I'm losing power going up hills, can you tell me why?
Asked by Holly Apr 22, 2017 at 08:59 PM about the 2003 Chevrolet Malibu FWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
My 2003 Malibu loses power when I'm going up big Hills or mountains. The car
will drive fine going on the interstate, but as I start going up a mountain it loses
speed and I have the gas pedal to the floor.
5 Answers
Do you have high mileage on the car? Loss of power can have many causes - wear on the engine, transmission/torque converter, even a plugged catalytic converter can cause you to lose power. Based on your example above though, you may want to check out if the transmission is downshifting properly.
The clue may be the word "mountain" ... Mass air flow sensors are extremely sensitive to variations in air pressure ... it doesn't take a lot of build-up on the sensor to cause problems... Most auto stores sell a spray to clean it with... you can see it when you remove the air filter
I've only had my Malibu for one month and I bought it as is!!!!!!! It has a hundred and thirty-five thousand miles on it and when it does go uphill it's smooth while losing power and my transmission changes out perfect????
Mine does the same thing it's just the way malibu are I guess I put mine on 1st girls and it climbs good
