wow, look at all the specific-to-'97 TPS issues popping up on the various forums this week ; now that I fought with mine and relegated it to garage ornament for a few months to unwind my brain that was in absolute knots from chasing the wiring harness according to the factory diagrams and thinking I could figure out from that, what wires should have voltage what wires should be grounded and such; lemme put it this way; I discovered the hard way going thru mine why the yellow multimeters say "FLUKE" on them because that's the only way I can explain some of the readings that I was gettin;
--I put a known good used TPS on early on; I tried 2 other computers, I swapped engine wiring harnesses twice (no a 98 isn't the same; remember the 2 instances where "almost" counts)
--I also removed a remote start with a mind of its own installed by a PO; I dont miss gettin up at 3AM from a dead sleep to disarm it and shut my Jeep off but it wasn't the issue with the TPS. I still dont miss it.
--I also went down the "clockspring" path
--I also did a few other things along the way that while I knew wouldnt "fix" it going in but knew it needed anyway due to age and miles; I removed teh injectors and sent them to a BOSCH authorized F.I. place, for a flush, testing, cleaning, and new screens/O rings, and I removed the exhaust manifold (factory installed header) and welded up all the cracks.
Once I put a NEW TPS on, everything was fine.
mine started shifting at redline, regardless how "soft" I hit the gas pedal, would not idle below 1200 all of a sudden, and a whole host of other problems. When I disconnected it and got NO change (for better OR for worse) and I put a known good used one on also no change, I started digging. I dug almost to China, but no answers; new TPS solved the problem. STANDARD brand from Rock Auto; 40-some $$$
My issues started about 40 hours after a session with a diesel fired steam cleaner, to power wash and degrease the engine compartment.. was fine later the same day; as well as next day; but the morning of the 2nd day after the power wash job all He11 broke loose. and after all that I see I missed several spots on the cleaning process... screw it. it can stay dirty after all that mess.