About 4 weeks ago, my wife was driving our 2006 Malibu Maxx LT (with about 73,000 miles) to work when she called me and told me the engine lost power and the traction control and check engine lights came on. She had stopped at a stop sign, and when she pressed the gas to go, the console beeped, Check Engine and Traction Control lights came on along with a console message, and the car barely accelerated. I told her to put on the hazards and pull off the road and keep the engine on. She was able to slowly move the car into the median, and I drove out to her where she had pulled over 3 miles from home. Sure enough, the TC OFF light, Check Engine light were both lit, and there was a message on the console "Engine Power Reduced".
I checked the TC button, pressed the gas and the engine revved right up no problem. I turned the car off, checked electrical connections under the hood (found no blatant issues), and restarted it. The TC light was clear but check engine light stayed on. After running a few minutes, I restarted the car again, this time all lights were clear and it ran just fine. At that point I did a search on the forums and could not find any definitive answer on what causes this.
This morning it did the exact same thing, the only difference being that instead of making it 3 miles down the road, she didn't even make it the 1/2 mile to get out of our neighborhood. After turning the car off and back on, the TC light cleared, and after 3 more restarts, the Check Engine light cleared. We recently had all the fluids checked/replaced, and have not had any other apparent issues (besides the power steering).
As the car is over 6 years old, it is no longer under warranty. And I am hesitant to take it to the local dealer (not the one I purchased the car from) because of the run-around I got when the power steering was making the notorious thumping sound and locked up. I need to know what the issue(s) causing this is/are so I can either fix this myself if within my abilities or take it to a mechanic and KNOW what is going on. We are on a very tight budget, and I cannot afford to be shelling out $$ to dealers and mechanics just to find the problem persists like it has with many people. My wife is pregnant and we have a 5 year old daughter she takes to school, so SAFETY is very important here, and I want this fixed properly and definitively, and as soon as possible. I don't want this to happen again! Thanks in advance!
I checked the TC button, pressed the gas and the engine revved right up no problem. I turned the car off, checked electrical connections under the hood (found no blatant issues), and restarted it. The TC light was clear but check engine light stayed on. After running a few minutes, I restarted the car again, this time all lights were clear and it ran just fine. At that point I did a search on the forums and could not find any definitive answer on what causes this.
This morning it did the exact same thing, the only difference being that instead of making it 3 miles down the road, she didn't even make it the 1/2 mile to get out of our neighborhood. After turning the car off and back on, the TC light cleared, and after 3 more restarts, the Check Engine light cleared. We recently had all the fluids checked/replaced, and have not had any other apparent issues (besides the power steering).
As the car is over 6 years old, it is no longer under warranty. And I am hesitant to take it to the local dealer (not the one I purchased the car from) because of the run-around I got when the power steering was making the notorious thumping sound and locked up. I need to know what the issue(s) causing this is/are so I can either fix this myself if within my abilities or take it to a mechanic and KNOW what is going on. We are on a very tight budget, and I cannot afford to be shelling out $$ to dealers and mechanics just to find the problem persists like it has with many people. My wife is pregnant and we have a 5 year old daughter she takes to school, so SAFETY is very important here, and I want this fixed properly and definitively, and as soon as possible. I don't want this to happen again! Thanks in advance!