2015 Chevrolet Spark: check engine light

Filed Nov 22, 2025 · Fuel system, Transmission · VA

Vehicle: 2015 Chevrolet Spark, odometer <79,000 miles Component that failed: Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) – pulley damage causing complete loss of propulsion.What happened: While driving, the vehicle suddenly lost all motive power with no ability to accelerate. The transmission would not engage in any gear and the car became inoperable in traffic. This is the exact failure described in GM Special Coverage Bulletin N192271110 (pulley damage in 2014–2015 Spark CVT). Safety risk: Complete and unexpected loss of propulsion created an immediate safety hazard. The vehicle could not accelerate from a stop or maintain speed, placing my 15-year-old son and other motorists at risk of rear-end collision or stranding in active traffic lanes.Dealer confirmation: RK Chevrolet in Virginia Beach, VA has inspected the vehicle and confirmed the failure matches N192271110 – full transmission replacement required (quote $6,637.19). Vehicle remains at the dealership and is available for inspection.Warning lamps/symptoms: Check-engine light and reduced-power message appeared at time of failure. No prior warnings before the sudden loss of power event. Failure occurred approximately October 2025 – only four months after GM’s 10-year/120,000-mile Special Coverage N192271110 expired on 06/11/2025.The failed transmission is still in the vehicle and available for inspection upon request.

Filed Jul 2, 2025 · Engine · TX · 1 injury

Transmission issue. During heavy traffic at stop lights car wouldn't shift into drive to move forward. Was stuck in the middle of the road with a passenger. Engine light came on but it's not an engine problem. Car was smoking under the hood. I burned my hand when popping the hood. When the car cooled the engine light went out and car would shift gears and it's drivable again. This has happened 3 times. Mechanic pulled up at P0700 Code on computer. It's the CVT transmission but not sure which part. I can't get the car to the dealership to inspect transmission. It won't drive that far.

Filed Dec 24, 2024 · TX

UNKNOWN—My car’s been doing this thing where it feels like the wheels "stick" for a second every so often while driving, but yesterday it was the worst it's been, doing it every few seconds. I thought maybe my gearshift was stuck between gears or something so I tried to make sure it was in Drive, but it slipped into Neutral for a second, & after that, my check engine light came on & my car started taking forever to get up to speed after coming to a stop—like, I was flooring it & it was crawling. It started doing this while I was in an intersection turn lane, & my car was moving so slow I had to wait for a protected turn & I still barely made it out of the intersection in time. My code reader said it was a transmission issue & there’s a recall on other Sparks for the transmission. I had my car towed to my apartment but I haven’t been able to find anybody to come inspect or work on it yet. I sent a message to my local Chevy dealer so they could check whether it’s under recall, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. Prior to this, there hadn’t been any warning light or indicators.

Filed Jun 19, 2024 · Acceleration, Engine · OH

Without warning, vehicle loses power and ability to accelerate is greatly reduced. The Malfunction Indicator Lamp (aka "check engine light"), the Reduced Engine Power light, and the Traction Control System/Stabilitrak light all illuminate at the same time and are not flashing. Using a diagnostic tool from a local auto parts store, code P2138 is reported as follows: Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor Switch 'D/E' Voltage Correlation, and Accelerator Pedal Position (APP) Sensors 1-2 Not Plausible. Incident has occured multiple times since owning the vehicle (approx. 13 months). This creates a safety issue because the poor acceleration limits the vehicles ability to maintain speed, especially on highways at higher speeds and ascending hills.

Filed May 10, 2022 · Transmission · IN

In February 2022 I noticed on my way to work my rpm's kept surging and my car was not keeping up with traffic. I was scared as I was on the interstate and traffic was pretty busy. Then it was like it roughly shifted and the rpm's dropped into the normal range As I was driving across the bridge all the sudden the check engine light lit up ..and my car was barely moving . There's alot of semi truck traffic on this road and several times I was scared of being rear-ended as they approached at normal speed to suddenly come upon me moving at between 5 to 10 mphs.. It was like she had no power but the engine was sounding fine. I created a traffic jam on the bridge as I crawled across it and into the first gas station I came to. I had my car towed the 20 mile's back into Indiana to my Chevy dealer. I explained what happened and they ran diagnostics etc and almost $300 later they informed me I needed a new transmission ($4000 repair). I was shocked because just eight months earlier this dealership had flushed,drained and refilled the tranny. After that diagnosis I even hauled to a different garage for a second opinion. Same finding and they said the repair would be $3500. I'm just so grateful My two grandsons were not with me .My car is not fixed and is still financed with a balance of a little less then what the repair will be ! I can't believe that the transmission went out with no warning at 130,000.

Filed Oct 24, 2017 · Engine, Fuel system · 60,000 miles · AR

The traction control light, stability light and check engine light came on while driving on a city street. According to the dealership it is having random misfires. The dealership is wanting me to pay around $350 to have the carbon cleaned out but they can't guarantee that will fix it. They said my warranty doesn't cover it. Then I asked if I go that route and it doesn't fix it, what the next step is. They said to take the engine out and clean it by hand, roughly $1000, and the warranty doesn't cover that either. I am not satisfied with their response and after reading pages and pages of the same issue in forums and no one mentioning they had to go through these steps has lead me to believe it is only putting a bandaid on the issue. I didn't buy the extended warranty just to have to dole out hundreds if not thousands.

Filed Feb 21, 2016 · Transmission · 8,000 miles · IA

Traction control light came on after starting car which the weather wasn't a factor at all, dry warm day, but the transmission gear did not. Car wouldn't move. Turned car off and restarted, got gear notification back but the transmission wouldn't go in gear. Car has 8,000 miles on it. Finally car moved but wouldn't go past 10 MPH. Onstar states 3 different codes popped up and to take car in within 7 days. Had to have car towed because the car wouldn't go into gear at all. Called chevy customer service and they said this is the first time they have heard of this happening and the open recall is for rough shifting which I had an apt set up for feb. 22, 2016 to get the open recall fixed. Car was not able to be driven and was towed to dealership. Not for what my car is doing. After car moved, the check engine light finally came on but has a different code than the previous two codes. Onstar said that code has to do with the transmission and emissions. A new car shouldn't have these kind of issues especially 6 months of buying the vehicle new. The consumer stated the vehicle was leaking a chemical causing the driver and passengers to became ill. The consumer was advised the illness could be caused ethanol glycol poisoning.