I have a 2004 normally aspirated 215 HP coupe with a 6 speed manual trans. About 80% of the time the car runs fine. The other 20% it feels like the engine is in a" limp mode" - very sluggish and no power or acceleration. This started when the car had about 8,500 miles on it and has gotten progressively worse (car has about 18,000 miles on it now). I have taken it back to two different dealers at least 3 times. Cost me $100 just for the diagnosis each time I take it in. Since it never sets a code, they can't find the problem - or claim there isn't one. There seems to be no set of particular conditions that cause it - although it never happens on first start up, so it could be heat related?? Anyone else out there having the same problem?? Solutions? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Yeah I had the same problem with mine. The dealer told me it has something to do with the 1st gear but they have no idea why or when it will happen. He told me that unless I am at a steep uphill or I the car was rolling backward to always start from a stop in second gear (so either on a flat surface or downhill surface). I followed his directions and I haven't had the problem ever again. Just food for thought. Requires some getting used to.

 

Welcome to the Forum!!!

Try reflashing your throttle...may be stuck in "Grandma Mode".
Copied from this thread:
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...9&postcount=17

The Throttle is "Drive By Wire" and adapts to your particular driving
style. Do a TBA Throttle body adaptation.

1. Get in your car, it doesn't matter if you close the door or not.

2. Turn the key to the on (not start) position, the position just before the starter
turns over.

3. Press the gas pedal to the floor with the key in the "on" position.

4. Hold the pedal to the floor for five seconds, then turn the key back
to the "off" position (don't remove the key), then release the gas
pedal.

5. Wait 2 mins. for a full alignment.

6. Drive the car as you always do.

Depending on your driving style, this may or may not be a big factor. I do a lot of city driving so
I noticed a big change after erasing my history. It is not hard to do this, just follow the instructions -

Key on, pedal down, 5 sec, key off pedal up, wait 2 minutes.

Keep the key in for the entire thing.

If this doesn't work, disconnect your neg. battery cable for 20 minutes. This will re-set the parameters in the drive-by-wire... Unfortunately it will delete your pre-set radio stations, clock etc. as well...

 

IMO your dealer does not have a clue.
You never start a MT car in second gear unless you're in deep snow or something of that nature. If you continue to start driving your car from a stop in second gear, be prepared to spend a lot of money replacing clutches!!

 

What's interesting is after I did the above procedure, I do not suffer from any of the stuff I mentioned above. Re-calibrating the transmission seems to make shifting from gear to gear much smoother and I am not plagued by the lack of power in first gear anymore. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

Do you use the steering wheel extend feature? If the steering wheel is not properly locked into place (if the latch is not fully returned to the lock position), I think the car goes into limp mode. This happened when I was test driving the car. Once we figured out what was going on, everything was fine from that point.

Guy

 

Thanks for the tip CrossfireLTD. I'll give it a shot in the morning and let you know the outcome.

 

I did this over the weekend and it took about a day or so of driving to tell a difference as I guess the car "learns" your habits. Definitely different, though I don't have much gas left in the car I'll be able to tell tomorrow with a full tank if the results remain the same but so far so good.