Other fuel system problem on the 2004 Chevrolet Impala
2 fires 2 of the 16 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Chevrolet Impala report other fuel system problem at a median of 95,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles, from 10 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 20th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 50,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 165,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 117,419 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48,800 miles | 53,170 miles | 92,662 miles | 133,109 miles | 166,219 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 2 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$2,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 15 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2012, at a median of 40,000 miles, and latest on the 2000 at 120,000 miles.
By volume the 2000 carries the most reports, with 42; the 2004 has 16. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
My 2004 impala ss has had several failures of the instrument panel cluster. The first was incorrect speedometer readings that lead to total failure of the speedometer (sticking and/or erratic behavior of the speedometer needle). The second was improper fuel level indication (high level shown with low fuel light coming on - almost no fuel left). The latest is incorrect oil pressure indication. All of these are known issues with the model of stepper motor used to drive these gauges in many gm vehicles. My total cost for repair has been in excess of $300, not including the current oil pressure gauge repair (stepper motors for speedo and fuel level gauge). I plan on having all stepper motors replaced with the latest generation replacement (switec x25.168). This is something that gm needs to take responsibility for and correct as it is a very widespread issue. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 chevrolet impala. The contact smelled gasoline in the vehicle. The dealer stated that the fuel system regulator was leaking. She smelled gasoline for over a month and took the vehicle to a mechanic. She thought the failure had been repaired; however, the odor remained. The contact then took the vehicle to a general motors dealer and they made the repair. There is a safety recall on the vehicle, but the recall number was unknown. The powertrain was unknown as well. The current mileage was 60,899 and failure mileage was 50,000. *updated 12/12/07 *bf the dealer stated repaired trunk light. Updated 12/12/07 *tr
The speedometer started getting stuck about six months ago. For about eight months I have noticed that when I turn the steering wheel I hear a noise in the front of the car, like a knock or something. Also within the last couple of months I have also smelled gas when I first start the car , my husband could not see any leakage or anything until last week. It was leaking from the fuel regulator valve. Now the transmission is starting to shift hard sometimes. I haven't had the money to get it all checked out by the manufacturer but I was wondering if there have been any complaints on any of these things. Also I can hear a whistling sound when I press the accelerator. And my husband just informed me that he bought a regulator valve for it and some o rings because something is leaking antifreeze slightly. Can you help please!!!!!!!! *tr
Also reported on the 2004 Chevrolet Impala
Instrument cluster or gauge failure
Other electrical problem
No-start or intermittent start failure
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other engine problem
Other lighting problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 16 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other fuel system problem happen on the 2004 Chevrolet Impala?
Across 10 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 135,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2004 Chevrolet Impala?
16 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.2 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed