Strange power loss on Primera.

jimoc

Had a very odd experience this morning on the drive to work and I'm wondering should I be worried.
Basically, I came out of a junction, changed gear and suddenly my car had virtually no power.
The engine was revving to 1500 RPM, no matter what gear I put it in, or in neutral and it was barely able to move the car.
Also the little yellow engine light came on.
I limped to a garage forecourt and turned the engine off.
Looked under the bonnet to see if I could see anything that may have fallen loose but I know very little about engines.
My passenger told me it could be an airlock.
Anyway, after about 2 minutes I restarted the engine, full power was restored but the engine light was still on.
should I be worried or could it just be an airlock.
Last week the tank was down to its last mile before I filled it so this may have some bearing on the issue.

jimoc

Just a quick addendum, I started it up again at lunchtime and it seems to be getting full revs but the engine light is still on.

zilog_jones

It sounds like the engine management went into a "limp mode", hence the power loss. This will happen when it thinks there's something seriously wrong and that normal driving conditions may cause damage to the engine or other components. It's hard to say what caused it.

The light's still on because either a fault has been recorded or there's still something wrong.

Muckie

Best to get it checked out by a mechanic, as you could be
driving home grand but tomorrow morning it'll come back be
revving like like mad with loss of power.

jimoc

Thanks for the info, never knew cars had a 'limp mode' but then again my wife knows more about cars then I do
Anyway, I rang my friendly mobile mechanic and he's gonna come and check it out with the diag kit on Friday, or earlier if it happens again.

Hopefully its something simple and cheap.