Check engine light came on again for the 3rd time this year. 1st time , dealer said i had a bad o2 sensor ,it was under warranty cost me nothing. 2nd time 3 months ago it came on again. Dealer said it was a dirty tps sensor. Charged me $68 for labor, but after that cleaning my mileage dropped from an average 17-19 mpg to 12-14 mpg with summer gas , no winter additive yet. Auto Zone did a diagnostic with there computer, told me it was a tps sensor malfunction. I'm gonna go back to the dealer , because it's under warranty. Did any of you out there ever have this problem? And What can i say to the stealers so they won't try to charge me?
Thanks , sorry for the long story.

 

I can never understand why the dealer says they clean these things when there is really nothing to clean. If they took it off they probably didn't re-install it correctly. It sounds like it's out of adjustment hence the code. It controls all kinds of good things. The tranny if it's an automatic, fuel delivery system, etc. Take it back and tell them they didn't adjust it right and ask them exactly what they cleaned?

 

Thanks, Babypig for the quick response. I'm going to the stealership this week,my truck is still under warranty so I'll let you know what happens. But can a tps sensor be adjusted or is it done threw the computer?

 

Yeah they have to adjust it using a multimeter and move it ever so slightly to adjust the resistance? between the terminals on the TPS. When it's out a little, and I mean a very little, the fuel milage will drop, the trans won't shift properly etc. Little piece of plastic and metal, big problem causer. They usually start to go out around 200,000 kms or 120,000 miles.

 

Babypig, just updating on the cause of my problems, I had a bad tps, they replaced it for free, but I had to pay for the dianosgtic.Sucks because I knew what the OBDII code was but they said "It had to be with a Toyota computer " Hopefully I'll get my mileage back.Thanks for your feedback.