Impala - Chevrolet :: 2003 - Temp Gauge Will Go Up When Sitting Still In Traffic Or Going Uphill
Apr 6, 2013
When I'm sitting still in traffic or going up a hill the temp gauge will go up. But it goes up real slow. You can set and watch temp gauge and it will just jump up every minute or so. And it has 2 fans on it but they won't kick on till temp gauge gets up over the half way mark. But when temp goes up i can raise the hood and the motor does not feel hot at all. What could cause this?
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I have a 2003 Impala with about 122,000 miles on it. On my recent fill up I by accident put in mid grade over the normal unleaded, now I now that won't cause any engine issues that I am aware of, but after doing this fill up my gas gauge is not working properly. When I start the car in the morning the gauge will go to where it should given the mileage I have driven to this point but as I drive the car the gauge goes up to almost full then down some but never back to where it should be. what might be causing this floating incorrect reading by my gas gauge.
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My 2004 phaeton outside temperature reading will increase to over 100F while I'm sitting in traffic when the temp is in the 60s 70s.... Highest I've seen is 102F... I wonder how high the display will go when summer comes around. Where is the sensor located? Could engine heat affect the sensor? While driving the temp reads about 5 degrees to high.
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I just replace the engine in my car and I had new plugs and wires put in as well. Ever since the new engine, the car doesn't go up hills well and it is very sluggish from a stand still position. As long as I am driving on a flat surface I am good once I get up speed. I went to autozone and I got a P0300 code. Is this a bad ignition coil or maybe a clogged catalytic converter?
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I have a 2002 Chevy Impala with the 3.4L engine. The car has 180K+ miles on the original engine. The coolant temperature started fluctuating recently. Going from 200 degrees up to 240 sometimes 260 degrees.
I recently had the check engine light on with the P0420 code which indicates a bad catalytic converter, I had that replaced and I was hoping that maybe the lack of exhaust flow through the converter was causing the overheating. It is still fluctuating however after the converter replacement.
The coolant temperature seems to go up when the car is idling but when moving it starts to go back down to normal. I had the cooling fan assembly replaced last year after one of the fans failed. These are less than a year old and are both operating as expected.
A little history on the engine. It originally had that crappy DexCool in it that then ate away at the cheap plastic head gasket causing oil to leak into the coolant system. This caused the coolant to turn into 'mud' within the radiator and eventually the head gasket failed completely and I had to have that replaced along with putting in ethylene glycol to replace the DexCool. Now when the coolant system was flushed, I am not completely sure that all that 'mud' was flushed out of the radiator. So the radiator may not be operating at full capacity. In fact, driving through the mountains this summer going up inclines, the car would tend to start overheating.
So thoughts on what might be the issue, radiator, thermostat, sensor, water pump, something else? I'm pretty sure it's not the sensor because sensors don't fail in this manner (they fail either high or low). I'm leaning toward the radiator because once I get some air flow across it, the coolant temp gets back to normal.
Also, the A/C is sometimes working great and blowing really cold and other times it is just slightly cold.
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I have a 2012 Crew cab Silverado 5.3 V8 with the towing package. When I pull my travel trailer (approx. 5000 lbs), the water temp stays 1/2 guage and the tranny temp is 170-190, however, on steep hills the water temp guage goes 2/3 to 3/4 guage for a short time and the tranny temp reaches 200-210 degrees. Is the elevated water and tranny temps okay or should I try to reduce them back to the normal range. What is the max temp I should keep the tranny at?
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I have a 2004 Chevrolet Impala. The fuel gauge is not working properly and I'm not sure what could cause the problem. I'm not sure how to explain this clearly, but it seems like the whole gauge was tilted to the right, so that when the tank is full, the arrow reads way above the "full", and when the tank is empty, the arrow is in the middle between "empty" and "full". What could cause this issue?
Sometimes, when I turn the key on and off multiple times, the gauge gets reset to normal, but after a few days it goes back to being defective.
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1994 Mercury Villager, driving about 10 miles to work this morning I noticed the temp gauge sitting just under the H at about the 8.5ish mile mark. All driving is on city streets from 25-35mph. When I noticed the temp I turned on the heater hoping to assist with bringing the temperature down. The air coming out was mostly cold occasionally pushing out slightly warm for a few seconds.
I got to work and checked the hoses for a leak, squeezing both the upper and lower hoses they felt empty. I added about 1-2 cups of water to the radiator and it would take no more. Started the car up and the supply hose firmed up while the return hose still felt empty. Left it like that until the end of my shift.
Started the car up and checked for any leaks, all fluids appeared to me to be topped off and I could see no leaks. Started to make the trip home and at about the 7 mile mark the temp gauge drifted out of normal. Turned on the heater and the air came out cold. About a mile later I pulled over and shut the engine off for 15-20 minutes. Started it back up and it was sitting in the normal range again, but only for about a half mile and then it started going back up. I finally got it home with the needle between normal and H, maybe closer to H than that. Opened the hood and checked for any leaks. Noticed some anti freeze had come up through the cap on the reservoir. Checked and it was cracked open around the top. The two hoses on the other hand had pressure and were fairly firm/squishy.
Just checked the oil and around the cap on the valve cover and and the oil just looks a little old. (was told by a friend to look for chocolate milk color).
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About 90% of the time, my gas gauge on my 2005 Impala works just fine. However, sometimes on hot afternoons it has problems & it doesn't read accurately. For example, I will have a nearly full tank & the gauge will show 1/4 to 1/2 full, depending on its "mood". If I drive the car somewhere & turn it off, everything is fine after I re-start it. I have to drive it somewhere though. If I start it, turn it off right away, and re-start it, it still reads inaccurately. The car runs fine & there no warning lights are lit on the dash.
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This has been happening intermittently for a little over a year now. When sitting in traffic, my car begins to overheat. I've had two different mechanics look at it - the first swapped out the radiator cap.
The second said my coolant levels were low, but he pressure tested the system and found no leaks. He recommended I check my levels before taking long trips - so this weekend, before driving 380 miles to Phoenix, I checked my levels. They were a bit low, so I topped everything off with coolant and everything was fine on the drive out.
On the drive home, however, stuck in traffic, the car began to overheat. I pulled over and checked the reservoir and it was mostly full of coolant, but I added a little more, let it sit for a while, and then made my way through the traffic and home.
Also, I tested the fan, and it comes on.
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When I purchased my truck 1999 F350 about 5 years ago, I was told it was on its third transmission since the awesome 7.3 diesel engine has 200,000 miles on it. At first I noticed that going up a hill with the truck empty would cause the tranny temp gauge to climb to 250 degrees F. Nowadays when I tow my boat or carry my camper, the temp gauge pegs over 250 and the overdrive light flashes steadily when I do any hill climbs. I have had the fluid flushed several times, and I have a large fan powered oil cooler too. I also recently noticed that the tranny heated up when the truck is just idling in place.
I just got back from burning man and during the 800 mile round trip the overdrive light started flashing at least 6 times and the temp gauge read over 210 the whole time, with it pegging over 250 during hill climbs. No fluid boiled out but I am very concerned that damage is being done.
Is it possible there is a clog in a line somehwere restricting the flow of oil? Or should I replace the tranny?
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Sitting in stopped traffic for about 45 minutes and AC slowly starts blowing warmer air. Temp about 95 and very humid. Felt like AC just freezing up, but no frost on anything when I looked under hood. Hoping freon problem. About to start looking at it this morning.
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My 2001 Malibu v-6 temp gauge is not working. I have replaced the temp sending unit and it works for a few weeks unit it goes out. What keeps killing the temp sendor?
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I have a 95 s10 4.3L V6 auto with 92k miles.
This all started when one day on my way to work the temp gauge got to 260 then quickly fell. It has not gotten that hot since then.
When I start the truck cold and start driving, the gauge climbs to about 215-230 within 10 minutes of driving. Once the gauge hits what ever is the magic mark for the day it quickly falls (10 seconds or less) to about 170-180. Sometimes it will "cycle" up again to 200 or so then fall back to 170-180. Once it is done moving around it stays low and will not move much as I am driving.
I bought an IR thermometer and measured the temperature at various points in the cooling system. The top of the thermostat housing is about 195 or 200 right after it climbs and drops. If I drive for a while around town then check it, the housing reads hotter, about 220 max.
There does not seem to be enough temperature drop across the radiator, I have measured about 15 degrees difference max between the hoses and on some days only 10 degrees difference.
I have replaced the fan clutch (was bad or going bad), the thermostat, and the radiator cap.
After none of this fixed it, I took it to a mechanic who did a "block test" at my request and said it was fine. He thought what it was doing, climbing and falling was normal.
If I run it without the radiator cap on I do not see much if any flow when I look down into the radiator.
Right now I am thinking of doing the water pump and flushing the radiator this weekend.
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I have a 2002 Monte Carlo what recently had a new radiator, thermostat, intake manifold gaskets replaced. I was spewing coolant everywhere. Since the repairs with all new OEM parts, I still get the 'Hot Coolant Temp" warning on my dash. The temp gauge is pinned at 260 but minutes later drastically drop to under half way after which it seems to balance out at slightly under half way.
I also see the 'Low Coolant" as well even though I am full. All of this occurring while driving. I checked the oil and underneath the oil cap. No frothy or milkiness. Exhaust seems ok, no white smoke. The heat inside my car when i run it seems to go from warm to cold and back again. I'm praying it's not a cracked heard or blown head gaskets.
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We have a 2005 Chevy Tahoe. Been running great. Has 140,000 miles on it 80% open road. Couple of weeks ago was highway driving and noticed the coolant temp gauge went all the way down to nothing, and then back up to normal (middle of the dial) This happened 5-6 times and each time as the temp rose back to normal, the transmission would lurch.
I took it to a mechanic who could not figure out what was wrong, but acknowledged it was running terribly. He said that was what he would try before going to a dealer. I agreed and the car instantly seemed to be running perfectly. Now a couple of weeks later, the coolant temp gauge is dropping again. It is not going all the way to nothing, and the transmission is not lurching. It goes down from half to a quarter and then back again. So something still seems to be wrong. Otherwise all seems to be well.
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On my newly purchased 2003 chevy impala i believe my starter is going out. Outside of turning the key and nothing happens how does a mechanic test or verify its the starter?
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Bought a 2003 impala recently and all has been great, but most recently there just is no power and when you press on the gas it boggs down lifters rattle and no forward thrust. check engine light starts flashing and if you find the sweet spot you can ease it up to speep. Fuel filter clogg? new pumb needed? or worse trans problems. Car has 161,000 miles
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I have a 1969 chevy c10 pickup. One of its problems is the temperature gauge was not reading. I grounded the sender wire to the engine block to deterimine if the sender was bad, and ever since the gauge reads hot all the time, even with the ignition off. Could I have fried the gauge?
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I have a 2003 Impala 3.4 with an intermittent starting issue. It starts perfectly every morning but after it is hot and I park it over 15 minutes or so it will sometimes not start. All the regular dash lights come on as normal but when the key is turned it does not even try to turn over, it is just silence, To get it started I have to hit the column shift lever upward several times and then it will kick right off with no hesitation. Sometimes I have to turn the key 10-20 times to get it started also. I had the battery, starter and alternator tested under load and they are all fine. It is not the security problem either that many impalas have. The only code I have is a PO 336 for crankshaft position sensors. Is there some kind of linkage in the column that could be worn that could cause this?
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I replaced the thermostat, flushed the radiator and have the same problem. it can idle just fine but it gets hot driving less than 15 minutes. There are no visible leaks.
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