P0221 fault - Throttle Body Sensor

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

I’m getting sporadic EPC faults along with these OBD codes (as reported using Carista)

P0221 - Throttle Position Sensor B (G188), Circuit Range / Performance
P0221 - Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor/Switch “B” Circuit Range/Performance

If I reset the codes, the car seems to drive fine – until the next time the fault pops up.

At first it was happening on cold starts when the car was parked outside at night. We thought it might be a battery issue because I was also getting these faults:

P0024 - “B” Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Advanced or System Performance Bank 2
02272 - Static (Quiescent) current stage 1
02273 - Static (Quiescent) current stage 2
02276 - Static (Quiescent) current stage 5
02274 - Static (Quiescent) current stage 3

But we replaced the camshaft sensor, found/fixed a loose connection in one wire to ECU2, and also cleaned & zip-tied the throttle body connector to ensure a solid connection. I no longer get these faults, and the car starts up fine when it’s freezing cold outside.

But the P0221 still pops up sporadically, only this time it happens after the engine is warm. I found this page

http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/16605/P0221/000545

Which mentions a “TSB 97-08-25 or 2018260 for a wiring repair at the Throttle Body” for A6 FSI engines. Does anyone have ideas or experience with this?

#2

I think i my car had similar problem with previous owner, he replaced one of the throttle bodies sinxe some of the contacts in the motor in the throttle body were worn. It might not be the exact same issue, ill see can i find pictures of the wear on the gold contacts for reference.

#3

Happened again, randomly on start. I used Carista to reset the fault and the car drove fine. It’s like I have to reboot the car occasionally.

#4

On cold days leave the car is acc mode for a min or two before you start it. What your seeing is the cold throttle body not being able to run through its tests quickly enough.

If you have access to vag com you can run an adaption test. That should help keep the throttle body happy for a while.

#5

I think my mechanic did that. Actually the problems on cold start have gone away.

The problem seems to rear its ugly head on random occasions when the engine is almost fully warmed up. So far only while waiting at a light.

#6

Something to try. if your just getting a code for the one throttle body. Swap the throttles put the driver throttle body on the passenger side and the driver side onto the pasenger side. If the code follows you might have to look into a new throttle body.

If the code stays on the one side it might be part of that electronic gremlin you have been dealing with in the past

#7

That’s probably a good idea.

#8

If the code is just on one side that would be a really good way to see where your at part health wise.

#9

Did you ever find out the cause? Mine has been doing this sporadically too. The throttle bodies were switched around, after which the problem was gone for several months. Now it has started doing it again. The code is still on the same side so it’s likely not the part.

#10

I was having weird throttle body issues a few years ago, so I replaced the pins on the electrical connectors at the throttle body. Problem solved. Not sure if this is your issue, but it’s a known problem.