Throttle Actuator - confusion

[weavingtraffic]

So let me just start off by saying I have had zero symptoms leading up to this - or any reason to believe I am having any kind of electronic or mechanical failures.

Out of the blue one day, as I turned on the ignition.. car lit up like an Xmas tree. DSC fault and CEL (not the usual one, the half filled engine icon)

Got out my laptop and ran a diag to see wtf is going on.

Okay so we have some codes.

Signs lead to TA. So I ran TA diag on both TA. 3 out of 12 motor functions reporting no workie.

Clear all faults and they persist.

Seems pretty clear to me that TA’s are starting to fail. Whatever.

Next day, drive to work as normal.. no limp mode car runs smooth as silk but all error codes are still present.

I’m planning my TA work, what else I wanna replace while I’m in there… etc.

The following day (today), get in my car again.. ignition on… zero codes. Car runs no different. Didn’t have a chance to scan the car to see what is in memory but what is going on?

Theory: Electronics in TA’s are starting to fail rather than a mechanical failure. Or a fluke of some sort.

Curious to get your guy’s thoughts on if this has been encountered before. Either way I am not going to take any action until the car hits limp mode but I am at a loss as to how they can BOTH be reporting an issue one day but the next are seemingly back to normal

[omgzirra_exe]

most likely battery related.

[weavingtraffic]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

most likely battery related.

Could be possible, I did have all sorts of craziness happen on my f80 when the battery was going out.

Although the battery is fairly new.. only a year and a half old. Im in the northeast though so possible that the cold weather is wrecking havoc on electronics.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by weavingtraffic

Could be possible, I did have all sorts of craziness happen on my f80 when the battery was going out.

Although the battery is fairly new.. only a year and a half old. Im in the northeast though so possible that the cold weather is wrecking havoc on electronics.

A TA code or failure won't cause your entire car to throw that many codes, especially those unrelated to the TA. So, it could be a bad battery, ground issue, or possibly the alternator.

If it's the TA, you'd notice it immediately because once the code comes up, it never really goes away.

[weavingtraffic]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

A TA code or failure won't cause your entire car to throw that many codes, especially those unrelated to the TA. So, it could be a bad battery, ground issue, or possibly the alternator.

If it's the TA, you'd notice it immediately because once the code comes up, it never really goes away.

Ignore those other codes. My car is a Frankenstein and there’s no reason to get into that here, but I expect every single one of those other codes to be there

[nick3753]

Both TAs failing at the same time seems quite unlikely, no?

[CamasM3e93]

Originally Posted by weavingtraffic

Could be possible, I did have all sorts of craziness happen on my f80 when the battery was going out.

Although the battery is fairly new.. only a year and a half old. Im in the northeast though so possible that the cold weather is wrecking havoc on electronics.

I suspect it is the battery. Did you have the new battery registered in the ecu? If not, or if you used Carly, good chance the 18 month old battery is fried. The car manages the intensity of the recharging based on how old it thinks the battery is. If it thinks a new battery is a decade old, the battery usually is toast in 2 years.

A dying alternator a possibility, our cars are aging to that point.

I had a similar problem and it linked back to a battery cable terminal having not been tightened down by the previous owner.

[weavingtraffic]

Originally Posted by CamasM3e93

I suspect it is the battery. Did you have the new battery registered in the ecu? If not, or if you used Carly, good chance the 18 month old battery is fried. The car manages the intensity of the recharging based on how old it thinks the battery is. If it thinks a new battery is a decade old, the battery usually is toast in 2 years.

A dying alternator a possibility, our cars are aging to that point.

I had a similar problem and it linked back to a battery cable terminal having not been tightened down by the previous owner.

Yes. I used the correct tools to register the battery. Haven’t touched the battery and have put ~15k miles on the car since the battery change. Have not had any electric related issues

[weavingtraffic]

Originally Posted by nick3753

Both TAs failing at the same time seems quite unlikely, no?

So I wouldn’t say both have “failed”. 1 seems to be almost perfect and the other failed 2 checks. There are also no drivability issues.

[fuddman]

With regard to the DSC light that came up on your dash board.

The half filled in engine icon you mentioned means your car went into the "limp mode." In the limp mode your engine response is limited by the ECU because the ECU has determined your engine is screwing up the environment. Consequently, an engine limitation is placed on you so you wont screw up the environment too badly.

The purpose of the DSC system in your car is to get you out of a jam should you start to slide on the road in a dangerous way. More specifically:

"The Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) automatically controls braking and engine torque in conjunction with systems such as ABS and TCS to help control side slip when driving on slippery surfaces, or during sudden or evasive maneuvering, enhancing vehicle safety."

Well, the limp mode will not allow your car a full range of "engine torque" which is required to engage the DSC system. Meaning the DSC system is unreliable in the limp mode. Therefore, the computer turns it off and tells you about it by illuminating the DSC light on the dashboard.

In limp mode, you might also get an orange word "brake" on your dash. That's because brake performance is also tied to your engine. The light is meant to warn you the limp mode (reduced engine performance) may affect your braking ability.