Starts but has little power to lights and acceleration, what could it be?
Asked by andresmith1280 Mar 12, 2014 at 01:43 PM about the Pontiac Grand Prix
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
It starts with a jump start but doesnt seem to have power to lights or acceleration, what
coukd be the problem?
2 Answers
Loss of power can be due to so many things. If the engine seems to be running okay at idle, but accelerates poorly, it's usually a fuel/air issue. Clogged fuel filter, clogged air filter, emissions equipment failure, clogged CAT, anything. If the engine runs poorly all the time, it can be spark issues or Engine Control Module. All these things will show up in the On Board Diagnostics (OBD). If you can post the OBD trouble codes we might be able to give a diagnosis here. PepBoys or Autozone can read the OBD codes for you, for free.
The lack of lights makes me wonder if its just a really worn out battery. Get that checked too while you're at it. Or if its over 5 years old just replace it. They don't last forever and modern electrical systems are pretty sensitive to things like weak batteries.