HELP...damsel in distress!!! lol!!! my car won't start..."engine powere reduced" and "engine disabled" comes up on the panel...i don't know what to do and i take care of my elderly mother who has cancer and need the car to get her to her appointments. does anyone have any helpful information that i could use to take care of this issue by myself or do i need to take it to a mechanic to get it repaired. we're struggling financially and i want to make sure before i take it in, so i don't get bamboozled with extra charges that i don't have the money to pay for. i have a 2006 chevrolet cobalt with 25,000 miles. i would truly appreciate any advice...from the bottom of my heart...graceful thanks!!!

 

Disconect ecm for 10 min. Reconnect it if it come ba k quick its a hard code. A bad sensor or wireing rubbed and is now grounded. Read the codes.... Let me know

 

is disconnecting the ecm something i can do by myself...can you please let me know and where i can find it in my car...i don't really have the money to get it fixed by a mechanic...i could buy groceries for my mother with it, so any help is truly appreciated...thank you thank you thank you...from the bottom of my heart!

 

The ecm is located in the engine bay..facing the rear of the car looking down on the engine...on the front right you will see a silver box with 2 connectors...sometimes covered with a concave plastic piece...removed the plastic cover...and disconnect the computer...or if that hard to understand..its located in front of the fuse box on the right hand side

 

Riceburner lives in Chicago, give him a shout and see if maybe he can be of some assistance

 

Never disconnect the ecm with the battery connected,damage to the fine electronic internals of it is likely!

Just disconnect the battery and let it sit for 20 min and reconnect( just pull off the negative,black wire)

If the service engine light is on get the codes scanned and post them.
What motor do you have 2.4 or 2.2 ?

Was the service engine light flashing before it quit?

Im guessing a cam or crank sensor issue

 

thank you so much for all of your help...i am sweetly touched by the kindness you have shared with me. it's too dark outside right now for me to look at the battery, but i will try to disengage the black wire in the morning. i'm not sure what size my motor is, but i will find that out too tomorrow. last week i started having problems with my car not starting, so i thought it might be the gas cap not having a tight seal. when i turned it tightly, my car started back up...but the check engine light remained on until i drove my car around for a bit and stopped and started it again. then this weekend i bought a new gas cap and my car started immediately...until yesterday...when my car wouldn't do anything. i got the messages off of the panel that read "engine power reduced" and "engine disabled"...but still with all of the trying it remained unable to start. then today i tried the gas cap again and made sure all of the fues were in place and still no power. i truly hope its an affordable fix...with my caring for my elderly mother who has cancer and has had a major spinal cord surgery that left her unable to walk, i equate money to bread, eggs and milk, so i really want to be able to fix this issue in an affordable manner. so my dear...thank you so much for your help...i am so grateful to people like you that extend their hands in kindness. i will let you know if the batter trick works. do you have any idea if it is the crank sensor how much that would cost for parts and labor? if you know, please get back to me, if you can!

 

When you have disconnected the battery the codes will erase and the car will most likely start again if the problem is intermitten.so dont drive to far right away.
If it comes back try to find some one to read the codes for you and post them here.

I wouldnt recommened throwing parts at it on a guess if you dont have the funds to waste on a unnecessary repair.
Get the codes read if they come back and lets start there.

 

ok kindhearted coblasts...this graceful butterfly's wings of friendship are fluttering in delight...thank you again and again for your thoughtful support...i'll write you tomorrow with more details.

 

Or dissconnect both hold them together n your hand fOr 1 min

 

i hope your female

 

lmao, come on man.

 

Im haveing the same problem.. I turn the key ive got a tick tick tick and car will not even crank.. ive done the battery and the computer and still nothing.. anyone know what wrong??

 

Classact (and anybody – open invitation),

If I can be of any assistance as a Customer Service representative, whether it be working with you towards resolving a vehicle concern with a dealership, or looking into warranty/recall information, please don’t hesitate to private message me with more information!

Best,
Sarah
GM Customer Service

 

Same here, I just had it happen to me today. "Engine Power Reduced" and "Engine Disabled" on the way too work. Quite a strange experience, push the gas pedal, NO power, look down, Engine Power Reduced, push pedal again, "Engine Diabled". Pull into a graveyard, try the ignition, nothing. Wait a few more minutes, starts right up and worked fine the rest of the way to work, and the return trip home.

I will hook up my handheld to the ODB2, and post the codes, in the morning. I thought I may have gotten jacked by the POLICE, but then realized, I dont have OnStar. LOL. Car sounds fine, runs fine, SC works fine. Very interesting......

 

ok so my 05 (2.2. lt l61 engine) cobalt is doing the same thing as graceful has mentioned.... pulled codes today and there was a list of them
---p0141b heated o2 sensor heater performance bank 1 sensor 2--just changed down stream sensor last night
---p0171b fuel trim system lean bank 1
---p0300 misfire detected
---p0340 camshaft postion sensor circuit
---p0532 a/c refrigerant pressure sensor circuit low voltage
---p0601a control module rom malfunction

any ideas where to start on this one....i do have every bolt on and some internal work done as well as a trifecta customer tune and a few other goodies...

also sorry to hijack this thread but there hasent been much action or a resolution to this thread

 

All those have the C2 connector on the PCM in common,check to make sure it's tight and follow the wires back as far as you can looking for spots that might be an issue.

 

Don't know if it is a possibility for your problem but check the throttle body connection. When I did my SC build and had to rewire my TB, I got a couple wires mixed up and I got these messages. So maybe some of your throttle body wires are rubbing on something or could be the TB connection is loose. Just something else to try.

 

thanks for the response ill go check now...ill let you know

 

well i had to take the balt to the dealership....ecm was the cause of my problem....replaced it and gm flashed it to factory specs..i had to remove my 2.4 tb....anyone have a # to vince at trifecta tuning...i dont know how long i can drive my balt under factory tune...feels so slugish....plus im doing a s/c build in the next month and will need a new tune for that...but my question does trifecta keep your original tune saved for your vin...since i was once tuned...or do i have to pay for another customer tune....
thanks for all the help and i hope ths post has helped others with the same problem...

 

I believe Vince keeps your factory tune as long as you tune through the ez flash cable. You may have to pay some for an updated tune but not the full amount

 

Anyone figure this out? I got a friend that his cobalt shut off when he was driving he got the battery and alternator but still nothing. Doesn't crank either..

 

I've had this problem on and off for the past year or so. Seemed to be related to throttle body directly, live in a cold area where they sand the roads heavily in the winter. Pulled intake off and looked down in throttle body, was caked with sand/mud ect.. Pulled throttle body off, just 4 bolts, really easy. Cleaned up with some throttle body cleaner, reinstalled and all seemed good to go. I would also just double check your battery connections, make sure your terminals are corrosion free ect.. trunk area can collect moisture pretty bad and cause some weird car problems.

 

Will problems with the enc make my car shake

 

Will problems with the enc make my car shake?