I was driving on the freeway and I decided to use my cruise control for the first time. Put it on, drove past a few exits and turned it back off. Then I noticed my car would not go, it felt sluggish and if I let off the gas, it would bog down. I tried DS, Manual and D mode, it all had it. I pulled over, turned the car off and back on again to see if it would help, but it still had the same problem. Like most other drivers you get used to your car, and I know that I was pushing the pedal down much further than necessary than I should've had to. Any suggestions?

I was heading back from Hunington beach and the hour drive there was normal, then halfway back it started causing problems. The problem was mainly over speeds of 50mph, but at intersections and streets it was pretty much normal.

Edit: It also was very laggy when shifting up in gears in D mode.

 

how many miles? and was it such that the RPM was not going over a certain range like 2k? if so that would suggest car being in 'limp mode' but if there was no rpm limit and the tranny was just being sluggish then you might wanna get the car checked out since its hard to diagnose over the net.

If you want to try some stuff yourself then you can start by checking the tranny fluid level and condition if all is well then resetting the ecu either by the pedal or battery disconnect method might help. Could be a failing MAF sensor too...

 

It has 81k miles. Come to think of it, that sounds sort of what it did by staying at low rpm. I'd be in 5thgear for instance, pushing the pedal almost to the floor and there was no power. It felt like I was towing a trailer with my car. I'll do a ecu reset tomorrow, and check ATF fluid. I'll research the limp mode some more.

 

You haven't mentioned any fault indicators though. I'd be surprised if you got into limp mode without throwing a code somewhere along the line. Before you reset the ecu, I suggest checking for codes with a reader. The one time my car ever got into limp mode was due to an apparent maladjustment of the 'brake pedal depressed' switch which made the ecu think I was driving with my foot on the brake and the gas at the same time (which I wasn't). If it hadn't thrown a code, I'd have never know what what going on. It was a quick and simple adjustment for the fix once the cause was determined.

 

@vqsmile: I've had no dash indicators or anything. I'll take it to get the codes read asap.

Here's a little update of the problem: Drove it today and it didn't seem like the symptoms of limp mode. It went up past 3-4k with no problems. It began to bog down when in 4th/5th gear and at freeway speeds. I'll get the codes checked, then check atf and ecu reset if needed.

 

Well, from the symptoms, another thing comes to mind, but IDK if it applies to yours or not. On another car, I've had a cat fail and break up internally, blowing pieces on back into the exhaust where they wedged and created a blockage. The engine would rev slowly, I could get up to speed and all, but it took a long time as there was basically no power. It just kind of wheezed its way up to speed. After I swapped out the cat and picked some bigger chunks out of the section behind the cat, all was good again. It never threw a check light either, so I remember, at first, thinking maybe it was the tranny.