Autel is available on Amazon.Com for about $20. Will read and clear any obdii code...

 

Any that read and clear codes is good. You can spend more (a lot more) for ones that data log, but if you don't need that, get any cheap one.

 

Thanks Hammer & Jkeaton I will order one this week.

 

The lightning bolt icon is for the drive by wire Throttle Body. Your problem is AT the throttle body, the throttle body has many sensors combined in its operation, among them cruise control, idle control & throttle position sensor. Since they are combined as one, the whole unit will be replaced as one if one of its attributes become not operable.


Take the throttle body off & clean it and make sure it opens all the way and has no snags in its moving operation, brake cleaner or carb cleaner works well with blue paper shop towels from Auto Zone or whatever parts store...remove all carbon deposits.

Check connection at the throttle body to make sure the connector is clean and free of corrosion & connected tightly after. Leave battery unplugged for 10 minutes, then re-calibrate the throttle body: once in the truck prior to starting, turn the key to the run position (do not start) wait for all the dash lights to go out, then depress the pedal to the floor as fast as you can then let up instantly. Shut the key off, & start engine as you normally would. Some people debate the effectiveness of this process and say it only works for diesels, but many people including myself have noticed a difference after doing it on our Hemi engines.


If Truck still throws that lightning bolt icon on the dash, replace throttle body.

 

Not to sure if this works but I do know that voltages bounds (corresponding to no and full depression) for the electronic throttle can be set using the dealer starscan. Borrowed one from my buddies shop when completing a 2005 PCM swap in my 2003. Since i reused the hybrid drive-by-wire-by-cable on my 03 with the 05 computer, I had to let the PCM recognize what voltage corresponded to no and full throttle. As the tool told me to follow a specific sequence of no and full throttle cycles, I doubt that this is something that leaving the key on, giving full throttle quickly and releasing would accomplish. Why even write it into the tool then?

 

Because computer techs love to load programs & computer scan tools with features, its all about the features no matter how pointless or low priority it may seem. My Superchips tuner can read codes despite the fact you can do a key cycle & count the check engine light blinks to figure out whats wrong. My brother is a coder/programmer and he will make random programs and pack them with a ton of features, its not a practice unique to my brother its the way coders are, they like to stroke their coding ego lol.


Some people claim how fast you depress the pedal to the floor dictates the response time of the throttle body opening, though I suspect it could help the pcm anticipate transmission operation for kick down as well giving a false "tb opening faster" feeling, but that's just my theory and I don't know for sure. Honestly I've tried it several times and it seemed to work with the response of my truck, my brother tried it on his 04 hemi Durango and said it seemed to fix what he had been complaining about on his take off power.


It only makes sense that it would, computers have been learning & using human driving habits since the 80s to optimize for each persons use of the vehicle, its usually on the transmission side of things but with the advent of drive by wire I supposed its found its way into our trucks.


To add fuel to the fire on this subject, This very ritual is actually written in the factory manual for Drive By Wire TB's on Diesel Dodges and their operation is identical to the gas variants.