Pitt0502

Reduced power, check engine light has come on twice in last 8 days. Was on freeway doing 70 mph when this occurred. I drive for Lyft and Uber. I pulled off, shut engine off, restarted. Issue persisted. Dropped off rider, again shut off engine, waited 2 minutes, car ran correctly. Engine light is currently on. This is very dangerous.

Tasha Watkins

Same thing is happening to my 2012 Chevy Cruze. Randomly driving down the road and reduced engine power pops up on the screen along with service traction control and service starbalik?

Amber H.

Im experiencing the same issue. Drained a lot of $$ into repairs for it ti still be happening after a month. I seriously don't know what to do at thus point. I really need to get this reaolved because i need my car badly for work and dont know what to do... Terrifying and frustrating

Gravydog316

*Not saying this is happening with yours, but,
On mine:
If it is very cold outside, your throttle warms up, & there will be moisture,
then the valve will freeze & stick, either until you un-stick it, or it warms up enough.
This happens on my 5-cylinder 2007 Colorado, that I use in winter.
I don't know if it happens on 6-cylinder vehicles, I only know it being an issue with 5s, but maybe the 4-cylinders would get it (???)

Crystal Amber

Hi, I'm currently on the side of the road waiting for my fiancé to come rescue me. I was driving and something popped up saying "reduced engine power". And now the engine light is on. I am driving an 2015 chevy Malibu. This absolutely crazy. I was on minute away from pulling into the interstate and it happened. I couldn't imagine if I was already on there and my car went from 70mph to 18!!!!!! I've read the post from jimk and greenfield. Have either of u ever find a fix?? I'm in New Jersey and I'm bringing this to the dealership tomorrow morning. Please respond if u can. Thank u.

thrill68

I was experiencing the same thing on my 2007 Suburban, got the throttle body cleaned, "Reduced" light came back in a few weeks, found the air baffle frozen with ice from moisture, underside of oil cap had water/oil emulsion on it, looks like butterscotch pudding, garage had no idea why.

Cleaned the throttle body a few more times, topped up oil just as many times and then stumbled over a YouTube video about PCV valves and how a blocked one doesn't allow the moisture in the crankcase to escape efficiently and may create this emulsion in the crankcase, ending up on the oil cap, in the air baffle and gunking up the throttle body.

Decided to give it a try, changed the PCV valve, emulsion gone, ice gone and "Reduced" light gone! All in all, this took me about 18 mos. from start to finish, trial and errors.

Having said that, on the 2007 Suburban, the PCV valve is integrated onto the valve cover but for other vehicles where the PCV valve is on its own, it might be worth the $7 part to try it.

Not sure if this will work for anyone else, good luck and let us know if you try it and whether it worked for you.

Crystal Amber

Hello. Well I wrote on here last night and had the car power down on me and with the " reduced engine power light" and the check engine light was on. I finally was able to get the car to go above 18mph and I safely drove towards home. I stopped at the grocery store and after ten minutes when I came back out to start the car I was in shock because the check engine light was off. Almost as if this never even happened now. But I brought it into the chevy dealership this morning and told them the story. They didn't act like it was a regular thing they heard of but who knows. I have a courtesy loaner vehicle. It's a 2017 chevy equinox and it only had 20 miles on it. Hopefully all stays alright in the time I have it and the engine power reduced doesn't happen to me in this. And I also hope that they are able to correct the problem for me in our chevy Malibu. The one thing though that scares me the most is that nothing like this had ever happened before and I am always going to be scared. Ow because it seems like when it does happen, it just happens out of nowhere!!! Ughhh so so sooooo scary!!! Chevy really needs to give this a recall before someone does or gets seriously injured. Hope that everyone else on here stays safe too. Will update more on here as I find out what the next step is from the dealership. ---crystal.

greenfield3

Hi Crystal, I have not had any problems since this last post(copied below) so this seems to be what finally fixed it!


Hello there! So far, I have not had issues for a couple of months. This last time, here is what they did:
1. Built new wire harness from the throttle body to the ECM with new wires and terminals on both ends to rule out any intermittent wiring or terminal issues.
2. Replace throttle body assembly.
3. Drove 155 miles with no faults.

The dealership did not charge me for these repairs as they genuinely wanted to make things right, and they were very courteous. I am happy to say that I have had no issues for 2 months, however, we will not be driving this car on any road trips. This problem has happened so many times and at random intervals-sometimes months apart, so I don't know how to be sure it won't happen again, so I just can't risk a long trip. I hope this information helps.

Gravydog316

I think you had the same thing as i had;
just warmth & moisture & refreezing.
& it cleared up when your engine warmed up
& maybe the oil & fuel had moisture & was frozen & gummy too.
Mine would go over 25mph until about 30mins
& it was VERY cold out that day.
There isn't really a solution other than moving south

Dan Holback

I have a 2013 Malibu LT 4cyl that is giving me these same problems & driving terribly. Service Stabilitrak, Reduced Engine Power! & engine light are on. Car will barely accelerate & will NOT exceed 3,000 RPMs. Car only has 45,700 miles. 2 months ago I had the right rear wheel bearing replaced & I see that is a common problem with the Malibu too! I've only had this car 6 months & I'm extremely disappointed so far. My grandfather worked for GM for 27 years he would be shocked to see the problems in having & to read this forum. So sad.