OT: Chevy Impala - Transmission or sensor?

No metal shavings in the pan is ussally a good thing but is not a for sure thing. does the car feel as if it still has good power? i have had people bring cars in and said it will not shift. and the car would not generate enough rpm to shift. it is hard without driving it or looking at it. i am just throwing some things out there. sometimes a gloged fuel filter or a clogged cat convertor will cause a car to lose power. sometimes not enought to notice in normal driving. Just some thoughts.
 
When it does it the RPM's do go up to about 3000-3500 rpms and stops there and I'm only going 35ish MPH.. Never thought about it being clogged, and not giving enouph gas to finish the cycle? Hmmm.. I love cars..
 
i am not sure. i would think it would fail the test. But i have had converters get clogged and not set a cat efficency code. some cars may pass emistions without a cat.
 
Well got some good news on the Noise with my tire. A few month back Rich, Stupid and I were working on changing out some of the pulleys on the side and we were trying to go threw the wheelwell to get to the water pump. We removed one of the side plastic Panels and we broke one of the things that holds it on. I guess it had come loose and when I made the hard left turn in the parking lot the other night it must have grabbed that and ripped it off. So now it does not make the noise any more.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11685382#post11685382 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by panaboy95
sometimes a gloged fuel filter
Click to expand...

When I was talking to a friend of mine that works at GM tonight he said if my RPM are not redlining before it shifts it is probably not my Transmission. That it sounds to him like the Fuel filter is clogged not allowing it to get the right amount of gas when I get on the gas hard.

I'm having the fuel filter change tomorrow AM. Hope it works.
 
Hey john, Lonnie came over today to be cruel he wont let me sleep :). Ok I found what I thought to be oil on the back of the intake manifold below the fuel rail. Turns out this is gasoline not oil, he also has this on the back of the fire wall. I found it by listening to a vacuum leak around the area, turns out to be both a vacuum leak and fuel. I think this is the issue with his car due to it won't rev pass 4000 RPM's even when in park or neutral. I drove it today and I don't believe that there's anything wrong with the Tranny what so ever, it shifts smooth under normal driving, it will shift when punching it but it take a very long time, like waiting for pressure from the tork-converter so I find the tranny to be operating just fine. However the car has maybe 50% of the horsepower it should have. How easy are fuel injectors to replace?? It's leaking in the middle dwells which is where the middle injector sits. The other dwells are dry around both injectors. Are they easily changeable or is this something he needs to bring to you??
 
I know this question is not directed to me but I may be able to help. Is the engine a 3800 or a 3400? The 3800 I think you can take the fuel rail off with out taking the upper intake off. If it is a 3400 the plenum has to come off before you can get the fuel rail out. I would clean everything off and dry everything off real good. then have someone turn the key on. the fuel pressure will come up and you should see the leak. I have not had much trouble with injectors leaking. I have had fuel rails leak. Also there is an o-ring on the injector where it goes into the intake. They sometimes get cut or hard and will leak vacuum. But it usually causes a misfire on that one cylinder.
I do not know your knowledge level of working on cars but you are getting pretty complicated if you are pulling the upper intake. Some engines are easy some are hard so keep that in mind. I often fix cars that people tried to fix themselves and I fix it for less than they have already spent trying to fix it with no success. just food for thought somethings are left for the pros.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11694093#post11694093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by panaboy95
I know this question is not directed to me but I may be able to help. Is the engine a 3800 or a 3400? The 3800 I think you can take the fuel rail off with out taking the upper intake off.
Click to expand...

You can take just the fuel rail off on this it is the 3800.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11694093#post11694093 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by panaboy95
I would clean everything off and dry everything off real good. then have someone turn the key on. the fuel pressure will come up and you should see the leak. I have not had much trouble with injectors leaking. I have had fuel rails leak.
Click to expand...

That is what I was told by the guy from GM as well.. He said he does not believe it is the Injector its self leaking.. He said right about the Middle Injector (that we think is leaking) there is a return line that is probably actually leaking.. But he said if it was leaking enough to through the car off that bad it should thrigger the Check engine light. He said if it is leaking any gas it needs to be fix either way.. He said he will check the Fuel pressure on it Tuesday.. He still seems to think I have a faulty fuel pump..

So I still need to find out where it is leaking from.
 
fix the fuel leak first then loosen the exhaust system from the manifold and see if it has more power- it will be noisy but if it has all its orignal power back you probably have a clogged/melted down catalytic converter. ive seen many impalas/grand prix/ams, etc with the same problem you seem to be describing that had a clogged converter. however it is impossible to have a really good guess without actually looking at it.
Hope this helps.
 
also it possibly explains the fuel/vacuum leak if the intake manifold is building excessive back pressure from a restricted exhaust. it cause the injector o- rings to blow out.
hope this helps.
 
A lot a times a fuel leak will not set a light. As long as the fuel pump is strong. I would not recommend taking the exhaust off yourself. the exhaust bolts are usually rusted from the heat you do not want to break off one of the studs.

I would still take it to a shop. they can check the back pressure of the exhaust without taking it all apart. I usually just take an upstream oxygen sensor out and put the gauge in there. Usually if the cat is plugged it pegs the gauge. Cats are also warr. for 100,000 miles at least.
 
I'm no pro, I've built a few mustangs in my time but they were 65's and a 67 fast back designed for straight tracks. Fuel injection isn't that much different than the old carbs, pretty much common since really. However cars are like fish tanks, when you find something wrong, you have to find out what caused that problem. I can take anything apart and put it back together, but I can't diagnose the problem... and then say this or that started it.

His car is leaking fuel around that injector, I don't know if its the injector, the O-rings ( I think theres 2 or 3 on the injector) or the fuel rail itself. It's hard to tell, you can see a mist of fuel until U rev it to 4000 RPM's then U see tiny droplets of fuel and the engine clatter's and stalls ( doesn't die just drops down). Replacing the O-rings or injectors is simple 4 bolts hold the fuel rail on and then it appears each injector has a metal snap ring on top. I think the catalytic converter idea could be plausible too. I just don't know what the issue is, but I don't think there's anything wrong with the tranny. I do know however for a fact where all these problems started from.......Lets start with this car has 126xxx on it :D!!! Something is bound to quit working at this point. IMHO it's time to start nickling' & dimin' him. It's in great condition and his Dad kept up on all maintance, the car could go for another 60k to 80k maybe more but repairs are necessary at this point. I think it needs to go to shop (a dealer IMO) and let them diagnose it. I'm just a back-woods-pole-barn grease monkey (by far in no way am I a mechanic) who has worked on automobiles with friends & family. 1979 & back I can help, how many wiring harrnesses did U say :confused: A main frame brain and hard drive + sensor's are we talking car's here or computers I'm lost??
 
Oh yea get this, I take my Hemi to the dealer for FREE oil changes ( part of the deal to get me to buy the truck) and last week they informed me of a power steering leak ( which I've taken it to them for over a year now claiming such and they siad I'm wrong, but now suddently it has one) and then showed me that I also have a water pump leak. She's leaking out the weep hole. Listen to what I'm doing about this...................I asked them why they were showing me this, when THEY should be repairing it?? A 2004 with 42xxx under the extended warr. let them do it I say, & I don't want to get my hands dirty. :D
 
make sure you have someone look at it i would hate for you to put a cat on it and not fix your problem. and the fuel leak needs fixed asap that is dangerous.
 
Well I took it to the shop.. I have another major problem. The Lower Intake Gasket needs to be replaced. It's leaking. So I will start there, and see what happens.. I'm still thinking the CAT is clogged, but this needs to be fixed ASAP anyway, or I'm wasting my money fixing anything.
 
Those engines are bad for intake leaks. I doubt it is causing your problem i would have them at least check it. you do not have to have them fix it but at least they can take a quick look at it while it is in there. just a thought.
 
Yeah.......those intake gaskets are bad news. My grand am had it leaking for probably 20,000 miles or so and I think that is what finally led to it's demise a couple weeks ago.
 
Well took the car to the dealer, it was the CAT. I got lucky because I have 126,500 miles on the car and they still covered it under the 120,000 miles. WooHoo I love Free!!

The new one sure does stink, I hope that is noraml.


I asked about the leak in the lower in take. They told me to keep an eye on it, to make sure it does not get any worse. As of right now I'm not losing much oil and I'm not losing any antifreeze. So I will try and get that fix late spring.
 
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