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"Reduced Engine Power" and "Service Traction"

18K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  tyd343 
#1 ·
I am also having problems with my 2013 Malibu 2LT. which also randomly read "service traction" and "reduced engine power". I have had the car since 12/22/12 (3 weeks) and had to have it towed to a chevy service center. They claim that a rat chewed 2 wires o_O so thats the issue. the car is drivable so how are the wired chewed! and i had a toyota for 8 years that i parked in that same location and never had a "rat" chew on that car and my husband has a benz r350 that is parked in same location and and never a "rat" chewed on the benz. i feel because im a girl they trying to get out of the warrenty covering it. they are charging $210 to fix it and im livid because its only been 3 weeks and as i look on these forums alot of you have the same issue with low engine power and traction control and it had nothing to do with said rats. its the most rediculous thing i heard and these isnt even garbage on on the streets where i park and its not declared a rat infested area. these service ppl will lie through their teeth so a customer has to pay out of pocket. with all the trash in nyc and where lanloards keep trash y would a rat wana chew a wire when theres food in the basmenst of the buildings near by! and i asked the serivce guy how do u know it was a rat was the rat there when u checked the car and he laughed and said no so i then asked him is he a machanic or a rat expert. smfh
 
#2 ·
Re: "Service Traction" & "Reduced Engine Power"

i would also like to add that i purchased this car at the chevy dealer that belongs to major worls in queens ny. they already have a terrible reputation on selling crappy cars to ppl and their service department always tries to get over on customers. i thought i would have no issue because its a new car not a used car. shame on major chevy
 
#15 ·
Re: "Service Traction" & "Reduced Engine Power"

i would also like to add that i purchased this car at the chevy dealer that belongs to major worls in queens ny. they already have a terrible reputation on selling crappy cars to ppl and their service department always tries to get over on customers. i thought i would have no issue because its a new car not a used car. shame on major chevy
You know you can take your in warranty GM vehicle to ANY GM dealership for warranty repairs, right. This means any Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, or Cadillac dealer.

So, you live in NYC, right, there have to be NUMEROUS GM dealers in that town. Give another one your business if yours isn't giving you the love.
 
#4 ·
Re: "Service Traction" & "Reduced Engine Power"

Wow if i were u anisettex i would want to see the so called rat chewed wires and ask them to tell you how they would know how a rat chew them just by looking at them without seeing the rat.To me it doesn't sound right but rats and mice have been known to do such things.......Just my 1/2 cent.
 
#9 ·
Re: "Service Traction" & "Reduced Engine Power"

Wow if i were u anisettex i would want to see the so called rat chewed wires and ask them to tell you how they would know how a rat chew them just by looking at them without seeing the rat.To me it doesn't sound right but rats and mice have been known to do such things.......Just my 1/2 cent.
Ur so right... I don't think it's impossible for a rat to chew a wire I just know that's not what happened to my car while in my possession. I think if said rat chewed the wire then it might of been while the car was in their lot b4 I purchased it and in these three weeks of me driving it the wires became more damaged. They never showed me the wire and they ended up covering it I didn't have to pay. And a recall issue for something else was also fixed.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Re: "Service Traction" & "Reduced Engine Power"



Did you ask to see the damaged wire harness? It is usually pretty obvious that a rodent was the culprit. It is a perfectly reasonable explanation that a rat chewed through a wire harness (especially the harness that would likely produce those symptoms which is on top of the engine) but that mechanic should have shown you the damage given it is not covered under the warranty.

Rats constantly need to chew whatever is handy because, just like human fingernails, their teeth never stop growing. They are not chewing to eat.

One more thing: In the case of a new car under bumper-to-bumper warranty, a dealer really has no incentive to lie about the cause of an issue because they would be compensated by GM for parts & labor if it had been a covered issue. But they can't send a chewed wire harness to GM & expect to be reimbursed.
 
#8 ·
Re: "Service Traction" & "Reduced Engine Power"

Did you ask to see the damaged wire harness? It is usually pretty obvious that a rodent was the culprit. It is a perfectly reasonable explanation that a rat chewed through a wire harness (especially the harness that would likely produce those symptoms which is on top of the engine) but that mechanic should have shown you the damage given it is not covered under the warranty.

Rats constantly need to chew whatever is handy because, just like human fingernails, their teeth never stop growing. They are not chewing to eat.

One more thing: In the case of a new car under bumper-to-bumper warranty, a dealer really has no incentive to lie about the cause of an issue because they would be compensated by GM for parts & labor if it had been a covered issue. But they can't send a chewed wire harness to GM & expect to be reimbursed.

He did not show me the wire. And the general manager told him to just put it under my warranty. On top of that there was a recall on something else and they fixed that to. It was ok when I drove it but I still feel the gas pedal rattles its annoying. Ty for the advice. The problem was fixed so I'm content I didn't have to pay. Now I can exit this forum that I just JUMPED on. LML
 
#6 ·
1. Posts about this moved from an existing thread in Gen7 area to new thread in Gen8 area ... please don't just jump on a thread if it's not in the right area.

2. If that dealership has a bad rep, why'd you buy it from them? Or did you find out after the fact like so many do?

3. Before they could charge you for the work you had to authorize it. Did you, or did they just do it and then called you with the final cost? If so, why'd you pay it? That would have been the ideal time to argue over the fact that it cost money, etc, like you did above.
 
#7 ·
Forums are made for discussion. So although its not same generation as the topic it's save issue so any information from others can be HELPFUL. Ur comment was catty none the less. And obviously I didn't no they had a bad reputation until after the fact. And they ended up covering it under my warranty anyway they just wanted to make money off customers. And a friend of mine actually works there and told me they sometimes try to get customers to pay for things that should be under warranty.
 
#11 ·
Well I'm glad the dealer did take care of the problem for you and put it under warranty.I know it is pretty frustrating to buy a brand new car and then be told something like this and that you have to pay to have it fixed but things in life like this do happen.I myself would still have liked to have seen the chewed wires and where they did the repair if it were my car just in case there are any problems with the same area in the future.
 
#12 ·
Well, it was moved because the subject matter seemed to favor it. Sorry if I seemed a bit "catty" but those questions and comments were more from surprise than anything else. But like I also said, maybe you didn't learn about it until after the fact and then it was too late, just like for so many of us.

One thing that smacks of needing correction is that they asked you for money and then covered it under warranty. If it couldn't be covered under warranty then how was it possible to do so without defrauding GM? If it was a covered repair why did they even ask you for money - that's an attempt to defraud you! Neither of those scenarios is good and both would have me calling someone to have them investigated and/or arrested! That's a slippery slope they're on for sure!

Please pardon me for assuming you paid for it. Your comments said they were charging you but I didn't see where you said you eventually didn't pay for it until your more recent response. But now it makes more sense.

As mentioned above it would be nice if they had shown you the damage. Wiring is not usually repairable under warranty by making splices. Instead they usually require the harness to be replaced to ensure that a certain level of quality is maintained.
 
#13 ·
anisettex,
Let us know if this is something you would like for us to follow up on. We can be contacted at the email in the signature line of this post and ask that you include your name and contact information, the last 8 digits of your VIN and mileage, and a summary of the situation.

Sarah (Assisting Michelle), Chevrolet Customer Service
 
#14 ·
Exactly ^^^ That is what a bumper to bumper warranty is for! you enforce your rights and ask to see the damage number 1. Secondly you ask them how you can be held responsible for a warranty that you should have buying a new car. I have a question though as far as the reputation of the place. Why would you buy if you willingly knew they had a bad reputation? If theres enough complaints you could file a pending civil manner against them if you could accrue other people to support it
 
#16 ·
The recall on the 2009 chevy malibu was a reinforced switch for the transmission because it was common for the bracket that held the transmission to break.. I dont know if the new malibus had the same problem... TO answer the rat question. It just sounds too fishy if they wouldn't provide the proof. They tryed to pull a fast one on you and they must have seen some kind of consent to push forward cause he wouldn't tell his service tech to put it under warranty if a rat chewed through it unless you showed some kind of incensive to pay for it.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Same thing just happened to my wifes 2011 malibu LT. She got the reduced engine power message, check ECS, check ABS and the car slowed to 10mph suddenly. Luckily there was no one behind her at the time, or she would have been rear ended. Took the car to the dealer and they there were no stored codes so they have no idea whats wrong.
Now I'm stuck driving it because my wife won't, and I'm waiting for it to happen again.

*Update*
Happened again on Monday, had it towed to the dealer and they found a code. They changed the throttle body.
Lets see what happens now....
 
#18 ·
Same thing just happened to my wifes 2011 malibu LT. She got the reduced engine power message, check ECS, check ABS and the car slowed to 10mph suddenly. Luckily there was no one behind her at the time, or she would have been rear ended. Took the car to the dealer and they there were no stored codes so they have no idea whats wrong.
Now I'm stuck driving it because my wife won't, and I'm waiting for it to happen again.

Update
Happened again on Monday, had it towed to the dealer and they found a code. They changed the throttle body.
Lets see what happens now....
Hi Softail, did the throttle body being replaced fix the issue? I am having the same problem with my '11 malibu LT (no sunroof) Please, anyone, help. I took my car in 4 days ago to a GM dealership here in Westlake, OH as I was driving and noticed it was really hard to accelerate. Then I got the message engine power reduced, service esc code and traction control code all in a row. I was able to limp the car into a parking spot thankfully and turned it off. When I tried restarting the car it would start for a moment, have trouble idling and then die again. I got it towed and they asked if i drove through a lot of water which I had because the weather has been pretty wet in the past week. They said "Ok we figured because your air box was full of water." They emptied the air box, replaced the air filter as it was soaked, cleaned the throttle body, cleaned 2 fuel sensors (not sure what the exact sensors are called and my paperwork is not available to me right now, can update later) $650 and 3 days later I have been driving to and from places around town. Ever since the repairs I have been having a little trouble accelerating and have to put more pressure on the pedal. Was driving this afternoon about 35 mph and hit the pedal as it was not accelerating easily. Service esc code came on, engine power reduced and THEN it said engine shut down. Now the car won't even turn over. I read on a cargurus.com forum that someone suggested to just replace the battery terminals as it was causing their issues. I have read a lot of people have had their wiring harnesses and throttle bodies replaced only to have the issue return. I still owe $6000 on the car and at 159k miles I don't think I will get anything covered under warranty at this point. Please help!!!
 
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