# Engine Power Reduced!



## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

2011 Cruze LS with close to 55,000 on the odometer. While letting the car warm up to melts sheets of ice from the windshield as well as the rear window, the car was idling and started as normal. Temperature was about 17F outside. Well I went inside and came back out while it was still running, only to find the that the car was idling very harsh and the DIC was displaying "Engine Power Refuced!" Along with service stabilitrack and also service traction control. The MIL was also set. No scan tool to pull codes. after a few key on and offs, the MIL was extinguished. No Messages present anymore and engine power restored on first key off and then on. I'm going to assume this is related to the battery ground cable TSB. The only thing Ive ever had was the service traction control flicker on briefly during starting, never had It display itself statically like it did along with those other messages while running. Is that what this is?


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## Green (May 14, 2014)

It _may_ be the cable problem but the reduced power message seems to be rather common for various GM vehicles and for various reasons from what I've seen. Throttle body issues and pretty common and replacements a fix (I have heard clening, the proper way may take care of problem also) , and have seen mention of other things corrected.


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## JerTM (Dec 12, 2014)

It I most likely Throttle body related. Cleaning may help if there is buildup, but it's more likely that it's a throttle correlation code which would be replacement of the TB. Get the dtcs and let us know.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

X3 on the TB.

Replacement probably fixes nothing, the issue seems to be related to the throttle getting frozen, related more to environmental conditions than throttle body defects. Note I said probably... I have not successfully diagnosed this condition and it hasn't happened to my Cruze.

The exact same thing happened to our BMW. Started it and let it sit for a few minutes to warm up for the wife, she came back in and reported the same issues. Dealer replaced the throttle body but I doubt it was necessary.

Cars no longer use heated throttle bodies. They used to have coolant running through them to keep from freezing. It would seem cost cutting has taken its toll.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

If this happens, I would disconnect the negative battery cable for ~5 min and then start it again. Hopefully any underhood heat will melt the TB and things will be back to normal.


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## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

Why is there a coolant line being ran to the throttle body of the 1.8 cruze? I thought it did make
use of some type of heating because of that. I also know for sure it has coolant running to it because during a warranty thermostat service, they accidentally broke the line and the service advisor informed me that they replaced it also. It only happened just once. I'm curious as to if its an overall electrical issue again related to the negative battery cable. I just don't see the chances of 3 systems going "bad" at once at idle.


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## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

And if it is the TPS or throttle body, am I going to be hit by some wild crappy excuse that somehow the throttle isn't a part of the power train lol? Because this should be warranty of it is. Even though the check engine is gone, I'll still have them pull the code.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Ah, I didn't know the 1.8 had a coolant line to the TB! Good to know!

On initial startup this could still be an issue with a heated TB. Several 1.4T owners have had this issue even with a warm engine, which should never happen with a heated TB.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

I would think the TB would be covered under the powertrain warranty as it is part of the cooling system. On the 1.4T it isn't covered from what I've read.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

Snappa said:


> I just don't see the chances of 3 systems going "bad" at once at idle.


3 systems didn't fail, more than likely one thing triggered all the other errors as well(even seemingly unrelated systems). My car had a major engine issue early in its life, error message on the DIC said to service stabilitrak! Yes you read that right an internal engine issue the error message was for an unrelated system.


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## cody6989 (Jan 24, 2015)

Buy some sea foam and spray some in the tb and clean with a toothbrush. Make sure you put screwdriver in to hold open door and get some in there. Also spray some down the hose. It may take a few times to start but it fixed my problem.


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## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

Well 24 hours later, it has done it again. What a joke! This time 25F out. I don't get why the throttle isn't covered in the 1.4 warranty. Wow that sucks.


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## cody6989 (Jan 24, 2015)

Snappa said:


> Well 24 hours later, it has done it again. What a joke! This time 25F out. I don't get why the throttle isn't covered in the 1.4 warranty. Wow that sucks.



The TB is about $140 probably $100-150 for someone to install it. Would just get it replaced if you cant clean it.


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## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

cody6989 said:


> Buy some sea foam and spray some in the tb and clean with a toothbrush. Make sure you put screwdriver in to hold open door and get some in there. Also spray some down the hose. It may take a few times to start but it fixed my problem.


What was yours doing?


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## cody6989 (Jan 24, 2015)

Snappa said:


> What was yours doing?


I have mine tuned. But was driving down the road and the car shut down stabili trak / reduced power had to pull off road i reset tune and got it home. Disconnected battery, cleaned TB, Redownloaded tune car seems to be running better.


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## Blue Angel (Feb 18, 2011)

Snappa said:


> I don't get why the throttle isn't covered in the 1.4 warranty. Wow that sucks.


I'm assuming they feel justified not covering it because it is no longer a component that touches oil or coolant. I don't agree with that, but hey, they're not out to please me, right? I'm just the customer...


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## Snappa (Mar 31, 2013)

This will be the last time I purchase any vehicle without the main driving force being the warranty. I don't give a crap if it's pushing 300hp and cost less than something with considerably less power. Warranty will be is best selling feature. Im Sick of shelling out 100s just like that on a car in still paying on and also car insurance just because everything that goes wrong on it isn't covered by warrabty. It's ridiculous. An absolute joke.


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## cody6989 (Jan 24, 2015)

Snappa said:


> This will be the last time I purchase any vehicle without the main driving force being the warranty. I don't give a crap if it's pushing 300hp and cost less than something with considerably less power. Warranty will be is best selling feature. Im Sick of shelling out 100s just like that on a car in still paying on and also car insurance just because everything that goes wrong on it isn't covered by warrabty. It's ridiculous. An absolute joke.


Im with ya on this one chevys warranty is horrible compared to others.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

cody6989 said:


> Im with ya on this one chevys warranty is horrible compared to others.


I hope your being sarcastic.... Toyota, Honda, Ford all have only 5 year 60K warranties on their cars, GM & Chrysler both come with 5 year 100K. Sure hyundai and Kia have 10 year/100K, but from what I have read they will make your life miserable if your car requires any expensive repair. Some real horror stories about people being stuck with cars that need an engine & they won't stand behind their products.


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## cody6989 (Jan 24, 2015)

spacedout said:


> I hope your being sarcastic.... Toyota, Honda, Ford all have only 5 year 60K warranties on their cars, GM & Chrysler both come with 5 year 100K. Sure hyundai and Kia have 10 year/100K, but from what I have read they will make your life miserable if your car requires any expensive repair. Some real horror stories about people being stuck with cars that need an engine & they won't stand behind their products.


Chevy factory is 3 years 36k miles mine wore off after 2 years of owning car. Had 6 problems with car after 3 months Chevy couldn't fix it. I have had new transmission, starter,3 radios, fuel pump. For starter and transmission it took three week to fix wouldn't pay for rental about 2 weeks for fuel pump. I have owned Toyota and kias and Hondas never had any issues with warranty but Chevy bad experience
I probably need new throttle body but Chevy won't fix.


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## spacedout (Dec 7, 2010)

cody6989 said:


> Chevy factory is 3 years 36k miles mine wore off after 2 years of owning car. Had 6 problems with car after 3 months Chevy couldn't fix it. I have had new transmission, starter,3 radios, fuel pump. For starter and transmission it took three week to fix wouldn't pay for rental about 2 weeks for fuel pump. I have owned Toyota and kias and Hondas never had any issues with warranty but Chevy bad experience
> I probably need new throttle body but Chevy won't fix.


You do realize that toyota, honda, Ford all only have a 3 year/36K bumper to bumper warranty matching GM right? their powertrain warranty however is 40K less than GM(60K vs 100K). 

Kia does have a 5 year/60K B2B, besides their 10year/100K powertrain but again read the horror storys about how they deny tons of warranty claims. Their warranty only looks good on paper & helps them sell cars.


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## cody6989 (Jan 24, 2015)

spacedout said:


> You do realize that toyota, honda, Ford all only have a 3 year/36K bumper to bumper warranty matching GM right? their powertrain warranty however is 40K less than GM(60K vs 100K).
> 
> Kia does have a 5 year/60K B2B, besides their 10year/100K powertrain but again read the horror storys about how they deny tons of warranty claims. Their warranty only looks good on paper & helps them sell cars.


Well I think it depends on service center I just bought a new KIA so far seems good but no problems with the car even have extra care where I don't have to pay for tires or brakes for first pair all maintenance is taken care of even wear and tear


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Snappa said:


> 2011 Cruze LS with close to 55,000 on the odometer. While letting the car warm up to melts sheets of ice from the windshield as well as the rear window, the car was idling and started as normal. Temperature was about 17F outside. Well I went inside and came back out while it was still running, only to find the that the car was idling very harsh and the DIC was displaying "Engine Power Refuced!" Along with service stabilitrack and also service traction control. The MIL was also set. No scan tool to pull codes. after a few key on and offs, the MIL was extinguished. No Messages present anymore and engine power restored on first key off and then on. I'm going to assume this is related to the battery ground cable TSB. The only thing Ive ever had was the service traction control flicker on briefly during starting, never had It display itself statically like it did along with those other messages while running. Is that what this is?


Hey Snappa,

We do apologize for this, and we would be happy to look into this further for you. Please feel free to send us a private message along with your VIN, current mileage, contact information and a preferred dealership. We look forward to your response. 

Patsy G
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## miss.ali.j (Feb 10, 2015)

I just had this same problem. Threw the P2135 code, cleaned the TB and it actually helped for a bit, but ended up needing to replace the TB anyways 3 days ago. Most annoying thing ever is the car going into limp mode every few minutes. I kept my scanner hooked up and just kept clearing the code while I waited the few days for the part to come in.


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Idle control problems go away simply by stepping on the gas pedal, also have that rheostat at the base of the gas pedal that can get wet from salt.

Just looking at your negative battery cable for lack of a gap in it and the ability to twist that terminal when it should be tight tells you, you have a negative terminal problem. Spotted this on day 2 with my new 2102, removed it, and filed some of the metal off so it can be clamped on tight. Also cleaned all the terminals with a battery tool and added silicone grease to help retard corrosion.

What I haven't figured out yet, is how to rev the engine with this crazy throttle by wire thingy when under the hood with my ears close to detect any noises. Like I have been doing for the last 60 years. What I have learned is to say, the heck with it.


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