Has 125k miles & well maintained. The battery light came on few days ago & I replaced with remanufactured one. Installed it & battery light still on with only 12.5 volts across terminals like before. Next time I started it up the Wrench light came on. Manual calls it Electronic Throttle Control: Illuminates when the engine has defaulted to "limp-home' operation.
Any suggestions to help guide me along? Thank you

 

What model year is your Explorer?

When the "battery" light came one, what did you replace - the battery or the alternator?

What's the diagnostic code number that indicated Electronic Throttle Control, or are you just stating what the owner's manual says that Wrench light likely means? If you haven't checked for diagnostic codes, are you able to? Many auto parts stores offer the service at no cost.

-Rod

 

Sorry. It's a 2004 Explorer V6 4.0l, 4wd. I plugged in my ScanGauge II & it shows P0401 & P2112. The battery is 6 mo old & charges & hold charge with clean terminals. The alternator is a new remanufactured.
The car will crank fast but won't start. Sounds like it's firing on 2 cylinders while trying to start. I'm guessing that's the 'Limp-Home" mode. I'm trying to figure out where to find what the codes mean. Thank you

 

A limp-home mode by itself would not effect starting. But if it's due to an electronic throttle body that is not functioning properly, that might explain things.

I'm less confident this was an issue in 2004, but the P0401 code in a Ford often indicated that the DPFE sensor was bad. A bad DPFE can cause misfire-like symptoms, but often there are no obvious symptoms.

The P2112 may be the more likely culprit for the difficult starting and limp-home mode. If the throttle body is not able to open partially to allow air flow during the starting attempt, it would could make the engine difficult to start. Or it could be that the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) is not reading correctly and causing the PCM to think the throttle plate is in a different position than it really is. If the throttle body is carboned up, that could be restricting air flow for starting as well.

If it were my truck, I'd remove the throttle body and give it a good cleaning, then use the scan tool to monitor the linearity of the TPS in the datastream mode. If it's not linear, I'd replace the TPS. I'd then figure out if the alternator is bad or if I had a bad cable or weak battery. If after getting the throttle body clean, the TPS checked out/replaced, and confirming the charging system is good, the starting was still difficult and power was down, I'd consider changing the throttle body.

-Rod

 

Thank you Rod. I was in such a hurry to leave for work that I copied down an incorrect code. They were P 21 12 & P2104.
I had no idea what you said about checking linearity. But I think I can take throttle body out & clean it.

 

Oh, okay. There are actually several threads regarding these two particular codes with Ford products. It appears the typical fixes are:

1) Clean the throttle body
2) Replace the TPS
3) Replace the entire throttle body assembly (which usually includes a new TPS).

-Rod

 

Thank you. I'll look at unit & clean on my Sunday off. I'll let you know.

 

Rod, I removed throttle body & brought to work & cleaned it up. I bought "throttle body" spray cleaner & its looks new inside. I hope to test it tomorrow. Will keep you informed. Thanks

 

Thank you Rod. The car fired up like a new car. I wasn't too sure the throttle body was gucked up enough to be the problem. I'm a very happy camper.

 

Excellent! Hopefully that's a long term fix for you.

-Rod