Cause
Faulty active grille shutter motor
The motor driving the grille shutters, failed. The distinction from an obstruction is which half has stopped, and it is a physical test: disconnect the motor and move the shutters by hand.
Free vanes with a dead motor is the motor; stiff vanes with a working motor is the obstruction — and the codes cannot tell them apart. The motor's position is what fails it: mounted at the front of the vehicle in spray, salt and stone impact, so a corroded connector is at least as likely as a failed motor. Where the shutters fail closed the engine overheats in traffic, so this is worth treating as a cooling fault rather than an aerodynamic convenience. Many fail to a default open position, which costs only fuel economy.
Typically a moderate job.
Codes this can cause (1)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
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