general problems of the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu - part 2

I was driving on a highway, when a message appeared on my control panel stating the engine power was reduced, my engine light turned on, and my car slowed significantly (top speed achievable at about 20 mph). With my hazard lights on, I managed to safely exit the highway and find a parking lot to park in while checking my driver’s manual. The manual mentioned that if the warning light persisted, the car should be checked by a mechanic. As this made it seem that there were instances where the warning message did go away, and thus the problem may also resolve, I turned off my car and turned it back on. The engine light on my control panel persisted but the engine power message was no longer present. Before reentering the highway, I attempted to reach speeds above 20 mph and was successful in doing so. As such, I cautiously finished my journey to work. As I felt it was unsafe to use my car before it was checked by a mechanic, I had my car towed to a mechanic’s shop where I was informed: “found dtc p2138 accelerator pedal plausibility. Inspected the ip to body harness connector for water intrusion or corrosion and found none at this time. Suggest replacing the accelerator pedal assembly and recheck for proper operation. ”.

"engine power reduced" notification while driving on the highway causing rapid reaction to pull to the shoulder of the highway. This happened 3 time this morning on my way to work.

I have been getting many of notifications from my car stating that the engine power has been reduced and I am unable to accelerate past 40 max. I travel quite often and drive to work 7/7 days a week and the roads I take are heavily traveled so because of this I’ve almost gotten into many many accidents due to the accelerator failure.

My problem started with the engine first sending me a code “reduced engine power” and this code would appear one week and gone the next. I have taken it to mechanics and had parts replaced and temporary fixes. After getting it back from the mechanic and them telling me that the cylinder one isn’t holding the correct pressure and the exhaust value is burnt due to the consistent auto engine shutoff. The day I got it back on the road the engine went full shutdown at a stop light and would not turn on immediately. I was lucky enough to get it running long enough to crawl into a gas station and get a tow truck to come pick it up and tow it back to the mechanic shop and that’s where it’s been sitting there till I find a new engine to replace it.

I have a 2016 Chevrolet Malibu and while driving on the highway, my engine light came on and my speed decelerated from 65 mph to 40. I took my car for a diagnostic test and the results were trouble codes: p2138, u0401-71 and c0242-00. I have done my research and from what I have found so far, is that several people have made youtube videos about these codes, complaints and complaints on this website as well, and it has come to my understanding, that if enough people complain that this can be a safety issue, then maybe the "powers that be", will help with this issue and possibly resolve it. This is and can be dangerous for an individual to drive at the average speed on most u. S. Highways, 65, and they decelerate without warning down to 40 mph. I'm not sure why anyone does not se the dangers in this situation, especially with other motorists on the road driving at speeds of up to 70 mph, sometimes 75 mph. If I have vehicles behind me driving 65 or more and my vehicle decides to decelerate because of a sensor failure, the vehicle behind me is not going to know that there is a problem and may not have enough time to react before causing an accident. I am adding my concern not only to many individuals who have reported the same or similar experience , but in hopes that this issue would gain more attention.

Was driving in 45mph street when I got a �engine power reduced� message and dropped speed to 10mph. This is clearly a safety issue and can very well cause an accident if I'm driving on highway or uphill for the matter.

I was driving on a secondary road going about 45 mph when all of a sudden my car decelerated to 20 mph in a matter of seconds. The dash showed me an "engine power is reduced" message and my check engine light came on. I was able to safely pull off the road and was able to get home safely. I turned the car off for about 10 minutes and restarted it and it seemingly is fine now but this is terribly unsafe. To my knowledge there is no recall or any word on this from gm.

I was coming to a stop at a traffic light. I received an alert on my dash "reduced engine power" and my check engine light came on. My car became much less responsive to pressing on the accelerator and seemed to be having trouble going more than ~30 mph. An inspection of the problem gave the error code p2138 as the source of the issue.

While driving on the highway doing 55 mph my vehicle began to stutter and then immediately dropped to a speed of 20 mph. It would not accelerate any further. Check engine light came on as well as�reduced engine power� message. I pulled over and shut the car off, waited a few minutes and restarted. It drove this time at a spped of 35. Made it home within a few minutes and let the car sit. The next day the check engine light was still in but the car drive at regular speed.

Reduced engine power warning came on with engine light causing vehicle to slow down abruptly; code p2138 reads on engine diagnostic.

While driving at a high rate of speed, my engine reduced light came on and would not allow me to drive over 32 mph. This could have caused an accident with severe injury considering where I was driving. I have seen many others complain about this, why hasn't it been recalled, when will it be recalled?.

As I was driving at a high speed my engine power reduced light came on and my car speed slowed down drastically. When diagnosed it said it was the accelerator position pedal. This is very unsafe and almost caused a wreck. From what I hear this is common with the mabilu and needs to be recalled seeing that someone could lose their life.

Back in December of 2020, every time I stopped at a red light or brake (when coming to a stop in traffic) the car completely shuts off. I would get a warning that the car was in battery save mode and the stabilitrak light would come on. The morning of Jan. 12, 2021, it happened while driving on the interstate 322. I blocked rush hour traffic for about 20 minutes before the car started back up. While this was happing nothing on the car worked. It blow out cool air and the radio and windows didn't work. This is a big problem and is very dangerous. Not just for me and my family but other drivers on the road. I did take the car to be serviced unfortunately, they could not find anything wrong with the car. Instead of resting on the break in traffic, we put the car in park. You can see how that can be problematic. In addition to that, now it sound like some sort of liquid is passing through when I come to a stop/park. Fast forward to what has lead me to filing a vehicle safety complaint, this evening my son was driving on us 22 when he called me in a panic because while driving a warning displayed on the dash engin power reduced, traction light and engine light came on simultaneously. The speed reduced to about 20 and would not accelerate. I told him to put on the hazard lights and pull over02 as soon as it was safe. He did as I said as I waited on the phone with him. He turned the car off and let it rest for about 5 minutes. The car started back up without any problems. The traction light went off but the check engine light is still on. He made it home without any more incidents. As I stated above you can see how this is a serious problem. I am learning that I am not the only one with a chevy Malibu (2016 64,763 miles) with safety issues. This is unacceptable. I hope that no one has to lose their life before action is taking. They need to recall and give a refund.

When I'm driving I get a message saying �engine reduce power� and I can't go over 25 mph.

As I was exiting the highway the just slowed to a crawl . The screen said reduced engine power and wouldn't allow me to accelerate past 15 - 20 miles per hour. Luckily there were no cars following behind me at the time . I pulled over shut the car off and issue continued. I plugged up a code reader and got p2138.

While driving about 40 in the city I got an error stating engine power reduced. Lost speed quickly and had limited ability to accelerate could not go over 30 mph or accelerate up steep hills.

My engine light comes on and �engine power reduced � appears on the dashboard. The car's speed drops & I can only drive at 20-25 mph. I restart the car and it drives fine for 2mins and then goes into limp mode. It's a dangerous situation b/c I'm on the highway doing 60-65 and this happens. I'm thankful I didn't get into an accident. Code p2138 is what makes the engine light come on. Throttle/pedal accelerator .

Driving on the expressway when my car got a message on the dash saying �reduced engine speed� . I went from 60mph to 10mps within seconds, this is a serious life threatening problem when driving. Once it slows completely down it stops and I have to turn off my car and restart it just for it keep happening. When I took my car to a chevy dealership they told me �everyone with a Malibu is having these problem last and they can no fix it cause the can't figure out the problem. They also informed me with all the Malibu's having the same exact problem is should be a recall. I went to a another chevy dealership and was told the exact same thing. Chevy want us to enjoy the car but will not go the extra mile to do recalls on them when they know it's a big problem. My car also be stuck in �shift to park� when it's already in park, I have to constantly restart my car and turn it off for the message to go always and my car is off, which is ridiculous because if you leave your car in shift to park that will completely kill your battery. Also, when I start my car it sound like a bunch of water just moving around but it's nothing leaking but you can hear the water once you start the car. The brakes on the car do not last long enough! I went to get some brand new brakes in October and was told from two different car shops that I need new brakes . These problems is ridiculous and dangerous and could be fixed by recalling the cars and fixing the problems .

Was driving on highway at 60 mph and dashboard lit up with warning engine power reduced mode and car went into low speed. Tried accelerating car would not go beyond 20 mph.

Was driving home from a job interview about two hours away from home, traveling at 55 mph when the vehicle reduced speed rapidly to ~ 15 mph and on the dash a warning message appeared stating that I had reduced engine power. The situation was incredibly dangerous as there was snow piled on the shoulder, leaving me with no safe way to quickly get out of the way of fast-moving traffic. Once out of the way and after restarting the car and seeing no warning lamps, messages, or anything indicating there were ongoing issues, I turned my hazards off, my turn signal on and made my way back onto the roadway when there was enough distance between myself and the next oncoming car. Upon re-entering the roadway and reaching 24 mph, the car display the same message and reduced speed to max of 12 mph and I was nearly rear-ended by the driver I entered the roadway in front of (with more than ample time and distance to safely reach the speed limit). After several more attempts, I placed hazards on and continued on side of roadway as far as possible. Drove to an autozone where they were able to scan my car and informed me that the code I received (have printed doc of code being thrown with date of incident from autozone) was very common in the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu's and he recommended that I see if I can return the car to the dealership (had just purchased less than 60 days prior with 78,000 miles on it).

Engine power reduced, this has happened countless times, since the vehicle was purchased in January 2017, it has been to bryner Chevrolet in jenkintown, PA, where it was originally purchased more times, than I can count. Each repait costing more and more. I'm assuming chevy is waiting for someone to die, before they actually fix it. Imagine being on a major highway and going from doing 65 to 20 unexpectedly. The person behind me had to swerve into another lane to keep from rear ending me.

I just experienced the check engine light on and reduced power alert on christmas eve: 12/24/20 this was so scary on highway and had to drive on the reduced power with my flashers on and terrified as car's wizzed past me! I was worried that I would breakdown and couldn't get home. I did make it home and was shaken by the experience. I have a 2016 chevy Malibu and the dealership quoted $350 to fix it. It is still there as didn't have funds to fix it. Dealership said it is an issue with gas pedal not reading in system correctly. This is a huge safety risk because it happened while driving on highway going 60 mph, and it dropped speed to 35 mph! this is so dangerous! especially because it happened at night in a secluded area. This is super scary for a woman driver thinking I was going to breakdown at any moment. I have been driving uber since covid and no work available in my regular job. Since I don't have my car, I can't drive to make any money to fix it. I was unable to work on uber's biggest night of the year on new year's eve, losing out of a $500 night. Gm should pay to get this fixed and for lost revenue due to unable to work.

While on my way to work mon morning for the 5 or 6 time the energy reduction light came on im the middle of the highway almost causes me to get rear ended in the road I quickly turned my emergency lights on to keep from being hit pulled over on the side of the highway turned the vehicle off and called the dealership they tell me its a recall on the vehicles theres nothing they can do for me to contact the GMC dealerships I pay almost 500 on car payments to be experiencing this dangerous on the highway someone could have been badly hurt I need help with this problem.

Within approximately two years of purchasing the car I experienced several occasions of inability to accelerate. I took the car to the dealer but it did not happen while they were driving it so they sent the car home. Around a year or so later I received a notice from gm of a recall for acceleration problems. It said only to take the car if I was having problems, which I was not at the time. Recently I experienced acceleration problems again and took the car in. They sent me home again saying to bring it back if the light comes on the dashboard saying lack of power. I cannot find the recall notice I received but want my car fixed. Although this only happens occasionally, if it happens on the freeway or on a hilly road this could be very dangerous.

Problem has huge accident potential. *driving on the freeway in moderately heavy traffic. *traveling at a 65-70 mph to keep up with the flow of traffic, I began receiving "engine power is reduced" message on my info screen. * the engine light comes on (and I immediately start counting how much time and money this will cost me). * there is a slight jerk/pull of the car where it immediately starts a drastic reduction in speed down to 20-30 mph. * I've had to pull to the side of the road to stop the car (I pray I am able to do this safely). *eventually, I found that by shutting the engine off completely for several minutes, the car somehow "resets" and drives normally. * occasionally, the engine light would go away immediately upon re-ignition. Other times the engine light went off after a couple day. * this happened several times during within a (1) hour commute to work.

The day before the car's dashboard said that the car's power assist was turning off. The next morning as I was going 75 miles per hour on the highway the car said that engine was reducing power and speed reduced to 45 mph. The check engine light suddenly went on and it was a very dangerous situation that could have killed me.

I was driving one day and all of a sudden, I have seen �engine power reduced� warning on the dashboard. This warning reduces the car speed considerably and therefore slow the car no matter how fast you are going. I took the car to a chevy dealership to get it checked and they told me that one of my intake valve was defective. I had it replaced and paid for the service. I left and the same day the warning came back again and slowed the car. The speed can go from 60mph to less than 10mph in few seconds. Stepping on the accelerator pedal again doesn't help the car increase speed. I have researched online and many other drivers have similar issues. I took the car back to the dealership to have them diagnosed it again. Unfortunately they have not detected the cause of the warning �engine power is reduced�. They told me they don't know what to do and are asking me to replace my engine. I think this is absolutely ridiculous.

While driving on I-285,at a speed of around 70mph, the vehicle display showed �reduced engine power. � all of a sudden the car immediately slows down to a speed of 40 then less right in the middle of traffic. Thankfully, I was able to pull over off shoulder. However, the vehicle had to be towed since it would not accelerate to an appropriate speed.

Every couple months I will be driving my 2016 Chevrolet Malibu on the highway and it will suddenly warn me that the engine power has been reduced. The check engine light will illuminate and the car will drop form 50-7mph to about 20-30mph. This has happened many times and the check engine light and code always disappear before I can get it repaired, but the problem keeps occurring and is incredibly dangerous.

I was driving on the I-10 west highway at 70mph when all of a sudden a engine power reduced message came across the screen & due to the loss of acceleration I was almost rear ended by an 18 wheeler because I couldn't pull over to the side of the road fast enough. . . Also, on some days when I start my car it doesn't make any noise so therefore the radio will not work, the signal light sounds doesn't work, nor does the seatbelt sounds work .

The car was driving at a high speed and then suddenly slowed down dramatically. An error code, along with the check engine light, came on starting reduced engine speed. The car is not able to speed up at all. This has happened several times. While driving on the freeway, which is very dangerous.

Driving at 65 mph, car flashed warning of "decreasing engine power. " car began to slow to a speed of between 20-30 mph. This occurred while driving on the george washington bridge with many large trucks and other vehicles behind me. Some had to swerve to miss hitting me until I could find a safe shoulder to get the car off of the road.

Engine power reduced. Car suddenly slowed down on freeway.

When driving the vehicle first the engine light came on and I got a diagnostics it was the mass air flow sensor code coming up. I had the thotle cleaned. . . . The engine light went off 2 daya later. Then I was driving on the hwy and the engine light came on along with the message engine reduce power. I pulled over shut the car off for 10 seconds , start it again and drive it. It does it on a daily now. And im tired of it this is a brand new car. I got it at 28,000 miles it is now at 53,000 miles. Chevrolet know that this problem is going on with many of the mailibus they need to fix it. I just spent 1,100 on this car for the repairs.

While driving, the car suddenly flashed the "reduced engine speed" message, and the engine warning light came on. The vehicle would not exceed 20 mph after the message came on. The earliest dealership appointment was for 1/20/20 in a city approximately 30 minutes away; I called the Chevrolet warranty line and was advised to try calling other dealerships and take my vehicle to be serviced there, despite my repeated explanations of the safety risk due to the engine failure. I received my car back today (1/22/20) and was told the accelerator wiring was replaced under a "special" warranty extension and that they are not providing the warranty rental car coverage.