For those of you who know about this kind of stuff...I had to get a new throttle position sensor for my car, a 98 Mazda 626 6 cyl. ($320 at Advanced Auto...$78 online!) My dad and I put it on last night. It seems it has made no difference in the car's performance.My question: When you install a new tp sensor, is there any kind of adjustments/calibrations/whatever that has do be done afterwards? Or should it be a simple put-the-puppy-on-and-it-should-do-its-job kind of thing?
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Auto mechanics type question
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I don't know much about the throttle sensor, but what made you think it was the problem? Guessing can get very expensive.
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My parents' neighbor, other than being just a downright good man, is also an excellent mechanic. A couple weeks ago he plugged his little device into my car that reads the computer that tells you why your engine light is on. There were several codes that came up. One was the tp sensor, and the others were problems that would be caused by a bad tp sensor. I also talked to a couple other knowledgeable folks. They told me what the tp sensor does and what would happen if it goes bad. I said "yep. that's what she's doing."My dad talked to Greg the neighbor tonight. He's gonna hook his dealy up to my car again to see if it is still showing bad tp sensor. It could just be that I got a bum part.
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I don't know a lot about different models, but I do know that on my car there is an initial adjustment that is supposed to be done when installing a new throttle position sensor. It's a while since I read up on it, but it involved setting the position of the sensor to get a specific voltage reading on a dvm when you install it.Also, I believe there is a way of testing the sensor itself before simply replacing it, and this is the case with a lot of electronic parts.I've gotten kind of rusty in the last few years with car repair; it used to be a hobby of mine. But I will say that I really hope the people you're talking to know what they're doing, because in my experience that's almost never the case. I rely solely on the factory service manual when working on my own car and basically ignore any and everything non-professionals say. Just my own experience, but they're virtually always wrong.One point I'd add that is really important: a trouble code for a part does NOT necessarily mean that part itself is bad. Diagnosing these systems is far, far more complicated than that. And many parts can be tested to be certain of what you're replacing using a voltmeter or ohmmeter and looking at the procedures and specs in a factory service manual. It's damn easy to waste a ton of money if you don't do this first.Good luck!!!!
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it should just go in and be good, plug and play ya know. The problem is that the computer (ODBII) cant say this is going on, but it cant narrow down the exact part thats fucking it up.It could also be a crank sensor, or a MAF (Mass Air Flow) IT narrows downt eh system, and depending on what it is it can even say its this part, but it will never say for certain, its the TPS, thats something ya gotta know from experience and how the car acts combined with the OBDII codes.