I have a 2006 Saturn Ion with over 100,000 miles on it. On a cold day, when it's below 40 (sometimes happens during the Summer) my car sometimes goes into "low power mode," that's what my father and I call it. When it gets into low power mode, the car will jerk forward and an engine sign with an arrow pointing downward will pop up, also the car will not go above 30MPH no matter how far you push the accelerator.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? We took it to a mechanic when it first started happening (at that time it was my dad's car) and he had us replace the ignition switch, which we did and that did not help any. We do use the car to tow a trailer on occasion, and recently took it on a trip to Gatlinburg and back with motorcycles on the trailer.

 

Throttle problem. Could be the electronics at the gas pedal itself, could be at the throttle body end. Very likely a dirty throttle body or a bad throttle position sensor.

Look up and read "Limp Mode".

1-remove throttle body
2-remove tps
3-clean throttle body
4-clean throttle body again
5-clean tps
6-clean tps again
7-clean tb mounting surface
8-inspect tb mount seal
9-replace seal if needed

This is a possible fix that really costs nothing, and it is were you need to start. If you want to go buy parts first, have at it.

Stop in the new member sub forum and introduce yourself to the gang. Top right of most pages you'll see your username. Next to it a drop down, click it. Add your first name, location, and car to your "signature". Stop in the new member sub-forum and introduce yourself to the gang. If you really want to use this site for help and info......get your post count up to ten within ten days. If not your account will shut down for being inactive.

 

Thank you sw2cam. I'm not much of a car guy, but I'm looking up that limp mode as you suggested. How did you find out about the limp mode? I've tried using Google to find out what could be causing it, but all I got was a lot of dead ends.

Edit: I'm noticing most people recommend just replace the TPS and not many suggest cleaning it, because the part tends to wear out more so than being dirty. What is your opinion on that?

 

I found this over at saturnfans. As the end of the post says, I can restart the car after waiting a minute and it will usually be okay. Other times I have to keep trying.

"The bottom right side engine symbol with a large arrow pointing down means 'Reduced power mode'.

Reduced power is to protect the engine from damage while still allowing limp home mode to get off the road into a safe place. What ever caused this to occur, reset when you stopped and shut off the engine as this can reset whatever caused the problem rather than continue driving on. Since there are more electronics that run our engines and everything else in the car, one of the most prudent things to do when trouble occurs with engines would be to park and stop the engine for a minute, long enough to allow restarting and allowing the electronics to automatically perform its own self tests (at every start up) to reset any easy errors just before the engine fires up."

 

The Ions HATE dirty throttle bodies/intakes. Listen to sw2cam, and clean it. At most it should cost you the price of a can of throttle body cleaner. And maybe 20 minutes of your time, not knowing what youre doing.
The TB on my 06 gets cleaned twice a month just to prevent that.

 

Do you really want to drive around having to pull over, shut off, and restart your car every time this happens? Suppose you're in a tunnel going 55-60 mph?

And what is an "easy error"? Yes there are phantom errors on today's cars, and errors that set erroneously because of other parts being the actual culprit, but 99% of the time, an error code sets because there is something wrong that needs to be addressed.

I'm bashing the post you referred to , NOT you.

From your net research and sw2's and Goalie's feedback, you can surmise that Ions are sensitive to TB buildup and buildup on the TPS.

Personally, I'd spend the 3.59 on a can of throttle body cleaner and have a go at it. It costs you 3.59 + time + you learn about your car in the process.

I can vouch for the cleanliness of Goalie's throttle body. He had the plate wedged open and the sun came out from behind a cloud. The reflection off the inside of the TB hit me square in the face.

The ER diagnosis was moderate retinal burns. Dark glasses for 10 days.

 

I agree I need to check out the TB. I'm also noticing on other websites people seem to reference the TB and TPS quite interchangeably... I know this can't be right since the TB has to do with air flow, and the TPS monitors how far you are pushing the accelerator in order to get the right air flow from the TB.

@derf I agree completely about the having to pull over and letting my car restart is absolutely terrible. Also it sucks being in a rush, and than the car decides to play ring around the rosie.

@goaliemo I see that you have a Saturn Ion Redline. Have you noticed any other extra maintenance for the Ion's other than the TB and TPS?

Also, let me just say thank you all so much for taking the time to respond and deal with my ignorance.

 

I try to avoid Saturn fans....simply because the amount of misinformation on there is absurd. But it is funny to read once in a while.
Seriously though, check that TB out. It is more of an issue with the later model Ions, such as the 06/07.

 

Also, please don't misinterpret the tone of our responses. Some of the regulars around here are pretty passionate, especially when newbies are fed "swap a part" advice from hoards of people who are too damn lazy to just maintain the damn thing in he first place.....sorry....I think I was being passionate.....

You said you're not much of a car guy. The only way to become one is to take the plunge and get your hands dirty. Use common sense and you can't really break stuff (well, most of the time), and if you do , you fix it. Big whoop. Everyone except Goalie has broken something on their cars; He's too busy cleaning his throttle bodies to actually drive everywhere or work on the reset of the car.

Yes, we rip on each other from time to time, but it's all in good fun.

 

I completely agree on that, and I never got the feeling ya'll were being rude towards me. I understand there's quite a bit of an informational gap between you and I, so there's bound to be some friction.