veryspecialagent

2007 2.2L 5-speed manual transmission, 14x,xxx miles

Hello,
Having a whole host of issues it's led to being stuck in limp mode. Here's the background:

Burned out the clutch and had it replaced in December of 2017. It ran fine up until at 3 months ago when lost all resistance in the clutch pedal. The clutch master cylinder went and out. for various reasons I ended up having to drive it for about 3 weeks without a clutch before I was able to get the new clutch master cylinder. Replaced it, bled the system, things are working fine, and about two weeks later lost all resistance in the clutch again. I bled the system, things worked, then they didn't. be Lost resistance AND got the brake fluid warning message indicating I lost on my brake fluid. I did, but the brakes never skipped a beat. Refill, bleed , few hours I lose fluid. Never found out where it went out what orifice it left from, but after the third time we thought we had everything tight and filled and bled for real this time.

We were wrong.

What followed was a slow deterioration of power over the course of the next 12 hours to the point where I couldn't get up a 3% grade Hill. It have me the reduced engine power message, and then the car set for couple weeks before I was able to get it to the shop. It would run fine, but press the gas pedal and it would rev but not go anywhere.

We ended up flushing the system due to finding what appeared to be a disintegrated O-ring in the fluid. Replaced the clutch master cylinder again, and since no progress appeared to have been made, replaced the clutch slave cylinder inside the transmission, checking everything regarding the process along the way. Everything appears to be in mechanically working order. I have resistance in the clutch pedal, it's shifting through all the gears (you can hear and feel it), it won't go into gear unless the clutch pedal is depressed, the wheels rotate and respond when you press the gas pedal when it's up in the lift, but no oomph when it's on the ground.

Codes: We were getting Reduced Engine Power, P1682, and the fuse to the ECM kept blowing. I followed every bit of advice I found in here regarding all three problems.

We got the ECM fuse to stop blowing after checking out the ECM itself and all the wiring. When all that checked it and it was still blowing (when let turned to run) we ended up putting a 20 amp fuse in the slot. That allowed the relay to reset itself (you could hear it) so we put the 15 amp back in and everything seems to be working fine there.

For P1682, again we checked the ECM, ran through all the wiring including the pink wire, checked for any damage to the wires, harnesses, and retaped them. Did not find any damage or shorts. Cleaned and reset the starter ground and installed a new ignition switch and cylinder. All those things together, not necessarily in that order, got rid of that code.

For the Engine Power Reduced message, I checked/cleaned/resat the MAF sensor, throttle body, oil fill neck, checked all the wiring again, made sure the had cap was on, disconnected the negative battery terminal for four hours while I did all of this, started it up, let it relearn the idle (as much as can be without driving), no more codes or error messages pop up, but still no motion.

The wheels move and respond accordingly while it's up in the air, it shifts through so the gears, but had no power to move when on the ground. It will move VERY slowly, and had slightly more power in reverse, but we're not even limping here.

I need to get back to Texas and leaving it getting rid of the car isn't an option (it belongs to my fiance and it's special to her). That being said, andMy budget for parts is "the Goodwill of my fellow man" and my budget for repairs is somewhere around "MacGuyver." I was in KC on business when this all went down, and we'll just say my hotel budget ran out three days ago, so a hasty solution would be appreciated.

donbrew

There are more than 1 ECM fuse. Which one? What pink wire?

Here is a quick guess for where the fluid goes: the quick connect in the trans.
Another guess is that either the fluid has soaked the clutch or the clutch wore out from abuse.

P1682 means that ignition circuit #2 is shorting to ground at the power train relay. Or open at either the run/crank relay and/or the powertrain relay. This is the cause of the "reduced power mode".

Since the engine does run I would focus on the run/crank relay #51 fuse #43 under hood. The powertrain relay would shut the engine down.
Another guess: when the clutch work was done the under hood fuse box got damaged.

veryspecialagent

The 15A fuse in the fuse box under the hood. I specifically mentioned the pink wire because there's a solid pink wire that leads to it and someone in the forum that mentioned it being damaged as the cause for their short.

Fuse box was checked and resat.

P1682 went away after changing the ignition switch and cylinder. Changing the cylinder was more of a convenience thing as I had broken off the key a couple months ago (took out the pins in the cylinder so it would work) and had a replacement already in the car. Probably not relevant, but I swapped the chip in the new key with the chip from the old key so I didn't also have to go through that process on top of all the others.

The fluid loss was just a part of the history. That was a month ago. Didn't have any fluid loss from that "fix" until now. Clutch and transmission look good and feel new when in the driver's seat. Every gear catches. You can feel it in the drivers seat and hear it when your head is under the hood and see it when the car is up in the air.

Just. Limp.

firemangeorge

There is no real "Limp Mode". That's just a laymans term for the Power Reduced Mode that will show up on the DIC.
I think you're using the term Limp to just describe the fact that your car won't "go" so to speak.

Listen to Donbrew. He knows his stuff.
Me, I'm inclined to believe that some of that leaking fluid may have contaminated the clutch surface. Sure it will work when off the ground and no resistance is on the driveline. But put the wheels on the ground and try to move a 2 ton vehicle, I'll bet the clutch is slipping.

donbrew

Lots of 15A fuses.
Recalls been done? You know that is a new key and cylinder? https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/gm-r...-status-50716/
New key process is in the Owner Manual and is simple. Digital copy in my sig.
Seems like a lot of half baked work has been done.

A worn out/broken or saturated (slipping) clutch would feel fine to somebody just pushing on the pedal.

veryspecialagent

Limp Mode in context here = Reduced power mode. It's quicker to type and I don't have the reduced engine power message any more.

Clutch:.We replaced the clutch slave cylinder, meaning we had the transmission dropped and opened up. We looked over everything, and nothing appeared out of sorts.

veryspecialagent

It was #41 that kept blowing. Have the hood up now. Both 41 and 43 are good.
Question: does orientation matter with relays? When looking down in the fuse box, should they all be oriented to where the wiring is rightside up or upside down?

donbrew

Look at the bottom of the relay, the pins are numbered corresponding with numbers on the fuse box. 30, 85, 86, 87
I don't know what could sound like a slipping clutch except a slipping clutch.

firemangeorge

So you replaced the slave cylinder and looked at everything else. Unless you pulled the clutch, and pressure plate and checked those and the flywheel surface, just thinking nothing looked out of sorts may not be right.
It doesn't take much fluid on the clutch surface areas to cause it to slip. Only residue on those parts should be clutch disc dust.

veryspecialagent

I see the numbers. I'm asking if they matter. Like, when you plug it in, right side up, 30 is on the top left, but plug it in upside down, 30 is on the bottom right. Does that matter which way it's plugged in?