New Mopar throttle positioning sensor working better, but not correctly

James S Smithson

James S Smithson

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Joined
May 13, 2018
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12
Location
Gainesville, GA, USA
I have a 1998 jeep TJ that is stroked to 4.6.
Over two years ago, I had to replace my TPS. Used an O’Reillys part and it worked well for about two years…
A month ago hi drove the TJ home from work and parked it without any issue. I went to drive it to work the next day and it ran very poorly like the TPS was bad. The check engine light came on and I checked the code… TPS is bad.

I replaced it with another box store unit. Gave me the same code with same results of poor idle and stalling and loss of throttle when driving.

Yesterday I purchased and installed a Mopar OEM throttle positioning sensor.
When the TPS is plugged in and idling, it is correct, just under 1000 RPM. When I bolt the unit in, it runs poorly.

Live data shows 63% throttle position, when not bolted in, and 74% throttle position when bolted in.

Your thoughts, comments and ideas would be fantastic…

Let me know what you think

No other codes showing, and when clearing the memory, this is the only Code that comes back
 
A part that can give an erroneous TPS code and give similar symptoms to a bad TPS is the clock spring located under the steering wheel. Both connect to the same databus and when the clock spring starts going bad and sending an electrically noisy signal onto the databus it can fool the PCM into thinking the TPS is bad. The clockspring is not actually a spring, it's a coiled wire inside a plastic housing that connects controls on the steering wheel like the horn button, cruise control, etc. to the rest of the Jeep.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
A part that can give an erroneous TPS code and give similar symptoms to a bad TPS is the clock spring located under the steering wheel. Both connect to the same databus and when the clock spring starts going bad and sending an electrically noisy signal onto the databus it can fool the PCM into thinking the TPS is bad. The clockspring is not actually a spring, it's a coiled wire inside a plastic housing that connects controls on the steering wheel like the horn button, cruise control, etc. to the rest of the Jeep.
Click to expand...

Jerry Bransford said:
A part that can give an erroneous TPS code and give similar symptoms to a bad TPS is the clock spring located under the steering wheel. Both connect to the same databus and when the clock spring starts going bad and sending an electrically noisy signal onto the databus it can fool the PCM into thinking the TPS is bad. The clockspring is not actually a spring, it's a coiled wire inside a plastic housing that connects controls on the steering wheel like the horn button, cruise control, etc. to the rest of the Jeep.
Click to expand...

And that would almost make sense bud… This only occurs after I’ve installed/bolted on the TPS. While it’s not bolted on, it runs just fine… it shows 63% throttle body position in the live data stream. As soon as I bolted on the TPS is actuated to 78%.
 
James S Smithson said:
And that would almost make sense bud… This only occurs after I’ve installed/bolted on the TPS. While it’s not bolted on, it runs just fine… it shows 63% throttle body position in the live data stream. As soon as I bolted on the TPS is actuated to 78%.
Click to expand...
Not sure if the case is supposed to be grounded or not, I'd be surprised if it is. If it is grounded either by design or by an internal fault I wonder if someone messed up the wiring so 2 of the 3 wires got reversed so mounting it grounds the wrong point of the internal variable resistor.
 
Jerry Bransford said:
Not sure if the case is supposed to be grounded or not, I'd be surprised if it is. If it is grounded either by design or by an internal fault I wonder if someone messed up the wiring so 2 of the 3 wires got reversed so mounting it grounds the wrong point of the internal variable resistor.
Click to expand...

I don’t don’t think that it’s a grounded unit. The issue is the amount of tension on the spindle.
Jerry Bransford said:
Not sure if the case is supposed to be grounded or not, I'd be surprised if it is. If it is grounded either by design or by an internal fault I wonder if someone messed up the wiring so 2 of the 3 wires got reversed so mounting it grounds the wrong point of the internal variable resistor.
Click to expand...
OK… I took off the throttlebody and clean that thing. Immaculate! All sensors absolutely pristine and beautiful. I reassembled and started it up and it ran absolutely beautiful for about 10 minutes. I got in the car and started driving it. And yes it runs more smoothly, but now still stutters and idles at 1500… Now, I may fall back to your first response because my dash is going crazy. I guess it’s just part of being a 30 year old vehicle.
When I pull the knob to turn the lights on… It can’t decide if it’s going to have headlights or dash lights🤣🤣🤣…
And the code that is being thrown again is, throttle body position… yup.. I just went out and verified to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind. Is this all going to end up being a damn electrical issue? What a pain in the butt
 
Jerry Bransford said:
A part that can give an erroneous TPS code and give similar symptoms to a bad TPS is the clock spring located under the steering wheel. Both connect to the same databus and when the clock spring starts going bad and sending an electrically noisy signal onto the databus it can fool the PCM into thinking the TPS is bad. The clockspring is not actually a spring, it's a coiled wire inside a plastic housing that connects controls on the steering wheel like the horn button, cruise control, etc. to the rest of the Jeep.
Click to expand...

Do you know where u can get a clock spring for a 01 Jeep tj with cruise control I’ve looked everywhere and people have been telling me there’s different part numbers
 
James S Smithson said:
OK… I took off the throttlebody and clean that thing. Immaculate! All sensors absolutely pristine and beautiful. I reassembled and started it up and it ran absolutely beautiful for about 10 minutes. I got in the car and started driving it. And yes it runs more smoothly, but now still stutters and idles at 1500… Now, I may fall back to your first response because my dash is going crazy. I guess it’s just part of being a 30 year old vehicle.
When I pull the knob to turn the lights on… It can’t decide if it’s going to have headlights or dash lights🤣🤣🤣…
And the code that is being thrown again is, throttle body position… yup.. I just went out and verified to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind. Is this all going to end up being a damn electrical issue? What a pain in the butt
Click to expand...

Check your battery (voltage and load test), the battery terminal connections (especially if they are the type below, which are notorious for looking fine but not being capable of carrying current), and your grounds. The headlight switch causing issues sounds like low voltage issues, and that may also cause the TPS code.

img_20230405_080500094_hdr-jpg.413417


Here's the thread I pulled that photo from:


If you read that entire thread, you'll see that bad battery connections cause weird problems.
 
sab said:
Check your battery (voltage and load test), the battery terminal connections (especially if they are the type below, which are notorious for looking fine but not being capable of carrying current), and your grounds. The headlight switch causing issues sounds like low voltage issues, and that may also cause the TPS code.

img_20230405_080500094_hdr-jpg.413417


Here's the thread I pulled that photo from:

[/URL]

If you read that entire thread, you'll see that bad battery connections cause weird problems.
Click to expand...

No dice… there was a moment when I was messing with the engine harness… And apparently the short, either on the shorted or corrected itself but it ran well for about 45 seconds…
I cleared the code, went up the street, hit a bump, ran like crap again

Either replace the harness or have the harness repaired
 
Clockspring
sab said:
Check your battery (voltage and load test), the battery terminal connections (especially if they are the type below, which are notorious for looking fine but not being capable of carrying current), and your grounds. The headlight switch causing issues sounds like low voltage issues, and that may also cause the TPS code.

img_20230405_080500094_hdr-jpg.413417


Here's the thread I pulled that photo from:

[/URL]

If you read that entire thread, you'll see that bad battery connections cause weird problems.
Click to expand...

It was the clockspring… the whole stinking time.. clockspring.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
Not sure if the case is supposed to be grounded or not, I'd be surprised if it is. If it is grounded either by design or by an internal fault I wonder if someone messed up the wiring so 2 of the 3 wires got reversed so mounting it grounds the wrong point of the internal variable resistor.
Click to expand...

It was the clockspring… the whole stinking time.. clockspring.
 
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Reactions: Andy-WhiteTJ, Jerry Bransford and GOLENJEEPTJ
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