Snow Storm - Check Engine Light and Reduced Engine Power?

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crites57

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I have a 2018 Chevy Equinox Premier with the 2.0 turbo engine. During a long drive through some seriously crappy weather the other day I got a Reduced Engine Power message on my DIC and a check engine light. It was snowing so hard it was a whiteout, about 4 inches of snow on the road, a serious head wind, and I was following other traffic so there was lots of blowing snow. I had been driving in these conditions for about an hour before I got the CEL.

I pulled over and had the following codes:
P0237 : Turbocharger Boost Sensor Circuit Low Voltage
P0299 : Engine Underboost
P2227 : Barometric Pressure (BARO) Sense 1 Performance

In looking at the front of the car it was totally packed with snow so I figured maybe it was a problem with the air intake. I sat for about 20 minutes hoping it might thaw out a bit. Engine temp was stable but running just under 220 instead of the normal ~200. I ended up clearing the codes and continuing through the shitty conditions. On restart everything was fine with no codes for about 40 minutes when I got the same conditions. When driving I was very light on the throttle and did not step into the gas pedal it did seem to help the situation.

Eventually the snow slowed down, the roads cleared up, I lost the headwinds and the problem went away. I drove for about an hour stepping into the pedal on a regular basis and didn’t see the problem again.

For aerodynamics I know the Equinox sucks air from down below (bottom feeder) and was thinking snow pack might have limited air intake and caused these codes.

I had a POS vehicle when I was in college and under similar conditions used to put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. lol

Has anyone heard of a similar issue?
 

Koyote

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Mine had the same problem the issue is the inter cooler sucking in moist air and the. Freezes off the only solution which I can confirm worked for me is an aftermarket winter grill cover for the inter cooler in freezing conditions was about $200 Canadian for a starless steel winter front
 

crites57

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A couple days after I check my air cleaner and it was pretty damp. So do you think you have snow packed somewhere in the intake?

What where did you get your winter grille cover, brand name?

Thanks for the reply.
 

Koyote

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It is moist air being sucked in by the charge air cooler is what it is called Can’t remember the brand I think it was called cloud rider but I got a full stainless steel winter front for $200 Canadian from my local Chevy dealer aftermarket part
 

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