Throttle Position Sensor

TRAVIS75 · 03-10-2009, 07:21 PM

First post, and first Suzuki as well. I have a 93 Sidekick JX 16v MFI A/T. What I've got for a problem is my wife was driving home from work when it started missing badly, idling very roughly. When she got it home I went out and started it up, really pours out blue smoke that smells like raw fuel. On a whim I replaced the coolant temperature sensor. Nope not it. With hood popped I could see little fingers of blue smoke coming from exhaust manifold, again smelling like unburnt fuel. I pulled the heat shield off and saw that there was a small crack in exhaust manifold and I could see where it appeared that some liquid had been running down outside of exhaust, that I could only assume is gas. In any case I finally stumbled my way through to figure out how to get it to flash stored codes. And it came up with a code for the TPS. What I'm wondering is, is there anything else that could cause the computer to throw a TPS code, or would it be my best bet to just replace the TPS. like most people I would like to avoid throwing money into parts that don't need replaced. Thank you in advance.

jtgh · 03-10-2009, 08:44 PM

cracked man will cause O2 to say gross lean ,so ECU responds with tons of extra fuel.
it is doomed . (unplug 02 , until crack is fixed)
TPS
you forgot to say which one? which code #

Low or Hi or switch. codes?
so here goes.
Low, out put of TPS is low all time( bad tps broken wires to itO
Hi, output of tps is high all th time, ( same)
switch: switch is not working so I can not control idle, so the switch is bad or the
TPS is calibrated wrong.

very good stumbling , jumper clip and all.

welcome too.

cheers.

jtgh · 03-10-2009, 08:51 PM

btw the ecu never lies about the tps, something is wrong with it .

fuzzy1 · 03-10-2009, 10:45 PM

For what it's worth, I've repaired a crack in exhaust manifold with stuff called 'Muffler Mender". Clean the crack area with parts cleaner & let it evap well, then work the MM into the crack like a putty. It cures with the heat from running the engine, & sort of 'melts' into the crack. I did this on a v6 mpi mitsu engine with a big ugly crack in the manifold & it held for 4 years of 'less than gentle' driving... a bit ghetto but it worked!

Fuzz

jtgh · 03-10-2009, 11:53 PM

thats cool
but many that crack are ready to crack more or underneath.

also safemode or limphome mode of ecu , if that trips, the exh glows red hot and can crack.
so make sure engine is not rich and worse retarded.
Ive had many a manifold welded too,
last was my sst, jeep manifold cracked in 4 places.

cheers.

TRAVIS75 · 03-11-2009, 10:33 AM

It was last week when I checked the code, as I recall it flashed code 21. I did unplug the o2 sensor which I thought would make it run really crappy but it made absolutely no difference. It does seem though that last night when I started it the way that it was running was no where near what the rpm seemed to indicate, it was idling at about 1300 rpms, but sure didn't sound like it. Every since I bought this thing at an auction it has always idled extremely low, like in the 2 to 300 rpm range once warmed up, not always, but sometimes. No real rhyme or reason to when it would do that. Anyways, it was code 21.

jtgh · 03-11-2009, 02:02 PM

bad motor cool? (ahh, right)

in order to go forward.
IF the crack is very bad. this will force the engine to open loop.
so will pulling the o2.
this forces the engine to its intrinsic AFR.
if the other sensors and actuators , are working the car will run just a tad rich.
this can be better than horribly rich, thus the recommendation.
but if there are other problems , then yes, it is not a panacea.

The blue smoke is really black (raw unburnt gas)

You could have many problems.
most in this this situation.
fix the manifold and put in a new 02 and pray.
while manifold is off make sure that rich as a pig engine didnt melt the
honeycomb in the CATCONV. if it dead, the car will never run right again.
as this blockage will kill power or even worse.

code 21.
is real:
TPS bad, wires bad
or you pulled the TPS while the key was on.

in either case it was real and was stored in memory.
pull the dome fuse , count to 2 mins and
run car and see of code 21 returns.
if it does , then it IS real and IS bad.

If anything cause the ECU to drop to Limphome mode , anything,
you will be punished with , RICH and Retarded , and low power and no ISC ops. Horrible MPG too.
its purpose is to drive to the nearest mechanic.
cheers.

TRAVIS75 · 03-25-2009, 07:20 PM

Okay I may have found the problem, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you guys, working 2 jobs, and limited light I don't get much time to take a look at it. Got the exhaust manifold back on, and drove it to a mechanic who had a tool to scan it with to give me a more definite answer to my problem. It appears that the # 3 injector is stuck wide open. I haven't replaced it yet, just found out, can anyone think of a reason that the price for an injector ranges from 250 to 400 dollars through various parts stores, seems a bit high. Absurd actually, just my 2 cents worth

jtgh · 03-26-2009, 01:52 AM

no one replaces them. unless you are not willing to wait time.
no time , dig deep ,the rule of auto repair. (one reason to have a back up car)

witchunter.com will clean them all for $19 a hole

WitchHunter Performance - Injector Cleaning & Flow Testing Services

i love these guys.

not affiliated !

fast , and very professional,
full flow test and reports and balancing.
oops they are on sale for $18