P2106: Throttle Actuator Control System — Forced Limited Power
What to do
The car drives but feels gutless — it revs willingly and will not pull. Driveable to a garage, though not on a motorway or with a load. Ask what other codes are present, because this one records the restriction rather than the reason for it.
What this code means
The module has imposed a torque ceiling on the engine. A middle step of the graded response set out under P2104: more permissive than forced idle, less so than normal operation, and chosen when the system has lost some confidence rather than all of it.
A torque ceiling feels different from a rev ceiling, which is worth knowing when describing the symptom. The engine revs freely enough but will not pull — acceleration is dull, hills are hard work, and the car feels heavy. A rev ceiling instead lets it pull normally up to a point and then simply stop revving.
As with every code in this family, the cause is stored separately.
Likely causes
Start here
- Fault in the accelerator pedal position sensors · moderate
- Fault in the throttle position sensors · moderate
- Carbon deposits in the throttle body · easy
Less common
- Corroded or loose connector · easy
- Failed sensor reference voltage supply · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
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Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Community experience
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What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
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