Thread: Car dies when TPS disconnected

Just wanted to try my new timing light out and check/set my base timing.

When I go to unplug the tps,the engine dies.
The car has been running great otherwise,though

Can anyone here shed some light on this?

did you follow the FSM procedure before unplugging the TPS?

I guess thats warm up to operating temp, shut engine off, disconnect tPS. Restart engine, rev over 3k at least 3 times, and then set idle.

D

This is what I followed,I have done this many times on other cars,but this is the first try with this car.
How to: Adjusting Ignition Timing - SR20 Forum

Warmed up the car
Revved over 3000rpm , 3 times
---I usually unplug the tps next and it will idle up slightly and then settle into timing mode....my car just dies.

Maybe I will try to restart it with the tps disconnected,but I have seen multiple threads and how-to that are the same as what I tried

You need to raise your base idle speed ...common issues with these , base idle being to low ... with the tps disconnected idle should be about 800 rpm ...

stupid question, but make sure you're disconnecting the tps from beside the throttle body and not the ignitor chip above it - I've done that before without thinking lol.

How does the base idle effect the idle afterwards?
Reason I ask,is I have ad the car running for over 6000 miles,and the idle has always been perfect,it never misses a beat.
Seems like if I turn the base idle up,it will be too high.

Or is the ecu compensating for it?...hmm,maybe I may have stumbled on one of the reasons my MPG is not so good also.
I thought it was just my heavy right foot,but I cant get over 27-28 even on the highway.

This is normal.
You can also advance your timing some (turn toward the firewall) to keep it from dying..
After getting in timing mode, set the idle first and then the timing correctly with your new timing gun.

Update...very weird.The idle screw was all the way in tight.
I started the car,backed the idle screw out and the idle went up.
Then unplugged the tps,and when is set the base idle,it had to go right back to where it was(all the way in tight) to get back to 800.
At this point I could unplug the tps and plug it back in like normal.
It is like it was sicking and that freed it up

Anyway,I was able to check and advance the timing to get rid of a bog I had at low rpm tip in.

Thanks for all the replies,I appreciate it.