Ok guys need a little help here, my daughter’s car was running fine until she did some maintenance to it. She had the oil changed and then replaced the battery. Once she did that we had a hard time even getting it to idle, but it somehow worked itself out. But now it is losing power when she turns corners, she can fire it right back up no problem but what could be the problem? It is a 2006 vue 4 cylinder manual
it is not throwing any new codes, and the only lights that come on the dash when it dies is the battery and oil light

 

What old codes is it throwing?
Please list all the codes

 

It could possibly be a busted motor mount causing the engine to shift and pulling on an electrical connection. Check your motor mounts, transmission mounts and wiring harness.

 

It has been throwing the P0455 code for about the last 4 years. We have replaced several items to try and remedy it but nothing has worked and car has ran fine the whole time.

ok I will have a look at those items this today and report back.

 

Ok no broken motor mounts, and wiring from what we can tell looks good, my daughter did say that her ignition now lets the key come out while the car is running. Could it be something to do with the ignition? We will take any ideas you have to throw at us.

 

To my knowledge, security system constantly checks for the presence of the key using a sensor that is in the ignition switch. Once it confirms this is the correct key, it tells the body control module it is okay to let the fuel injectors function.

If you pull the key out, this safety system check will fail, the fuel injectors will be shut off, and you will come to a stop.

It is the passlock II security system.
Obviously it was designed so that defeating the ignition to start the car would only get a thief so far until the system ran another check. For most people, this problem is noticed when the key is getting worn down and loose because it doesn't stay all the way in and trigger the sensor. It sounds like yours is way past that.

Bring the vehicle title with you to a Chevrolet dealer and ask them to cut you a new key from the VIN. I don't think it is an expensive key since it does not have one of those chips in it. Run through the procedure for the passlock relearn so that the system can learn the key. If, when you get the new key made it is still falling out of the ignition, you'll need to replace the ignition cylinder and I would recommend the ignition switch so that you get a new passlock sensor as part of the switch. It's also not clear what part is physically worn down.

I believe this should alleviate the sudden stalling. You could tape the key in place once it started to make sure it cannot shift around and see if the car remains running properly. I'm fairly sure that is the issue.


Also, if you need to replace the ignition cylinder, just have it rekeyed to the original vehicle lock which you can get the key code for when you get the new key made. So it is not a waste of a key.

 

Ok we will look into that. She has not drove it since realizing that it could be pulled out. The husband actually was the one who noticed it. He thought maybe the weight of her keys were pulling on the ignition during a turn.

 

Yep, too many keys on a key chain will definitely wear out an ignition switch. I have two keys on mine. One for the car and one for the back door on my house. That's all I need. Other keys are kept inside on a different key chain.

 

Ok so we had the daughter try the spare key that we had for her car, the key no longer comes out of the ignition her key was really worn down in comparison to the spare. She wanted to drive it to work today since it drove fine last night. So it died on her twice each time at a complete stop this time. So do we still think it is the ignition or is there something else that we should be looking at. We won’t be able to fix it until this weekend so what are your thoughts.

 

What is the status of the security system light when the car is stalling?

​​​ has it always stalled only when at idle?
Your previous post indicated it would stall while turning left. Does it still stall when turning left and was that completely reproducible?

I'm trying to help us determine a reproducible action that causes the vehicle to stall. Does it stall at every stop sign or full stop? Every left turn? 50% 10%? Was foot on the gas while turning left?

You have named two situations that seem semi reproducible. If we can identify any more of these it may help us too quickly narrow this down. If it occurs randomly it will be more difficult but can still be solved.

The security light behavior when the vehicle stalls with the new key is critical to solving this / ruling out the security system. My bad for not asking about the security system light behavior in round one.

I would try starting the vehicle with the old key, then removing it from the ignition and seeing how far you get. Obviously do this on local roads with little traffic.

is the vehicle always easy to immediately restart after installing?