Reduced Power Message
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 105
Likes: 22
Reduced Power Message
Started my car today after first freeze last night. Car started no issue but got Reduced Power Message CEL and no acceleration. Goes into gear but nothing at throttle. Then threw TC lights. I am guessing battery??? Any ideas??
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 62,140
Likes: 1,729
From: Athens AL
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
C4 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
Buy a scantool, pull the code. We can't guess what it is.
Or call somebody and have it towed to the dealer.
Or call somebody and have it towed to the dealer.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
Administrator
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 367,986
Likes: 24,716
From: In a parallel universe. Currently own 2014 Stingray Coupe.
C7 of the Year - Modified Finalist 2021
MO Events Coordinator
St. Jude Co-Organizer
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '25
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Hard to say what the issue is without obtaining any codes that may have been set.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 105
Likes: 22
It starts and accelerates with no reduced power messages. Still have CEL and a rough idle. Put a trickle charger on for now. Néed to go to work in a few minutes. Will see how it acts when done tonight. Might be a trip to the shop for codes tomorrow morning.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,422
Likes: 3,275
From: Hartford WI
I'd get a loaner tool first and see what codes you get. After which we can see what is going wrong.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 2,151
Likes: 1,029
From: North Texas
Reduced power and rough idle is / could be a bad combination. After reading codes, possible a bad AFM lifter or broken valve spring. Don't run it until you get a better idea what the problem is.
Code readers are cheap, Amazon.
Code readers are cheap, Amazon.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jul 2021
Posts: 105
Likes: 22
After a day on the charger the charger lights were lit compared to 2 when first hooked up. Car started with no codes or CEL. Battery was low when tested today. Battery replaced and all is well.
Ron
Ron
Racer
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 476
Likes: 103
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 28,422
Likes: 3,275
From: Hartford WI
Drifting
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,942
Likes: 1,328
From: Houston Tx
Bad battery is a fairly common cause of problems like you experienced. It happened to me recently in my CTSV, which has a Vette powertrain. The instrument panel showed reduced power, antilock brake error, and some others I have forgotten. I have a code reader and it showed the master “you are screwed” code of P0601, meaning bad ECM. I then thought, what about the battery? I got my old trusty $25 volt meter, and sure enough, the battery only was putting up 11.3 volts. I changed the battery, and things went right back to normal. So while a code reader is usually very useful, sometimes it is not the answer. If I had believed it and replaced the ECM for about $1000, it would have done no good. The problem was the $150 battery, and the codes did not show that as a problem.
Last edited by LDB; Nov 5, 2021 at 05:56 PM.