2023 Bronco Sport loses power uphill

rocks

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It’s pretty bad, if I get a good run at the hill, I don’t have any issues, but if I have to start on the hill, it barely moves. And I was in a precarious situation, having a back up a hill, and I had it pinned, and it did not even move 1 inch.
If somehow there's traffic, due to an accident it seems like a problem.
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It is not normal. Something is wrong. We take our BS up and down hills all the time. Never experienced anything like you are describing where the vehicle will crawl up the hill at 2-3 mph. Is the check engine light on? Have you made an appt with the dealer yet? When you take it in, be sure to actually demonstrate the issue to a service advisor. Don't just drop it off.
 

Barry S.

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This may be a different problem all together. But when it starts to get hot outside my 1.5 requires premium to run correctly. I know it's not supposed to and something must be wrong. But it's a hard problem to diagnose because it usually doesn't happen until you've been driving for a while. From a full stop I can hit the gas and nothing will happen for 2 seconds. Then it will start to rev up. I can put my foot all the way down to the floor and nothing for 2 seconds. I finally found a thread talking about it and premium gas was the fix.

There's 2 differnt threads and there's 2 different problems being described in both. Some have the engine reving and seems to be the transmission. And some have no engine rev like I did, and premium gas fixed it.

(1) Delay in power delivery | 2021+ Ford Bronco Sport Forum - Broncosportforum.com

(1) Power “delay” or “hesitation”. | 2021+ Ford Bronco Sport Forum - Broncosportforum.com
Turn off auto stop. When the car is stopped, there might be a slight delay when you step on the gas. That's why many people keep it turned off.
 


dbsb3233

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I have a new 2023 Bronco Sport 1.5 liter 3 cylinder turbo. So far this has only happened when I need power on an incline, and when I press on the gas, the car seems to go into limp mode. The RPM’s don’t increase and I can’t get over 3-5mph. On even surface or downhill, I have no issues. Could this be a turbo or RPM sensor? Appreciate any insight before I take t in.
I had the turbo connection pop off on our 2013 Escape a few years ago in the middle of a drive. Loud pop, then only got about half power. Fortunately it was an easy fix. Dealer just popped it back on and secured it better.
 

NMhunter

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X2 on the turbo. When the hose to my turbo blew, my Jeep Liberty 2.8L lost most of its power. I was pulling a light aluminum bass boat, and it took 10 minutes to get up to highway speed. What you're describing could be loss of your turbo.

As for upshifting, I believe he meant down shift. When you punch the throttle, it shifts into a lower gear which gives you more power.

My Badlands has Sport mode, which shifts earlier and keeps the engine reving at a higher rpm. That might help until you can get it in for service.
 

Hot Rod Mike

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I drive from Sacramento to Reno over donner pass often. My 1.5 Big Bend has no problem at all running 75-80 mph over Donner Pass 7200’ Pass and that is not pushing it.
 

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I had the turbo connection pop off on our 2013 Escape a few years ago in the middle of a drive. Loud pop, then only got about half power. Fortunately it was an easy fix. Dealer just popped it back on and secured it better.
Wouldn't that trigger a CEL though?
 


Nam3

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Premium gas is not going to make you car rev up sooner that doesn't even make sense.
It's not that it revs sooner. I was having a problem as a few other were. Where you would put your foot down and nothing would happen at all for 2 to 3 seconds. It always happened after driving for a while and for me in the summer more. I never even thought about using premium becuase it doesn't make sense. But once I found the thread recommending it I tried it and it fixed the problem. I wish Mark had some explination of why so I could tell the dealership about it because they can't recreate the problem because they don't drive it long enough for it to start happening.
 

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This is a little extreme...but could you have maybe an injector that cracked and went into limp mode? probably no one on the forums has encountered that but..and the car probably would of said it explicitly, otherwise.....the 1.5L Seems reliable for the most part never heard of this happening.
 

Mark S.

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It's not that it revs sooner. I was having a problem as a few other were. Where you would put your foot down and nothing would happen at all for 2 to 3 seconds. It always happened after driving for a while and for me in the summer more. I never even thought about using premium becuase it doesn't make sense. But once I found the thread recommending it I tried it and it fixed the problem. I wish Mark had some explination of why so I could tell the dealership about it because they can't recreate the problem because they don't drive it long enough for it to start happening.
I have a few guesses.

1. From your description is sounds like your engine was heat soaked. When the engine gets hot and the intercooler--the device that cools the air going into the engine--is heat soaked it cannot extract heat from the charge air. When using regular gas the engine is more prone to detonation when heat soaked, and the PCM (powertrain control module) will restrict power output to protect the engine. You can test this theory by switching to regular (make sure you use top-tier gas--see below), then go driving in stop and go traffic on a hot day; this is the scenario you are most likely to get heat soaked. If the engine begins to hesitate again that is most likely the issue. Get it out away from traffic on the highway for a bit where you can get good air flowing through the engine bay, then stop and try the throttle response again. Because you will be using regular it will not accelerate as well as it does using premium, but if heat soaking is the issue the hesitation should be far less or gone entirely. Premium helps to alleviate adverse symptoms associated with heat soaking because it's less prone to detonation. The means the PCM intervention to reduce power output will be reduced/eliminated.

2. You just weren't stepping hard enough on the pedal when burning regular. You get a bit better throttle response with premium gas, which means the engine responds faster to pedal movement. With regular you have to push harder to get the same response.

2. You got a bad batch of regular gas. Pump gas octane can vary a bit, especially in areas where the government mandates different formulations for winter vs summer. It's possible the station you purchased your fuel from wasn't supplying 87 octane fuel. The best way to be sure you get good gas is to buy from a top tier supplier. This link lists retailers that sell top-tier gas.

You can test either of the last two theories by switching back to regular gas for a few tanks. If you weren't using top tier gas before try some. If the car accelerates normally (it won't accelerate as well as with premium, but you shouldn't get a 2-3 second hesitation) then that was the issue. If you were using top-tier before try stepping harder on the gas pedal--like all the way to the floor. There should be little to no hesitation (unless your engine is heat soaked--see above).

If none of these are the issue then I'm stumped.
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