I JUST PURCHASED THIS CAR IN JUNE AND AS I WAS DRIVING I NOTICED THAT THE RMP GAUGES WERE MOVING UP AND DOWN. THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN I SEE A MESSAGE ON THE DASH THAT READ "SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL" THEN ABOUT 1 MINUTE LATER, IT READS "REDUCED ENGINE POWER" AND THE CAR SLOWED DOWN AND WOULD NOT PICK UP ANY SPEED. I WAS ALONE DRIVING TO WORK AND THIS WAS VERY SCARY.
While driving on the highway, sometimes city as well, a message will come across the screen saying Service Traction Control. Then another saying engine power is reduced. This typically happens while on the highway. The power is then reduced to my car and the car starts feeling like the motor or wheels as others have explained is jumping. Cruise control will not work at this point. Seriously. This is a danger to others on the road.
I bought my car brand new in 2009...and within the first year....I had the Power Reduced light, check engine light and the traction control light come on the dashboard. Thankfully it was covered under the warranty. I was told that they had to replace the gas pedal. Well, about a month ago....this same thing happened again and of course I lost power which is going to cause a fatality. I made it home that evening and got in my car the following morning and the lights were gone. Last night on 8/9/17 I am driving on the highway.....and all three lights and Reduced Power light comes on and my car is jerking and I lost power to 40 miles per hour. So unsafe. I get in my car in the morning and my Check Engine light is on. So my thing is...I already had this issue once...and now again. This should be a recall and it appears that I am going to have to replace this and come out of pocket. Not good.
I was driving home in rural Illinois at 2:00am earlier this summer when my car chimed at me with a "Engine Power Reduced" and "Service Traction Control" message come up on the display. The car continued to run, but I was not able to get much power from the engine without maxing out the tachometer.
Took it to a shop in Pekin, IL and they discovered there was a bad sensor near the top of the accelerator pedal assembly. Had it replaced and the problem was fixed pretty quickly.
Driving on freeway at 70mph when engine reduced power kicks in, traction control light comes on on car loses power and comes to stop. Dangerous as hell and someone is going to get killed in these chevy's.I have not seen any recalls and not sure why NHTSA is not investigating this
- Tom S.,
Davison, MI, US
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2009 Impala, bought it used 4 years ago with 23,000 miles on it. Had a few emissions problems with it for the past 2 years no problem parts wear out I understand that. Drove it home from work ran fine, it was parked for about 20 minutes, the wife went to go to work& engine light, service traction control & reduced engine speed comes on! How in the world does a car break down in the driveway? I'm just glad it did reading other post from people who were driving when this crap happens. I've looked on the computer for the last 3 days for govt. or police, fleet cars having the same issue, nothing did they get better parts than Joe Public? I will pay off the 20 more payments I owe only to protect my credit, but this car will rot in my driveway next time this car will move is onto a flatbed for scrap as soon as get my lien release in hand I will not let any other person drive this death trap!!! Good luck Impala owners & be safe.
Driving home going about 55 when car in front of me slammed on their brakes causing me to do the same - next thing I know the traction control light is on check engine light is on and reduced power comes up in the display window - tried to increase speed felt like all four tires were jumping up and down - was able to increase speed slowly and got back to 55 mph - made it home - next morning lights still on - made appointment to see if it can be fixed - has happened before but lights went back off after letting it sit - scary stuff.
While driving down the highway, the engine power reduced light came on, so did the service traction control, the car would lose all power, could barley make it over to the side of the road. It would/ will start back up after letting it sit for a few minutes, but whats going to happen when I am stranded somewhere with my family. I see others are having the same issues. This has been going on off and on for a while now. Currently what is happening NOW is it is revving up to 3000rpms, while it's parked, or heck while I am driving it will rev up and then go low and stall while I am driving. Car stalled while I was turning onto a street and almost got hit by a truck, I was able to get it restarted. Afraid to drive this monster, I will never own another one of these beast.
For the last 2 years my car randomly displays a reduced engine power warning, along with a service traction control warning. The engine light will come on and the car will jump. Once I turn the car off then back on the warnings will go off but the engine light will stay on for about a day then go off.
The first time it happened I hurried over to Auto Zone to have it diagnosed. Their diagnosis device said it was the gas pedal sensor. When I tried to have it fixed at the dealership the engine light had gone off so they said they couldn't diagnose it and wouldn't accept the diagnosis from Auto Zone.
A few days ago I received a "special coverage letter" from Chevrolet saying you might have this problem along with a reimbursement form for those who have already paid to have the repair completed. The letter said to contact the dealer if you believe you are having this problem. I called the dealership who knew nothing about the letter and scheduled an appointment. When I dropped the car I showed them the letter but they told me they will not make the repair if they cannot duplicate the issue. I tried to explain to them that it is intermittent and when the problem happens the engine light goes off before I can get it into the shop. I came home called Chevy and they basically said the same thing.
So if Chevy/GM are aware of the problem and I'm telling them I have the problem why won't they make the repair and be done with it?
Not sure why I bought a Chevy this time. Had the car for only 35,000, and it already needed a new transmission. Now I am driving down the road at 55 mph, and I get an engine power reduced warning, then a stabili-trak warning. Then I searched the internet, and see where many others have had this problem on Impalas, and no response from GM. Go figure, us taxpayers bail out, and we get crappy cars. Will never get another GM product again.
I was driving at 60 mph. car lost power. Car slowed to 30 mph. car in behind came to a halt
he thought I did it on to be mean. He missed me by only 12". Somebody is going to get killed if there is not a recall on this sensor for the gas. PLEASE LOOK IN TO THIS ASAP.
Driving to work and the service traction control, then engine power reduced. The power was reduced, but I made it to work. Service Engine Soon light came on that afternoon - it went off the next day, so I did not take it to the shop. It happened again a week later. This is very dangerous. We were going on vacation that weekend, but are afraid to take the car.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
I JUST PURCHASED THIS CAR IN JUNE AND AS I WAS DRIVING I NOTICED THAT THE RMP GAUGES WERE MOVING UP AND DOWN. THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN I SEE A MESSAGE ON THE DASH THAT READ "SERVICE TRACTION CONTROL" THEN ABOUT 1 MINUTE LATER, IT READS "REDUCED ENGINE POWER" AND THE CAR SLOWED DOWN AND WOULD NOT PICK UP ANY SPEED. I WAS ALONE DRIVING TO WORK AND THIS WAS VERY SCARY.
- Latiya W., Detroit, US