tps my culprit?

[v8s_are_slow]

been having a problem lately with my car wanting to act like crap so i had a buddy come over this past weekend with his datalogger so we could see what was goin on. he's seemin to think it's maf overrun but i'm not thinkin so cause i haven't done any new mods since this has started up.

anyway, here's what it's been doin. started out mild, getting a lot worse. started happening one day after i washed my car and the engine bay a bit to clean all the oil out after fixing an oil leak. well, i left and got on it a bit and wham!!! felt like fuel cut. what the heck?!?!? didn't do it again for awhile though. then later it did it again but would notice that if i stayed on the gas it would just keep goin without a hiccup. sometimes i can start the car and it sounds like it's missing. running on 3 cylinders or something (changed the plugs and wires. no help). sometimes the engine shakes badly when i start it, sometimes not. sometimes it'll feel like it's hitting fuel cut at anywhere from 1 psi and up. not always at the same spot though. a lotta times though at slower speeds the whole car shakes pretty bad unless i get up to highway speeds.

anyway, the highest i saw the tps on the logger was 85% and i think that was at about 6,000 rpm. i forget all the other values but wasn't really thinkin tps at the time either until i saw this posted on the pocketlogger.com website tonight....

The position of the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) on the throttle body. The % should directly corrolate to the gas pedal position. If the signal jumps around (usually happens at a single throttle position, but can happen at any time) then you could have a bad TPS sensor. This would cause bucking or hesitation while driving. The TPS signal should be about 9 - 10% at closed throttle. If it doesn't, a throttle cable or butterfly adjustment is necessary.

i'm getting the bucking. i'm getting the hesitation. just wonder if this sounds like the problem to anyone else and is there a way to test it so i'm not wasting my money on another one? is the dealer the only place i can buy one? anyone know an average price on these things? thanks for any opinions.

scott

p.s. oh yeah, and lately the idle seems to wanna climb to around 2k rpm as well. not sure if that's something else or what but figured i'd throw it in there.

 

[1Quick99GST]

Well, a TPS will run you about $150 or so ( http://www.dsmparts.com/tps_isc.htm ). I have an extra one I can let go for $75. Washing under the hood can cause issues with your CAS, MAF, and TPS, so if you think that washing it caused your problem, it is probably one of those 3. From what I have heard/read, bucking and hesitation are the main two symptoms of a bad TPS that you'll noticeably see.

 

[v8s_are_slow]

yeah, i'd like to get it from ya so long as i know it's the tps. do ya have to take the throttle body off to check it and see if it's good? anyone know? if i disconnect it, what happens then? (saw someone asking the same question in another thread).

hey 1Quick99GST, have we met before? just wondering since you're in pensacola. didn't know if maybe you had been to any of the dsm meets or not. i have a green 94 talon tsi if that helps. and about a year ago there was a meet in pensacola that everyone went to. i was the guy there with the L3R turbo. but anyway, just trying to put a face with the name for ya....if that helps.

i'll be in contact with ya soon on the tps (if i can figure out if that's my problem or not) but will probably let ya know before the weekend. laters!

scott