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P0121 — Throttle Position Sensor Range/Performance

P0121 means: The throttle position signal does not track the expected value across the full pedal travel.

System: Fuel & Air Metering · Standard: SAE J2012 generic code · Severity: Repair soon

01Can you keep driving?

Repair soon

The car will usually keep running, but continued driving risks secondary damage or an emissions failure. Book the repair.

02What you will notice

03Likely causes, most common first

  1. Worn throttle position sensor track
  2. Carbon build-up in the throttle body
  3. Loose connector

04How this code is diagnosed

A worn resistive track causes dead spots that only appear at certain pedal positions.

Start by reading every stored and pending code, not just this one. A single fault frequently sets three or four codes at once, and the first one in the freeze-frame data is usually the cause while the rest are consequences.

Common questions

What does P0121 mean?

The throttle position signal does not track the expected value across the full pedal travel. Throttle Position Sensor Range/Performance is a generic fuel & air metering code defined by SAE J2012, so it carries the same meaning on every OBD-II vehicle.

Is it safe to drive with P0121?

Repair soon. The car will usually keep running, but continued driving risks secondary damage or an emissions failure. Book the repair.

What are the most likely causes of P0121?

In rough order of how often they turn out to be the problem: Worn throttle position sensor track; Carbon build-up in the throttle body; Loose connector.

Other fuel & air metering codes

Sourcing

Code number, system and definition follow the SAE J2012 / ISO 15031-6 generic diagnostic trouble code standard. Symptoms, causes and severity are the standard generic diagnostic logic for that fault. This page does not contain manufacturer-specific procedures, part numbers or pricing.