Saturn Vue Throttle and accelerator issues diagnosis

this has been a long hard diagnosis......it has taken a lot of driving and data recording in order to get to the bottom of it. at first we though it was anti theft issue......the video will explain it all.

[julianfell]

I have a 2003 Vue manual 2.2L. When I first acquired it, it went to limp mode constantly. It was particularly bad in wet weather. This can be cancelled by turning the engine off and then restarting. One nice thing about the manual is that the engine can be turned off and restarted without pulling off the highway. Just disengage the clutch, turned the key off, turn the the key back to the run position, lift your foot off the clutch pedal slowly and let the movement of the car restart the engine. The DTCs were P1271 and P1275 which indicated a faulty accelerater pedal position sensor (APP). So I swapped in a new one and nothing changed. I traced the wires and found that at the main connector block (to the left of the drivers left leg) the 6 wires involved had been bypassed. The party I bought the vue from had no mechanical expertise. So it seems others before this owner had been dealing with this problem for some time. I had another Vue so I swapped out the PCM. the throttle body, the manifold absolute pressure of which had no effect. I cleaned the throttle body and this made an improvement. I used a scanner to track the freeze frame data and it showed no trends. I had concluded at this stage that the problem was in the wiring rather than the modules. I tested all the wires involved and they all showed resistances in the correct range. I opened up the back of the J1 connector on the PCM and found it full of dust and crud. I washed this out with Carb cleaner, toothbrush and q-tip.. This seemed to make quite a difference. I watched a video by Ivan at Pine Hollow (actually I watch a lot of his stuff) where he mentioned that electronic sensors tend to operate based on voltage rather than current. This makes them very sensitive to moisture, oil and dirt which can ground out voltages. I cannot say I have fixed the issue but I dont get limp mode any more in the summer. The codes shown in this video for APP problems are for the 2002-2003 Opel V6, which differ from those of the 4 cylinder ecotec.

[heatherprater]

It's crazy that my 2004 Saturn Vue has all of the same exact problems. So I need a new body control module and I should replace the sensor on the ignition. I've been dealing with these problems for 3 years.

[rudysanchez]

Hey have you come across a engine noise under valve cover on a 2007 vue v6

[Tsukuyomt]

Im having a issue with acceleration when I first turn on my Saturn Vue. Its slow/sluggish and then after a couple seconds its just fine.

[TheMrmmkkpro]

I have a 2005 ion, no crank, no start, good starter, good battery, all fuses and relays good, no problem with theft system. Any thoughts? It's like whatever is suppose to tell the engine to start is not working, no crank and no power to fuel pump. Nice video, thanks for the Info. 👍👍🏁🏁

[jdotjohndoe]

I have the same 03 Saturn vue - Code p0700 & U2105 shows . Mines glitch out as well, what is the best solution for me to fix this problem

[susantercek]

We replaced the pedal and the car is still acting up. We've replaced several parts and still can't figure out the problem. Very intermittent glitch. Car bogs down when starting out or shifting down. I'll pull off the side of the road to a complete stop, car will shake and sometimes the check engine light will blink. I'll turn the car off and turn it back on and it clears the issue. Any thoughts? 2004 Vue 5 speed 4cyl.

[derekmckinney]

Awesome video, appreciate how in depth you explain the issues and codes.

[BrodyHarris]

Yeah, does it jolt before losing power? Almost like the throttle body gets stuck completely open for a split second before slamming shut?

[slima]

I had the same issue at my 2002 Saturn vue 3.0l v6 and I turned out that it was the throttle body

[in]

I'm considering buying a 2003 Vue with the 3.0 w/ 112K on the clock for a good price. Am I better off just replacing the accelerator pedal, BCM, and TCM for preventive maintenance? Planning to put a lot of miles on it.

[mikecamps]

has replacing the gas pedal assembly solved the problem ?   I have a 2003 L300 v6 with a similar problem....where the wrench light comes on and then it drives "better"....but it acts as if its running lean with no power in the rpm band where the 2 to 3 shift is so 25 to 35 mph is the worst speed for around town driving.  Seemed to me as if it was an old school computer TPS situation if it were a mid 1980's car …...not the OBD 2 system that it is.  But in either case....replacing with a new gas pedal assembly or a new throttle body is expensive.   THIS IS WHY I PREFER NON COMPUTERIZED CARS AND me old school HEI distributors and carburetors

[hilfiger.__hendrix._]

Had some of the same codes and tried everything as well new throttle body an all if i shut it off and then when I started it it wouldn't accelerate could that b tcm?

[TylerZachary]

What did you figure out? I'm having the same issues, I changed the pedal. It didn't work. I have u2105 and p1779 codes come up. The interior lights sort of flicker like a drain is happening, even after I noticed that I put in an after market radio. First time doing it, could this be the cause? Had a test ran on it at advance, Alternator is great, new battery, but says the starter gets ZERO volts but it runs and starts fine? I've checked the ground is fine all over the car. Before I cleared the codes these were the codes U1016, U2105, P1779, P0703, P0504, 02135, P0221, P0700. It didn't start doing this until I changed the brake booster and master cylinder and rotors and brakes but that doesn't seem related.

[e.rivera]

i had the same issue...was a clogged catalytic converter and the sensor at the intake.
On the minivan ( i had 3 ) must replace the harness wiring a must and the computer can be send for a re-manufactured and programming it cost me $700.00 total.

[trinidadbreeze]

basically it narrows down to pedal or throttle body if it goes slow and no acceleration change pedal and or throttle body diagnostic tool unit takes out the guessing.

[arielgonzalez]

Tengo una 2003 saturn vue y se para cuando anda jalando y prende el reduce power que sera por favor? Gracias

[elooforlando]

Q: I got a 05 ion 2.2 w/ the same problem.
I changed the throttle, pedal, coil pack, ignition module, knock sensor and crank sensor and still got the same power down problem.
Besides a match and gas, any other info to fix this problem?

[nathanskeeter]

Is there an update to if this fixed it?

[valerierumfelt]

Mine chugs when u excelerate rpms run high in 5th gear. Changed the catalatic converter cuz that is what the code said it was. Still having the same issue. It chugs accelerating and them it jus takes off. Help!!!