Woosta
Platinum Member
Firstly I want to clarify that I just inherited this car around 2 days ago and have pretty much 0 knowledge of cars.
I tried to work with the person who gave me the car ( he had to fly to another country today hence why he gave it ).
2 days ago it was in good condition and we were driving around shopping and came home. The next morning we couldn't start the car, it was making some click-click type noise so we suspected it was the starter.
1. We bought a new starter specific to Chevy Impala 01's and he replaced the old starter which we suspected was the initial reason.
2. After replacing the starter, we tried to run it but it still wouldn't start and kept making the same type of noise and maybe he tried a bit too hard but all of a sudden the battery blew ( not a huge explosion but there was some noise and a side of it fell off ).
3. We proceeded to replace the battery ( some Walmart brand ) and the same result ( click click type noise and it wouldn't start up fully ).
4. He then thought maybe it's the alternator, he had a backup alternator he got from a junkyard for the exact same type of car and installed it. The car started running, however there was a blinking red message indicating something with the battery, like the alternator wasnt running but the battery was, or maybe it wasn't charged - I'm not completely sure but it was a red message with the battery icon. We thought maybe the battery needed to be charged or something along those lines - we proceeded anyway with the warning message since the car did not stop.
5. Around 2-4 hours later we went shopping and as we were on our way to the gas station the car stopped again. Since the red battery indicator kept going off, I think this is because the alternator wasn't working and it was running on battery power... so the battery ran out of power?
6. We re-replaced the junkyard alternator we initially replaced with the default alternator, and then got assistance from someone via jumpstart.
7. After the jumpstart, the car started working and the motor and all but as soon as the break was pressed, the car wanted to stop and eventually stopped in the middle of the street.
8. The lights and everything were off and smoking was coming out the back. We dragged the car to a street and parked it in someone's space which we asked permission for, and called it quits for the day
9. We came back and I bought a new alternator today, we installed it, it ran fine for awhile after a jump start and then it eventually stopped/smoke, again.
10. We installed a different fuel filter and put gas into the car, jumpstart and it ran for a bit and then shut off or something like that.
He last told me he thought it could be the converter. I'm kind of hesitating to buy a new one since I've already gone and bought a couple parts now.
Can anyone give some insight? Sorry for the long post but hopefully it should be useful for a car guru in terms of seeing what's wrong with it.
The car, again is a Chevrolet Impala 2001 LS 3.8 Liter.
I tried to work with the person who gave me the car ( he had to fly to another country today hence why he gave it ).
2 days ago it was in good condition and we were driving around shopping and came home. The next morning we couldn't start the car, it was making some click-click type noise so we suspected it was the starter.
1. We bought a new starter specific to Chevy Impala 01's and he replaced the old starter which we suspected was the initial reason.
2. After replacing the starter, we tried to run it but it still wouldn't start and kept making the same type of noise and maybe he tried a bit too hard but all of a sudden the battery blew ( not a huge explosion but there was some noise and a side of it fell off ).
3. We proceeded to replace the battery ( some Walmart brand ) and the same result ( click click type noise and it wouldn't start up fully ).
4. He then thought maybe it's the alternator, he had a backup alternator he got from a junkyard for the exact same type of car and installed it. The car started running, however there was a blinking red message indicating something with the battery, like the alternator wasnt running but the battery was, or maybe it wasn't charged - I'm not completely sure but it was a red message with the battery icon. We thought maybe the battery needed to be charged or something along those lines - we proceeded anyway with the warning message since the car did not stop.
5. Around 2-4 hours later we went shopping and as we were on our way to the gas station the car stopped again. Since the red battery indicator kept going off, I think this is because the alternator wasn't working and it was running on battery power... so the battery ran out of power?
6. We re-replaced the junkyard alternator we initially replaced with the default alternator, and then got assistance from someone via jumpstart.
7. After the jumpstart, the car started working and the motor and all but as soon as the break was pressed, the car wanted to stop and eventually stopped in the middle of the street.
8. The lights and everything were off and smoking was coming out the back. We dragged the car to a street and parked it in someone's space which we asked permission for, and called it quits for the day
9. We came back and I bought a new alternator today, we installed it, it ran fine for awhile after a jump start and then it eventually stopped/smoke, again.
10. We installed a different fuel filter and put gas into the car, jumpstart and it ran for a bit and then shut off or something like that.
He last told me he thought it could be the converter. I'm kind of hesitating to buy a new one since I've already gone and bought a couple parts now.
Can anyone give some insight? Sorry for the long post but hopefully it should be useful for a car guru in terms of seeing what's wrong with it.
The car, again is a Chevrolet Impala 2001 LS 3.8 Liter.
