Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Throttle Position Sensor........TPS

[DKothe]

Hey guys,

Few weeks ago my truck died in 40mph traffic, check engine light come on... ..... later that day it died again but just a hiccup and back to running.

This past week it did it again... ... ... ... two times in one day.

So I took it to Autozone and they checked the codes... ... ... ... ... ...

Code P0121... ... ... ... ... ... . Throttle Position Sensor



Is this something I need to replace right now or is there something I can do to help out the situation???



A'zone wanted $439 dollars for the TPS!

sticker shock!



I'd appreciate any ideas you can give me.



Thanks

Deano

 

[Sticks]

There may or may not be a way to repair it. It is not a serviceable unit by design (sealed unit) There have been a couple of threads running on this subject over the last 2 weeks. One of them has a link to a gut and repair procedure. Do a search for RECENT threads on TPS and APPS.



The procedure is one of those "If it's bad now, you might fix it, or completely destroy it in the process. You had to replace it anyway. "



There is also some other things to look at before you go that far. Do some reading on the issue.

 

[Steve Campbell]

It may be as simple as.....

a bad ground I would clean the battery terminals and the other end of all of the cables/grounds before shelling out $439.

 

[woodsrat]

DKothe

check on ebay they have a TPS rewire kit on there it is supposed to do the trick, come to think of it check the classifieds here i think the guy that makes it is a member here.

 

[JR2]

That rewire kit should help with any surging or TC lock/unlock problems, but will not help a TPS (APPS) that is going bad. Do some reading and clean all the contacts.

 

[CWebster]

If you've done any service on the truck recently, you may just have to recalibrate it. I had some similar problems, did the recalibration procedure, and it took care of them. Disconnect the batteries for 30 mins. Reconnect, turn the key to on (don't start), slowly push the pedal to the floor. HTH



Chris

 

[SGreenwood]

CLEAN THE CONNECTIONS AND CHECK & CLEAN THE GROUNDS ALL OF THEM. DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO OPENING THE TPS ITS A WASTE OF TIME THERE IS NOTHING IN THERE FOR YOU TO FIX. THERE IS COMPUTER CHIPS AND CURUIT BOARD INSIDE THE FIRST CHAMBER AND SWEEP SENSOR IN THE OTHER THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT IT WILL GET SCREWED UP IN THE PROCESS ALSO THE SENSOR SHOULD COST ABOUT DEALER WHOLE SALE $137. 00 DEALER LIST $197. 00

 

[SGreenwood]

TRY THIS TPS DODGE PART # 4874412 AT THE DEALER

 

[WOT]

Call Cummins directly. Give them the serial number on your motor and tell them you want a Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor (APPS). I got quoted a whopping $46 for one, didn't end up needing it so hopefully that number wasn't bumpkus. The dealer one (from what I've read) comes with the brackets and such. The guy at Cummins told me his was just the sensor so I had to resuse some stuff.

 

[DKothe]

Thanks for all the responses guys. I appreciate it.

So the TPS is actually called the APPS??



Thanks for the part numbers toooo.



Made my day.



Deano

 

[JR2]

I don't belive that you can replace just the sensor. I know the service manager at my local dealer tried (trying to save floks $$) and found it impossible. I belive the part is a dealer only part and runs $400 or so.



JR2

 

[magaliasram]

Last July I towed my 5th wheel to Tahoe from Oroville, Ca. On the way there the truck was severly hunting in and out of lockup and between third and second. It had been doing this for some time even without the trailer. I had tried the reset thing it would work for a short period of time then right back the same old thing.



On the way home the truck would go into limp mode for a few seconds and then pick right back up again all the while still hunting severly. I was thinking time for some warranty work.



When I got home I thought there must be something simple so I thought for a while with the hood up looking at the motor. That didn't help so I got a Fuel filter thinking it may be having a problem or I may have gotten a bad tank of fuel. I changed the filter and then I removed all the grounds from the body, engine and frame. There was paint under all of them so I fired up my die grinder and removed all the paint from the grounds on the body and frame then wire brushed all the terminals and the grounding points on the engine. Reinstalled everything except the battery cables and let it sit for 2 hours (30 minutes is good 2 hours must be better). Reinstalled the battery cables did the slow to the floor and back on the pedal bumped the starter a few times to fill the filter and then fired it up. It is now february and there has not been a hint of trouble since.



I have to believe the limp mode was the fuel filter and the hunting was the grounds. This is my humble opinion.



But it did solve my problem.