P2101
Throttle Actuator Control Motor Circuit Range/Performance
- Severity
- Critical
- Driving
- Drive only to a garage
The throttle actuator motor circuit is electrically connected but the motor is not performing as expected - moving too slowly, not reaching position, or drawing the wrong current. On a high-mileage engine this usually means carbon has made the throttle plate stiff rather than that the motor has failed.
Possible causes
- CommonCarbon build-up making the throttle plate stiff
- CommonFailed throttle actuator motor
- CommonCorroded or damaged connector at the throttle body
- CommonWiring damage between the module and the throttle body
- CommonThrottle body never relearned after cleaning or replacement
- RareFailed control module driver
What you might notice
- Sudden loss of power - reduced-power mode
- Engine will not rev beyond a low limit
- Rough or unstable idle
- Warning light for reduced engine power
- Engine may not start
What to check, in order
- Be aware that power can be cut without warning. Avoid overtaking and motorway slip roads until this is fixed.
- Inspect the throttle body for carbon. On a drive-by-wire throttle, cleaning without running the relearn procedure afterwards can leave the idle worse than before - check whether a relearn is specified before starting.
- Compare commanded against actual throttle position on the live data screen through a full sweep.
- Inspect the connector at the throttle body for corrosion.
- Measure the actuator motor resistance against specification.
Read this code from your own car
Plug an ELM327 adapter into the OBD-II port under the dashboard. Pin16 reads every stored, pending and permanent code, explains each one like this page does — offline, with no account — and shows what the car recorded when the fault was set.
Where this code sits
P00xxP01xxP02xxP03xxP04xxP05xxP06xxP07xxP08xxP09xxP0AxxP0BxxP0CxxP0DxxP0ExxP0FxxP10xxP11xxP12xxP13xxP14xxP15xxP16xxP17xxP18xxP19xxP1AxxP1BxxP1CxxP1DxxP1ExxP1FxxP20xxP21xxP22xxP23xxP24xxP25xxP26xxP27xxP28xxP29xxP2AxxP2BxxP2CxxP2DxxP2ExxP2FxxP30xxP31xxP32xxP33xxP34xxP35xxP36xxP37xxP38xxP39xxP3AxxP3BxxP3CxxP3DxxP3ExxP3Fxx
Fuel and air metering
P2100P2101P2102P2103P2104P2105P2106P2107P2108P2109P2110P2111P2112P2113P2114P2115P2116P2117P2118P2119P2120P2121P2122P2123P2124P2125P2126P2127P2128P2129P2130P2131P2132P2133P2134P2135P2136P2137P2138P2139P2140P2141P2142P2143P2144P2145P2146P2147P2148P2149P2150P2151P2152P2153P2154P2155P2156P2157P2158P2159P2160P2161P2162P2163P2164P2165P2166P2167P2168P2169P2170P2171P2172P2173P2174P2175P2176P2177P2178P2179P2180P2181P2182P2183P2184P2185P2186P2187P2188P2189P2190P2191P2192P2193P2194P2195P2196P2197P2198P2199