my mother bought a 2006 impala she had no problems with it for over a yr then all of a sudden the transmission failed.

Dropping the pan and checking out the fluid is a good idea,when you do make sure to run your hand thru it to check for metal shavings or anything else. If you find nothing bolt it back on and drop fresh fluid in and see what happens. How many miles are on it? Unless someone has been real hard on that tranny it should not have failed after 5 yrs. As for the swap if the motors are the same it should bolt up fine. Hope this helps.

I believe there is bout 130k kms on it, I'm going to do exactly wat u said by dropping the pan and checking for shavings or metal particles. I hope to find something more simple as I am not looking forward to major tranny swap. For me it is a major haha I dont have a nice warm & clean shop to work in. I have been checking up on comments about these cars and there seems to be a lot of horror stories with transmission failures. I dont think there were any strange noises or signs that the tranny was gonna break down if there was my mom would have immediately let me know. So all in all a mechanic would have done it for $3000-$4000, online trannys range from $850-$1400 and there are many willing to do business with merchandise guarantees and shipping. All seem too willing to get our hard earned $$$$.Thank you for ur advice I will post the outcomes of this.

130k is pretty low for a 5yr old car,hell i put more than that on my old 95 grand am in a year. Anyway just a shot but if you can talk to any local high school autoshop teachers they may help you out with getting the work done. Keep in mind that it may take more time than you are willing to be without the car but if you provide the parts any additional cost should be minimal. The students will do the work but the professor will check to make sure it's done correctly. Just an idea for you to think about.

I dropped the pan and there was a lot of sludge, some fine grit and really small pieces of rubber seal. The oil probably was never changed, one thing that stood out was the oil filter was hanging loosely I don't think it should hang like that. There is no way of telling if the oil filter is plugged so will replace with a new one, I am crossing my fingers an hope this was the case, Its a lot cheaper than buying another tranny....

hello can u help me again. I dropped the transmission pan and found that the oil filter is very loose. I pushed it up n it just flops down kinda hangs there the tip would be just touching the oil pan. Would this cause problems for the tranny, I also noticed that there was more bits n pieces on the top of the filter not much but very noticeable. I am waiting now for oil & a replacement filter & the part for the filter neck not sure wat its called. Thank u again for ur time n patience.

Any debris found in the pan or anywhere else for that matter is cause for concern,especially if it's very noticeable. There may be some problems with the clutch plates or the gears themselves. If this is the case then i'm sorry to say but short of a full tranny rebuild replacement is the only other option no amount of fluid or new filters will help. I suggest taking it to a reputable tranny shop and have them run a diagnostic test, they may simply tell you what i already have so be prepared for them to suggest a replacement tranny. In most cases replacing the tranny will be the cheaper and faster way to go depending on the problem with the tranny. Sorry i couldn't be of more help let me know how it goes.

John guess wat I replaced the oil filter & the stem insert, the filter fit perfect not loose like the old one so I bolted it together put fresh oil in crossed my fingers and away I went. I drove it around for 30 minutes or so, stopped put in reverse few times & hard acceleration to 80-90 kmh and so far its still running. $58 for an oil filter & oil sure beats the hell outta $850-$1400 for another transmission and a whole lotta headaches monkey wrenching. Thank you for all your comments & advise to drop the pan ect ....

grit is ok.. sludge and rubber seal is not normal. the sleeve with a rubber tip could be some of the debris. the filter actually hangs somewhat loosely. it is just a plastic tube fed into the metal sleeve.

yah I watched video of guy changing his tranny oil filter and ours was not like his I mean it was floppy loose. I'm assuming that the transmission was pumping oil to the level of the sleeve then it would be sucking air thats wen the transmission would quit altogether. As for the grit in the pan I have no idea where it came from there wasnt really too much in the pan and wat little grit that I found was on top of the oil filter not in the pan. I'm still crossing my fingers that it was only an oil filter that was improperly installed or was faulty I dunno how does the the filter work itself loose like that. I'm no transmission technician but "if" that was the problem then I saved my mom who is a pensioner as much as $3000.

Well if that fixed it then i'm glad to hear it. I hope it lasts and doesn't turn out to be just a band-aid but from the sounds of your test drive you certainly put it to the test. Happy motoring.

maybe the filter broke apart.. i've had a filter in the past disintegrate. if so.. i think you might have fixed the problem since you test drove it and operates good.

if you have any problems again make sure you buy some lucas oil, that stuff does wonders it will take a completely fried tranny and allow it to drive another 10-30 miles

Is there any other Chevy tranny's that have the same tranny as the 2006 Impala LS?

How hard is it to do the transmission in a 2006 chevy impala

John, you say "Unless someone has been real hard on that tranny it should not have failed after 5 yrs.". I purchased one of the first 2006 Impalas off the line. I baby the car, and only on rare occasion have I ran it hard. The transmission self destructed after only 3 years. It is a know fact, even GM knows, the 4T65HD 2006 SS Impala transmission was junk. They have publicly acknowledged that it was never able to handle the V8, let alone a V6. It cost me $3,200.00 to have it replaced. The new one started slipping after only a few months. Now it mostly sits in the garage. It is a love hate relationship. I've always loved Impalas and have owned several models, but the 2006 is a piece of junk, manufactured in Canada. Here is an off the top of my head list of parts that have failed, most in the first 3 years... Power steering line. Power steering pump. Passenger seat lift motor. Driver side power window motor Driver side power window gear rail 6 Disc Radio Driver side sun visor Passenger side sun visor Driver and passenger sides wheel bearings Radiator Air conditioner condenser core Driver side Heater Blend Door Actuator Passenger side Heater Blend Door Actuator (twice!) Main Heater Blend Door Actuator. Alternator. AC expansion valve. AC compressor. Power Steering linkage rod. 2 Radiator hoses. Evaporative Emission Control Vent Valve (3 Times!!!) Emissions Vapor Vent Canister (2 times!!) Remote door lock/unlock transmitter. Engine Starter. ...and that is just off the top of my head!! I LOVE this car, but, I HATE, HATE, HATE this car too!! I love everything about this car, except that it is front wheel drive. I hate that parts just fail for no reason other than they are junk!! Every other Impala I've ever had went over 200,000 miles without major repair, but the 2006 SS takes the cake. fini

I know your pain I've bought a 06 impala in 09 it's been pure hell everything possible went wrong and had to replace somethings twice! Now I have it in the shop for tranny it's been a nightmare ! But I love hate the car!!

In defense of GM, Bought a new 2007 Impala SS in 2006, drove it over 100,000 miles, traded in on a new 2011 Camaro SS. No problems or issues only did periodic maintenance and replaced tires. It was the second best car I've ever owned. The best was a 95 impala SS and primarily because of four frame real wheel drive.