Car’s issues set off ‘limp household mode.

Dear Car or truck Communicate:

I have a 2005 Saturn Ion with 127,000 miles on it. It’s in really superior problem for its age. On the other hand, about a calendar year back, I was driving it at about 25 miles for every hour when the power steering indicator warning light-weight (“PWR STR”) and the chime warning audio came on and the ability steering stopped doing the job.

At particularly the similar time the transmission dropped down to and remained in lower equipment, and the speedometer stopped working. Also, at the very same time, the examine engine light came on, and when I pressed the brake pedal, there was a clicking sound.

Just after a shorter time, everything concurrently went again to normal. The automobile was good for about a calendar year. Then it took place again. Now it’s been going on intermittently over the past 3 months. The identical challenges all appear at the exact same time and later on go at the same time. I took it to my mechanic who checked it for unfastened wires and unfastened connectors. He reported he even disconnected and reconnected all the connectors at the car’s laptop but could discover practically nothing.

At this time, the auto has been high-quality for about a 7 days. Any views? — Dennis

Yeah. My first considered is to problem your opening assertion that this auto is in very very good condition for its age, Dennis.

I believed that maybe some failing sensor place your motor vehicle into “limp property method.” That’s the identical method you go into following the neighbor kid leaves his bicycle out on the sidewalk, and you bang your shin on it. Limp property manner is built to guard your car’s catalytic converter.

If the personal computer gets a looking through for 1 of the engine’s sensors that suggests that hurt may possibly be finished to your incredibly high-priced catalytic converter, it’ll interact limp dwelling mode, which decreases the engine’s electric power radically, making it look like you’re in minimal gear. And that’s normally accompanied by a very low electrical power mild.

But you have received so quite a few other warning lights on that I consider your mechanic was on the ideal observe to glance for a much more systemic electrical problem.

Generally, what we’d do in a scenario like this is some thing known as a shake examination. Basically, you seize onto each and every wire and connector you can come across in the vehicle and shake it, hoping that you can reproduce the trouble and narrow down its supply. And if you are definitely lucky, even though you’re yanking on all the wires, the auto catches fire and that solves the problem.

There are so lots of matters it could be: a corroded floor wire, a poor ignition swap, dirty connectors in a wire harness, a bad digital regulate module (laptop). Even a failing gasoline pump could trigger some of these signs or symptoms.

I know you just cannot go to your community Saturn supplier anymore (RIP), but you may contemplate speaking to another person at a friendly Chevy vendor, which serviced these cars soon after Saturn bailed.

Possibly they’ll identify the selection of signs and symptoms and preserve you a several hundred hours of diagnostic detective do the job. If not, you can give your mechanic an additional crack at it and see if he finds a saved fault code in the computer this time or otherwise gets blessed.

And if that doesn’t get the job done, rest certain, Dennis, you’ve gotten your dollars out of this auto. And if you make a decision it’s time to transfer on — like Saturn did 10 decades in the past — no one is likely to believe a lot less of you. Great luck.