Throttle Position Sensor
 

How do you know when the throttle position sensor has gone out?

RE: Throttle Position Sensor
 

Several symptoms that I am aware of are:
1) Car is hard to start when cold followed by a rough idle.
2) Bucking can occur through certain RPM ranges
3) A searching, up and downidle. And
4) Stalling when you let off the gas, especially if you do it quickly.

There may be more, but those are the ones Iknow about.

RE: Throttle Position Sensor
 

To diagnose you will need a volt-ohm meter ($7 @ Radio Shack or others.) Set the meter to Ohms. Disconnect the plug and connect the probes to the TPS. Have someone SLOWLY depress the gas pedal.The meter needle or gauge shoulddrop slowly. Look for any drop outs (0 resistance points,) or jumps and spikes in the meter.

RE: Throttle Position Sensor
 

Excellent step by step answer!!

This is what I came here hoping to find. Thank you Virgin1.

RE: Throttle Position Sensor
 

Well, that answer came so long ago (in forum terms) that I forgot about it. Glad it could be of some help to someone. Welcome to the club, hotwhiz!!
On a side note though: I do not consider myself an expert on TPS"s, but know that they are basically a potentiometer and should act like one. I haven"t seen one yet that wasn"t easy to swap out either.
Good Luck!!