealer to order parts if they are not already in stock. Keep this letter with your other important glove box literature for future reference.

[Robertwav1]

Originally Posted by crazy Jim

I may be wrong but I was baseing part of my answer on this particular symptom, which I do not believe would be caused by an O2 sending faulty info.

You may be right Jim...but how do we know anything at all without the codes? I've had cars that send the other sensors bananas because of a bad O2. First thing the dealer is gonna do is hook it up and charge you for it.

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by Robertwav1

You may be right Jim...but how do we know anything at all without the codes? I've had cars that send the other sensors bananas because of a bad O2. First thing the dealer is gonna do is hook it up and charge you for it.

Many vehicles can be diagnosed by symptom.
A clogged converter may never set a code with the vehicle.
If it is the cat, the diagnosis and repairs if covered under the special policy will be done at no charge to the customer.

[crazy Jim]

Marus posted up on here to get an idea of what hes up against. It would be kind of a cop-out to just tell him to take it to the dealer and let them run diagnostics. We can give him some ideas, going off we and others have found out, to try to match to his symptoms though...

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by crazy Jim

Marus posted up on here to get an idea of what hes up against. It would be kind of a cop-out to just tell him to take it to the dealer and let them run diagnostics. We can give him some ideas, going off we and others have found out, to try to match to his symptoms though...

It's not a cop out, look at the symptoms, loss of power, poor fuel economy and a whooshing sound from the engine.
Sounds like a clogged cat to me.
Bnaylor and Maxwedge have also said the same thing and I agree with them.
Plus this is a known condition and GM has offered to fix it for free for 10 years or 120K.

Or he can start throwing parts at it until his bank account runs dry.

[Robertwav1]

Originally Posted by GMMerlin

Many vehicles can be diagnosed by symptom.
A clogged converter may never set a code with the vehicle.
If it is the cat, the diagnosis and repairs if covered under the special policy will be done at no charge to the customer.

I understand that...my only concern here if it is in fact the cat, would be, why it went bad in the first place. Defective ... maybe or, something else caused it. In this case if something was to go wrong with the emmission system causing unburned fuel to enter the cat, it could cause it to go bad. Wouldn't we want to rectify that before making any repairs?

[GMMerlin]

Originally Posted by Robertwav1

I understand that...my only concern here if it is in fact the cat, would be, why it went bad in the first place. Defective ... maybe or, something else caused it. In this case if something was to go wrong with the emmission system causing unburned fuel to enter the cat, it could cause it to go bad. Wouldn't we want to rectify that before making any repairs?

From bnaylors post earlier

This letter is intended to make you aware that some 2001-02 Chevrolet Impala, Monte Carlo; Pontiac Grand Prix; and Buick Regal model vehicles, equipped with a 3.4L or 3.8L V6 engine, may have a condition where the catalytic converter is replaced due to complaints of lack of power or illumination of the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL). This may be due to the front endcone insulation from the catalytic converter breaking away and blocking the front of the first catalyst brick and preventing the free flow of exhaust gas through the converter.

GM spelled out why it failed