Thread: TPS Issue? Idle is fine... stubles just off idle

Current issue is rough running just off idle. Stumbles when you start from a light then smooths out once above 2k. Was thinking TPS. Wierd thing is that this is a manual car, but apparently i have a TPS for an auto (2 plugs with 6 pins total)

This explains more about what an auto TPS looks like

Does this make sense? I mean, why would I have two plugs and not one if this is a manual car? today the dealer even confirmed that my VIN says my car is a manual (and should have one plug), but my harness has two plugs and my TPS has two plugs. Makes no sense.

Either way, i did a TPS test by measuring voltage across pins 4&5 and I saw good voltage, but as soon as the throttle is tipped a bit, the numbers go up to infinity (not 4volts). So is my TPS bad?

Thanks for your help.

you have a picture of it?

... the TPS voltage is what at idle?

and if you press the pedal ever-so-slightly the voltage goes to 4v?... that would mean a bad sensor

You can see parts here
Mine is like the 5th one down (standard brand) for the 2.0L Automatic. But my car is a manual, so why is this one installed?. I also have two plugs, so switching to the single plug version wouldn't work. VIN confirms my car began life as a manual so its not like someone swapped a 5speed into an auto car.

At idle the voltage was .45. But I could never really see the voltage change gradually. It just jumped way up (off the chart) as soon as the throttle is opened. I never see 4volts, it just goes blank when applying throttle. So is it bad?

I'd like to be sure I'm using the correct pins for the voltage check. I assume so since i get a reading at idle.

I have a VVL motor in my car, its a5 spd but the TPS is an automatic one so it should still work fine. Everyone i know with a VVL swp has that same 2 prong sensor. Its actually the same sensor. When it became unplugged in my car i would stumble idling and taking off, in most cases it would die out idling, everything seemed fine once it was rolling but i did notice weak performance and bad MPGs.

So I'm thinking its the TPS. The test suggest checking voltage between pins 5&6. But that showed no voltage. In fact my harness has no receiver for pin 6 (so only 5 pins are used between the 2 plugs). So I bridged pins 4&5 and got .45v which seems normal.

So I think I have a bad TPS because opening the throttle puts the voltage up to infinity, not 4 volts. But i wanted to confirm before buying one since you cant return these things.

Try to find an obd2 scanner that reads tps. That'll help you also. thats how i see that mine is in check.I have a few oem tps laying around if you need one. Ill test them before i ship them out if you do decide that you want one.

I'll take one if it is the 2 plug type. Cost?

45 shipped

So I bought a new TPS, and no change. So I went here

Problems and Fixes and hesitation

And found out about EGR issues causing a similar problem. I disconnected the EGR and inserted the golf tee, and voila! problem solved. Car runs great. I'll get to hooking it back up later, but now I know what the issue is.

Very nice. That's a nice site to refer back to. You should Put up a pic of your car also