tony505

Hello everyone,
I'm a 20 year old college senior and I bought a 2002 Chevrolet Impala base sedan 3.4l v6 last year, and up until recently it has been a good car. I have been having problems starting the vehicle. Last week I went out and used my car for a couple of hours took it home and parked it for a while. Later I needed to go to the grocery store, went to start my car but nothing. I turned the key to start it but it did not do anything not even crank. None of my inside lights were working, my doors do not lock, windows don't roll down, and radio does not work at all. With the key in the ON position the following lights turn on and go through a cycle of: Security, Low Fuel, Service Vehicle Soon, and the little check engine light remains lit. I tried starting it several times without success, even tried giving it a boost to make sure it wasn't the battery. I read online about people having problems with the "Passlock System" on the vehicle where it will sometimes not let the car start for 10-15 minutes. However, none of them had the same symptoms as mine (the radio not working etc.) and mine did not start after leaving for 15 minutes. Upset I had to get a ride to the store, and didn't bother trying to start my car again until the next morning. The next morning I got up and tried to start my car and boom starts right up no problem. Thinking it was the "Passlock" I took it to Walmart, got some things and tried starting my car to leave but again nothing worked. About 2 hours later I returned to my car, and it started. Sometimes when it does this and I do get it started, the odometer and gauges do not work. So I'm really confused. I took it to a local mechanic to have my battery, alternator, and starter checked everything is perfect. I told them about the Service Vehicle Soon light, so they got out the diagnostics scanner, but no codes came up at all. I also had all of my relays and fuses checked, and they seemed to be fine. Also while at the mechanic, it started every single time they tried it. I have been having this problem for about a week or longer. I'm beginning to get a bit frustrated with this vehicle, it is not very cool to be stuck in the University's parking lot after a long day or running late or missing classes due to a faulty vehicle. Being a full time student I'm on a tight budget, otherwise I would have gotten rid of this car already. Does anyone have any ideas about what can be causing this problem or any other suggestions?

Also it seems to be doing it when it is really hot out and when the temp goes up to 90 or more is when I have the problem. I don't have enough evidence to conclude that the hot weather would have anything to do with it though.

milwaukee_01impala

sounds to me like its the BCM going bad. there have been many cases of this with the impalas. you have to get a brand new BCM, and then have a dealer program it to your vehicle. the BCM and PCM communicate with each other and the BCM needs to be programmed with a techII with your vehicles vin # to match the PCM.