Temporary loss of boost?

[JohnT]

I made a long road trip and on day 2 driving through the mountains in Wyoming I lost all boost after about 8 hours of driving. At first I thought that it was some loss of power from elevation...but then came to realize I was without boost. I was at 5k rpm in third just to keep it at 65 on a flat road. No warning lights, car was running fine but as you got on the gas there was no boost and it accelerated like a tired NA 1.4.

I hit the next exit and went to a gas station. Checked the oil, etc and everything was fine. I guess it sat and cooled for a bit but I didn't change anything and upon restart it was back to normal. Anyone else experience something like this? It never repeated itself the rest of the drive and for the next week.

 

[Insanika]

I didn't notice anything on my similar drive to Colorado, 6.5 hours driven hard on the highway then up Pikes Peak and around the Springs and partially back home. 80-degree weather.

I will say that 80% of this was driving with tune off, especially on the mountain.

 

[Mlib26]

I hope this doesn't happen on my 12 hour drive to North Carolina I wonder what's going on

 

[Natesriv]

wonder if you hit some sort of limp mode...no warning lights? Would a stuck wastegate just let the air escape out and boost wouldn't build? Sure would be nice if GM would put a boost gauge in there!

 

[Maddmatts]

I had 2 similar events but they were a little more permanent.

 

[JohnT]

Yeah a boost gauge would have been very helpful.

I suppose either the wastegate/actuator sticking or a compressor seizing. As soon as I stopped and restarted it was back to normal, so I suppose a software bug holding the wastegate open is possible as well.

I drove another 1000 miles on the road trip as well as a few hundred more around town and it never repeated. Its hard to diagnose without it happening again.

Maddmatts - did this happen to the Sonic and did you have anything fixed?

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Last September I drove from Las Vegas to Denver and back without a hitch! :banana:

 

[sonic13rs]

I also lost boost going east up Vail Pass.

see ==> http://www.sonicownersforum.com/for...press-circ-range-perf-error-pending-code.html

Scan Gauge showed the lost of boost and looked around and saw the error code (coming) . No check light was on.

 

[Chrish051873]

same thing almost happens to me, i tend to notice the problem when it is above 80 degrees out.
http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/1-4l-turbo-sonic-engine-discussion/7701-cel-2099-a.html

 

[Maddmatts]

Maddmatts - did this happen to the Sonic and did you have anything fixed?

It did happen to the Sonic. Dealership fixed both events under warranty by replacing the entire turbo assembly. The technotes on the shoporders had no useful info on what/why.

If it shows a code, at least get someone with an OBDII scanner to see the freezeframe data. It's no datalog but it's the next best thing.

 

[JohnT]

It did happen to the Sonic. Dealership fixed both events under warranty by replacing the entire turbo assembly. The technotes on the shoporders had no useful info on what/why.

If it shows a code, at least get someone with an OBDII scanner to see the freezeframe data. It's no datalog but it's the next best thing.

Yeah no code, and I didn't have my laptop on the trip with me so I didn't check to see if anything was pending. At 9500 miles I guess I can rely on warranty for a while if it comes to that.

 

[NR552]

I am seeing a pattern here, just had this happen to me yesterday (via Death Valley, 102 F temp-- car reached 232 F coolant temp via torque app). Boost dropped to 5.7-6.0 psi max. Couldn't get above that even with the coolant dropping back to 209 F range. Performance tune made no change when I tried that. Drove 200+ miles in that mode--- plenty for driving fwy speeds, no issues, just down on power when I needed it. Stopped for gas, checked oil, coolant level, visual on intake connections and connections visible for the boosted side to the throttle body (all looked ok). Started the car. All of the boost was back (both the economy side and the performance side).

Car just protecting itself I guess.

 

[ChrisJ]

Our 1.4 Cruze has made many 6-8 hr trips to Canada with no issues. Of course, it wasn't terribly hot any of the times.