Service Throttle Body. Sigh. P00AF code

[c3k]

Ok, it happened. Driving up a mountain pass (Fancy Gap, I-77, VA/NC border), at speed, I got some error messages and a check engine light. "Service Electronic Throttle Body" and "Service Electronic Stability Control". Both associated lights illuminated as did the MIL/CEL.

Truck drove, but with an obvious lack of oomph. No turbo.

About 30 minutes later, I pulled over and checked it with my scan tool. P00AF Turbocharger Boost Control Module 'A' Performance

So, I did what any truck owner would do. I shut down, cleared the codes, disconnected the battery, jumped the positive and negative battery leads together for about 10 seconds, then hooked it all back up.

I drove (hard) for 3 hours (with two stops). No more CEL/MIL. No codes.

I'm hoping that it's my 4+ year old battery causing a momentary electronic glitch. Mitigating against that was that it occurred after an hour+ of highway driving, so the battery had had a long time to charge.

Any thoughts?

(Edited to add: on another forum, there's a big thread on this code. It seems to lead to a turbo replacement.)

 

[2021EcoDiesel]

Following. Fingers crossed you don’t need a turbo. How many miles are you at now c3k? Just cracked 102,000 myself.

 

[2021EcoDiesel]

Actually now that I’m thinking I did get a “service throttle body” message after a few long cranking periods killed my battery up in the frozen north. Had my fuel freeze up earlier this year on a ski trip. I do not recall the P00AF code being in there though.

 

[c3k]

Following. Fingers crossed you don’t need a turbo. How many miles are you at now c3k? Just cracked 102,000 myself.

45,500.

 

[Chris3058]

That’s not much at all. Hmmmm.

 

[c3k]

Update.


With normal daily driving, I've had no issues.

Since the P00AF/turbo failure occurred on a steep road, I decided to try the same road again.
I took the truck up the same route (I-77 North, Fancy Gap) and on the 7-9% slope...same failure, at about the same spot. (Difficult location, no exits for 3-5 miles, couldn't accelerate.) I got off at the nearest exit. Yes, I had to drive in the far right lane with the 35mph trucks...and could barely keep up. I then cycled the ignition and the "service" messages and lights disappeared, but the CEL stayed on.

I went downhill (southbound down the same road). All normal. All good, except the CEL.

I turned back uphill...and got the failure again at about the same exact spot. I did the same ignition cycle with the same results. I drove to the dealer and had them pull the active code. Yep. So, September 26th a "tech" will run a "thorough diagnostic". Yeah, whatever.

FWIW, I've run that steep uphill at least a dozen previous times with no errors. This is a new behavior.

If the dealer needs another fault after the 26th, I'll just run it up the highway again.

Updates in 2 weeks.

 

[c3k]

Update:

Not liking the dealer response.

Recap: I drove up Fancy Gap, got the P00AF failure. It is dangerous. Finally found an exit, cycled the ignition, and repeated my journey, I-77 Fancy Gap northbound. It failed again, exactly the same.

I cycled the ignition, the failure was "cleared", but the CEL/MIL light stayed on. I drove directly to the dealership. North Point RAM in Winston-Salem: North Point Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram FIAT | New Dodge, Jeep, FIAT, Chrysler, Ram Dealership in Winston-Salem, NC

The Service Writer (Kim Dorset) pulled my codes: yep, 2x P00AF. Okay...only appointment was in two weeks. That was Friday, September 26th. When I dropped it off she told me she'd have the tech "perform thorough diagnosis".

On Monday, September 29th, I was told that the tech had driven it about 75 miles but the P00AF did not recur, so they're not fixing it. (The did find a cylinder 4 glow plug error and fixed that under warranty.)

I picked it up on Tuesday, September 30th and spoke with Robbie Thomas, the Service and Parts Director.

Both of them finally realized that it took a sustained load to cause the fault, but they were not willing to commit an employee to ride with me up the road to Fancy Gap, about a 3 hour round trip.

I asked, "What would it take to get you to recognize this as a fault?"
The answer, "Bring it in with the fault." JUST LIKE I DID!!! Grrrr.

So, "You need me to bring it in again?" Apparently, yes. I don't know if they mean with the ACTIVE fault....meaning, the P00AF still set, so the turbo non-functioning. That would mean a (dangerous) drive down (and up) some very steep, long, grades with no turbo for 1 1/2 hours from Interstate 77 at Fancy Gap back to their dealership. (Maybe they meant just like the first time with the fault reset, but still showing as occurred, and the CEL/MIL on?)

My next chance to do that would be in a 10-15 days.

A good thread on this: Official P00AF Turbo Failure thread

A shout-out to @RamCares ....

Thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Trx702JT]

Ok, it happened. Driving up a mountain pass (Fancy Gap, I-77, VA/NC border), at speed, I got some error messages and a check engine light. "Service Electronic Throttle Body" and "Service Electronic Stability Control". Both associated lights illuminated as did the MIL/CEL.

Truck drove, but with an obvious lack of oomph. No turbo.

About 30 minutes later, I pulled over and checked it with my scan tool. P00AF Turbocharger Boost Control Module 'A' Performance

So, I did what any truck owner would do. I shut down, cleared the codes, disconnected the battery, jumped the positive and negative battery leads together for about 10 seconds, then hooked it all back up.

I drove (hard) for 3 hours (with two stops). No more CEL/MIL. No codes.

I'm hoping that it's my 4+ year old battery causing a momentary electronic glitch. Mitigating against that was that it occurred after an hour+ of highway driving, so the battery had had a long time to charge.

Any thoughts?

(Edited to add: on another forum, there's a big thread on this code. It seems to lead to a turbo replacement.)

my CEL for service throttle body was related to the safety recall where they replaced the HPFP