CEL--no throttle response--stalls

[RoadHammer]

I went wheeling on a fire road earlier today and had some issues with the FJ. The wheeling was not intense.

As I was climbing a slight grade in LL (locked low, I have a 6MT) I noticed I didn't the engine didn't produce more power as I applied more throttle. I looked down and the CEL light was on (along with ABS and two VSC warning lights). I put the clutch in and the engine reved to about 2000 RPM. I would push the throttle and the RPM wouldn't change. I then took it out of LL.

I then turned off the engine and restarted. CEL and other lights came on and the RPM wouldn't change when I pushed the throttle. The engine would stall if I tried to release the clutch.

I turned off the engine again and looked under the hood. I noticed that the TRD CAI pipe came out of the airbox. I reattached it and started the engine. Lights came on again and it idled for 10 seconds and then died.

I disconnected the CAI pipe and it started again. I still had the lights but now the throttle worked normally. I then reconnected the CAI pipe and continued on my way (I needed to go about 20 more miles to get to the highway, but the last 10 of those are paved). It seemed to run normally all the way to the highway except that the CEL, ABS and two VSC lights were on. It also seem to be running open loop. The 6MT has a very noticable rev hang when you first reset the ECU and I was now noticing the rev hang.

After I got to the highway I stopped to buy some water and when I came out of the store and turned on the engine I no longer had the CEL light or any others...everything seemed normal.

Anyone else experience anything like this?

[podex_equus]

Hopefully it's throwing some kind of code. Head over to an autoparts to see if they can't get one out of the ECU. Maybe it'll guide you to a better answer.

It does seem kind of strange.

[Archy Chris]

I have not experienced this problem yet with my MT. The only thing I would have done differently was to disconnect the battery after re-installing the tube to the CAI box, which should clear the computer memory (my 2 cents worth). I hope you have the problem fixed.

[RoadHammer]

I have a scanguage and looked to see if there were any codes, even though the CEL is no longer lit. Sure enough there were two:

P2103 Throttle Actuator Control Motor Circuit High
P2111 Throttle Actuator Control System - Stuck Open

This makes sense since I was having problems with throttle response.

I then took apart the CAI tube to take a look inside. I was a little concerned on the trail since five minuites before this happened I drove through a muddy puddle. when I saw that the tube was loose I was worried that I ingested water and mud into the engine. I did see signs of water in the tube. Not much but it looked like one drop was rolling up the inside of the tube past the MAF sensor and to the throttle assembly. It was all dry when I took it apart. Here's what I think may have happened:

The CAI tube was loose and air was entering the tube without going through the filter. When I went through the puddle, a little bit of water got sucked up in the tube from the splash of the puddle. I then drove for a bit with the moisture in the tube that worked its way up to the throttle assembly. When I was ascending the grade I basically had the throttle in one position for a while. The moisture dried up and left a residue on the throttle flapper and caused it to stick. This can explain both the codes and my throttle response.

I have now put the CAI back together and made extra sure that the hose clamps were properly tightened. Let's hope it doesn't happen again. And lets hope I didn't ingetst too much mud.

[podex_equus]

RoadHammer previously said:

I have a scanguage and looked to see if there were any codes, even though the CEL is no longer lit. Sure enough there were two:

P2103 Throttle Actuator Control Motor Circuit High
P2111 Throttle Actuator Control System - Stuck Open

This makes sense since I was having problems with throttle response.

I then took apart the CAI tube to take a look inside. I was a little concerned on the trail since five minuites before this happened I drove through a muddy puddle. when I saw that the tube was loose I was worried that I ingested water and mud into the engine. I did see signs of water in the tube. Not much but it looked like one drop was rolling up the inside of the tube past the MAF sensor and to the throttle assembly. It was all dry when I took it apart. Here's what I think may have happened:

The CAI tube was loose and air was entering the tube without going through the filter. When I went through the puddle, a little bit of water got sucked up in the tube from the splash of the puddle. I then drove for a bit with the moisture in the tube that worked its way up to the throttle assembly. When I was ascending the grade I basically had the throttle in one position for a while. The moisture dried up and left a residue on the throttle flapper and caused it to stick. This can explain both the codes and my throttle response.

I have now put the CAI back together and made extra sure that the hose clamps were properly tightened. Let's hope it doesn't happen again. And lets hope I didn't ingetst too much mud.

Glad you got it figured out. Maybe keep scanning it for the next few days to see if it's throwing a code without tripping the CEL.