I just received this light on my hhr ss today and would like to know if anyone else is experiencing this problem and know what it might be? I haven't done any mods to my hhr ss and haven't been beating on the car at all if someone can help me out and share some information that would be great.

 

That's what happens when you use 87 octane fuel in the SS!!!!



(Sorry, could not resist)

 

Hey, you never know you could be right

 

Yes, I actually had that happen a couple months ago. It came on after I had a Check Engine Light come on also. After a few sucessfull starts of the engine it went away and I took it into the dealer. I printed up this post and gave it to them, as I suspected this was the problem... and it was. The just needed to put the latest program in the ECM and it was good to go. Good luck!

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...light=Chevymgr

 

I had the same CEL thn "Reduced Power". The dealer did the reprograma from the above link also.

 

I just got this message on mine the last two mornings. The odd part is that even though it said the engine power was reduced the turbo seemed to be more responsive that it usually is.

I'm not too impressed by the OnStar diagnostics. I called them right after it started with the 'reduced power' to see if they could read any stored codes. They said it was clean. I thought that was really odd since I hadn't turned off the engine and the computer knew there was some sort of issue otherwise why would it post that message on the display???

Does anyone know what triggers that message and why the computer would say reduced power? If the computer determined there was an issue why wasn't it stored so that OnStar could at least see there was a code generated?

I'm going to keep an eye on it but if this continues the HHR will be going to the dealer for a checkup.

No mods have been done to this and it is bone stock. Been running 93 octane so the fuel should be ok.

Any thoughts?

 

BCM triggers the message when the ECM receives an input from a sensor warning that something is out of its predetermined parameter.

 

That's fine but it would be really nice to know exactly WHICH sensor was causing the issue. It should have thrown a code and stored it. I guess I'll have to watch it and take it in if this persists.

 

That can only be known by scanning the ECM for set codes. Hundreds of codes to choose from, so an internet guess would be futile.

 

That is one of the things that bothers me a bit. Right after it happened I called OnStar and they didn't show any codes. Does that mean they can only read codes that are stored in the BCM and that only the scanning tool at the dealer can pull up stored codes on the ECM?

Although my HHR SS is great fun to drive I have felt that it hasn't been performing as well as it should. Once in a while if I catch it just right it pulls really strong but other times it just doesn't seem to be that much more peppy than a regular car. With this message it is leading me to believe that I have a bad sensor on it or some other issue that is limiting the performance.

According to the boost/vacuum gauge the vacuum is excellent and the boost is working but rarely peaks like I have read about and is often lackluster about kicking in when I expect it should.

I want to make sure that this gets corrected before even thinking about any kind of upgrade. I'd really like to get the GM one since it will be more than enough for me. This is my daily driver so I don't get into it much but the extra HP is nice and has saved me a couple times trying to merge into traffic getting onto the expressway.