Thread: '08 "reduced engine power" light

welp, not the best time for that to come on for me. 10 minutes into morning commute in 20 degree weather. not even fully awake and my car went into,"DANGER WILL ROBINSON!" mode. "reduced engine power flashing on the message machine. engine light came on. some other traction control/abs warning thing flashing on the message machine, and couldnt go over 40mph.
i stopped at the next gas station that was about 5 more minutes of driving.collected my thoughts for a second and concluded i have no clue what could cause this. so went in,got some caffeine, and was gonna head back home. car fired up and was running like it typically does-perfect- except the engine light was one. so headed in the direction i was goin. no problems with my baby except the engine light now on.
then after a few hours i got back in my car and the engine light was off. hhhhmmmmm....
now to my question:
will the memory machine store a code so i can get it scanned and find out the cause or does it delete the code somehow(like my own memory-out of sight out of mind type thing) if the engine light goes off?
ok-questionS:
a little reading here looks like there could be a ground problem. other than the chassis(?) ground on the trans, are there any other grounds i should clean up?

a lot of times its the maf causing this. maybe it was frosted over?

dr smith says to scan the robot's brain. dont be a nincompoop lmao

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

dr smith says to scan the robot's brain. dont be a nincompoop lmao

i was gonna say that if ya know and say nincompoop ya HAVE to be old.
but if id know that someone that knows and says nincompoop is old then i must be old,too!
i sure as hell feel 93 some days,though.

gonna head out tomorrow and get robots brain scanned.

i watched every ep of lost in space in the 70's. dr smith was a full blown pus sy. a real ninny lol

no codes...hmmmm.....

is it still acting up? you have the scanner in hand? if its still acting up, dont turn it off after it goes into reduced power mode, scan it running. turning it off can clear the pending code.

it hasnt gonna bonkers since that morning.its been running great. went on a 200 mile road trip yesterday and not one hiccup.
unfortunately i dont have a scannin machine- had it done at autobone and also another local parts store. both had no codes.
only other problem i have i think is the crank sensor. occasionally( about once every other week) at a stoplight and no more 10-15 minutes after startup it gets that weird idle jump ive read indicates that sensor goin bad.

never heard that about a crank sensor, they just make the car stall out randomly.

alright now. 4 years later and this dam reduced engine power is happening more and more. it still occured occasionally on cold mornings shortly after strat up. 2 weeks ago it did it getting on the expressway when I got in the throttle a bit. pull over, shut it down for a minute start it up, runs fine. I cleaned the MAF ,TB, grounds, and bat terms. ran great for 400 miles then started doing it again 2 days ago. always happens when I'm getting into the gas pedal a bit.
forgot to snatch the codes. ill be back with them in a while

P1125 and P2138. I assume I'll be replacing the go pedal?

might want to check this out first, if all this checks out, the gas pedals do go bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxQ1B-kyVvw

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

might want to check this out first, if all this checks out, the gas pedals do go bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxQ1B-kyVvw

thanks for this! Ill check this out first. seems weird,though, that its only when I get into the gas. if I drive like a grandpa and not goose the gas it doesn't happen. 100 miles oof driving yesterday driving like that- not a problem.but I will definitely look at this first.

if its the wire harness or that plug, the engine moves ehrn you floor it, and will either make them wires rub or pull on them.

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

if its the wire harness or that plug, the engine moves ehrn you floor it, and will either make them wires rub or pull on them.

shewee I think ya saved me from future "WTH is wrong with my car?" threads. the hockey tape type wrap was rubbed though in one spot less than dime size but not rubbed through any wire insulation. rewrapping and new gas pedal inna bit. then onto the fun of spark plugs and wires.
98.000 on this set of plugs and wires. I think they've earned their moneys worth.

new gas pedal took care of the reduced engine power. I didn't realize a performance loss until after new plugs/wires.
FYI for anyone reading: break the upper motor mounts and pull the engine forward to get the back 3 plugs.