# 2017 Cruze Power Issue



## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

Greetings all, hoping you can help Me with some ideas as to what might be going on with My car.

First it is a 2017 Cruze LT sedan 1.4T Gas engine, 6sp Auto Trans. I bought the car second hand with 105k on it about 3 months ago and have not had any issues until now.

So it has suddenly begun having a very very severe reduction in acceleration, along with the engine reving to a much higher rpm before shifting up to the next gear. The check engine light is on ( no code reader and I haven't been able to get it read as yet). It will get up to speed and it runs ok at speed but if I try to accelerate from cruising speed (50, 60, 70 or 80 km/h) once there it is the same no power and takes forever.

I have seen posts about people having issues with a reduced engine power message, along with stability trac and other messages, but I am not getting any of these messages or error codes.

This has only happened now since it has become brutally cold out -24°C to -28°C daytime highs with over night lows in the -35°C range and wind chills in the -40°C to -48°C range.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts and ideas as to what could be causing this.

Thank you very much for reading, and for any ideas and thoughts
Saxon


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## 6Speed2016LT (Jun 14, 2016)

Almost seems to me like your trans is slipping..I know you are not getting any of those codes but it would be worth going to the dealer to find out. A lot of times if the check engine light is on steady it is emission related.
If it was flashing, that could be a bigger issue.


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## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

6Speed2016LT said:


> Almost seems to me like your trans is slipping..I know you are not getting any of those codes but it would be worth going to the dealer to find out. A lot of times if the check engine light is on steady it is emission related.
> If it was flashing, that could be a bigger issue.


That is a possibility but if the trans was slipping I would expect the engine to be revving up high and then the speed slowly of the vehicle slowly building up.

I didn't really explain that part well, the engine slowly builds up in rpm with the speed of the car with the throttle pedal floored even very slowly up to 1750-2000 slowly to 2250, slowly to 2500 etc up to the 3000-4000 rpm range then depending on how hard I am on the throttle pedal or if I ease back from how hard I am on it it will shift up a gear. and then repeat with the next gear and so on, and about 30+ seconds later I make it to 60 km/h.

does this sound like a slipping trans (I've never had on go on Me before)


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Sounds like it's being starved for air - my guess would be an iced up intercooler.

Anywhere you can park it indoors to thaw out? Used to happen with T/C'ed Saabs/Volvos all the time. Common with Ford Ecoboosts now.


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## jcountry (May 30, 2017)

What about a clogged catalytic converter?


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## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

jblackburn said:


> Sounds like it's being starved for air - my guess would be an iced up intercooler.
> 
> Anywhere you can park it indoors to thaw out? Used to happen with T/C'ed Saabs/Volvos all the time. Common with Ford Ecoboosts now.


Not really anywhere indoors around here that I have access to. will try to think some more on it


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## TDCruze (Sep 26, 2014)

Probably most likely cold weather related. It would help a lot if you could find a way to check to see what the code is. 

Could be a problem with water in the gas. Sensor faults. Iced up intake system piping.

If the engine can't get enough gas or air to operate properly or if it detects sensor problem, it will reduce power. It feels like there is no torque when accelerating and revs higher than usual.


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## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

jcountry said:


> What about a clogged catalytic converter?


I would think that would be a more gradual loss of power wouldn't it? 
This was like driving perfect to how it is now basically overnight when the frigid temperatures came.


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## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

TDCruze said:


> Probably most likely cold weather related. It would help a lot if you could find a way to check to see what the code is.
> 
> Could be a problem with water in the gas. Sensor faults. Iced up intake system piping.
> 
> If the engine can't get enough gas or air to operate properly or if it detects sensor problem, it will reduce power. It feels like there is no torque when accelerating and revs higher than usual.


ok will see if I can get that code read tomorrow


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## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

Thanks guys for all the help and ideas, will update when I get the code read tomorrow


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## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

Ok guys, I got the codes read today, there were 4 codes that came up, some multiple times. Here's the list.
The numbers are the order in which they came up on the code reader and ooops I missed photoing #7, Pretty sure it was the P2227 code though as I recall the P1101 only coming up once and the others being evenly distributed among the other 3 codes.

1. - P1101 - Intake Air Flow System Performance
2., 5., 10. - P0237 - Turbocharger Boost Sensor Circuit Low Voltage
3., 6., 9. - P0299 - Turbocharge Engine Underboost
4., 8. - P2227 - Barometric pressure (BARO) sensor- range/performance problem

Also, a guy slid into Me the other day and I stopped at the body shop for the estimate today. They had it in the shop for maybe 15-20 minutes, and then brought it back around front. When I got in to drive away the performance had definitely improved a bit (but not even close to normal) for about 15 minutes or so to get home, but after freezing in the ungodly cold conditions here the performance had definitely dropped back to the previous level.

Thanks again for the help
Saxon


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Saxon_0001 said:


> Ok guys, I got the codes read today, there were 4 codes that came up, some multiple times. Here's the list.
> The numbers are the order in which they came up on the code reader and ooops I missed photoing #7, Pretty sure it was the P2227 code though as I recall the P1101 only coming up once and the others being evenly distributed among the other 3 codes.
> 
> 1. - P1101 - Intake Air Flow System Performance
> ...


Did the front of it take the hit? I slightly smashed the intercooler on mine and it was quite down on power.

Frozen charge piping/throttle body/intercooler makes more sense if it improved after being inside, though.


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## Saxon_0001 (Feb 10, 2021)

No the hit was on the butt end, and it was behaving like this before I got smucked. and ya I was thinking the same thing seems to stand to logic .... supposed to be warming up over the weekend and since it didn't start happening until it got brutally cold, I'm hoping the increase in temperature will fix the issue, but still have to figure out how to fix the underlying problem as I can't have it behaving like this every time it gets freaking cold .... I mean it's Canada ... it gets cold alot lol


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Saxon_0001 said:


> No the hit was on the butt end, and it was behaving like this before I got smucked. and ya I was thinking the same thing seems to stand to logic .... supposed to be warming up over the weekend and since it didn't start happening until it got brutally cold, I'm hoping the increase in temperature will fix the issue, but still have to figure out how to fix the underlying problem as I can't have it behaving like this every time it gets freaking cold .... I mean it's Canada ... it gets cold alot lol


Theoretically, get it unfrozen, drain it/clean it/give it a good romping to blow it out, and then hopefully it won't build up condensation in there again.

The 2018/19s have different transmission programming to avoid 6th gear in below freezing temps, and Ford actually installs a guard on theirs to block off half the intercooler on their trucks. Volvo used to drill a small weep hole in theirs.


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