MacGyver

Well, it's not completely dead, but it's certainly giving me fits. Several months back the car died at a stoplight and seemed jerky during acceleration. A rap of the MAP and reset of the ECU seemed to cure the problem (so maybe it was a MAP issue that day, I've had plenty like it in the last 4+ years).

Several weeks ago the car would continually die at stoplights if my foot was off of the pedal. It drove reasonably well (some stumbling once in a blue moon), and as long as I was in motion the engine seemed fine. Once the motion stopped, though, if I didn't give it a bit of throttle, the engine would die out... made for some interesting foot work trying to stop the car fully (without looking like a moron who has never driven a standard before) and still leave time to switch pedals and give it some gas waiting for the light to change.

Well last week I cranked her up and this time it stumbled and threw a CEL, so other than a couple of MAP raps and ECU resets, I haven't driven it until today. I took it to Autozone and had them pull the code (it's an awesome free service, especially when you consider the dealership charges an arm and a leg for something so simple). Only one (thank God), the TPS.

It surprised me, expecting it to be something related to the MAP or a misfire/cylinder/sparkplug problem, but the above problems certainly match up with what I've seen the last few weeks. I'm crossing my fingers this is an inexpensive part, but at least I know I can do the swap myself. Went ahead and picked up some more sparkplugs while I was there, going on 40k with the current set (Bosch Platinum 2).

I'm crossing my fingers this will solve the problem... can anyone imagine another problem masquerading as a TPS failure? The odd thing to me is the engine wouldn't die so long as the car was in motion... it could be in neutral with my foot off of the gas, but it wouldn't die until the wheels stopped moving. The ECU must modify the fuel mixture slightly, or maybe ignore the lower few percent of TPS signal so long as there is motion in the wheels.

Utah S2K

Mc-G you of all people! How do you expect an educated response from those of us in the know if you don't tell us what code you hath before you?????

Utah

Slows2k

I'm betting on a P0123. Whatever code it turns out to be, The only way Honda sells the TPS is on a throttle body. Since Macgyver seems to be the DIY type, there are ways to replace the TPS without replacing the throttle body.

efthimios

so say you have an after market throttle body, if the TPS sensor goes bad can it alone be replaced with a new one?

turbo_pwr

Shouldn't be that hard to replace. Just buy any TPS sensor and connector and splice them in place of the Honda unit. The stock one is a 3 wire set-up. You can probably get a Bosch style one easily to do the job.

Luis

I had the same symptoms a couple of months ago. The dealer diagnosed a faulty TPS. The code pulled on the dashboard (0-7) confirmed this.

I subsequently ran the service book TPS diagnostics and found nothing wrong with it. All voltages and resistances as spec'ed. A MAP sensor rap (more of a whack, really) and an ECU reset later, and all is as good as new.

Slows2k

The TPS is installed with tamper-resistant screws. If you are persistant you can remove them without damaging the sensor housing or throttle body.

Using a dremel using an abrasive cut-off wheel cut a groove in the head of the screw. Then remove with a flat-bladed screwdriver. If the screws don't come out, cut the top of them off and remove the rest with a pair of vice-grips.

Most likely it will be beyond repair, but you may have decent luck finding a used Throttle body off an 98-02 Accord to swap the sensors. It would be wise to take resistance measurements off the used throttle body at wide open and closed throttle before removing it. Then you can reset the TPS in the correct position.

I've done this on several other Hondas with oversized throttle bodies without a problem.

MacGyver

I thought there would only be a single TPS code... the one pulled was P0122 (not P0123, as guessed).

You guys are really scaring me with the "need to purchase an entire throttle body" deal. The sensor hangs off of the side, so I just figured it would be a $50 component I could swap out myself. I don't mind doing some monkey work or using the Dremel, but damn... I gotta find a used TB just to get the sensor?! That sucks! Means I'll be off the road for at least another couple of weeks.

Maybe this is a convenient time to do a core swap of the TB with a bored one from one of those companies...

xviper

The throttle cable does not control idle. The Idle Air Control mechanism does and this is independent of the cable. It would be nice and simple if a slack cable was all there was to this whole situation.

SEVNT4

Didn't you get the memo?