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TPS reports

29K views 37 replies 13 participants last post by  NickZ20 
#1 ·
My buddy has a 2000 zx3 zetec auto. His check engine light came on. So I checked with my Diablo and pulled P1120 code for the TPS sensor. My question is can I buy a tps sensor for for a 00 or do I need to buy the complete throttle body? If so, any suggestions were. I searched and a lot of threads stated I might have to buy the whole throttle body. Just trying to help a buddy out. Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
nah you can pick up a TPS sensor at pretty much any Auto Parts Store. Napa, Advanced Auto, Auto Zone, Pep Boys should all carry them. It pops off with 2 phillips head screws. I'd pop it off an make sure they give ya the right one. There's also Steve at Trousley Ford and Mike (b16sir1991) on this site. Both work at Ford and can get ya parts for 10% over cost [thumb]
 
#3 ·
TPS Report... reminds me of Office Space.... "Thats my stapler"
 
#6 ·
Cool. Thanks for the replies. I was mostly worried about having to buy a whole throttle body instead of the sensor. I think I will stick with a motorcraft/ford part on this one. I'll check local auto parts stores on this.

And for those interested in the red stapler from Office Space. You can buy it here.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/61b7/
 
#8 ·
Well, I just heard back from steve@tousley and he's saying I have to go with a new throttle body and pigtail. Something about you can replace tps' for the new throttle bodies but not the old one. Kinda of what I thought. Has anyone actually replaced a tps on an original throttle body on a 00 zetec auto? I've replaced the tps on my car but it is an 02. Again, any help is appreciated.
 
#9 ·
Are you sure???? I've taken many TPS's off... you HAVE to if you upgrade your throttle body.
 
#11 ·
I'm not sure. I looked at my friends zx3. There are bolts that hold the tps on. Cost is about $115 with pigtail. I've changed my svt with a new tps. I guess steve was saying that for early (i'm guessing 00) foci there are no aftermarket tps' available. Steve did state that the replacement throttle body could be fitted with aftermarket tps'. Just trying to narrow down the options. Don't want my friend to buy a new tb when he can buy a tps. I've purchased stuff from steve in the past and definitely trust his advice. I checked on various websites i.e autozone, murrays etc.. and they list a tps available for 00 for about $25.

Most likely I'll pick a tps' up from autozone and and if it doesn't fit I'll buy the tb/pigtail.
 
#12 ·
Can't anyone give a reason WHY the throttle body needs to be replaced too-other than "they don't make that TPS switch anymore" (which is not true. Ford dealerships may not sell them, but the aftermarket still sells them.) or "the TPS is not replaceable"?

Why isn't it replaceable? Does it not all come off the TB when you remove it? Is part of the TPS permenantly embedded in the TB and can't be removed?
 
#13 · (Edited)
The correct TPS switch for ATX is clocked different from the MTX one, which is the one commonly still available. It's off 7-10 degrees in rotation which makes it part way on already at idle when it is supposed to be at lower volts. Don't force the MTX one to fit, you will only be screwing up like everybody else who did it. The people here who think the correct ATX TPS is still available should try to get one, they will find out quickly they are full of crap, NLA.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313092
 
#15 ·
The correct TPS switch for ATX is clocked different from the MTX one, which is the one commonly still available. It's off 7-10 degrees in rotation which makes it part way on already at idle when it is supposed to be at lower volts. Don't force the MTX one to fit, you will only be screwing up like everybody else who did it. The people here who think the correct ATX TPS is still available should try to get on, they will find out quickly they are full of crap, NLA.

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313092
Yea... I'm sure they're all "full of crap..." Crap that's well over 6 years old... [facepalm]

02-22-2007, 07:29 PM
to
04-08-2013, 05:06 PM
 
#16 ·
I an not "full of shit" and if you ever ssid that to my face, you would be picking youself up iff the ground. I thoght this forum was supposed to be moderated, and there was not supposed to be any personal attacks. I guess the people that said that are full of shit too.

I asked for information because mone was being provided. I'm not going to go spend $238 on a new tb just because someone tells me "oh, uh, they don't make that tps anymore. I wasn't born lastnight. That smells like bullshit right off the bat, and I work too hard for my money to waste it and I'm not gullible.

I wasn't aware there were two different tps. THAT IS WHY I WAS ASKING FOR MORE INFO because no one would say WHY it was necessary to buy the whole damn tb with tps AND pigtail. That STILL seems like soneone is trying to [:)][:)][:)][:)] me. I'm not gonna spend that kind of money unless I am sure it's absolutely necessary.

This topic my be 6 years old to YOU, but it's brend new to ME, so take your snartassed coments and stick em up your ASS!
 
#18 ·
Lol'd. Okay troll-face.

Spam this thread once more, and I'll see to it that you spam posts are removed.


Now everyone calm down. Things can be misinterpreted, there's no need to take what was as a personal attack. Take a breather before things escalate to inappropriate levels
Um, he's obviously trolling

1) Quoted person was not him (hard to miss)
2) What was said has nothing to do with him (harder to miss)
3) Saying people from the Civil War are morons for not using AK-47s is a bad troll (hardest to miss)

Thread created: 2007
Thread revived: 2013
 
#17 ·
Now everyone calm down. Things can be misinterpreted, there's no need to take what was as a personal attack. Take a breather before things escalate to inappropriate levels
 
#19 ·
Just because he bumped a nearly 6 year old thread doesn't mean he's a troll. Instead of making a new thread, he revived an old thread. A noob thing to do. I see it as he went off on a tangent more than anything. Either way, there's no need to take whatever that is said on the internet personally.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Larrydoood, if you need to replace a TPS on an automatic, amc49 posted a good "how to" thread recently on how he accomplished just that thing. It CAN be done if you want to save the $ that would be spent on a whole new updated throttle body...

manual trans TPS to ATX throttle body - it works! was the title of the "how To" thread.

Sorry someone jumped in with nothing to add but attitude, Mods. can't be everywhere at once to delete such things B4 you see them so it's better to ignore the inappropriate.

Cheers!
 
#21 ·
I put the link right there in my first post.

No intent to slam anyone, but if you put this out there you need to back it up.

'Ford dealerships may not sell them, but the aftermarket still sells them.'

It's incorrect, go to those sites and you will find they list a part that is actually for MTX. Do the research. They will willingly sell you the wrong part, when you twist it into uselessness trying to fit it in the incorrect clock position, it's then damaged and you can't take it back. Try to order the correct ATX part and it will never show up, because it doesn't exist anymore. BTDT, I used to sell the parts. The MTX one I used in my conversion was sold to me as an ATX one, they swore it would fit, the catalog also showed it as fitting but just the MOTOR, no mention of trans (big warning sign there!)................buyer beware. Of course I had the old ATX one to compare, they could not match that one but offered to special order it, I refused as I have already been there with no result, the order just backorders.

At a casual view the MTX one appears to be the same, but I assure you it is NOT. The very slight difference in position is all it takes to read wrong and screw up the whole works.

I apologize for any insult perceived from me, often I do not pick my words as tactfully as I should.
 
#22 ·
Had a "Senior Moment" there amc, SAW your link then forgot about it when I referred the OP to it by name....

After Oblivion jumped in & lildisco was trying to calm things down all I could think of was getting back to your original point & referring the OP to your write up.

Good info. as usual, the OP didn't take it wrong - then the whole thing "blew up".

Cheers!
 
#24 ·
amc49,
I have a 2000 Focus wagon with DOHC Zetec engine, automatic tranny and have questioned my TPS for sometime now, sounds like you know what's going on with these cars. Engine idles low sometimes, when I put it in drive the engine goes to die and then picks back up to idle speed. I've got no ECL warning, just crappy idle.... Any thoughts you can provide? BTW, just had fuel pump replaced at 61K miles due to leakage (cracked plastic 90 degree bend on pump)....also have good fuel filter...
I'm really tired of all the trouble I've had with car....engine motor mounts replaced twice and still shakes like hell at low rpm.

Thanks,
Cris
 
#25 ·
You might check some threads on IAC (Idle Air Control) issues, see if any of that matches your symptoms. (Sounds possible, and you'll even find some pictures that way)

On the Motor Mounts, we've seen a lot of issues with aftermarket mounts for the passenger side - warranty doesn't help much if you're replacing in a few months for example. Ford one there helps for smoothness. Of course any idle issue would make it much worse!

Have you done a plug check to see how it's running overall yet? Or a compression check to make sure there is no mechanical issue?

Based on age, asking the mileage & wondering if the cam belt has been done is a std. question...

Thought I'd toss out a few ideas in the interim for ya...

Luck!
 
#26 ·
sailor,
Thanks for the reply. I'll look into the IAC issues. First time I had vibration issues the passenger side mount was replaced when timing belt was done and that fixed problem, second time, all mounts were replaced and problem solved for about 6 months. All work was performed by Firestone. Just had mounts checked by them and they claim their okay. I did the plugs 2 years ago, and they looked good, engine only had 35k on it at that time, now has 61k miles...don't think compression is an issue with low mileage. I change oil and filter every 5k... Last, just had fuel pump replaced due to leakage on top of pump @ 90 degree bend where fuel exits pump. Guess car is falling apart due to age, not mileage.
Cris
 
#27 ·
I don't have an early version Focus ATX so please pardon me if this suggestion is ignorant,

Why can't the poster with the problem go to a U-pull-it wrecking yard and find a later version ATX throttle body that will take the available aftermarket TPS and use that?

Or even an earlier version that still works. It's easy enough to check for proper operation with a multimeter while still in the yard.

One thing I have learned with my time haunting various wrecking yards is that it is incredible how few miles some people will put on their cars before the vehicles are wrecked. I have seen many times cars in wrecking yards with 50K-60K miles that get smashed up that are in much better condition than my own with many more miles that are still on the road. You would think that people with newer and more expensive cars would take better care of them but apparently having enough money to buy a new car doesen't coorelate with greater common sense. Most people think only of wrecking yards for body parts but many times you can find very low mile engine parts in them. I had a Datsun 210 once that I replaced an engine with 250K miles on it with an engine out of a wrecked vehicle that had been rebuilt - probably didn't have more than 20K miles in it - for less than $400.

Is it impossible to repair the TPS? As far as I know the TPS is nothing other than a potentiometer. Internally these have a wiper and a strip of resistance material. Sometimes the strip gets carboned up and if you take a potentiometer and spray contact cleaner into it then wipe it back and forth the strip will get cleaned and it will go back to proper operation.

Ebay is also another source of parts.
 
#28 ·
X2, Somebody take that last post and print it up into a thirty foot sign...................I LOVE scrapyards. The biggest problem is that many don't realize some parts bought there are as good as over-the-counter Ford and some may not be really useable once used and weathered. I don't trust electric window regulators for instance, but if I find one with good pulleys I'll sever the pulley out of the assembly. Manual ones a good source of parts since you don't manually bang the window shut like a stupid motor does. The window glass holders are usually cracked so worthless part. Also, any electrics rained on, worthless. Actually maybe not if water seal still intact. You gotta know what can be good versus what is probably not.

I feel the same about the quality of cars there, painfully obvious that someone let car go there for something simple that could've been easily fixed for car to run for years more, but lack of knowledge stopped that. The biggest reason for most cars there now. They are usually in much better shape overall than they were in the '70s...............

I'd think scrapyard would be an excellent source of cheap TB/TPS...........biggest issue would be rain exposure since first thing removed under hood is the intake duct. Rain in TB could get in bearings but easy enough to check with part removed.

I tore my TPS down to try same rebuild idea, thought maybe I could see a wear mark on the resistor track, it looked as new. Could've put it back together but had a wild hair idea about the MTX one after so many complaining they couldn't make them work. Well, the MTX one worked so maybe the thin copper PC was cracked, so small I couldn't see it. Didn't get around to fully VOM checking it.
 
#29 ·
I had the same issue with mine. After some research, and talking with a couple friends at local Ford Dealerships, there is some sort of problem within the throttle body itself. I do not know how to explain what they said, and for the life of me, I cannot find the source again on the web, but I replaced my TPS, and pigtail and still had the issues. I replaced the throttle body, and all the issues went away.

Im only posting this based on my finding(which I'm sorry I cant find the source), and what I had to do to solve my problems.
 
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