My 2010 cobalt was having the exact same issue, and it was getting to the point that I couldn't get a mile away from home without that happening. I even, stupidly, let it happen when I was driving, and tried to restart in a turn lane. It didnt work, and ended up with all of my battery's power getting sucked out! Had to get a tow and a new battery! And of course, was still happening. While this didnt save me from that tow (the battery was dying anyways)... I'm glad I looked after, at least. A zip tie, and some liquid rubber to insulate the exposed metal of the damaged wires, and my old car was back working smoothly! I even did several hours of driving the next day; no issues. Thank you for the video; its tons of help.
God bless you fixit man. This has been happening to my '09 red Chevy Cobalt for about five years. In fact, this is MY car...right down to the color. Rather than spending another $600., I'm going to give this a shot...wish me luck.
Excellent video! Also well narrated by a real adept troubleshooter. I have found that over the many years of troubleshooting electrical systems, many problems can be traced back to poor grounding, either from the factory systems, or chafing and hot wires touching ground points. Good job!
Same problem on my mother's 2009 cobalt. It's a combination of the intertwined wires and that strap on the dip stick. When you twine wire like that and jostle it around, it wraps in and out of each other gradually. A single wrap might cost you a mm or two of wire but through the bundle leading to it, it adds up. Her harness tangled enough to pull tight against that corner thanks to the dip stick clip. If you feel your harness is tight, then massage it outside of the protective cover. It'll relax into a more sensible condition that lets you strap it all the way around the perimeter, plenty of clearance so nothing like that happens again.
Wow! Man u saved me so much. Took it to dealer mechanic. I found it so werid that the warning light would just appear out of no where and check engine light would disappear. Did exactly waht u said and it's good to go! Mechanic at dealer either knew of this or didn't but paid a bunch of money to get fixed
This happened to me today in my 2009 Pontiac G5. So glad I found your video! I will be checking my wire harness. A lot of mechanics will try to charge you an arm and leg specially if your a women. But I was raised with all boys and my Dad taught me a lot so if I don’t know what the problem is I will always research it before taking it to a mechanic
This video identified the exact same wire wear issue in my '09 Cobalt. This issue was a real pain because it would only occur while driving and it was hard to reliably reproduce. I checked all three sensors that use this 5-Volt Reference-1 supply (APP, FTP, TAC) while parked and always got a solid 5V. After watching this video, I took a look at the wire harnesses related to these sensors. It turned out that, just like in this video, the sharp edge of the oil filter housing had cut right through the wire harness and even managed to cut through the insulation of my 5-Volt Reference-1 wire (white/black). The housing is grounded so the intermittent contact with this 5V supply was likely triggering the "P0641 Sensor Reference A Circuit/Open" error code, putting the engine in reduced power mode Thank you very much!
thank you! i got a 2006 in 2018 and everything was fine besides the whole engine power problem. took it to the local auto shop and they said that the same parts you looked at where chafing and need replacements! so now i dont have to worry about it again which is good considering i was planning on doing a summer tripwith it! again thanks!
This is exactly the problem on a chevy cobalt 2010 in a garage that I work for ,good dude,thanks and thanks again for saving me time founding the problem(mechanic MO
I encountered this same issue with my Pontiac G5. But, I already had a bad battery and the reason for the reduced engine power error message I was receiving was as a result of corrosion on both terminals. After cleaning out the corrosion on the battery I was able to able to use the car without jerking and the reduced engine power error.
Good job , I think I have the same issue . Same code , steelers should fix or replace the whole wiring harness, way to many cobalt with this same issue
I had a P2122 error and getting reduced engine power. Mechanic first replaced both solenoids, the error came back. Next throttle body was cleaned. I though ti was out of the woods. Then a week later fuel lines started leaking. Those had to be replaced. 2 days later P2122 came back; low engine power. I checked the areas mentioned in the video myself. I could see by the oil canister it looked just like yours but I could not see if maybe the wires were frayed. I did the best I could it was hard to get into. So I wrapped up the area and pulled it back with a zip tie. Crossing my fingers this is the issue.
*update* nope did not resolve my P2122 error code. it may be the throttle body sensor issue or gas pedal sensor.... Not sure when I should give up on this car
I will give this a shot. Unfortunately for me, my 08 cobalt will no longer crank. All I get is the one or two clicks before it stops. Already changed battery, sensors and starter.
My cobalt just decided to take a nap. Couldn't find anything and still not working. Managed to get it to my local mechanic in 40 minutes and it's usually only a 10 minute drive lol.
After tracing my wiring harness and replacing the throttle body it’s still doing it then I realized it started doing it when I filled the tank …. Cleaned the gas cap and greased the seal on it and now it’s working fine and check engine light is gone
Gracias, muchas gracias por el.video. Yo tengo problema similar, al principio no podía acelerar a más de 30 mph ahora puede correr a 65 mph pero al parar y arrancar hay que acelerar y soltar el pedal 3 veces, en la tercera se siente un golpe fuerte en la transmisión. Voy a ver si es el mismo problema y lo puedo solucionar. El dueño anterior le cambió 2 partes y siguió igual. #1 Sensor de la presión del tanque de gasolina.. #2 Purge valve
Señor me puede decir si a arreglado el problema básicamente tengo este problema desde mucho tiempo nadie puede arreglarlo incluso el diler a remplazado 2 veces el trottle body funciona un tiempo y buelve a falla con el codigo del trottle body . E echo lo que dice este video y sigue igual alguna recomendación
Not sure. If you are asking why does it not accelerate? it’s because the on board computer will not let you accelerate because it is sensing a problem in one of the sensors
I got in mind 2010 Chevy Cobalt last night to go pick my wife up from work and as soon as it started the motor started missing not rapidly but it would miss run right Miss so I went ahead and went to pick my wife up had no power at all got it finally made it to her work shut the car off would not start back it would start for like 3 seconds shut right off Crank it again start for 3 seconds shut right off
I have a problem this morning when I started my car up with the cold weather I had to reduce power I haven't took it out in 3 days because of the cold weather I'm not sure what the issue is?
I didn't see the video before change some sensors this works for some time but again I got the same failure, until I looked the harness and confirm the wires damaged, the plastic protection melted and doing a short circuit.
If you can move that wiring harness so it doesn’t rub against any metal it should help or at minimum put electrical tape around the harness where it contacts any metal
Wonder if this is what’s going on in my 09 Malibu. It has a few evap leak codes, as well as a sticky fuel guage that doesn’t come back to working until it’s down to a half tank. Gas mileage is still pretty good. 16 gallons gets me a around 415 miles or so. Thoughts? I can’t seem to find a actual evap leak.
Red. eng.pwr.--worn casing T.You./New prob.07'cobalt auto.shift jumps in gear when cold & RPM nothing,15mins.later shifts fine RPM back ,can u help please
Not sure without looking at wiring diagram. Anytime there is a problem on two separate circuits I check for problems on the ground circuit since different circuits will share grounds
i wonder if this same issue might be applicable to other systems. I've got a variety of evap codes but after all the usual replacements and no obvious damage anywhere, its been a big head scratcher. Hasn't affected the car's driving at all, but it's annoying to constantly see it.
I don’t know much about vehicles so sorry if this question is dumb 😆. So you just coated the wire in JB weld and that fixed it? My car is having the exact same issues
It’s a good question. Moving the wires away from the throttle body is what fixes the problem. Use some zip ties or some kind of tape to pull the wiring harness and prevent it from rubbing. The JB weld will help keep moisture out of the wire to prevent corroding the wire.
This fix prevents the wire from rubbing on the throttle body. The wire will short circuit to the metal. Excellent question. I hope that answers it for you. Zip tie helps prevent wire from rubbing and JB weld keeps moisture out
Im on my 2nd 2000's gm and getting the "engine pwr reduced". Hundreds of thousands of articles about this issue. Time for a recall GM. Ya screwed up big time.
