I have a 2008 Avenger with 2.4 liter engine that I replaced throttle body and now vehicle has lightning bolt warning light illuminated and car will not accelerate over 60 mph and 3000 rpm. Any help/advice much appreciated.

 

Key Troubleshooting Steps:

• Try a Throttle Relearn Procedure: Turn the key to "ON" (do not start), slowly depress the gas pedal completely, then slowly release it. Turn the key off and repeat if necessary
• Check the Battery: A weak battery or faulty alternator can sometimes trigger this warning.
• Inspect Wiring/Connectors: Check for loose or damaged wiring, especially near the throttle body and pedal sensor

 

jkeaton, thanks for your suggestions. The vehicle has a new battery just replaced about a month ago. Car starts up great, strong battery. Runs smooth at idle and smooth all the way up to 60 mph and 3000 rpm. Tried relearn process several times with no success. Unhooked negative battery cable and let set overnight. No change. I need to provide a little more background history on this situation. All the problems began when the owner attempted to replace the oil sensor unit without removing the intake manifold and trying to take a shortcut and access the sensor by working his small hand up through all of the obstacles and replace the sensor that way. Wound up cross threading the replacement sensor and stripped the hole for the replacement sensor. I took the vehicle to my shop to attempt to enlarge the stripped hole from 1/8 npt to a 1/4 npt by removing the intake manifold. Was successful in the rethread process. After reassembly of the manifold, I started the car and that is when the lightning bolt warning light appeared and car went into limp mode. Everything seemed to point to throttle body, which I replaced. Still in limp mode. Removed manifold again and discovered a tear in the gasket, replaced the manifold gasket. After start up this time, the lighting bolt light is still lit, but car started normal, no more limp mode, thought it was repaired successfully. Upon test drive, discovered the mph and rpm limitations mentioned. So the vehicle was in normal working order before all of this process began. I have searched every source I can think of online and can find no case like this one reported. I have also checked the electrical connections but not at the accelerator pedal because nothing that was done should have affected the pedal sensor. I am going to attempt one more thing in the next day or so. I heard on one youtube video that after throttle body replacement that car could take several minutes (30-45) to fully reset. That is my last idea/hope of solving this unless someone can diagnose this problem.