Is adding a ground wire to my TPS sensor a bad idea?

Leinhit

Leinhit

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Sep 26, 2017
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As I continue to chase down my TPS problems I can't help but suspect it might be ground related.

Is it ok to splice in a new ground wire to the current ground wire ( black with a blue stripe)
near the TPS and run this to the firewall ground?

I would also splice in a ground into the same wire near the computer and run that to the battery ground.. inside the wiring harness I observed about 4 of the same color ground wires being spliced together into one ground wire by the factory. they must go to different sensors throughout the system.

Any thoughts? Bad idea?

while I do have continuity in the TPS ground wire from the sensor to the same wire as it goes into the computer plug I still suspect maybe there is a bad ground or an occasional fault to that ground.

I did wire in a temporary ground and drove the vehicle 15 miles with no problems at all and then when I made a left turn I experienced the same TPS problem with the check engine light coming on again. (I had cleared the error codes before driving) I pulled over and found the temporary ground wire I had hooked up had come undone.

This may not be my only problem but I'm thinking at least it would rule out a bad ground.

I'm showing error code p0123 and p0121. I have been researching both of those codes extensively here.

I also have my clock spring unplug during these tests.

thanks
 
No one on the internet is gonna say I have a bad idea?

Now I am suspicious
 
Sundowner said:
You can't chase problems by changing multiple things at once. Focus on either the ground OR the clock spring; not both.
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well I've been driving around for about a week with the clockspring un plugged and the error code keeps coming back after 15 to 20 miles. I did end up adding the two grounds to the ground wire going to the TBS, one to the firewall the other to the battery ground. It did not do any harm however it did not fix my problem either.

Appreciate your help.
 
Leinhit said:
well I've been driving around for about a week with the clockspring un plugged and the error code keeps coming back after 15 to 20 miles. I did end up adding the two grounds to the ground wire going to the TBS, one to the firewall the other to the battery ground. It did not do any harm however it did not fix my problem either.

Appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

Did you do both of those things - i.e. additional grounding and unplugged clockspring - simultaneously? If so, you didn't find out anything because you still changed more than one thing in the same test, so you don't know what effect either change might have had. If you did those things separately, you've likely found the problem: you have a bad TPS. Have you tried switching to a known-good TPS, yet?
 
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Sundowner said:
Did you do both of those things - i.e. additional grounding and unplugged clockspring - simultaneously? If so, you didn't find out anything because you still changed more than one thing in the same test, so you don't know what effect either change might have had. If you did those things separately, you've likely found the problem: you have a bad TPS. Have you tried switching to a known-good TPS, yet?
Click to expand...
well actually I did put a brand new aftermarket TPS from a part store in there. It did not help.

so I went back to the one that I took off as it appeared to test fine with my multimeter.

I know the others say it's important to use an oem sensor I was having a hard time believing they're made in different factories in China. But I am going to break down and just buy the OEM.

also I did try unplugging the clock spring separately from adding the ground wire to the TPS. I did everything one at a time as you suggested, the above was just a summary of everything else I've been doing.

a mechanic friend of mine has offered to hook his scanner up, he says the sensors are sometimes too sensitive for just a multimeter to see the range of motion whereas a scanner tool can? So I'll also try that as well.

Thanks
 
Leinhit said:
well actually I did put a brand new aftermarket TPS from a part store in there. It did not help.

so I went back to the one that I took off as it appeared to test fine with my multimeter.

I know the others say it's important to use an oem sensor I was having a hard time believing they're made in different factories in China. But I am going to break down and just buy the OEM.
Click to expand...

So, here's a fun fact: both the "aftermarket" and the "OEM" sensors are usually built by the same people in the same factories. Seems like any of them should work exactly the same, right?

WRONG.

Although the sensors are indeed built by the same people in the same factories, they don't all work equally well: the OEM sensors are those that fall within a very narrow performance range when tested, and the aftermarket sensors are usually all of the rejects from those tests. They might work, they might not...but you don't run that risk with OEM, which is why you pay more for them. I believe we had a thread on here recently in which a similar situation was mentioned; the consensus is that most of us that have gotten fucked by the aftermarket no longer buy from it.
 
Sundowner said:
So, here's a fun fact: both the "aftermarket" and the "OEM" sensors are usually built by the same people in the same factories. Seems like any of them should work exactly the same, right?

WRONG.

Although the sensors are indeed built by the same people in the same factories, they don't all work equally well: the OEM sensors are those that fall within a very narrow performance range when tested, and the aftermarket sensors are usually all of the rejects from those tests. They might work, they might not...but you don't run that risk with OEM, which is why you pay more for them. I believe we had a thread on here recently in which a similar situation was mentioned; the consensus is that most of us that have gotten fucked by the aftermarket no longer buy from it.
Click to expand...
Amen...
 
I cant give any TJ advice in this area but I did put a ground wire on my 04 dodge ram hemi and it definitely smoothed my idle.

Are you still chasing down your issue or has it been fixed?
 
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