Drive-by-wire (Electronic Throttle Control) gas pedal calibration

[spshultz]

Just for the heck of it I tried the gas pedal calibration that you can do on some of the Hemi's. Since the 2nd Gen 4.7's are supposed to be drive-by-wire I decided what the heck.

I got in, buckled up and turned the key on until all of the lights went out except the check engine light and the drive-by-wire light (ETC). Then in 2 seconds I pressed the pedal to the floor and let it back up. I noticed that after I did that the lightning bolt light (ETC) went out. But I didn't get a beep or a ding so I'm not sure if I did it right or if you can do it at all in the Dakota. Anyway, I turned the key off, waited about 10 seconds and then started the truck. I didn't feel any difference which means it was probably fine anyways but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it.

[Kbabiasz06]

Just for the heck of it I tried the gas pedal calibration that you can do on some of the Hemi's. Since the 2nd Gen 4.7's are supposed to be drive-by-wire I decided what the heck.

I got in, buckled up and turned the key on until all of the lights went out except the check engine light and the drive-by-wire light (ETC). Then in 2 seconds I pressed the pedal to the floor and let it back up. I noticed that after I did that the lightning bolt light (ETC) went out. But I didn't get a beep or a ding so I'm not sure if I did it right or if you can do it at all in the Dakota. Anyway, I turned the key off, waited about 10 seconds and then started the truck. I didn't feel any difference which means it was probably fine anyways but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try it.

I didnt think the 08s where ETC, I know some chevys have ETC and if you gun it, the have a slight pause then go, if i gun mine, it just goes, there is no pause at all. If im doing about 40 and i shift in to 2nd gear, i have instant response from the truck

[spshultz]

I checked the gas pedal in mine and it is definitely ETC. There is no cable down there attached to the pedal and doing through the firewall. Only a large, black, plastic thing with some wires coming out of the top of it.

[1quick95]

It is electronic throttle for sure.I wish i could make the throttle more responsive,its terrible.I have a hypertech tuner on it,and it helped a little (they dont modify the throttle,but i guess the increased timing makes it feel better).Id like to find out about the recal,but my Motor/Alldata doesnt go to 08,so i cant.Ill search around....

[aspen79]

Some vehicles have a delay that is really irritating! One reason for ETC is emissions. If you monitor the throttle pedal position sensors and the throttle body position sensor and floor it from a stop, you'll see that the throttle valve doesn't necessarily go WOT right away. In other words, what the throttle pedal is doing vs the throttle body valve depend on a bunch of other factors and parameters. The ECM decides what it "thinks" is the right throttle opening at that given moment. If the ECT is too cold, you may not get WOT at all for example. Any delay is just a fraction of a second while the ECM calculates and then sends the command to the ETB and then the ETB responds, but it seems like more than that doesn't it?

[Boomin5POINT9]

My mothers car has it and it pisses me off when I need to drive it for some reason. Obviously our brains work faster than the ECU and can figure out somethings not quite right before it even kicks in. The ETC on our Ram screwed up one time. If you kept a steady speed above about 30 for too long, the pedal would stop responding. You could floor the thing and it would just keep going the same speed. You had to kick teh ignition off then back on for it to work again. It was weird. I think it actually ended up being TPS sensor or something. Can't remember.