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04 Saturn L300 no throttle response only goes 10mph and it jerks as it would lose power

Tiny
JR05
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 SATURN L300
  • 21,000 MILES
Hi, I have a 04 Saturn L300 with some problems that im trying to figure out and fix. Well the car started acting like this out of nowhere. In park it revs good, but when I put in drive and step on the accelerator it has almost no response and it would like jerk. Thanks in advance.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 3:11 AM

25 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
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So is the reduce power light on?Also do you have the 2.2L or 3.0L engine?If the reduced performance light is not on then I suspect possible a plugged cat. Have you had the computer scanned for codes?
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 3:39 AM
Tiny
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I dont know about the reduced power light, which is that one? 3.0L. These are the codes I got p0341, p2110, p2138.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 3:46 AM
Tiny
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P2110 and P2138 are tied together you would diagnose the P2138 which is accelerator pedal position sensor 1-2 correlation. The P0341 is camshaft position sensor performance. The code P2138 is most likely a bad accelerator pedal position sensor. But you would have to go thru the trouble tree for that code. You would have to use a multimeter to check the circuits from the accelerator pedal sensor to the ecm. That way you would narrow it down to a wire issue or a sensor issue. You would do the same thing with the code P0341. The reason it only goes 10 mph is because the computer put the car in limp mode because there is a failure in the throttle by wire system.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 4:26 AM
Tiny
JR05
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Ok, I do have a multimeter. What would the values or specs be? Where would I check it, at the pedal or the ecm? So you dont think its a clogged cat?
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 5:14 AM
Tiny
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If you had a clogged cat it wouldnt set any of those codes. Also you need to check the wires from the pedal to the ecm the wires from end to end with the multimeter. Also the cam sensor code as well I will get you the info on that.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 5:21 AM
Tiny
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Ok sounds good thanks. One question, if the pedal position sensor would be bad, would I have good throttle response in park abd neutral?
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 5:52 AM
Tiny
JR05
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Because throttle response in park and neutral seems to be good.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 5:55 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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You have a code for the pedal sensor and when in gear its in limp so sounds like a issue with the pedal sensor or wiring issue.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 5:58 AM
Tiny
JR05
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Ok I see, I can check the circuits out with my multimeter, but what would be the correct specs or what numbers should I look for on the pedal sensor and the cam sensor?
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 5:46 PM
Tiny
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Lets do this first clear the codes and lets see if ethier the pedal sensor or cam sensor code comes right back?If they dont its going to be hard to check the wires. The tests iam talking about are checking the wire ends from point A to point B and see what the resistance is from the ecm to the sensor.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 6:01 PM
Tiny
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Ok, ill do this when I get home, im at work at the moment. But what numbers would be acceptable resistance?
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 6:31 PM
Tiny
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I think the trouble tree says 5 ohms but I like to see 2 ohms or less.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 6:34 PM
Tiny
JR05
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That would be for the pedal sensor correct? What about cam sensor?
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 7:30 PM
Tiny
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Your not understanding what iam saying here the wires go from the pedal sensor to the ecm. You would measure each wire end from where it hooks to the pedal sensor then the opposite of the wire where it goes on the ecm. You would have the ecm and the pedal sensor unplugged. Then measure the resistance from each end of the wire from point A to point B. Now do you understand?Same thing with the cam sensor.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 8:15 PM
Tiny
JR05
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Oh ok. I didnt read one of the replies carefully. Right, so thats to check just the wiring. But is there any way to check the actual pedal sensor or cam sensor?
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 9:34 PM
Tiny
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What you do is elimanate the wiring as the cause and go from there. Lets see how the codes go and I will get you the trouble trees if needed.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 10:00 PM
Tiny
JR05
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Ok sounds good. I'll work on it in a couple mins and ill let you know what I come up with.
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Thursday, July 19th, 2012 AT 10:12 PM
Tiny
JR05
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Ok this what I got. I cleared the dtc's, took the car for a drive around the block and I got these codes: p2138, p0343, p0102. I had never gotten that 0102 before. So I cleared the codes again and took around the block again. This time I got 2 codes both being p2138. I cleared the dtc's again and took it for one last drive and again got p2138. I wasnt able to get some resistance reading in the wiring since I wasnt sure what pins on the ecm harness where the ones coming from the pedal since they where a little dirty under hood and couldnt tell the wire color.
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Friday, July 20th, 2012 AT 2:29 AM
Tiny
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There you go theres a trouble tree and a wire diagram let me know what you find.
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Friday, July 20th, 2012 AT 2:49 AM
Tiny
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So does the P2138 come right back after clearing it?
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Friday, July 20th, 2012 AT 3:03 AM

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