Electronics are not equal
#1
05-05-2012, 10:26 AM
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Austin, tx
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Electronics are not equal
I’ve read on here that aftermarket electronics are not as dependable as OE. In the last 2 months I’ve solved two issues that have bothered me for over 2 years, a minor intermittent stumble when accelerating from a stop and erratic oil pressure.
In the case of the stumble I replaced my TPS 3 times and the IAC and EGR valve trying to solve the problem. I had some time to kill a couple of months ago and thought I’d mess with the TPS to see if a minor adjustment might help. This was the second aftermarket one. All of them tested fine, voltmeter showed them all within specs. Since the TPS’s are non-adjustable I thought I’d try loosening the screws to shift it slightly in its mounting position. As I was doing that the engine missed and it repeatedly missed if I applied any upward or downward pressure on the TPS body. I ordered one from the dealer and it did the same thing. I swapped it out as a defect and the second one from the dealer fixed the stumble. I also couldn’t get it to miss with any upward or downward pressure. That’s a total of 4 TPS’s to get one good one.
Oil pressure is the same story. My oil pressure gauge showed erratic oil pressure readings under the same operating conditions. I replaced it 3 times with aftermarket sending units and all three showed different readings. The last one showed oil pressure at half way up the gauge at idle and 1\4 doing 75 down the highway. Other times it showed 1\3 at idle and 2\3 on the highway. Got one from the dealer and the gauge registers just fine, 1\3 to 1\2 at idle and toward the high end of the operating range on the highway.
Lesson learned - listen to people when they say to use only OE electonics.
In the case of the stumble I replaced my TPS 3 times and the IAC and EGR valve trying to solve the problem. I had some time to kill a couple of months ago and thought I’d mess with the TPS to see if a minor adjustment might help. This was the second aftermarket one. All of them tested fine, voltmeter showed them all within specs. Since the TPS’s are non-adjustable I thought I’d try loosening the screws to shift it slightly in its mounting position. As I was doing that the engine missed and it repeatedly missed if I applied any upward or downward pressure on the TPS body. I ordered one from the dealer and it did the same thing. I swapped it out as a defect and the second one from the dealer fixed the stumble. I also couldn’t get it to miss with any upward or downward pressure. That’s a total of 4 TPS’s to get one good one.
Oil pressure is the same story. My oil pressure gauge showed erratic oil pressure readings under the same operating conditions. I replaced it 3 times with aftermarket sending units and all three showed different readings. The last one showed oil pressure at half way up the gauge at idle and 1\4 doing 75 down the highway. Other times it showed 1\3 at idle and 2\3 on the highway. Got one from the dealer and the gauge registers just fine, 1\3 to 1\2 at idle and toward the high end of the operating range on the highway.
Lesson learned - listen to people when they say to use only OE electonics.
Last edited by CentralTexas; 05-05-2012 at 03:04 PM.
#2
05-05-2012, 12:42 PM
Hall Of Fame
Good advice. Only if we all could afford OEM prices. But just like the saying, you get what you pay for.
There is a typical modification a few people do to make the TPS adjustable to get the most out of it.
http://web.archive.org/web/200804121...ks.htm#TPS_Mod
There is a typical modification a few people do to make the TPS adjustable to get the most out of it.
http://web.archive.org/web/200804121...ks.htm#TPS_Mod
#3
05-05-2012, 05:56 PM
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Austin, tx
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Good advice. Only if we all could afford OEM prices. But just like the saying, you get what you pay for.
There is a typical modification a few people do to make the TPS adjustable to get the most out of it.
http://web.archive.org/web/200804121...ks.htm#TPS_Mod
There is a typical modification a few people do to make the TPS adjustable to get the most out of it.
http://web.archive.org/web/200804121...ks.htm#TPS_Mod
I considered drilling out the screw holes in the TPS to allow for some adjustment room but I didn’t think it was an adjustment issue. The TPS was in spec and at the high end of the range, .6v. When you “wiggle” it and get an engine miss and a TPS signal trouble code I was leaning more to an inherent conductivity problem. Two of the three bad ones did this.