Failing car throttle position sensor signs and its troubleshooting

Fleas caused the Black Plague. A few misplaced carbon atoms sank the Titanic. Tribbles crippled the Enterprise. Sometimes, the smallest and most seemingly innocuous things can cause the biggest problems, and that certainly is true of this little throttle position sensor on top of your engine. when you have a bad TPS, it provides your ECU with erroneous data and thus engine operations such as proper starting, idling and easy throttle response are affected, and a whole plague of issues followed by-you have difficulty in changing gears, the fuel economy drops drastically and car base ignition timing setting becomes difficult.
Some people promote the question of how to tell if the throttle position sensor has failed. Here in the following passage, we’ll conclude some common symptoms of a bad throttle positon sensor and the ways to diagnose the problem.
One unique thing about TPS failure is that all the symptoms may show up at the same time. Often you’ll notice more than just one sign. Below are several key signs of a bad throttle position sensor.
1. The “Check Engine” light is on. To some drivers, an illuminated check engine light is a dreadful thing since it can imply many complicated and serious problems. However it may direct to a problem as small as a bad throttle position sensor. It’s always advisable to get your car checked out by a mechanic as early as possible if this light is on.
2. Bucking and jerking or hesitation while accelerating (troubles with acceleration). This is one of the telltale signs of throttle position sensor problems. Without proper inputs from the TPS, the on-board computer is unable to guide the engine to work at optimum levels. So, if you notice such symptoms, take the car directly to a mechanic.
3. Idle surging. If you have this problem, your car usually also bucks and jerks or hesitates while accelerating. Similar to the above problem, with a faulty TPS, the computer cannot tell if the throttle is fully shut when the car is idling.
4. Random stalling. This stalling can occur when your vehicle is idling or being driven without any warning. The TPS can give a bad input, prompting the engine to stall.
If you want to know for sure, there is more than one way to identify the problem. For example, you can use a multimeter to determine the problem. But the process is a little complicated. Here we’ll address the easiest and most cost-effective way to diagnose problems of a throttle position sensor – testing with an automotive scan tool. The scan tool used will have to be capable of displaying the data stream. More often than not this type of malfunction will set a check engine light code. Then you can test the sensor with a scope to be sure. The waveform can be displayed on the scope display in real time and the DC signal monitored as the throttle is opened and closed. Thus, you can have a direct comprehension of what’s going on with your throttle position sensor and what is wrong.