Throttle Position Sensor

Ok, so this has been going on for a week now. I have the replacement part and all I am waiting for is the battery to charge so I can take the broke one off (the hex screws holding her down are stripped pretty bad) Anyways, two days ago I went to switch the pieces out but couldn't b/c of the warn out screws. I didn't have a screw removal kit so I plugged her back up and went on went on about my business. A guy at work loaned me his ket to take the old screws out and when I got home I noticed that I did not have it plugged back in. I probably just half a** stuck it back in there and it fell out. My question, "Is it bad to run with it unplugged?" I did notice the horrible shifting but I kept an eye on my rpms and temp and nothing got too out of control. I am only driving it 5mi's to work and I don't even take the highway. I'm sure it's eating a lot more gas b/c of this but I am no longer pissin tranny fluid after I get home. I couldn't think of any problems the TPS being unplugged might of caused but please let me know if I need to prepare myself for my next repair.

2k XJ 4x4 auto

the worst that might happen is fouling the spark plugs from running too rich.
it's not really any different than running the vehicle with a bad tps, the computer will use the other sensor imputs that it sees as being good to run the vehicle.

my cherokee is finally running right again. had enough money to take it to a mechanic who was worth a shit. took it too a mecanic a while back and he couldnt find what was wrong. the new mecahnic found it and had it back to me in less than 2 days. all symptoms of TPS but it was my intake manifold gasket leaking on cylinder 5 & 6. had it back running awesome again..... might want to check that out.

I believe the computer will just revert to a 'fall back' state where it will kinda make up what it needs, as stated above it will run rich and mess with milege. Make sure when you replace this one you unplug the battery and drain the computer (key on for a few seconds) so it will erase all the old TPS info and learn this new one. normal driving for the first little while too, 15 minutes or miles I think, one or the other.

beakie said:

I believe the computer will just revert to a 'fall back' state where it will kinda make up what it needs, as stated above it will run rich and mess with milege. Make sure when you replace this one you unplug the battery and drain the computer (key on for a few seconds) so it will erase all the old TPS info and learn this new one. normal driving for the first little while too, 15 minutes or miles I think, one or the other.

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yes the PCM will use the MAP sensor readings and compare it to maps that are stored
to basically "guess" the TPS values.

thanks for the help
should I just undo the cables and reconnect or is there a better way to clear the computer?

unless you have a scan tool to clear it out then no, you do not need to disconnect, otherwise just disconnect it for 10-15 minutes and your clear.