2003 CHEVROLET IMPALA maintenance

Fuel GageThe fuel gage, when the ignition is on, tells you about
how much fuel you have left in your tank.
The gage will ®rst indicate empty before you are out of
fuel, and you should get more fuel as soon as
possible.
Here are four situations you may experience with your
fuel gage. None of these indicate a problem with the fuel
gage.
·At the gas station, the fuel pump shuts off before
the gage reads full.
·It takes a little more or less fuel to ®ll up than the
fuel gage indicated. For example, the gage may
have indicated the tank was half full, but it actually
took a little more or less than half the tank's
capacity to ®ll the tank.
·The gage goes back to empty when you turn off the
ignition.
·The gage pointer moves while cornering, braking or
acceleration.
Message Center
The message center is located below the temperature
gage or the tachometer gage (if equipped) on the
instrument panel cluster. It gives you important safety
and maintenance facts. United States-3400 V6
Engine Cluster
United States-3800 V6
Engine Cluster
Canada-3400 V6 Engine
ClusterCanada-3800 V6 Engine
Cluster
3-40

When You Are Ready to Leave After
Parking on a Hill
1. Apply your regular brakes and hold the pedal down
while you:
·start your engine,
·shift into a gear, and
·release the parking brake.
2. Let up on the brake pedal.
3. Drive slowly until the trailer is clear of the chocks.
4. Stop and have someone pick up and store
the chocks.
Maintenance When Trailer Towing
Your vehicle will need service more often when you're
pulling a trailer. See the Maintenance Schedule for more
on this. Things that are especially important in trailer
operation are automatic transaxle ¯uid (don't over®ll),
engine oil, drive belts, cooling system and brake system.
Each of these is covered in this manual, and the
Index will help you ®nd them quickly. If you're trailering,
it's a good idea to review this information before you
start your trip.
Check periodically to see that all hitch nuts and bolts
are tight.
Engine Cooling When Trailer Towing
Your cooling system may temporarily overheat during
severe operating conditions. SeeEngine Overheating on
page 5-30.
4-40

Appearance Care............................................5-85
Cleaning the Inside of Your Vehicle.................5-85
Care of Safety Belts......................................5-88
Weatherstrips...............................................5-88
Cleaning the Outside of Your Vehicle..............5-88
Sheet Metal Damage.....................................5-90
Finish Damage.............................................5-90
Underbody Maintenance................................5-91
Chemical Paint Spotting.................................5-91
Vehicle Care/Appearance Materials..................5-91
Vehicle Identi®cation......................................5-93
Vehicle Identi®cation Number (VIN).................5-93
Service Parts Identi®cation Label.....................5-93Electrical System............................................5-94
Add-On Electrical Equipment..........................5-94
Headlamp Wiring..........................................5-94
Windshield Wiper Fuses................................5-94
Power Windows and Other Power Options.......5-95
Fuses and Circuit Breakers............................5-95
Capacities and Speci®cations........................5-103
Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts.........5-105
Section 5 Service and Appearance Care
5-2

Doing Your Own Service Work
If you want to do some of your own service work, you'll
want to use the proper service manual. It tells you
much more about how to service your vehicle than this
manual can. To order the proper service manual,
see
Service Publications Ordering Information on
page 7-11.
Your vehicle has an air bag system. Before attempting
to do your own service work, see
Servicing Your Air
Bag-Equipped Vehicle on page 1-60.
You should keep a record with all parts receipts and list
the mileage and the date of any service work you
perform. See
Part E: Maintenance Record on page 6-17.
{CAUTION:
You can be injured and your vehicle could be
damaged if you try to do service work on a
vehicle without knowing enough about it.
·Be sure you have sufficient knowledge,
experience, the proper replacement parts
and tools before you attempt any vehicle
maintenance task.
·Be sure to use the proper nuts, bolts and
other fasteners. ªEnglishº and ªmetricº
fasteners can be easily confused. If you
use the wrong fasteners, parts can later
break or fall off. You could be hurt.
Adding Equipment to the Outside of
Your Vehicle
Things you might add to the outside of your vehicle can
affect the air¯ow around it. This may cause wind
noise and affect windshield washer performance. Check
with your dealer before adding equipment to the
outside of your vehicle.
5-4

Fuel
Use of the recommended fuel is an important part of the
proper maintenance of your vehicle.
Gasoline Octane
Use regular unleaded gasoline with a posted octane
of 87 or higher. If the octane is less than 87, you may
get a heavy knocking noise when you drive. If this
occurs, use a gasoline rated at 87 octane or higher as
soon as possible. Otherwise, you might damage
your engine. A little pinging noise when you accelerate
or drive uphill is considered normal. This does not
indicate a problem exists or that a higher-octane fuel is
necessary. If you are using 87 octane or higher-octane
fuel and hear heavy knocking, your engine needs service.
Gasoline Speci®cations
It is recommended that gasoline meet speci®cations
which were developed by the American Automobile
Manufacturers Association and endorsed by the
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association for better
vehicle performance and engine protection. Gasoline
meeting these speci®cations could provide improved
driveability and emission control system performance
compared to other gasoline.
In Canada, look for the
ªAuto Makers' Choiceº
label on the pump.
Canada Only
5-5

SeeEngine Compartment Overview on page 5-12for
location of air cleaner/®lter.
1. To check or replace the engine air cleaner/®lter do
the following:
Loosen the two clips on the top of the engine air
cleaner/®lter housing and lift the ®lter cover tabs out
of the housing.
2. Push the ®lter cover housing toward the engine.
3. Pull out the ®lter.
4. Check or install a new engine air cleaner/®lter. See
Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts on
page 5-105.5. To reinstall the cover, position the tabs through the
slots on the housing. A notch on the sides of the
®lter cover will indicate the correct engagement.
Reinstall the two clips on the top of the housing
when you are ®nished.
Refer to the Maintenance Schedule to determine when
to replace the air ®lter.
See
Scheduled Maintenance on page 6-5.
{CAUTION:
Operating the engine with the air cleaner/®lter
off can cause you or others to be burned. The
air cleaner not only cleans the air, it helps to
stop ¯ame if the engine back®res. If it isn't
there and the engine back®res, you could be
burned. Don't drive with it off, and be careful
working on the engine with the air cleaner/
®lter off.
Notice:If the air cleaner/®lter is off, a back®re can
cause a damaging engine ®re. And, dirt can
easily get into your engine, which will damage it.
Always have the air cleaner/®lter in place when
you're driving.
5-23

Automatic Transaxle Fluid
When to Check and Change
A good time to check your automatic transaxle ¯uid
level is when the engine oil is changed.
Change both the ¯uid and ®lter every 50,000 miles
(83 000 km) if the vehicle is mainly driven under one or
more of these conditions:
·In heavy city traffic where the outside temperature
regularly reaches 90ÉF (32ÉC) or higher.
·In hilly or mountainous terrain.
·When doing frequent trailer towing.
·Uses such as found in taxi, police or delivery
service.
If you do not use your vehicle under any of these
conditions, change the ¯uid and ®lter at 100,000 miles
(166 000 km).
See
Scheduled Maintenance on page 6-5.
How to Check
Because this operation can be a little difficult, you may
choose to have this done at the dealership service
department.
If you do it yourself, be sure to follow all the instructions
here, or you could get a false reading on the dipstick.
Notice:Too much or too little ¯uid can damage
your transaxle. Too much can mean that some of the
¯uid could come out and fall on hot engine or
exhaust system parts, starting a ®re. Too little ¯uid
could cause the transaxle to overheat. Be sure
to get an accurate reading if you check your
transaxle ¯uid.
Wait at least 30 minutes before checking the transaxle
¯uid level if you have been driving:
·When outside temperatures are above 90ÉF (32ÉC).
·At high speed for quite a while.
·In heavy traffic ± especially in hot weather.
·While pulling a trailer.
To get the right reading, the ¯uid should be at normal
operating temperature, which is 180ÉF to 200ÉF
(82ÉC to 93ÉC).
Get the vehicle warmed up by driving about 15 miles
(24 km) when outside temperatures are above 50ÉF
(10ÉC). If it's colder than 50ÉF (10ÉC), you may have to
drive longer.
5-24

3. Check both sides of the dipstick, and read the lower
level. The ¯uid level must be in the cross-hatched
area.
4. If the ¯uid level is in the acceptable range, push the
dipstick back in all the way.
How to Add Fluid
Refer to the Maintenance Schedule to determine what
kind of transaxle ¯uid to use. SeePart D:
Recommended Fluids and Lubricants on page 6-16.
If the ¯uid level is low, add only enough of the proper
¯uid to bring the level into the cross-hatched area on
the dipstick.
1. Pull out the dipstick.
2. Using a long-neck funnel, add enough ¯uid at the
dipstick hole to bring it to the proper level.
It doesn't take much ¯uid, generally less than
one pint (0.5 L).
Don't over®ll.
Notice:
We recommend you use only ¯uid labeled
DEXRONž±III, because ¯uid with that label is
made especially for your automatic transaxle.
Damage caused by ¯uid other than DEXRON
ž±III is
not covered by your new vehicle warranty.
3. After adding ¯uid, recheck the ¯uid level as
described under ªHow to Checkº earlier in
this section.
4. When the correct ¯uid level is obtained, push the
dipstick back in all the way. 3400 (Code E) V6
Engine
3800 (Code K) V6
Engine
5-26