for me it was ice in the turbo. Chevy in their infinite wisdom for the 2015-20 malibus decided to have a sensor in them, and if ice gets in it and it blocks the air flow, it will trip the engine and throw it into a 20% power style mode that won’t clear until you plug a OBD tool into it and clear the errors.
It’s meant as a safety system for the engine and usually resolves itself once you let the ice melt but, it won’t go back to full power or make the light go away until the error is cleared.
When it happens I just flick the hazerds on and run it at whatever speed it lets me actually run it at which is around 20-25 mph
if ice gets in it and it blocks the air flow, it will trip the engine and throw it into a 20% power style mode
See, that’s actually reasonable, put the car in limp mode when it’s not getting the air it should be getting
that won’t clear until you plug a OBD tool into it and clear the errors.
That part is not reasonable.
My experience has been mostly German cars and those usually clear the limp mode when the code is no longer active (i.e it shows up as “intermittent” because it hasn’t happened in the current drive cycle).
So there’s two modes on the Malibu for it, there’s one that says under power on the dash that one will clear itself on its own. It doesn’t actually affect the engine speed at that point.
But usually not long after that heads up on the dash it will turn the check engine light on which at that point Is where you lose most power. So unless you were already close to your destination it was very likely you got both.
I currently own a VW and an Audi, in both of those you can get a CEL that does absolutely jack shit and continues to do absolutely jack shit, OR you can get the actual limp mode, which nearly always clears when the condition triggering it is no longer detected after an engine restart. I think if it’s something that can’t be cleared just by restarting the engine, you also get blinking glow plug or EPC (if petrol) light and that’s pretty rare.
BMW IIRC was similar, Mercedes never gave me limp mode, my older Merc had basically a tractor engine, 700k km to the best of my knowledge and no engine or transmission issues. Sounded like a tractor too
Ok that’s reasonable. I think a lot of people, me included, see more NPCs driving with hazards on for seemingly no reason than pulled off the road with them on
for me it was ice in the turbo. Chevy in their infinite wisdom for the 2015-20 malibus decided to have a sensor in them, and if ice gets in it and it blocks the air flow, it will trip the engine and throw it into a 20% power style mode that won’t clear until you plug a OBD tool into it and clear the errors.
It’s meant as a safety system for the engine and usually resolves itself once you let the ice melt but, it won’t go back to full power or make the light go away until the error is cleared.
When it happens I just flick the hazerds on and run it at whatever speed it lets me actually run it at which is around 20-25 mph
See, that’s actually reasonable, put the car in limp mode when it’s not getting the air it should be getting
That part is not reasonable.
My experience has been mostly German cars and those usually clear the limp mode when the code is no longer active (i.e it shows up as “intermittent” because it hasn’t happened in the current drive cycle).
So there’s two modes on the Malibu for it, there’s one that says under power on the dash that one will clear itself on its own. It doesn’t actually affect the engine speed at that point.
But usually not long after that heads up on the dash it will turn the check engine light on which at that point Is where you lose most power. So unless you were already close to your destination it was very likely you got both.
I currently own a VW and an Audi, in both of those you can get a CEL that does absolutely jack shit and continues to do absolutely jack shit, OR you can get the actual limp mode, which nearly always clears when the condition triggering it is no longer detected after an engine restart. I think if it’s something that can’t be cleared just by restarting the engine, you also get blinking glow plug or EPC (if petrol) light and that’s pretty rare.
BMW IIRC was similar, Mercedes never gave me limp mode, my older Merc had basically a tractor engine, 700k km to the best of my knowledge and no engine or transmission issues. Sounded like a tractor too
Ok that’s reasonable. I think a lot of people, me included, see more NPCs driving with hazards on for seemingly no reason than pulled off the road with them on
I see people with their hazards on in snowstorm which is the dumbest thing ever because now I can’t tell if you’re braking or turning.
That’s why in normal countries our cars have separate indicators and brake lights.
Here in the U.S. the top brake light is required.