2011 CHEVROLET IMPALA service

Black plate (14,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
13-14 Customer Information
Owner Information
Owner publications are written
specifically for owners and intended
to provide basic operational
information about the vehicle.
The Owner Manual includes the
Maintenance Schedule for
all models.
In-Portfolio: Includes a Portfolio,
Owner Manual, and Warranty
Booklet.
RETAIL SELL PRICE:
$35.00 (U.S.) plus handling and
shipping fees
Without Portfolio: Owner
Manual only.
RETAIL SELL PRICE:
$25.00 (U.S.) plus handling and
shipping fees
Current and Past Models
Technical Service Bulletins and
Manuals are available for current
and past model GM vehicles.
ORDER TOLL FREE:
1-800-551-4123 Monday - Friday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Eastern Time
For Credit Card Orders Only
(VISA-MasterCard-Discover), visit
Helm, Inc. at: www.helminc.com
Or you can write to:
Helm, Incorporated
P.O. Box 07130
Detroit, MI 48207
Prices are subject to change without
notice and without incurring
obligation. Allow ample time for
delivery.
Note to Canadian Customers: All
listed prices are quoted in U.S.
funds. Canadian residents are to
make checks payable in U.S. funds.
Reporting Safety
Defects
Reporting Safety Defects
to the United States
Government
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause
a crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately
inform the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) in addition to notifying
General Motors.
If NHTSA receives similar
complaints, it may open an
investigation, and if it finds that
a safety defect exists in a group
of vehicles, it may order a recall
and remedy campaign.
However, NHTSA cannot
become involved in individual
problems between you, your
dealer, or General Motors.

Black plate (16,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
13-16 Customer Information
Vehicle Data
Recording and
Privacy
Your GM vehicle has a number of
sophisticated computers that record
information about the vehicle’s
performance and how it is driven.
For example, your vehicle uses
computer modules to monitor and
control engine and transmission
performance, to monitor the
conditions for airbag deployment
and deploy airbags in a crash, and,
if so equipped, to provide antilock
braking to help the driver control the
vehicle. These modules may store
data to help your dealer technician
service your vehicle. Some modules
may also store data about how you
operate the vehicle, such as rate of
fuel consumption or average speed.
These modules may also retain the
owner’s personal preferences, such
as radio pre-sets, seat positions,
and temperature settings.
Event Data Recorders
This vehicle has an Event Data
Recorder (EDR). The main purpose
of an EDR is to record, in certain
crash or near crash-like situations,
such as an airbag deployment or
hitting a road obstacle, data that will
assist in understanding how a
vehicle's systems performed. The
EDR is designed to record data
related to vehicle dynamics and
safety systems for a short period of
time, typically 30 seconds or less.
The EDR in this vehicle is designed
to record such data as:
.How various systems in your
vehicle were operating
.Whether or not the driver and
passenger safety belts were
buckled/fastened
.How far, if at all, the driver was
pressing the accelerator and/or
brake pedal
.How fast the vehicle was
traveling This data can help provide a better
understanding of the circumstances
in which crashes and injuries occur.
Important:
EDR data is recorded
by your vehicle only if a non-trivial
crash situation occurs; no data is
recorded by the EDR under normal
driving conditions and no personal
data (e.g., name, gender, age, and
crash location) is recorded.
However, other parties, such as law
enforcement, could combine the
EDR data with the type of
personally identifying data routinely
acquired during a crash
investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR,
special equipment is required, and
access to the vehicle or the EDR is
needed. In addition to the vehicle
manufacturer, other parties, such as
law enforcement, that have the
special equipment, can read the
information if they have access to
the vehicle or the EDR.

Black plate (17,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-17
GM will not access this data or
share it with others except: with the
consent of the vehicle owner or,
if the vehicle is leased, with the
consent of the lessee; in response
to an official request by police or
similar government office; as part of
GM's defense of litigation through
the discovery process; or, as
required by law. Data that GM
collects or receives may also be
used for GM research needs or may
be made available to others for
research purposes, where a need is
shown and the data is not tied to a
specific vehicle or vehicle owner.
OnStar®
If your vehicle is equipped with an
active OnStar system, that system
may also record data in crash or
near crash‐like situations. The
OnStar Terms and Conditions
provides information on data
collection and use and is available
in the OnStar glove box kit, at
www.onstar.com (U.S.) orwww.onstar.ca (Canada), or by
pressing the
Qbutton and
speaking to an advisor.
Navigation System
If the vehicle has a navigation
system, use of the system may
result in the storage of destinations,
addresses, telephone numbers, and
other trip information. Refer to the
navigation system operating manual
for information on stored data and
for deletion instructions.
Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID)
RFID technology is used in some
vehicles for functions such as tire
pressure monitoring and ignition
system security, as well as in
connection with conveniences such
as key fobs for remote door locking/
unlocking and starting, and
in-vehicle transmitters for garage
door openers. RFID technology in
GM vehicles does not use or record personal information or link with any
other GM system containing
personal information.
Radio Frequency
Statement
This vehicle has systems that
operate on a radio frequency that
comply with Part 15 of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
rules and with Industry Canada
Standards RSS‐210/220/310.
Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
1. The device may not cause
interference.
2. The device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause
undesired operation of the
device.
Changes or modifications to any of
these systems by other than an
authorized service facility could void
authorization to use this equipment.

Black plate (3,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-3
Cluster, IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11
Collision Damage Repair . . . . . 13-11
Compact Spare Tire . . . . . . . . . . 10-68
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Convenience Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Convex Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
CoolantEngine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Engine TemperatureGauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Engine Temperature Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15 Engine Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-30
Courtesy Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Courtesy Transportation
Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-9
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-32 Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Cupholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Customer Assistance . . . . . . . . . . 13-5 Customer Assistance (cont.)
Text Telephone (TTY)
Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-5
Customer Assistance
Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-4
Customer Information Service PublicationsOrdering Information . . . . . . 13-13
Customer Satisfaction
Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-1
D
Damage Repair, Collision . . . . . 13-11
Danger, Warnings, andCautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Data Recorders, Event . . . . . . . 13-16
Daytime Running Lamps/
Automatic Headlamp
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Delayed Entry Lighting . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Delayed Exit Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Devices, Auxiliary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-19
Dome Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6 Door
Ajar Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Power Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Driver Information Center (DIC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Driving Characteristics andTowing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Defensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Drunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . . 9-8
If the Vehicle is Stuck . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . . 9-12
Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Driving for Better Fuel Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19

Black plate (4,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
i-4 INDEX
E
E85 Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Electrical Equipment,Add-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-47
Electrical System Engine CompartmentFuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
Fuses and Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
Overload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
Electronic Stability Control . . . . . 9-31
Electronic Stability Control Indicator Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Engine
Air Cleaner/Filter . . . . . . . . . . . 10-13
Check and Service EngineSoon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Compartment Overview . . . . . . . 10-6
Coolant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-16
Coolant Temperature
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13 Engine (cont.)
Coolant Temperature
Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Cooling System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15
Cooling System Messages . . . 5-30
Drive Belt Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-3
Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Overheated Protection Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21
Overheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-19
Power Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
Pressure Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Running While Parked . . . . . . . . 9-24
Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Engine Oil Life System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-10
Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
Entry Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Equipment, Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Event Data Recorders . . . . . . . . 13-16
Extender, Safety Belt . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
Exterior Lamp Controls . . . . . . . . . 6-2
F
Filter
Engine Air Cleaner . . . . . . . . . 10-13
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Flashers, Hazard Warning . . . . . . 6-4
Flat Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-59
Flat Tire, Changing . . . . . . . . . . . 10-61
Floor Mats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-84
Fluid Automatic Transmission . . . . .10-11
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24
Power Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21
Washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-22
Fog Lamps Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Front Fog Lamps
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
Front Seats Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Heated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7

Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-5
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
E85 (85% Ethanol) . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Filling a Portable Fuel
Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-40
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-38
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . . 9-36
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . 9-36
Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Recommended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35
Requirements, California . . . . . 9-36
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
Fuel Economy Driving for Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19
Fuses Engine Compartment
Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
Fuses and Circuit Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
Instrument Panel Fuse Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37G
Garage Door Opener . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-42
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Gauges Engine Coolant
Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-13
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Odometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Tachometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Warning Lights and Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10
General Information Service and Maintenance . . . . . 11-1
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Vehicle Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
GM Mobility Reimbursement Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-6
H
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Hazard Warning Flashers . . . . . . . 6-4
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
HeadlampsAiming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-29
Daytime Running Lamps/Automatic Headlamp
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Flash-to-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Headlamps, Front Turn
Signal, Sidemarker, and
Parking Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . 5-24
High/Low Beam Changer . . . . . . 6-3
Heated Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Heated Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Heating and Air Conditioning . . . 8-1
High-Beam On Light . . . . . . . . . . . 5-24

Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-7
Lights (cont.)Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-22
Traction Control System
(TCS) Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Locks Automatic Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Delayed Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Lockout Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Power Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH
SYSTEM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-50
Lumbar Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4M
Maintenance
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-9
Maintenance Schedule Recommended Fluids andLubricants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-6
Scheduled Maintenance . . . . . . 11-2
Malfunction Indicator Lamp . . . . 5-17
Messages Airbag System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
Anti-Theft Alarm System . . . . . . 5-34
Battery Voltage andCharging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Brake System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Door Ajar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-29
Engine Cooling System . . . . . . . 5-30
Engine Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
Engine Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-31
Fuel System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
Key and Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
Lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-32 Messages (cont.)
Ride Control System . . . . . . . . . . 5-32
Service Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-35
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-28
Vehicle Reminder . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
Washer Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-36
Mirrors
Automatic DimmingRearview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16
Convex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Heated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Manual Rearview . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15
Monitor System, Tire Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-46

Black plate (10,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2011
i-10 INDEX
Safety System Check . . . . . . . . . . 3-24
Satellite Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-8
Scheduled Maintenance . . . . . . . 11-2
Scheduling Appointments . . . . . . 13-9
SeatsAdjustment, Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Center Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Head Restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Heated Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Lumbar Adjustment, Front . . . . . 3-4
Power Adjustment, Front . . . . . . 3-4
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Reclining Seatbacks . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Securing Child Restraints . . . . . . . . 3-55, 3-57, 3-58
Security
Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-23
Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Service Accessories andModifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Doing Your Own Work . . . . . . . . 10-4
Engine Soon Light . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-17
Maintenance Records . . . . . . . . 11-9 Service (cont.)
Maintenance, General
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-1
Parts Identification Label . . . . . 12-1
Publications Ordering
Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-13
Scheduling Appointments . . . . . 13-9
Vehicle Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-34
Servicing the
Airbag-Equipped Vehicle . . . . . 3-38
Shift Lock Control Function Check, Automatic
Transmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-26
Shifting
Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Out of Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Sidemarker Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
Signals, Turn and Lane-Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Spare Tire Compact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-68
Specifications and
Capacities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2 Speedometer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12
Start Vehicle, Remote . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Starter Switch Check . . . . . . . . . 10-26
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Fluid, Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-21
Wheel Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Wheel Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
Stoplamps and Back-Up Lamps Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . 10-32
Storage
Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Storage Areas Armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Center Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Convenience Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Glove Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Sunglasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Stuck Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Sun Visors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18
Sunglass Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Sunroof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19
Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv