63falcondriver

I have been wrestling with an intermittent 2135 TPS code for some time on our 2008 HHR. It has the 2.2 ecotec and engine light reduced engine power code occurs intermittently. We have been logging occurrences and it seems to happen most often on the 1-2 upshift or when releasing the throttle to decelerate. It has occurred at other times as well but always while shifting or decelerating. I inspected the harness and found no faults. I cleaned the throttle body, I removed the harness plugs from the PCM and checked those for cleanliness, etc. The time I did the major look, the problem went away for a few thousand miles. It has now come back and the typical pattern is that the light will come on with a corresponding power loss, the power loss will go away, often without a restart, eventually the light goes off (after multiple restarts). The re occurrence can be as short as a few miles to a week or more of daily errands. I have found the service bulletin regarding the re-crimp of pins in the harness, chafed harness concerns and actual replacement of the TPS (throttle body change required).
Since we are within the 36 months but have about 40,000 plus miles, the vehicle is no longer under warranty. I talked to a dealer and they said although the PCM is covered under extended emissions, the harness is not. So my question. Who of you have had this problem and had it resolved (ie, gone for months) and what made it go away. Thanks for your help.

63falcondriver

no one on here has had this problem? There is a GM bulletin to recrimp pins in the harness and so forth but some have changed throttle bodies, etc. I don't want to shotgun this since it isn't under warranty anymore. (This is a code that causes "reduced engine power")

63falcondriver

Four months later and still having the 2135 code occurring on a ever increasing basis. We have been tracking when and what is going on when the light comes on and the car goes into reduced power mode. We now have 50 something thousand miles on the vehicle and love it other than this pestilence. I have acquired a code reader and it has thrown no other codes. The problem will sometimes occur three times in a five mile drive and other times we drive more than a hundred miles between occurrences. Lately it has been happening almost every time the car is driven which to me is a good thing as it will increase the likelihood of tracking this down. At this point I am pretty convinced that it is the electrical connection (terminal crimps) mentioned in a TSB and plan to acquire the special tool needed to extract the pins from the plug ends. However, before I get invasive, has anyone else had this problem and resolved it? Thanks.

sleeper

(bump) No not me..

kornellred

Hey falcondriver: I own a 2007 HHR LS which I bought new in August 2007. I had the dreaded "engine power reduced" message in the DIC a number of times when the vehicle was new. I bought a code scanner and found P2135, which is a lack of correlation between the throttle position sensor voltages of the accelerator pedal and the actual throttle.
The problem is in the electrical harness - there is a pin that is not fully seated in it's plug because it is either bent or broken and causing intermittent contact. At least - that is where the problem was with my HHR. The dealer replaced a pin or plug contact and the problem was permanently eliminated. That was 3 years ago and I do not remember much else about it.

skyeglen

falcondriver, look in the top sticky section for this forum ( Prob & Serv Issues) for the TSB thread. Look at Post #15 in that thread that refers to your P2135 problem. Might be your solution.

63falcondriver

Thanks for the responses, I have the TSB on the harness and have done some investigation on it. From what I have gathered, there are a number of causes of this code and as it has progressed, I have been leaning more towards the harness issue. I don't have a reputable dealer (in my opinion) near me and so I intend to repair the vehicle myself. (it has about 50,000 miles on it.) I just want to fix it once and hit the correct target. It is occurring so frequently now that it wont take long to know if it has been resolved. Guess I need to order a terminal pin tool next. I don't have one for that type harness.

63falcondriver

UPDATE
My 2008 2.2 LS was going to reduced engine power every time I drove it and sometimes while backing out of the drive before even going anywhere. I removed the harness plugs to the ECM/PCM and sprayed them with WD-40 and blasted it clean with compressed air. I also wiggled the wires around to see if any felt loose. Put it back together and the problem has not reoccurred in several thousand miles:). I now have the pin release tools I ordered from Snap-On and next time it happens I will recrimp the offending wires. I am convinced the problem is in the harness related to the tsb on loose crimps. I fully expect the problem to return but am happy that I feel confident I have the issue narrowed down. Other than the pin tools, I have not spent any money yet on this issue. The car now has 58,000 miles on it.

63falcondriver

Almost 4000 more miles on the vehicle since the last post and the problem has still not reoccurred. Drove it from GA to NY and back last weekend and it ran perfectly.

sleeper

63falcondriver-

(don't want to jinx it) but sounds like you got it Good deal..