First post on North American Motoring - here comes the new girl.

We bought a 2013 MCS in August, which now has 7,500 miles on it. Automatic trans (yes, I admitted to it - lots of heavy traffic in the NYC metro area).

Today, I started my baby and was greeted with the engine light on yellow, and the car idling around 2,500 RPMs. After sitting for about 10 minutes, RPMs went down to about 2,000; figured the engine indicator was due to the cold. Made it down our hill and once I attempted to accelerate the car would sputter horrendously and jerk any time I'd get over 1,700 RPMs and/or 14-17 mph. Couldn't actually get it to accelerate any higher than that, as it felt like the engine would lose power. Pulled over, put the car in park, called Roadside (after three hours of being on hold I was disconnected, without getting to speak to a rep - another rant for another thread).

Sat in the car with the engine on for an hour, then turned around and went home - engine light still on yellow, engine still sputtering/jerking after exceeding the aforementioned limits. Feels like driving a stick when you're not keeping the RPMs high enough.

7 hours later, still waiting for any information from my local dealership and Roadside Assistance, and am now searching threads for possible answers. I went out to the car about an hour ago and took it for a spin around the block; engine light is off and the engine feels closer to normal, but it's still nowhere near it's former glory.

So, MC community... Should I chalk this one up to it being 5*F today with a windchill of -2*F (yes, it's parked outside), and wait to see if it's alleviated by warmer weather?

 

The weather like it is (-35 with windchill in Pittsburgh this morning!) can certainly play tricks on your car, but I would not think it should act like that. At the very least, you should have the dealer check it out, the problem is, it will be hard to replicate. Worst case scenario, there is water getting in somewhere to the electronics. Additionally, something similar happened to my friend and he found out that the gas he had in his car was full of rusty junk and high water content, which clearly will not let the has flow well if it is 5 degrees. Did it sit out all night? Was it in a heated garage? Give us some more info and we can help you determine what may have happened. As for it not having full power, when it is 5 degrees, a very slight loss of power is normal. Cars like cool, not cold weather!

Welcome to the forum, I hope your car gets straightened out!

 

Your friend's gas sounds gross. Wokka wokka.

Car sits out all night in our apartment's lot (it breaks my heart), so it's exposed to the elements as well as a nice wind tunnel formed by the surrounding buildings. Often it's got a nice, thin veil of ice on it in the morning. Gas tank is about half full with the gas that we always get - here's hoping their standards haven't nose dived suddenly.

My previous MC was an 03 coupe; I experienced lots of transmission problems with that one (may it rest in peace) but never anything like this. But, I don't think it ever got quite this cold when I owned it, either. And 10 years makes a big difference between generational design.

Maybe I'll just wrap it like a fig tree and wait out the winter...

Thanks for the help.

 

Welcome to NAM!

The car still is under warranty correct? If so, I honestly say don't beat yourself up about it! You gots warranty!

But if you'd like a possible answer as to what might be wrong, we'd need a bit more info.
With these cars, the light can be on opposite ends of the spectrum of severeness, from a loose hose to something much more dire.

We'd really be able to help if we could get a diagnostic code, that would really help narrow things down quite a bit.

 

Warranty = Wonka Golden Ticket.

Getting a tow to take it to the dealership tomorrow morning - I'm terrified I'll end up unintentionally going back to the future if I attempt to drive it up there myself. Will report back with diagnostic information; here's hoping it doesn't magically cure itself upon the threat of service.

Thanks, guys!

 

My initial thought is that you have some water in your fuel. I would suggest pouring in some gas line anti-freeze. Follow the manufacturer directions for the amount to use based on how much fuel you have in the tank. If you do have water in the fuel you may also need to change the fuel filter.

 

My initial thought is vacuum leak. The extreme cold temps will cause the metal and rubber parts under your hood to change size, and something could have popped itself out of place. Your cars behavior suggests a tiny air leak may be present in any number of the rubber/plastic/metal charge pipes under the hood. That's where I'd start anyway.

 

Hi Kids!

Sorry for the delayed update. Service reported back to us after 2 days that it was a one-time on board computer error, and that the issue was resolved once the computer was reset. I'm not totally convinced of this, since the car is still not running as smoothly as it was prior to the original engine malfunction weeks ago. They also performed an oil change and topped off the fluids in the car. I've since purchased fuel at a different station, but am still getting the same slow, cranky performance. Our car has turned into a grandpa; perhaps it's due to the cold weather. We'll see what happens once the spring arrives.

 

not sure we'll ever know now, we don't know what the CEL codes were.