Pedal commander error and check engine light

[noupf]

So, I've had the PC on my 2015 Ram Sport for a few months now and I received the "service throttle sensor" ( or what ever it exactly says ) the other evening as i was trying to start my truck.

I'll preface my story with the fact that it was a cold snowy morning with about 2 inches of snow on the roads. The temp outside was about 18 degrees. As I was driving down the road, i let off the gas and dropped all the way down to CITY -4, to keep the throttle response as low as possible ( normally I drive in CITY 0 ).

I drove to work, shut it off and went inside. During my dinner break, i used the remote start to warm up the truck ( now it was about 10 degrees out ) and drove off. Came back from dinner and went back inside. All was well

Now....at 9pm, as i was exiting the building i tried the remote start and nothing. Tried again, nothing. I got to the truck and noticed "remote start disabled". When I got in and started the truck, i had the "service throttle sensor" on my screen and a check engine light. I shut off the truck and started it a couple more times and still had the message and CEL. When i pressed the gas pedal, nothing happened.........sort of. The rpms ever so slowly would increase, but did not decrease and it was barely noticeable if you weren't looking for it.

At this point, i got out of the truck and tried to completely unplug and remove the PC, but i couldnt get the ******** PC plug off the gas pedal. I was able to unplug the other portion of the Y splice, but no matter how hard i tried, i couldnt for the life of me get the plug off of the gas pedal. Anyhow, I ended up just plugging the other porting of the Y split back together to see if it would fix the issue. I started the truck and the "service throttle sensor" message was gone, but the check engine light remained. The gas pedal when depressed seems to rev as it should, so I ended up going home cautiously, used my OBD II to read the codes and most were voltage related. there was another code related to the throttle sensor, but it wasnt voltage related and I forgot to save it.

Not a very good experience to have to be honest.......and yes, the plugs were all seated properly prior to the issue happening and the cables were not in a position where my foot or anything like that would have tugged, pulled or disrupted the connections.


Thoughts???

 

[Ramm5.7]

It must not of liked the city minus 4 setting! Iv heard of throttle codes in eco so maybe dropping into tje negative settings on city triggered throttle code

 

[noupf]

It must not of liked the city minus 4 setting! Iv heard of throttle codes in eco so maybe dropping into tje negative settings on city triggered throttle code

i thought the same thing, but by default, city -4 should still be ever so slightly above the stock setting. I too heard about eco errors, but again, city -4 should still be above the stock voltage setting no?

also, i have driven around for days on end in city -1 and -2 as well and never had an issue. I just recently decided i like city 0. The day this occurred is the first time ive gone below city -2.

Dont forget, i did have two on/off driving cycles in city -4 that night before the third one brought up the error messsages

 

[Wahrsuul]

I've had my PC in Eco and Eco -4 for the last 2 tanks, and no codes. But then mine's an 09. Seems some trucks are more sensitive to it.

 

[Casper]

Did you disconnect the battery after getting the CEL? See what codes re-appear with a reboot.

 

[Ratket]

I would be concerned with not being able to get the connector apart. You never know, something could have happened and that connector got hot and melted ever so slightly together and that’s why you can’t get it apart. Some thing to consider. Also the “adjusted voltage” on that low of a setting coupled with the cold weather could have triggered the codes. Keep in mind how finicky these these trucks are in regardes to the batteries being 100% healthy.

 

[noupf]

Did you disconnect the battery after getting the CEL? See what codes re-appear with a reboot.

I used my OBD II scanner and cleared the codes when i got home that night. Currently riding around in city 0 and no issues over the last two days.

 

[noupf]

I would be concerned with not being able to get the connector apart. You never know, something could have happened and that connector got hot and melted ever so slightly together and that’s why you can’t get it apart. Some thing to consider. Also the “adjusted voltage” on that low of a setting coupled with the cold weather could have triggered the codes. Keep in mind how finicky these these trucks are in regardes to the batteries being 100% healthy.

agreed on both accounts. I need to crawl in there again and see if I can get that clip off. It seems to wiggle, i just cant get it to pop off.

 

[mohemipar]

Let us know what happens.


I have always kept mine in sport +2 since I put it on and haven’t had any issues. Have never changed it. I haven’t found my truck to be difficult to drive in the snow. Which is good because I would not want to fiddle with the settings on a regular basis. I would get paranoid. I suppose with the weight of the HD and some bigger tires it makes for less wheel slip than the 1500.


The PC is a great mod for these trucks but the big downside is if something gets messed up you are screwing with your throttle. Which really sucks. Overall it seems like the vast majority have had no issues. I know of the common CEL if the system still has power when you install it, and also if you drop to the lowest setting.

 

[noupf]

well, i contacted the PC people and here is what i was told. The rep i spoke to said he spoke with the ceo / owner and advised me that the issue seems to have something to do with the cold weather and the remote start. Something along the lines of the cold cranking amps of the battery during really cold temps and the voltage produced during the remote start up. Apparently, during all start ups, the PC goes through a little booting cycle as the vehicle is starting and in my situation, due to the cold temps, possibly lower voltage during the remote start and the power cycle of the PC, it resulted in the error message and the check engine light.

They said they can program the PC to have a 90 second delay when the truck is being started. This will happen no matter if I use the remote start or the normal key fob push button start.

Not sure how i feel about that to be honest. During non winter seasons, I usually give my truck a minimum 30 seconds or so to warm up before i put it into gear ( of course longer during the winter, especially if i use the remote start ), but that means if i do a start up and a short warm up ( in a rush, motor is already warm or whatever ...), when i pull away, my throttle is going to be set to the oem settings and then after 90 seconds or so, the pedal will then become more sensitive as i'm driving along......

Also, i finally got the thing off my gas pedal, but not after having to muscle it with a flat head screw driver. Maybe the PC clip was broken...... As i removed it, a piece of the PC clip fell to the floor, so who knows. I'm sending it in to be looked at ( the clip ) and reprogrammed, but i'm not sure i even want to re-install it when i get it back to be honest.....

 

[William Taylor]

I have a 2017 1500 Laramie with the 5.7. Yesterday, while driving, I got the same error with the check engine light staying on. Shifting was immediately degraded (seemed like it wouldn't shift, like a limp mode) so I drove back to the house. I pulled my pedal commander off when I got home (no issue getting it off) and the light is still on. It seems to be driving ok now, but the light is on. It is still under warranty so I may take it in and have them give it a look over and apply a recall. Also, I have had it on the truck for a year in sport +2 and have never moved it up or down from that setting.

 

[88ROOK]

this is the same exact thing that happened to me.........and i couldnt get the damn thing off either.

 

[Gunpackingsaint]

I had the same issue a while back. I reached out to the PC and they had me send in the unit and had it replaced with an updated version (different chip or software don't recall).

You can clear the codes with an OBD adapter (obviously verify what the issue is before clearing) but the check engine light won't clear immediately but will clear in a couple of days. It'll drive just fine but needs time to make sure all is well before the check engine light comes off.

Some of those older PC modules would throw a code if you inadvertently hold the brake pedal and press the gas pedal at the same time.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[meedom]

It happens to me with my PC every 3 or 4 months, don't know what the trigger is. If you disconnect the battery for a
few minutes it will clear the code...

 

[78Staff]

older post, but happened to me today. Not cold related (Florida, heh), but moved from City to Sport at a red light (foot off accelerator) and immediate went to limp mode with throttle position error/SES. I was close to home so went ahead and drove home, then shut it off. I likely could have shut it off and restarted there and gotten out of limp miode, but long ago I once shut off a vehicle due to a SES and couldn't get it restarted. Stuck right there in the damn intersection which of course sucked balls. So I never shut off unless I am in clear space now...

Anyway, got home, shut off, restarted, TPS light gone, limp mode gone, but SES still there. I cleared any codes with Alfa (although there was no TPS fault listed, SES still remains. If I understand correctly it takes a bit for that to go away? I don't want to do the neg battery cable deal unless I absolutely have to, as it might ***** my aftermarket remote start which would require getting it programmed again.

BT version, had it for 6 mo or so, first time having TPS issue to be honest - I've changed settings bunch of times so it surprised me for sure.


EDIT - SES appears to have cleared about an hour later, which is good - saves me from doing the neg battery trick.

 

[78Staff]

Well damn it happened again, twice in one week. Same deal, this time was sitting in my driveway. Had tire service done so had put it in city mode earlier, and was switching back to sport mode, and Bang TPS error/Limp Mode. Same as above, shut down and restart clears TPS light and Limp Mode, but SES will remain for a while.

Not sure what's going on, no issues for months and now twice in one week .

 

[Hankrebel]

2015 LoneStar
MY PC just started doing this. I've had it on for weeks with no issue. Sport mode and City mode. Once it starts it gets progressively worse. Meaning it happened 4 times in one drive to the gym that is only 5 miles. It usually goes with shutting the truck off for a few minutes.

After this last issue, I've disconnected it and the CEL goes away. I also read in another thread that there was an update via the phone app. I uninstalled the app from the phone and downloaded it again. Connected the phone to the PC and no updates available.

Im going to contact PC support and see what they say.

 

[ThunderMug95]

Mine glitched like this once when I changed it pulling out of the driveway. Went from Sport to City and it threw the code.

 

[88ROOK]

2015 LoneStar
MY PC just started doing this. I've had it on for weeks with no issue. Sport mode and City mode. Once it starts it gets progressively worse. Meaning it happened 4 times in one drive to the gym that is only 5 miles. It usually goes with shutting the truck off for a few minutes.

After this last issue, I've disconnected it and the CEL goes away. I also read in another thread that there was an update via the phone app. I uninstalled the app from the phone and downloaded it again. Connected the phone to the PC and no updates available.

Im going to contact PC support and see what they say.

i sent mine back in after it started doing this and they gave me another one hassle free, great customer service on their part

 

[78Staff]

i sent mine back in after it started doing this and they gave me another one hassle free, great customer service on their part

Ok great. I'll see if it keeps doing it, and if so I will contact them. I've already re-downloaded the lastest app about 2 weeks ago. Although... this did start happening after I did that and re-connected it to the PC. Maybe I should uninstall it and try again.