2004 S60 Suddenly lost a lot of power while driving (non-highway) and the "Reduced Engine Performance" warning appeared. Depressing the gas pedal gave it only minimal power and the engine would not shift. Even in park, depressing the gas pedal would not rev the engine. Turning the car off and on produced the same warning message.

After overnight inactivity, the car started fine, but the Engine Service Required warning light was on. The car was towed and inspected at a Volvo service facility.

The reduction in engine performance could not be duplicated. A computer upgrade was performed and the Service Engine light cleared. They could not find anything else and said if it happened again to bring it in.

I believe this is a safety issue, since loosing power mid road can be dangerous on the highway.

Has anyone experience this problem and if so, have you found a cause or cure?

Thanks
Jojhoe

Hi, it just happened to me, too, 2003 xc90 awd, while I was driving. Would love to hear what others have found.
thanks,
Paul

This might be helpful to read through...

http://www.volvo-forums.com/index.php?show...ine+performance

This same exact problem just happened to me about 1 hour ago. I was driving on the freeway, pressed the gas pretty hard to pass someone and as soon as I got around them it felt like the engine cut off. There was absolutely no response whatsoever when pressing on the gas pedal and my speed reduced to about 40MPH. It Managed to reach to a safe speed (70MPH) after about 3 mins. I pulled off the freeway parked and turned the car off. Started it right back and and the engine started sputtering and shaking real bad. Turned it off again and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Started it again and it started fine, and also ran normal for another 10 minutes or so before it did the same thing and practically died. I then noticed the message in the display window "Reduced engine performance", which is very much an understatement.

My main concern is if this is covered by my warranty or not. I bought the car (2004 S60R) about 9 months ago, certified pre-owned with the 100,000 mile warranty. Has anyone else that experienced this problem managed to get it fixed? I haven't taken my car to the dealer yet for service or scheduled maintenance as I tend to be leary of dealers and their outrageous prices. Does anyone have any opinions or advice on taking my car to the Volvo dealer? I normally have it serviced at a local repair shop I trust, but with a problem like this, although hesitant, I would prefer to take it to the dealer. Any thoughts, comments, opinions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

for mdub, you have a warranty. leery or not, WARRANTY. you paid for it, get them to fix it. local mech or not, if you have a warranty all the work should be done by them. getting it done somewhere else and then going for the big things at the dealer will just make them put your car last. i also don't like dealers, but if it's under warranty, crap, i'm there. and to everybody else, all we at the forum will tell you to take it to the dealer. with the electronics in todays vehicles, there is no magic wand to cure this. for you to be getting that message and reduced power means that this is something that a haynes manual and a wad of gum won't fix. good luck, but i wouldn't drive your cars until they get checked out.

Point taken. I can't really argue with that advice. Thank you for the quick response and advice Mason. I had the idea in my head that this problem would somehow not be covered by my warranty, most likely due to bad experiences with previous cars and the associated dealer. I have no idea what the exact nature of the problem is, but I believe I am correct in the assumption that it will be covered by my warranty. It is clearly a problem with the engine itself or something that is logically or causally related to it, so it has to be covered.

I am having it towed to the dealership this afternoon. If anyone would like to know the cause of the problem and (hopefully) the solution let me know and I will let you know. Thanks again for the advice Mason.

nobody knows better than myself about dealers. brand new audi s4 bought it with .08 miles in 2000. in 2004, the engine blows up because of sludge causing the cams to snap in half. not under warranty, owner fault. they serviced it, they took care of it. i never even opened the damn hood. no explanation. so i took the loss, burnt the car in my backyard and towed the remains and parked them in front of the audi dealership that i bought it from in city (new york) i left it there to accumulate two weeks worth of parking tickets and place a banner extolling the virtues of that crappy dealership and audi north america. anyway, it's a known quirk of the ecu, my logic (if there is any) is that with so many electronic doodads in them, and the fact that you bought it as a certified pre-owned volvo, let them do it. it's not like you are independantly wealthy, and if you are-adopt me :grin: i am housebroken, and even if you were, the car cost money. wow, i'm lightheaded from the top of this soapbox :thumbsup: