I wonder if your warp crystals might need replacing.
good point, I never thought of that one. I always just kind of bang'em together, sure, the captain THINKS I replaced them, but I just pocketed the 50 cents for the new crystals (which happen to just be replicated lego pieces).
Actually, this might be the reason the engines always seem to have problems when their needed most. Thankfully, those dumb engineers don't even know I haven't replaced a single crystal in over 10 years on any ship. So far, I've made almost 10 bucks, too.