Daughter was driving our 2010 Accord (180k miles). She came home one day and said it was struggling to start.
I tried it and it seemed him. Tested the battery and saw it was a little low, so I replaced it.
Problem continued. I finally got it to not start. I then saw it was giving the green key light error meaning the car wasn’t recognizing her key. Tried the second key and had the same issue.
I reprogrammed the keys and it starts fine now.
But, as soon as it started cranking fine, the check engine light came on. I ran the code and it’s P2118 which is: abnormal throttle actuator control motor current.
Few questions:
- could the P2118 have been triggered by the key issue?
- is the throttle actuator control motor the TPS? If not, what is it and where is it located?
- Recommendations on what I should do?
Appreciate the help!
No experience w/your car, but TPS usually stands for “throttle position sensor” which is not an actuator or motor. Generally the way this works is you press your foot on the gas pedal, and that is sensed at the computer by the pedal position sensor. The computer then commands the throttle actuator motor to place the throttle valve in the corresponding position, and checks the throttle valve moves to the correct position (angle) by reading the TPS.
My guess, the key/start problem is not related. But all this could potentially be caused by low battery voltage.
Read Tester’s post. It lists the likely causes for this error in the order of liklihood. With 180K on the odo, the top cause is a bad throttle body itself. The throttle body contains the motor that opens and closes the throttle. It is a by-wire system. Cleaning it first would be a cheap thing to try.
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