GMC Yukon Reduced Engine Power message

gmcustsvcsarah

I'm sorry to hear that your Yukon is having these issues. Please post an update on how the dealership visit goes!

All the best,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

jeffnoco

llyons3, what have you heard?
We just limped our 2010 Tahoe back home with 22,000 miles on it. We were slowed to around 30 mph the last several miles and had the exact same situation...."Engine Power Reduced", Stabilitrack Off". Check engine light on. Both situations happened at the exact same moment so it sounds like it has to be computer or electrical.

I'm really looking forward to not being able to use the vehicle tomorrow, Monday and who knows how long after that. Let me know what diagnosis you got from the dealership. I'd appreciate knowing what we're getting in to.

Thank you!

Jeff

gtheis

It appears that I am having the same problem with our Denali that many other people have experienced. Last night we were driving home on the interstate when the car went from 70mph to 40mph. The "Stabilitrack off" came on as did the "Reduced Engine Power". The car is a 2011 and has 21k miles on it. Six months after we had the car I felt that at times it appeared as if it was going to stall when I accelerated from a stop. The dealership said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Well last night was the final straw, my wife, 6 month old and myself were in the car. After reading the posts in this forum my wife and I are concerned that the problem will not be resolved and is scared to drive the car. The care is under warranty, has anyone else had any luck getting this resolved, or any luck with getting a credit for another vehicle? I have been a loyal GM customer, however, I may look to a different brand after having this happen on a new vehicle.

datsamore

If I were you, I would bring it back and get another one! You see how many ppl have had this serious safety problem. Your family is too important to chance. There are some utube movies to look at too. Good luck.

nowwhat2

Wanted to let all GM truck owners know with this reduce power mode problem. This could be almost as bad as Toyota throttle problem. A GM won't runaway, but leave you in the middle of the road or in a turn and cause a major accident! I had all the same battles with my 2003 Denali @ 64k mi. It finally made it to the point where it quit running in the middle of the road. I almost hit another car at the intersection as it stopped running in my right turn to exit the road after it went in to reduce power mode. Due to the fact that the steering was so heavy and lack of power brakes. If my wife was driving it I know she would not have made the turn do to the amount of strength it took. GM customer service could care less! I told them of all these posts. The guy was a complete butt. My service writter at the dealer said it needed a new throttle wire harness built from the gas pedle the throttle body at around $400. When I asked where could I order this? YOU CAN'T! So I called GM customer service back and informed them how wrong this process was and that these mexico wire harness's were no good from day one! Same support guy (The Butt) could care less because I didn't have the codes read at the dealer. I did it at autozone. I also told him that I was going to call my lawyer for the dangerous problem that they need to issue a recall for. His keyboard could be heard over phone at an amazing rate. Then he informed me that he would turn over to leagal and couldn't talk to me any more. I contacted my service at the dealer (who has been great to me) for some help on the issue. he asked if when I could get it to him, I was confused. GM support had contacted him with a big nasty gram. He was not happy how customer support handled the problem. And he was going to take care of it. He got it towed in and a new harness built and installed in a day and half. I aplogized to him and let him know I never said anything about him or the dealer. And he promised me that I had done nothing wrong, it was the GM support that he was not happy with. That was April of 2011 and the Denali has been happy ever since.
I hope this helps someone.

barnesbw3

Good luck I have contacted an attorney. My Yukon is completely dead. DEAD in the middle of the road due to reduced engine power. I know you can follow my previous posts. I even had an ESIS GM claim...then offered me $1500 as a consolation. SICK. I have no car that I am paying for.

llyons3

As you can see from my previous post, I had the same problem. I took my Yukon into the local dealership. They ordered a throttle body and had it installed the next day. No trouble since and it was all under warranty. I hope this helps!

llyons3

It was the throttle body. My local dealership had it installed the next day and it was all under warranty. Hopefully I won't have anymore problems! Good luck to you!!

jeffnoco

Thank you llyons3. It seems odd that there are so many odd these happening right at 21,000 miles. I was expecting a computer glitch, but the throttle body does seem to be a recurring theme.

I appreciate your reply.

Jeff

llyons3

It is strange! Let me know what you find out!

Best of luck & Merry Christmas!

Laura

gtheis

Thank you for the recent posts about your Denali's. The dealership took a look today and said it was the throttle body. They are going to have it done tomorrow. Hopefully this does not happen again. I appreciate the responses from those who have had this replaced and have not had another occurence.

gmcustsvcsarah

Hello all,

I am very pleased to hear about the successful throttle body work that has been done on several of your vehicles. If you were satisfied with the service you received at your dealership, please send us an email that details your experience and the name of your dealership, and we will be sure to let them know.

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

gmcustsvcsarah

I understand your apprehension about driving your Denali after reading this and other posts on the forum. It sounds as though there have been successes with dealerships looking into the throttle body on the vehicles as a possible cause. Are you planning on going back to your dealership to continue working towards a resolution?

If you would like to work with Customer Assistance towards getting this concern addressed, please email us with more information including your name/user name and contact information (phone and address), the last 8 digits of your VIN and current mileage, the name of your involved dealership, and a description of the visits you've made to address your current concerns.

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

barnesbw3

Sarah,
Why do you only pick certain posts to offer that to?

Thanks.
Lori Barnes.

gmcustsvcsarah

Good afternoon, Lori,

I hope that my posts are not appearing selective - this option is available to any who are on the thread.

If I may, I want to take the time to explain our presence on the forum.

Customer Service and Assistance at General Motors has expanded into a new department, where I work, under the title of "Social Media." Customer Service Representatives, like myself, monitor forums like Edmunds as well as Facebook and Twitter. Our goals are to help get customers experiencing difficulties (or successes) the support they need. In order to do this, we have a search tool that helps locate posts for us to respond to. Due to the sheer volume of posts, this helps us to respond to individuals efficiently.

We are still ironing out the finer details. I have come to realize, for example, that responding on a post-by-post basis can run the risk of appearing exclusive (only the chosen will receive assistance) and can also result in out-of-context responses. I greatly appreciate your patience as we grow in this, and in return hope to assist you as a driver of a GM vehicle.

In short, please get in further contact if we can assist you. We are able to do the following: look into warranty parameters for your specific vehicle and answer questions about coverage, check to see if there are any open recalls associated to your vehicle, follow up with our dealerships on your behalf to ask clarifying questions or even to negotiate (depends on the situation), and establish a case with Customer Assistance that can be sent to higher departments for consideration.

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

jeffnoco

Thank you so much for the courtesy of your reply Sarah. I'm extremely pleased with the immediate and courteous service that I received from Dellenbach Motors in Fort Collins, CO. They were able to get us in quickly, communicated with us regularly with their actions and even washed the car when they were done fixing it.

I'm very grateful for the outstanding service they provided to us.

Jeff Scherer

gtheis

I just returned from picking-up the Denali from the dealership we purchased it at new. They replaced the throttle body under warranty. I talked at length to the salesman that sold it to us as well as the service manager of the shop. The service manager said they have replaced "alot" of these and that "they didn't have any problems after they replaced the throttle body". My wife drove half-way home and wanted me to drive the rest of the way. We both noticed that once we reached 50 mph it had a tendency to want to accelerate slightly on its own. Of course we are extra sensitive to the throttle now. Has anyone else had this experience after? Will it continue or is it only because it was just replaced.

gmcustsvcsarah

I will plan on calling Dellenbach Motors today to pass on your kind words, Mr. Scherer. Thank you very much, and please don't hesitate to email us if you should ever need assistance in the future.

Sarah
GM Customer Service

gmcustsvcsarah

It has been a few days since your most recent post. How has your Denali been running? You expressed some concern about a tendency for your vehicle to "want to accelerate slightly on its own" - has this persisted?

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

sctimsc

Christina GM customer service can you email me about this problem... I am having the same problem and I have 6 kids, I dont want it to cause an accident. sctimsc@hotmail.com

datsamore

OK, I finally had to break down and buy a Throttle body. Put it on, left all my extra ground straps in place. 3 days now-so far so good.
I do still feel a "Flat spot" occasionally, but it doesn't go into Reduced.......
I think the main points are; 1. look for loose ground straps. (Mine was from bt to engine block. Others are from behind right head to firewall) 2.look for defective wiring at pigtails in this drive-by-wire system. 3. start throwing expensive parts at it.
Suspect loose grounds could have caused component and computer damage.

donewithgms

When I took my 2007 Yukon XL, in for the same problem in February, I was told that the part was backordered for weeks.

It sounds like all the dealerships have been replacing a lot of the throttle body parts!

I am still amazed/disappointed that GM has not done anything in the form of a recall so that people could avoid being endangered when the part fails.

A complete lack of concern for the safety of their customers.

gmcustsvcsarah

Hello all,

I wanted to thank you for contributing to this discussion, and to let you know that I have made a note of this thread for GM. I can't present any guarantees as to what this will do, as I am far removed from the discussions on these types of things.

If we can assist, as always, we're available to you by email.

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

mariag24

I have read several of the posts and recognize my issue is very common. First time it happened we took a sharp turn (2wd) to the left when all the lights came on and power was reduced, We limped home the 2-3 miles and switched vehicles, our neighbor came out to check on it some time later and it started and had no issues, I thought it was a glitch so I drove it for the next few days. Then, driving along on a straight section of a two lane mountain road with snow on the ground (in 4wd) not slipping or sliding and not a single safe place to pull over for a couple of miles. There was nothing out of the ordinary when my dashboard lights up and my speed is reduced. The painful part is I live 16 miles outside a small city that have only mom and pop mechanics and zero dealerships. I was 6 miles from town or 10 miles from my hoiuse, So I drove until I had a safe place to pull over and called for assistance. Turned the ignition off and let it sit for a while, Restarted it just fine and drove it home. I can only imagine how dangerous it would have been if I was on a highway or heavy traffic or having to climb the steep hill to our home. This is a very dangerous situation. I have noticed two remedies Wiring harness and throttle body. Are these a recall situation yet? If not would my 2009 still be under the warranty? Trying to decide what I can fix here and what I would have to drive 1 hour and a half to the closest dealership to have worked on.

nowwhat2

Sounds as if yours is doing just as my '03 Denali. Shut it off a few minutes restart and all is fine. Trust me it will get worse as time goes on. GM has a wire harness problem! I feel it should be a recall! They are going to get someone hurt if not killed. The wires should be good for the life of the car. I once explained to a GM rep. how would you like it if your head light went out and the only way to fix it was to build a new wire harness from the switch to the light bulb. And that will cost $400 but your $20 light bulb is fine. GM has choosen to look the other way on this. Tell your dealer you want GM to fix this on their dime not yours. Warranty or not, these are non wearing/mechanical parts and this is a major safety issuse. Take a look at my post on here.

gmcyukon2007

I have a 2007 GMC Yukon that has the same problem. I have the check engine light come on a few days ago, and had a diagnostic check done. They code came back as a "Throttle issue." As I was driving my truck yesterday on the interstate, my dashboard started lighting up like a Christmas tree, first the "Service Battery Charging system, then the Check Traction Control, then the Check stability traction....etc." after a mile the truck just went into limp mode on the interstate late at night. dash board went dim, and I notice the headlights were out and the truck was barely idling with my foot on the pedal. I pulled off tot he side of the road and placed it in park, and truck just died. But, the hazards were still working. Of course, I just went over 120, 000 miles so after reading these posts.... I know what to look for....another vehicle that's not a GMC. Major Safety issue!

brewer1

I had the same problem two weeks ago. Turned left and "reduced power" came on. After several minutes, it would restart and run good. Called for tow truck to deliver to local GMC dealer. Service manager admitted GMC had put out a bullentin on this problem, after I showed him the EDMONDS postings. Previous post stated they replaced the Throttle body, now they replace "chip or something". Don't know what they replaced ,but it runs fine and my MPG on a trip from Granbury, TX to Dallas (144 round trip) was 24 mpg. It use to be 22. GO FIGURE.
Merry Christmas and may they fix your problem

deanrichardson

My 'reduced engine power' first came on a year ago travelling in sub zero weather. I pulled over and turned off the car and waited a few minutes and started it and didn't do it again for about a month. The next time was similar situation with subzero weather. Pulled over, turned off the car, waited and restarted. I cleaned the K & N air filter and that seemed to do the trick. For a while anyway. Winter passed and there were no issues until about six weeks ago when it started to get cold. I would drive about 10 minutes and then ding, ding, ding, engine would go to idle, very interesting going 70 mph on interstate when this happens. I tried letting the car idle for a longer period in the morning and that seemed to help but still I would get the random 'reduced engine power' light and the engine would go to idle, I would pull over and turn off the engine let it sit and restart, sometimes I would have to let it idel for 10 minutes or so. Anyway, I discussed this with my brother and he suggested cleaning the throttle body, so I took off the plastic piece between the air filter and the throttle body and used almost a can of carburetor cleaner and a rag and cleaned and wiped and cleaned and wiped.
It's been 10 days and I haven't had the issue come up again. Kind of funny, all it took was a $3 can of cleaner, a rag, a nutdriver, and a little elbow grease. My vehicle is a 2003 suburban with 240,000 miles. Only other issues I have had is a fuel pump that went out at 150,000 miles.

gmcustsvcsarah

I'm sorry to hear that your Yukon is out of commission. If you were planning on visiting a GM dealership, please let us know! I understand that this isn't always a viable option in addressing concerns, but we're available to assist in the process if you like (get in touch via email and we'll explore what options are available).

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

krisstiv

Reduced engine power on Christmas day while traveling down the highway. Of course the dealership says needs throttle body replaced. After reading this blog, it seems as though GM needs to step up and look a little deeper into this problem. $280 to replace this part at 50k miles????? What else do I have to look for in the future????

gmcustsvcsarah

Thank you for posting, krisstiv. I have added you to the list, and would invite you, if you like, to set up a Customer Assistance case with us by sending me an email at the address in Edmunds with more information, including: your name/username, contact information (phone and address, please), the last 8 digits of your VIN and current mileage, and your preferred dealership.

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

renickh

two weeks ago my reduced power p1516 code issue began. i started by cleaning the throttle body and maf then releasing the idle. lasted a day. then checked the harness and connector all is normal good continuity everywhere. check all the typical ground failure locations no issues there. finally decided to replace the throttle body as the dealer recommended and now it happens every 5 miles. got the dealer "software update" for $250 fixed nothing paid $165 for the gmt dealer to diagnose the problem and use his data loggers. he said the throttle body needed replaced again. i had him try another tb same problem. i took it home connected to my scan tool in hand with no answer from the company that sold me the $40k enigma that gm can't figure out. now the Yukon is parked and my winter vacation is cancelled and a 19 year old minimum wage tech is telling me i need a wiring harness because "that's the next step to figure out the issue"

unsatisfied16

My 2007 GMC Yukon has 75000 mi on it. It has been in the shop since we got it. The transmission has been worked on several times. The last time it was in they replaced the throttle body. I was assured that my car was finally fixed. Over the weekend my car lost power and the power brakes in the target parking lot with little kids in the back. I was stuck in the middle of traffic and had to shut the car off and wait. After a couple of minutes I was able to restart the car and get it home. It was very scary! Took the car to the dealership. They cleaned the throttle body for $167 and said that the throttle body had to be cleaned as maintenance every 15k miles. I never heard this from the dealership before and it is not in the maintenance manual. I find it funny that they just REPLACED the throttled body 13k miles ago and it needs to be cleaned. Furthermore, I have never been so afraid to drive a car before. This is the third time that I was put in an unsafe situation with the car. I have been so lucky, but one day my luck will run out. I opened up a case that was referred to the GMC district office. I was supposed to get a call today, but no one called me back. The car is going to stay at the dealership until someone calls me and tells me the truth about my car. I want to sell it but morally don't feel right. It is sad because GMC is not worried about putting my life or my kids life in danger! I really feel that they have no idea what is wrong and since it is too costly to do a recall, they are going to just role the dice. I will never buy another GM again!

barnesbw3

My car is dead and in the driveway same unsafe issue. Actually been in a wreck due to reduced engine power. Wyatt Johnson GMC in Clarksville TN cannot fix the problem. I have filed a complaint with GM actually filed a complaint with ESIS GM due to the wreck and since the GMC dealership logged my plus 20 times bringing it in the dealership for reduced engine power as 'check engine light on', Esis GM says my vehicle does not have a reduced engine problem, although...that's what it reads as it sits dead. This is awful and I am still paying on this.

dobber777

I have a 2003 Suburban, and have been trying to solve this problem for almost a year now. It now happens much more often and has become a regular part of my day. I have 3 young kids , and coach 2 of there soccer teams, and regularly have other members of the team driving with us, and now when it happens it is both embarrasing and dangerous. As a single father, I did not have a new car purchase in my current budget, and I have kept the exterior and interior very clean, and have maintained the suburban properly. After doing some research It seems that the mechanics end up going through multiple fixes which add up to big dollars, and the problem keeps coming back. I am taking the truck in to a GM dealer here in Fond du Lac, WI this morning to have some work done, if you can please help me to direct them what to do or look for I would appreciate it! Thanks

datsamore

Tell them to carefully!! check and prove the condition of the Throttle body wiring pigtail. There is a UTUBE video on this.
Tell them to check and report to you the condition (Tightness) of any and all "Grounds". I found the main one, off battery, to be loose! I reiterate- make them truthfully report to you.
After 3 years of studying this, on my 03 GMC, I (After tightening and running new grounds), replaced the Throttle body. (They weren't on backorder-surprise). That seemed to solve mine now for 30 days.
Good luck!

unsatisfied16

What year is your car? Be careful, they tell you that nothing is wrong so you go away. This must be a really big problem if they are telling you that! Please let me know what happens with your car.

renickh

Are there any recalls for all these known issues? the first service bulletin was from may 2003 for my 2003 Yukon intermittent code 1516. now 3 more service bulletins later no fix and no recall? Sarah at customer service? any help from gm on this one. $2300 invested on my part at Dow Lewis gmc in yuba city ca and no repair in sight.

gmcustsvcsarah

Dobber777,
How did your visit to your dealership go? I am sorry to have not responded sooner - I was scheduled off yesterday.

Best,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

gmcustsvcsarah

If you were to send us your case number, we could let your agent know that you are looking to hear from them. I am sorry for the misstep in communication from us.

Regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

gmcustsvcsarah

Barnesbw3,
I understand why this situation is frustrating, especially reading that you've been in an accident. You filed a complaint with us - do you have a case number on that? Is your case still open? We would be happy to look into the case to provide any available updates.

Look forward to hearing from you,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

gmcustsvcsarah

Good morning renickh,

Being from the first tier of Customer Service, I unfortunately do not have information on how recall decisions are made. I am able to, using the last 8 digits of VIN numbers, look into a specific vehicle to see if it qualifies for a given recall.

To explore options available to you, renickh, I would recommend setting up a Customer Assistance Case with us. We would evaluate your situation and, hopefully, help move the process towards a diagnosis and repair of your vehicle. Please send us an email with more information, including your name/Edmunds username, contact information (phone and address, please), the last 8 digits of your VIN and current mileage, and the name of your involved dealership.

Kind regards,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

rose56

HI Sarah my son was almost killed when his 2003 z71 tahoe did the exact same thing. what should I do. Is it under a recall yet?

gmcustsvcsarah

I am sorry to hear about the incident with your son. Does he still have this vehicle? We can check into recall information if you were to get us the last 8 digits of his VIN.
Best,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

renickh

i went back ti the dealership to try to work this problem out. They said since there is no recall for this problem they could only give meeting a $100 off discount if i replaced the computer complete harness and gas pedal. what is wrong with them. they told me that they have numerous service bulletins on this issue starting may of 2003. if anyone wants to file suit against them we should get together because if they knew of this dangerous issue in when it was brand new gm is being negligent by letting us drive around in these conditions. i asked the owner of Dow Lewis gmc and he told me that gm uses accountants to figure out the cost of a recall vs the cost of possible lawsuits and what ever is cheaper they go with. im ready to file time to lawyer up.

woodkristie

I have a 2006 envoy denali. i have had the exact same issues with my truck however i call gmc they said the warranty posted doesnt include mine. i only have 80,000 miles on my truck. I have filed this complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.gov), also, Thank you so much for your post. hopefully get this resulved.

woodkristie

i am with you on the layer!!! GMC Cop I called was no help eather, just the run around wanting me to bring the truck back and spend more money and they fix nothing!!!!

renickh

a technician at Rcar in yuba city ca fixed my Yukon today in two hours. turns out the $1100 throttle body was not replaced also he went through all my grounds in that two hours also the connectors. im going to get a refund from the dealership on tuesday. Dow Lewis gmc did nothing but take my money and lie. Rcar will take care of any of the gm deficiencies in California. also there labor rate is $70 per hour and the dealership charges 140. always write down serial numbers or mark parts when u take them in otherwise gm can just clean your parts and sell you lies. they only reason they are giving me a refund is because i took pictures that showed the serial number to prove a me part wasn't installed it took three hours of arguing to get the refund. still out 1200 for the labor and troubleshooting and other unnecessary parts. i will post Rcar's contact info for you all.

renickh

Rcar only charges 160 for a delco reman throttle body and 45 in labor to install. he used to ne a gm mechanic 10 years. thanks Rcar gm you suck!

bpmcardle

I am shocked to read all the postings about the same problem and to read that General Motors is fully aware of this potentially dangerous issue and do absolutely nothing about the problem. My 2007 Tahoe just started with the same problem; "Stabilitrak Off", "Check Stabilization Traction", "Reduced Engine Power". Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed. We are 200 miles from home in Vermont and there is no way we can drive the car home with the "Reduced Engine Power".