Reduced engine power message. This message came up after have car at mechanics for a repair on actuator. We took back to mechanic and he cleared message however message has appeared after a week of driving car less than 10 miles per day. Mechanic said possible fix resulting in another $300 repair. The message came up while doing local driving around town less than 5 miles before it will appear
2008 Chevrolet Impala engine complaints
Page 3 of 6: complaints 41 to 70 of 160, newest first, as owners wrote them.
(reduced engine power) my 2008 chevy impala randomly shows down after the dash reads reduced engine power. I am lucky to be alive I was doing about 60 on the expressway and the car speed just dropped to 20mph I had to swerve because the car behind could not slow down in time. My two year old was in the car and I hear that gm cars have this problem all the time. This is ridiculously dangerous someone has to do something about it. The gm dealership has no ideal how to fix this.
Hello, only had my car 2 years and nothing but problems..my biggest concern is this light that's keeps coming on and says "engine power reduced" and kicks my cars down between 20 and 40 miles per hour..huge safety issue to me. I was driving with my 3 children on the highways when out of nowhere my car reduced to 20 miles on the highway!!! I was scared as well as my children and had to exit the highway as safely as possible. Now I have done some investigation about this and see many people are having the same issues how horrible. Why is there not a recall for this? My life and my children's lives are a factor and it's terrifying that nothing is getting done about this but is known by the makers of this vehicle..please I would like some answers and something done about this. I am a nurse out here saving lives everyday and I can't just afford to keep trying to fix a problem with a car that nobody has a real answer on why it's doing this. I have no option to still drive this vehicle as well as many other hard working people who have spent their hard working money on these vehicles and company. Thank you for your time and consideration with this matter.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While driving 65 MPH, the engine power reduced and the engine light warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle independently decelerated to 10 MPH and failed to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the throttle body control module needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 140,000.
While I was driving my car, about to accelerate, all of a sudden, a "service traction control" message came on and seconds after that, there was a "engine power is reduced" message. At this point there was some hesitation in the vehicle. I pulled over and shut the car off. When I turned the car on, after 2 minutes, I received the same message. I took the vehicle to my mechanic, and he couldn't find anything wrong with it. I called my locale gm dealer and for a "nominal" charge, they would take a look at it. Since then, I have researched it on line, and have found that there have been numerous complaints about the same issue. It is a shame that gm has done nothing to fix this. I'm glad I was not on the highway when this happened, as the loss of speed and lack of acceleration could have caused an accident.
Traction control needs service message displayed, then throttle disabled message displayed shutting the engine off going down the road. So therefor no power steering, brakes etc . Once pulled onto shoulder car would not crank. Had to wait five minutes until the gauges flickered and then car was able to be restarted. This is highly dangerous if not where to pull off or being followed closely. Not to mention not power steering assist or brake assist. This could very easily cause a crash and there for should be a recall issued before people are injured or killed by this!
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While driving at approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the starting throttle disabled warning message illuminated. The vehicle restarted and resumed normal operation. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 166,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While driving 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the warning indicators illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle did not restart. The dealer was contacted, but the vehicle was not diagnosed. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 77,120.
I was driving down the street and out of nowhere the engine light came on and said engine reduced power. The car seemed to slow down and not have power. If I came to a stop and began to drive again, the car barely accelerated and the transmission jerked every single time it shifted. I had every car going around me down the busy street, because the car would barely go. I was worried I wouldn't even make it home and that the transmission was going to have serious problems along with the engine as it jerked roughly with every gear change. This is something that needs to be recalled immediately! It couldn't have happened at a worse time, as I just purchased this car a few weeks ago, have my first child on the way, and just got a house.
I started my car and the RPM's went to 0. Message stated "service traction control" and engine power reduced". When I looked up information online I noticed many people had the same problem with chevy/gm cars.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle decelerated as the traction control and engine speed reduced warning lights illuminated. As a result, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 118,000.
I have had this reduced engine power/service traction control message before with this car. A few years ago I had it cut off on me in the middle of a side street. Thankfully it wasn't a busy street. But I've never felt threatened until this morning. I came to an intersection of a busy highway when I got the message. I needed to cross over to the other side. As I began to cross I was in the cross-hairs of a trash truck on one side and a car on the other. I tried to floor it but my car didn't respond as normal. It truly was reduced! Thankfully all the other vehicles performed as they should.
Driving down the highway and the engine slows down , then the reduced speed light comes on. The engine power is very slow almost got rear ended. I have read on line that this has happened alot to this particular vehicle, why hasn't chevy recalled any yet . This should be a safety hazard.
Was driving down the road and out of no where my car flashed a message that said service traction control and then engine power reduced and my car came to an almost complete stop. It would not accelerate at all. This has happened many times now and have caused very dangerous situations while going down the road. The problem will go away after the car has been turned off for a few hours but it will do it again out of no where I have tried to have this fixed multiple times ad there is no fix! It is very dangerous and there should be a recall before someone is killed!
The reduced power light came on while I was driving. I checked online and it seems like a lot of people are having this problem. It is a major concern because it will slow your vehicle down if your going at high speeds.
"reduced engine power" message is displayed and the car slowed to about 20 MPH. Had this been the highway we could have had a serious accident. According to various blogs on the internet gm is ignoring this life threatening defect. I would pay for a fix but there doesn't seem to be one at this time. I will give a chevy dealer a chance to make it right but am not holding my breath.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled and the engine losing power warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 90,000. The VIN was not available.
The service traction control light comes on and the engine power reduced message appears. The entire car shuts down and you can not accelerate. I was on the freeway and could have been hit from behind. I immediately put on my hazard lights and pulled off to the side of the road. This was the first time, happened again this month(march). Taking to chevy dealer for a diagnosis.
While driving my car the speed reduced itself from 40mph to 5 MPH and the check engine light came on along with reduced engine power across my dashboard. The car started shaking and jerking. It then shut off while I was driving it. I had it towed the next day to the repair shop and they said a sensor was bad in the gas pedal and replaced the whole pedal. 4 days later it did the same thing. Again it started shaking and jerking then shut itself off. I took it back to the repair shop but by the time they could read the codes the car had been shut off long enough that they couldn't find anything. They cleaned the throttle body and gave it back. The next day it did the same thing. I again took it back and did not shut it off til they read the codes. It read the throttle body was bad. They replaced it and gave the car back. 30 miles later, it started all over again. I have spoke to general motors and they refuse to do anything about this issue even though there are several forums on the web with impalas dating back to 2005 having this same issue. This is going to cause an accident and hurt/kill people if its not addressed soon.
I let me 2008 chevy impala warm up as the windchill is around -35 degrees below zero. I started out of the parking lot, when all of a sudden my message display said "reducing engine speed", then it said "service disabled, disabled service throttle". Then the veh came to a complete stop and left me stranded in the middle of a parking lot! There are no towers available at all till tomorrow morning either. Tried jumping starting the vehicle - but to no avail. Called a chevy dealer and they had no idea what was happening with it.
Vehicle out of the blue says "reducing engine speed" and then car slows down and can not speed up in traffic cars about to run over me wonder will this happen on the highway?
Letter from constituent who experienced problems with her 2008 impala, seeking reimbursement for the repairs she believes were all part of a recall. *smd the consumer stated on april 1, 2014, she had just exited the interstate highway, when suddenly the engine shut off. The vehicle would not re-start and a message appeared on the dash that read throttle control system. The vehicle was towed to a service station. The throttle body was replaced. On april 19, 2014. The check engine light illuminated as she was driving. She pulled into a parking lot, and turned off the engine. The vehicle did not re-start, once again, the vehicle had to be towed. The power train control module had to be replaced and the computer was re-programmed.
Vehicle was leaking oil for the past several months and upon inspection by local repair shop on january 15, 2015, two different visible leaks were found as a result of normal wear and tear after only approx. 73,000 miles. The repair shop indicated that inferior gaskets/seals in the 1) engines intake manifold gasket and 2) the rack and pinion system caused premature leaks to occur in the models. Repair costs are estimated at approx. $2,000.
I was going 65 MPH on the freeway and out of nowhere my engine went into power reduce mode without warning and I almost got rear ended bad with my child in the car with me. I did get tapped from behind but really nothing major but it could have been worse thank god I was able to walk away from that. Mind you I just picked my car up that friday from the chevrolet dealership they changed the throttle body and still the same problem. Now this is the second time I picked my car up from the chevrolet dealership for the same problem. The first time they tried to tell me it was the battery. This is a very dangerous issue I'm having and it shouldn't be taken lightly. It seems that many people are having the same problem and innocent peoples lives are getting put in danger for no reason..... Please help.....thank you
I have had the ignition switch repaired under the recall thinking this might help the problem. I will be driving down the road when the steering will lock up and the car slows and cuts off. I have had several near miss accidents with other cars and am literally afraid to drive the car anymore. I have taken the car to several other dealers and they claim they are unable to determine what is wrong or how to fix it. It is only a mater of time before I have an accident and injure myself or others .
I was driving and all of a sudden my engine light came on and a message popped on my dash board that said enging power reduced. This is about the 10th time or more that this has happened to me. After google searching the problem, there are hundreds of people having this same issue with their chevy impala. There needs to be a recall on this!!! No one should have to come out of their pocket.
My impala will completely shut down and lock up everytime it rains. I can be driving 5 MPH through a parking lot and water film on the pavement and my impala will shake, lock up and shut down. I was leaving my church parking lot to turn right onto road, my impala shut down and drifted straight across the street almost landing in the ditch. Thank god there was no oncoming traffic. It has happen while driving 35 and car shut down. It is very terrifying to drive a car that shuts down and have no control over. I have small children and am fearful my and their safety. *tr updated 2/16/16
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet impala. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated as the vehicle decelerated independently. The failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the secondary air injection pump failed. The mechanic stated that the location of the pump was near the ground and would be exposed to moisture on a rainy day. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 36,000.
Out of no where while driving the display says "engine power reduced" and then switches to "service traction control". I have limited power, the check engine light comes on and so does the traction control light. I can drive the car to where I am going, but no acceleration.
Driving 40mph check engine light came on then reduced engine power flashed on message board several seconds later traction control light came on and service traction control came on message board. My speed was reduced to 20mph in traffic! Luckily I was able to pull over safely without causing any accident (fyi I had my daughter in thr car with me). I will be taking the car to a chevy shop in the morning where im sure I will have to pay high cost out of pocket even though this has been an issue for chevy owners (online search) and there has been many complaints with no recall. This is a serious issue and I feel it is putting many lives in danger and should have been a recall a long time ago. Im just lucky I wasn't on the highway yet because this could have turned fatal.
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