hello everyone, its been a while but one of my 97 legacy wagons has a strange problem. my check engine light comes and goes and when it was checked both times it says its the throttle pos. sensor. i haven't rushed out to replace it as every time i get it checked it goes away for a while only to come back then go off again the next day. when it is on it idles fast and appears to get bad mileage.

question is should i just bite the bullet and pay the couple of hundred to fix it or is there something i should know about it.

the car is a 97 wagon (ls) auto with 245,000km (canadian) and i just had it on two 2,000km trips in the last three weeks with this being the only trouble.(drove home from maine yesterday at 120kph for 10 hrs and no light!)

please offer what advice you can.

thanks

river rat

You may want to check the connector and wiring, and or clean it with some electrical cleaner.

 

hello everyone, its been a while but one of my 97 legacy wagons has a strange problem. my check engine light comes and goes and when it was checked both times it says its the throttle pos. sensor. i haven't rushed out to replace it as every time i get it checked it goes away for a while only to come back then go off again the next day. when it is on it idles fast and appears to get bad mileage.

question is should i just bite the bullet and pay the couple of hundred to fix it or is there something i should know about it.

the car is a 97 wagon (ls) auto with 245,000km (canadian) and i just had it on two 2,000km trips in the last three weeks with this being the only trouble.(drove home from maine yesterday at 120kph for 10 hrs and no light!)

please offer what advice you can.

thanks

river rat

Whats the weather like when the light comes on, or doesnt it matter?

 

 

nipper

Whats the weather like when the light comes on, or doesnt it matter?

 

 

nipper

hi,

it doesn't seem to matter, it has been cool and wet here but i don't think there is a specific type of day that makes it happen. the thing that has me confused is that the CEL is on and off and frankly i don't actually know how the TPS works so i don't know if is a cleanable/tweakable item or if i should just replace it. as i said this car is an auto and this issue does seem to mess with the idle and mileage. my other subaru is the same model and year but 5spd and it has no issues (i realy don't like autos and i'm always nervous of that being the problem)

thanks in advance for your assistance and reply.

river rat

You may want to check the connector and wiring, and or clean it with some electrical cleaner.

thanks, this is the kind of advice i was looking for, is it common for a connection to mess with the sensor and give bad error codes?

river rat

hi,

it doesn't seem to matter, it has been cool and wet here but i don't think there is a specific type of day that makes it happen. the thing that has me confused is that the CEL is on and off and frankly i don't actually know how the TPS works so i don't know if is a cleanable/tweakable item or if i should just replace it. as i said this car is an auto and this issue does seem to mess with the idle and mileage. my other subaru is the same model and year but 5spd and it has no issues (i realy don't like autos and i'm always nervous of that being the problem)

thanks in advance for your assistance and reply.

river rat

 

The tps is basically a a variable reisitor with three legs. Either leg is ta the end of the coil, the middle one is the wiper.

 

 

0vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv0

............I

............I

............0

 

0 - terminals

 

I - wiper

 

.. just place holders

 

nipper