2006 Toyota Corolla: sudden loss of power

Filed Jun 6, 2014 · Engine · 115,000 miles · NJ

Engine stalled during driving, the car all suddenly lost power. No indication of usual before. Reignite the car, run looks like normal again. Has no problem for 10 days so far. Not quite sure how caused it?

Filed Dec 28, 2011 · Electrical, Fuel system · 69,000 miles · PA

The fuel pump assembly is mounted in the top of the fuel tank , hanging down submerged in the gas. One of the power wires from the pump assy. Going to the electrical connector at the top mounting plate of the pump, was badly burned and melted causing the pump not to work when it warmed up along with this electrical connector. Remember this is inside the fuel tank. This could have created a serious explosion ! Toyota issued a recall for "ECM" (electronic control module) problems associated with stalling engine, sudden loss of power and engine cranks and will not start. I think some of the "ECM " problems could have been mis-diagnosed and were this burnt wire and connector from the fuel pump. On top of that this repair cost me approx. $1500.00 but maybe it saved my life. For safety reasons alone , this should be looked into and resolved. I hope this might help someone else before they are hurt.

Filed Aug 12, 2010 · Electrical · 108,000 miles · VA

I was driving in afternoon commuter traffic in washington, dc, when, while stopped at a red light, my car "hiccuped" once and died. I was able to restart it, but as I drove through the green light, my car began to lose power, slow down, then stalled out in the middle of the road. I was able to restart the car, but it wouldn't go over 25 MPH, then almost immediately slowed and stalled out again. After that, it took approximately 10 tries to get the engine to turn over and the car to start only long enough to move it 50 feet or so to a safer area. The problem, according to toyota, is a faulty computer (ECM) that the company was aware of but did not directly notify owners of. (based on what the toyota repair person said, this problem mirrors what is reported in the federal safety agency action number pe09054 and technical service bulletin tc015-07 - hard shift and stalling).

Filed Jun 30, 2010 · Electrical · 94,000 miles · KS

On 24 june 2010 I drove 1331 miles back from virginia with no issues. The next evening, my permitted 15 year old son was driving my 2006 toyota corolla a mere half mile from our home when my car began to shutter and lose power. The accelerator was unresponsive and then the car shut down taking with it all lights. The check engine light illuminated. The car did restart but instantly died leaving us on the side of the road at night with no lights and unable to move. Fortunately I was with him and we were not in traffic, as he is inexperienced and would not have reacted well if this had happened to him on the road unaccompanied in any type of traffic. We pushed the car home the mile and parked it for the night. The next morning the car started, ran for one minute, bogged and died with the check engine light still illuminated. I applied a rented scan tool and came back with a p0607 trouble code with indicated a bad ecu. The car was towed to toyota and was repaired with the replacement of the ecu for $993.40. I am over the emission warranty of 80,000 miles per their tsb with 94,000, so this is out of my pocket. This is frustrating as the internet is littered with stories of this happening to others. I am glad that I made it home before this problem occurred and it appears that toyota has been lucky as well. This is extremely unsafe and occurs with no warning. I just hope someone doesn't have to die as a result of a well known bad batch of ecu's, before the problem is fixed by a recall.

Filed Jun 18, 2010 · Acceleration, Transmission · 84,485 miles · SC

While driving my 2006 toyota corolla s (sport) at around 60 MPH, the engine lost power without warning and began rapidly decreasing traveling speed to 10-15 miles MPH. Then, the check engine light came on. I attempted to apply gas to correct the problem, but the car continued declining in speed. After pulling over to the side of the road, I turned the car off, and then restarted the vehicle. The car started and began operation as if nothing had occurred. I had the car checked at an auto parts store, and was instructed to take it to the nearest dealership. I researched the issue online and found a preponderance of complaints with the exact experience to mine from owners of (2005-2007). Outraged owners expressed that it was common knowledge among dealers that there was engine computer issue, and a subsequent technical service bulletin was issued without notifying owners of this matter. I relayed this information to the toyota of easley dealership. The service manager gave me a lot of pushback on the matter, said I was 4,000 miles over their free replacement period (8 yrs/80,000 miles). I responded that the mileage wasn't the cause it is commonly known to be defective. Finally, after speaking my call to the toyota helpline and his district manager, the parts manager agreed to cut the fee 50% from $724 to $352. At this point, they charged me $85 just to look at the car so I had no other recourse but to pay to have them fix this since the car was beginning to lose engine power in this manner every 10 to 15 miles. Upon leaving toyota of easley and returning to my apartment, I called a few other dealerships that I had patronized previously. The response that I received from another dealership was bring the car in immediately. This is a common problem with the 2006 corollas, and even if we can't do this for you for free, toyota should be able to refund you for this matter because its so commonplace.

Filed Apr 25, 2010 · Electrical · 72,000 miles · MA

I'm writing because there is an injustice in the way that toyota is handling yet another issue. My husband was driving his 2006 toyota corolla on 4/21/10 when it stalled while he was driving. He lost all power, so he could not even turn on his hazards. Luckily, thankfully, he was not hurt and did not hurt anyone else. Here is a link to an article on toyota nation with 4 pages of blogs written by people with the same issue: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201631 had my 5 year old son been in the car with him and they were driving on the freeway, things could be much much different, and I'm lucky. I just wish someone would talk about this. This problem is associated with a bad ECM (electronic control module) and affects 2005-2007 corollas and matrixes. Unfortunately, there was a technical service bulletin in reference to 2005-2007 toyota corolla & matrix ecms. Tsb eg042-07 (september 20th 2007) but car owners were never informed of the issue.

Filed Mar 21, 2010 · Electrical, Transmission · 88,000 miles · NJ

I recently encountered a power loss while I was driving my 2006 toyota corolla, the opposite of the acceleration problem that is in the news. After stopping to fill up the car with gasoline, I could only get the car to go about 5 to 10 miles an hour when I used the acceleration pedal. Despite using the hazard lights, I was concerned that someone was going to ram into the car as I limped into a garage to have the car looked at. The vehicle had to be towed to the nearest toyota dealer who uncovered (after a computerized system check) an internal ecu failure...some sort of computer circuit failure. The only advanced warning about a computer failure that I can recall receiving occurred earlier in the morning when I noticed the dashboard lights weren't working right. The ecu was replaced by the dealer. I do not have the old part.

Filed Feb 24, 2010 · Engine · 48,874 miles · AL

Driving home when check engine light came on and engine shut off while in a busy curve of a local street. Lost power steering assist. Created a safety hazard being that I was causing a traffic hazard in a curve. Only able to start engine by holding gas to the floor, engine sounded like a lawn mower and ran barely over idle. Made it home at about 10 MPH. Next day engine started but check engine light was still lit. Drove to dealer, engine was surging and car shifted very hard. Dealer found that the ecu or computer had failed and replaced it under the emissions warranty. This is the second time that this computer has failed on my vehicle. First time was at 25,939 miles on 08/15/07 and they replaced the same engine computer this time my wife was driving the car in traffic and it did the same thing. Current incident happened on 12/28/09 with 48,874 miles on vehicle. I can see that this could have been a more serious safety issue if we had been pulling out into traffic when the computer failed.

Filed Feb 24, 2010 · Electrical, Transmission · 100,000 miles · IN

2006 and other years of toyota corolla. Ecm defect causes had shifting of transmission and has resulted in sudden loss of all power when driving. Cases of this problem are widely reported on the internet by owners of these vehicles but no action has been taken by the federal safety agency to order a recall or to hold the company liable to repair these vehicles. Where is the focus of the federal safety agency???

Filed Feb 21, 2010 · Electrical · 126,000 miles · CA

Driving at normal speed in traffic the check engine light appeared and the engine lost power. In los angeles traffic this can be deadly. I was nearly rear ended twice due to the inability to even have the car roll to a safe stop. The problem has been diagnosed as a known ECM failure and many owner forums have said this is a widely known and common failure.

Filed Jan 29, 2010 · Engine · 26,000 miles · MD

After starting a 2006 toyota corolla with approximately 26,000 mileage and leaving parking garage, car lost power without warning. After turning key off, was able to restart on third try. With the restart, the check engine light came on. Drove home without incident and made appointment with toyota dealer. Was able to restart car to take to dealer and in trying to complete the 10 miles or so on low speed roads, the car repeatedly lost power until the 8th or 9th time when it would not restart. Car was towed the last 2-3 miles. Dealer said a newer firmware version was required. Print-out said the ECM was replaced. This was done without charge and dealer was cooperative. The situation was dangerous and it was fortunate that the power loss was not on a high speed road.

Filed Jan 25, 2010 · Engine · 26,000 miles · CA

Car: 2006 toyota corolla le when driving the car around a turn, accelerator pedal lost power, the car stalled and the engine died. This happened within a few seconds. On trying to restart, the car sputtered for a few seconds and then died again. And, after that the car engine would not start at all. There was no power in the accelerator pedal at all. Maintenance is up to date on the car and its at the car shop right now. This was a scary moment, because if I had been on the freeway, it would have definitely LED to a crash. Please take appropriate steps to investigate this.