TPS sensor... :/

hiccups when cruising lightly. Codes point to the

drop-outs. Passes the volt-meter test.

adjusted properly. No bits of tree wedged in the link. :)

sensor is 5V that shouldn't be an issue. Gonna have

Inspect the connector on the TPS. Mine had some kind of black crud on it down in the holes--no idea how it got there. I bummed a root canal file off my dentist and went at it and it's worked fine ever since.

A thin coat of silicone (sparkplug) grease on the seal of the connector also seems to ward off future problems after you clean it.

Cleaned it, gave it some dilectric grease (do that to all the connection). Hopefully today it runs better.

Cleaned it, gave it some dilectric grease (do that to all the connection). Hopefully today it runs better.

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you....

;-)

Indeed.

But this is a "small" bear. It can't eat much. ^_^ So far so good, feathered the gas a bit to find any glitchy spot. Just need to take it on a long drive. But with gas prices that's gonna wait till next weekend.

Sheesh. Nearly 4$ here at a few stations (pure gas).

I know well the kind of bug you describe. When I bought my 88 MJ, the throttle body (actually, the whole engine) was almost hidden by crud. It took me several months to finally get the thing to idle right, much less run well on a long trip. I even pulled the throttle body and ran it through an ultrasonic bath. Anyway, I finally got got it almost right but my first long trip to Texas showed a tendency to "hunt" on long, level stretches at about 2300 RPM. I fought that one for quite a while and finally fixed it by pulling each sensor and cleaning the connectors one more time - one sensor at a time. Mine turned out to be the ground pin in the map sensor connector. It had oxidized and lost some spring so the contact was tenuous. Removed the pin, cleaned it, replated it with tin and haven't seen the problem since (10+ years) but it became a real challenge.

As much as I've worked with control systems I'm actually pretty impressed with the computer system on the old Renix system. Under the hood is among the worst places I can think of for electronics, especially connectors.

BTW, there was a service bulletin out some years back that "fixed" many of the old Renix complaints by removing the big block connector on the firewall and soldering all the connections. Swatting flies with a sledge hammer???

True.

About five years ago I didn't have anything better to do for about a week so I disconnected the computer and all the sensors. Took my DMM, a photocopy of the schematic, and shot each one of the wires for resistance. Found a couple that wern't good. Took me quite a while to find the splices hidden in the fattest, hardest to get to, and crumbly part of the harness. Redid that and installed some new wire loom. (the good stuff, not the junk that melts under the hood). Amazing how that helped with rough idle.

Not that I'd do it again though.

I still think the best first thing to do when you have rough idle is put a jumper cable between the battery ground and the engine block. :)

And the congregation stood, echoing "AMEN!". I think I've cleaned every ground on mine at least once.

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you....

;-)