2012 Chevrolet Cruze: sudden loss of power

Filed Jan 18, 2024 · Acceleration, Engine · WI

Check engine light, traction control light, tire pressure light came on. Message on dash reported reduced engine power, service stabilitrak, and car slowed to 16 no more than 20mph and would not go any higher.

Filed Aug 30, 2023 · Acceleration, Engine · 90,000 miles · PA

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at unknown speeds, the vehicle lost motive power after 45 minutes. The RPM increased, and the vehicle failed to accelerate. The driver was able to pull over. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact stated that after driving for 45 minutes, the vehicle lost power and went into LIMP Mode. The transmission had seized in fifth gear. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the speed control sensor had failed. The contact was informed that the speed valve and transmission control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

Filed Sep 15, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · MI

The cars turbo system fails. This causes a loss of power when accelerating. Pulling out into traffic or merging onto the freeway are all unsafe now as the car suddenly doesn't accelerate. This can cause crashes. I have pulled out and assumed I was at a very safe distance only to have the car not pick up as it usually does. I feel very unsafe.

Filed Apr 8, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · 104,033 miles · CA

While driving at speed the traction control light would come on engine would start to jerk and then lost power

Filed Apr 6, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · WV · crash

My son was driving down the road last week and dash flashed stabilink and he lost all power and forces him to try to pull over which he could because steering wheel locked up and brakes got hard to push. A week later stabilink flashed again and then while driving down the road he had to slam on brakes for a stopped vehicle and brakes would work and steering wheel locked up again resulting in him rear ending the vehicle.

Filed Feb 10, 2020 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 100,000 miles · MN

Driving down the interstate doing 70-80mph and the car starts dinging-stabilitrack, traction control, and reduced power all come on and the car loses power without any warning and couldn't drive faster than 5 MPH and had to get to the shoulder of the road without getting hit by other vehicles doing the same speed. This vehicle with this issue that came out of nowhere should not be driven on the road. I have had several issues with this vehicle and cel lights on but nothing that almost completely stops vehicle without warning and almost kills everyone in the car! I get they are trying to save the engine or whatever from further damage but I am pretty sure that I would like to live and not kill anyone else in the process of this so called safety precaution the vehicle takes on.

Filed Jan 29, 2020 · Transmission · 85,000 miles · MO

Daughter has complained about loss of power while on the interstate in kansas city. On this particular morning, my husband pulled out of the driveway and the car would not go out of first gear. He was able to drive it down the street to the chevrolet dealership. It was initially just diagnosed with a cracked turbo. We told them to replace it. They replaced it and then determined the transmission was burned up. The mechanic said he thought the fact that the turbo didn't work properly caused the transmission to burn out at 85,000 miles. Have had problems on and off for a year with the turbo and have always taken it in and had those issues fixed as soon as the light comes on the dash. Finally there was a recall on the turbo and we had the actuator replaced in nov. 2019 and less than a month later, the turbo cracked and the transmission failed and no light ever came on, on the dash. Had to spend $5400 to fix these issues. I'm concerned and don't understand why there isn't a complete recall on the turbos as we've read in many places that people have had problems with these turbos, leaving huge costs to consumers. Contacted chevrolet and of course, they refuse to help with any of these costs.

Filed Jan 28, 2020 · Acceleration · 93,900 miles · ID

I was driving and the reduced engine power, service stabili track, check engine warnings came on. My car would only accelerate to 5mph. Luckily I wasn't on the freeway, was only going 20 MPH and almost home. Very dangerous. I put an end code reader on it and it's a p2135 code, throttle positioning sensor. I have been reading chevy cruze forums as well as in chevy forums in the past week, a minimum of 1000 people that I can see have had this issue. Many have been in accidents because of this. Its occured in mainly chevy cruze but also impalas, gmc vehicles. I took it to the dealer and I need a new throttle body, there is no special coverage although its occured in thousands of vehicles if not 10s of thousands! It's dangerous! There is a special coverage for pedal accelerator fracture but they say mine is fine and not related to throttle body. This needs to be addressed with chevy and it should be recalled or have special coverage. Here is a readout from the mechanic.

Filed Oct 24, 2019 · Acceleration, Transmission · 129,000 miles · MI

When driving my vehicle (2012 chevy cruze) on the highway (I-75 north between auburn hills and clarkston), the check engine light appears, RPM's fluctuate and the automobile loses acceleration even though the accelerator is depressed. The dashboard cluster light (p, r, d) blinks rapidly. The vehicle could not accelerate and the engine seems to lose power. The vehicle did this multiple times as power and acceleration was lost. Upon receiving a diagnostic reading, the code indicated a transmission control system or output shaft speed sensor. I am submitting this complaint due to the unsafe deceleration of speed on the highway during rush hour traffic. The potential for a fatal accident is great. Additionally, this model seems to have an issue due to several on-line inquiries and complaints.

Filed Aug 19, 2019 · Engine, Transmission · 69,000 miles · WI

Our chevy cruze had started shifting strange while driving, losing power and it would start to idle rough, and just shut off, a day later the engine light came on and we ran a code scanner on it to find out what was wrong. 7 error codes came up and it all LED to a failed pcv valve. Two days later it was in the shop and we are now faced with a major repair cost.

Filed Apr 21, 2019 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 75,000 miles · KY

A week or so ago while driving home from work on the interstate the instrument cluster went dark and the display in the center of it completely shut off. I finished the remaining 30 mins. Of my drive without it returning to normal(lights off display remained off). I didn't have any more issues until today. This afternoon I drove to a family get together and while still in the city my instrument cluster plus my radio display started to randomly shut off then come back on after a second or two sometimes continuously for 10-20 seconds and once for around 30 seconds. Each time they went off the speakers would shut off too and I'm not sure if the turn signals worked due to the lack of a display and audio. One instance I also encountered either reduced power steering or complete loss of it for several seconds while losing power to the displays and regaining it approximately 15 times over about a 30 second timeframe. After that I got a stabilitrak message but steering was normal for the rest of the drive. However the cluster, radio display, speakers, etc. Continued to randomly turn off for a second or two then come back on. When we left the gathering within a minute of starting the car(hadn't even made it out of the driveway) everything started shutting down then coming back on just like earlier but steering wasn't effected again and no stabilitrak message on the way home either. Today the drive started in a city then was open highway for about 20 mins. And the gathering was at a house on the outskirts of a town. The loss of power to the things I mentioned above seemed to be completely random and were not effected by speed, stop and go traffic, or open highway. The one time steering was effected I was taking off at a stop light but it's hard to say if that was a factor since none of the other stops were.

Filed Feb 25, 2019 · Transmission · 123,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet cruze. While driving 50 MPH, the vehicle began swerving across the road and the contact lost complete control. The vehicle also made an abnormal animal sound, similar to a cow moo-ing. In addition, the vehicle accelerated on its own and jerked violently back and forth. The contact was able to pull the vehicle over as it lost power. The check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was towed to jimmy vasser chevrolet (583 soscol ave, napa, ca 94559, (707) 255-7600) to be diagnosed, but no failures were found. The mechanic stated that there was no failure with the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures and stated that a new transmission was needed. The manufacturer offered to pay 10% of the repair cost. The failure mileage was 123,000. The VIN was unknown.