My "Service Engine Soon" light came on so I went to AutoZone and the code read P0122 for the throttle positioning sensor. I went ahead and bought a new sensor. When I finally located where the sensor was it looks like I'll need to remove the air intake plumbing to get to it. There are all sorts of connections to this plumbing and my question is exactly what do I need to do to get the plumbing off and if there is anything special that needs to be done to replace the sensor. Does the battery need to be disconnected, is there any calibration needed, etc. I'm pretty good mechanically but not so good electrically. Any help would be appreciated!!

By the way, the dealership wanted $75.00 just to read the error code, many thanks to the folks on this forum for suggesting AutoZone. They were very pleasant and very helpful. They also had a code reader for $150.00. Thinking about getting one.

 

The sensor may may have have tamper resistant screws on it. If so, you can purchase the 1/4 drive set at A zone.

Don't forget to wind the spring back a bit on the TPS before you install it on the shaft. You'll know you did it wrong if you start it up and it idles at 3000 RPM.

 

I just replaced the TPS on my '00.
I don't remember anything fancy about it.
I pulled the intake off, didn't disconnect anything other then a broken vacuum line on the back of it. I still have to replace that.
The TPS is held in place by 2 star bolts. You will need a star screwdriver to get those out and in. The top screw was easy to get out, the bottom was a little more difficult. I had to place the screwdriver under all the wiring/hosses, and then slide it in the end of the screw. I also had to lift up on the rad hose to get it out of the way so my hand could hold and turn the driver. Had to use a rag, it was hot, I just drive the truck 40 miles and didn't ahve time to wiat for it to cool down. We were on the way out the door to go eat dinner.

Slide the new TPS in position, it is a D shape opening and fits ont eh butterfly only oneway. Screwed in the two screws the same way I took them out, slapped the intake back in place. And off we went.

Took like 15 minutes from start to finish. Less time then it took to type this.


By the way, the new TPS made a huge difference in driveability. I was getting a real hard shift from 1st to 2nd. That went away. I got back my trottle response, and my fuel mileage went back up. Should have done it a year ago when teh light first came on.

 

I hope you meant you pulled off the intake ductwork?? Did you have to disconnect the negative battery terminal? My Chilton's manual kinda/sorta said the battery had to be disconnected, it wasn't very clear on that point. "4lowlife" mentioned a spring needed to be rewound. I didn't see one on the new part itself but I haven't taken the old one off yet.

 

Yep, intake ductwork is all that I removed.

 

Installed this morning....20 minutes...worked perfectly. Autoshifting and driveability noticably improved. Thanks to all!!!

 

Your welcome

 

Okay...TPS take two...

After installing the new TPS sensor I really did notice improvement in driveability (I'm just slightly senile), I had AutoZone clear the P0122 code. Drove it about 5 miles, made a stop and when I started the vehicle again the "Service Engine Soon" light came on again. Went back to AZ and it threw the same P0122 TPS code. I bought the new sensor from AZ. When I installed the new part I didn't disconnect the battery and everything fit and connected easily. Any suggestions? Could this be an under/over voltage problem that kicks out the P0122 code?

 

Maybe you got a defective unit?

 

I ended up taking the car to the dealership and they found that there was a short in the wiring harness from the TPS that was rubbing against the shock tower. They showed it to me (not that I knew any better) and fixed the problem, hasn't thrown the code in two days, driveability has returned. $168.00. Plus $40.00 for the TPS (that I replaced unnecessarily) from AutoZone. The moral of this story.....beats the hell out of me...sometimes you win...sometimes you lose. I guess it was just a problem that needed $200 to fix.