Impala - Chevrolet :: 2007 - Speedometer Started Fluctuating Widely - Pedal Position Sensor Not Working?
Jan 6, 2014
My 2007 Chevy Impala has developed a brand new problem today. Driving down the block to the store, the speedometer started fluctuating wildly. I was going a consistent speed of about 10 mph in my parking lot and when I braked to a stop the speedometer started swinging all over the place, from 10 to 35 mph. It then gave me a message on the dash saying "Speed Limited to 107 MPH" and somehow killed my accelerator because the gas pedal no longer did anything. I restarted the car and the accelerator worked again for a bit and then pulled the same problem again. The speedometer is now fluctuating wildly the entire time I drive, including while stopped, but so far the message seems to have kicked on and disabled my accelerator only when slowing to a stop and accelerating out of a stop (it happened three times).
I know that the Impala's governor is set to 107 mph so I can guess why that message exists, but I wouldn't think a governor would actually kill the car even if it kicked in at the right speed.
It wasn't that long ago that we had to have our pedal position sensor resynchronized and the mechanic had mentioned that it was possible the sensor was going bad, but I don't think that would be the problem here as it seems like the car would actually have been accelerating sporadically, whereas in my case just the speedometer is swinging around despite an even speed.
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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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My 2007 Chevy Impala with the 6-cyl engine is, overall, a nice car. One thing I just do not like about it, though, is the electronic throttle. There is a quite annoying lag between acceleration on the gas pedal and response from the car It isn't just my car, all the Impalas and other cars I test drove when shopping for the car are the same way. Even the 2007 Buick with the last year of the 3.8 L engine had a touch of lag time compared to the 1987 Olds Cierra I had with its 3.8 L engine and mechanical throttle. I'm no lead foot but when I want acceleration I want it now and not later. Guess I got spoiled from 20 years driving the '87 with its giddy up and go.
When making left turns without a traffic light, I have to allow a much wider open slot in oncoming traffic than I ever did since driving the 1973 Toyota Corolla with its four weak hamsters under the hood. I'm not the only person I've heard gripe about electronic throttle. I have to wonder what about drive by wire is superior to mechanical throttle if it slows down the throttle response so noticably???
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I own Sta Fe 2014 DM CRDi 2.2L diesel engine automatic transmission. Recently I am encountering a problem on my unit, firstly the ABS, ESC, and Hill descent alarm indicator shows on my dash brought it to Hyundai and they replace wheel hub assembly on the rear right wheel. after a week it goes lit again but doesn't stays long it disappear right now it happens from time to time only. Secondly my cruise control wont engage the light stays on but could not keep the speed, Ive check the brake lights they are not busted. The service technician doesn't now what to do and no error code showing on the computer. Last is during start up transmission on neutral or park position the speedometer fluctuates then warning light on ABS, ESC appears.
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Got a 2004 Chevy Impala with 99K miles. Speedometer seems to be acting sporadically often. Sometimes, it will shift 10 or 20 mph "faster" than actual speed then, sometimes, it goes to the "maximum" speed on the dial and just stays there with the car on or off. Then a few days later, starts working normal again.
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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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Yesterday the Check Engine light came on, the code was P1121 Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor Error, Performance/Range. I have not yet had the pedal replaced related to the recall (bad me), is the sensor incorporated in the new assembly or is this separate and I'll need to replace it?
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The Check engine light on my 2006 Prius came on and I used my OBD reader to determine the code was P1121 - "Accelerator pedal position (APP) sensor - range/performance problem". I cleared the code to see if it would register again and a few weeks later same code showed up, but after driving it awhile the check engine light went out with out me clearing it and it remains off. The car drives normally with no other problems and when I monitor the APP sensor output I don't see anything particularly unusual. I can spend the $300 to have a new pedal installed, but I'm not sure there's problem especially if Toyota's design allows for a non-catastrophic failure mode.
My question is how does Toyota's engine control module manage a failure of the APP sensor? Is there a fail safe backup or is there potential for loss of throttle control like we heard about years ago in the news?
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I have a 2003 Chevy Impala LS with 120,000 miles, equipped with sentinel lighting. Recently, the instrument cluster lights along with the lighted controls on the door panels and steering wheel stopped working leaving me unable to see the speedometer while driving at night. All controls seem work properly. I did some internet research and it appears there are several causes and/or fixes out there. I would like to have one or two more probable approaches than just throw money and time at a trial and error approach.
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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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I just installed a replacement Hazard Switch because the directional "blinker" light stopped working (after only working sporadically for a while). This particular switch is probably made in China. Hazards now working normally (with a blink rate of a little better than 1 Hz .. just like it used to work). Directional "blinker" lights - however - are also working, but at a very fast rate: probably 3+Hz. Why this might be? I'm pretty sure the directionals and the Hazards blinked at the same rate with the original switch. Maybe a side-effect of a cheap Chinese switch? I did check both tail lights and they're working for both Directionals and Hazards, but can't get over the difference in flash rate between the two. Doesn't give me a good feeling that this switch will last.
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When I press on gas petal the car hesitates and seems like it is having trouble accelerating. It also does this when I accelerate up a hill actually it is worse. The mechanic changed by spark plugs and coil pack and it is still doing it. What could be the problem.
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I have a 2003 Impala LS with around 114,000 miles. I noticed today that the control switch that turns on the AC or heat is not fully working right. My switch has 5 levels, and on levels 1 and 2 nothing happens. But when I switch to levels 3-4 or 5 it works just fine.
My question is is fixing this going to involve removing the entire dash from the car? My guess it's a contact issue, and figure it might be pricy to get repaired.
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My remote controls just stop working. 2006 Chevrolet Impala LTZ .
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I inherited this car from my parents a couple years ago with about 80,000 miles. It ran great for awhile, then the air conditioner and the gauges would quit working while driving. After a few minutes they would resume working and everything would go back to normal. Now it will start sometimes and will not start at other times. I have replaced the battery two times and it seemed to work for a short period. I have had several mechanics look at it. After checking the code and replacing a fuse or sensor and replacing the ignition switch the car is still doing the same thing and no one has a clue what is going on. It seems to me that it may happen more often when going over a bump. What could be causing this?
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I have a 97 Chrysler Cirrus, and have been driving it for about 5 months. The other day, as I was driving, the speedometer stopped working. It did that one time before, but started back working. However, this time, it still is not working and I have no idea how fast/slow I am going. Often, my car has little glitches where you have to lock/unlock the door a certain way or it does not work right. Everybody jokes that my car has OCD! Also, once you crank the car, you have to turn the key back halfway or certain things don't work- like the clock, wipers, turn signals, etc. I don't know if this is related to the speedometer situation or not. The last time the speedometer stopped working, I had the AC on and a cassette tape in the deck; I was trying to hit the rewind button, but kind of accidentally pushed between fast-forward and rewind, and that is when the speedometer stopped working. I am not sure this is related. Do you know if my car has a sensor or a cable for the speedometer? Is this something that can be easily and inexpensively fixed?
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Speedometer Going Crazy. 2002 Excursion, 5.4, Auto Transmission, 246800 miles. Put key in ignition and immediately noticed no odometer display. Put it in drive, Odometer began to register but SPEEDOMETER fluctuated wildly. Reading the posts as best as I could, I replaced the VSS sensor on Rear Diff, and no change in symptoms. I don't want to replace sensors just to replace them.
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My husband checked my oil and the dipstick was bone dry. I took it to the dealership; they immediately gave me a loaner car, and fortunately I still have 2 months left on the GM engine/power train warranty. The last oil change was only 4,000 miles ago. My questions: Why didn't any warning lights go on? Why does the indicator show that there is 32% oil remaining? Where did the oil go? The dealership is open only for 1/2 day (Saturday) and I may not get an answer from them until Monday.
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I've got a 1982 automatic chevy 454 engine with only 46,000 miles on it (in my Winnebago RV). It runs just fine except each time I step on the gas pedal from a stopped position for an instant it sounds like the engine is about to die and then it starts going. Is this a major engine problem or something that requires minor adjustments? I want to sell the RV. If it's going to cost a lot to fix, I'd rather lower the price of the rig.
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I was driving home tonight and stopped to get dog food. Resuming my drive home I had gone about 3 miles and my ABS light came on, the tachometer began fluctuation and the speed odometer went to zero. And the engine was losing power. Pulled over turned the lights off and turned the car off. Waited about 30 seconds and turned the car back on and everything was fine and car ran absolutely normal with no warning lights. I was about 26 degrees out.
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I have a 1999 Ford Explorer Sport. In the past month, I have experienced on a number of occasions a sudden fluctuation in the speedometer. At the same time, the ABS light will come on and the engine becomes loaded. This will last for a second and then return to normal. The interval between occurrences is not fixed or repeatable but often occurs when traveling at a higher speed (65-70 mph) on the interstate. The first garage said it might be the idle valve so we had it replaced but the problem appeared again a few days later. We just recently took it to a Ford dealership that said it might be the rear wheel ABS sensor so we had this replaced. Once again the problem reappeared a few days later.
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