welp...for the past week or two my car has been acting up a bit. at low RPM (I'd say between 1000 and 2000) it will sometimes get a quick blip where it feels like the ignition cuts out for a second. This happens sometimes as I'm taking off or as i'm slowly taking a corner. It only happens sometimes though so it's hard to pin it down. A couple of times i would come to a traffic light with the clutch in and no throttle and then the RPMs would drop suddenly and pick back up. Just yesterday it stalled as I was pulling into a parking lot and then started right back up fine. This morning it did the same thing as I approached a stop sign. I am not getting a CEL or anything. From what I have read on here, the TPS is a problem child...could this be the problem? Every case I hear of with the TPS seems a bit more extreme than this, but could just be early signs. Any help would be great...thanks!

2001 Tib - 5spd, Injen CAI and ARC short throw shifter, otherwise stock.

 

Look around to see if you have a loose wire somewhere in the engine bay. It sounds like anytime you are turning or stopping, situations in which the motor may physically lean a bit. Does it do it while idling on a level surface or just when in motion?

 

It seems to be when i'm coming to a stop or taking off. The stops when it does this are very light slow stops. I can't imagine that this would cause something to jostle around under the hood.

 

Go outside and check your MAF sensor and make sure the arrow is pointing toward your engine. I had the same problem with the car almost stalling and I had put the MAF sensor on backwards after working on it one day.

 

Check you MAF. It may not be backwards, it is possibly just going bad. If that is the case you should be able to temporarily run your car with the MAF unplugged to see if that bypasses the problem.

 

Thanks for the quick responses. I drove it again a little bit at lunch today and it seems to me that it is happening just as I have the clutch almost all the way out. Perhaps it's a clutch-related issue? I know the car is on its original clutch still at 105K. I have had issues with it prior to this a few times where it didnt engage until I had the pedal almost all the way out. This has fixed itself each time, so I never worried about it. Never any slipping either. Could just be another coincidence. Never really thought of the MAF.

 

It's most likely one of the wires going to your TPS or your MAF. If it is the same thing that happened to me, which it sounds like. When your engine is started, pop your hood and wiggle the wiring going to the TPS and the MAF, and see if you can get the idle to surge. I had to completely rewire the TPS harness, and one of the wires about a foot away from the MAF (going to the MAF) was stripped and I fixed that as well.

Either that, or it's just the TPS itself. Do you have a Dae Sung or Kefico? Could also be the MAF itself, but I highly doubt that.

Or, it could be the IAC. To clean it people say to run some Sea Foam through it, and then some spray silicone to relube it.

Lastly, do you have any vacuum leaks? Is it more noticable when the engine is cold?

 

not sure which TPS it is. no vacuum leaks or anything that I know of. This doesn't happen when its hot or cold...just any random time. Tomorrow I will try to poke around under the hood a bit.

 

Fairly certian that it is a TPS issue, the manufactuer is written on the sensor.... dae sung=bad. Like Zoned was saying, start the car, pop the hood, wiggle the wires see if the motor surges.

 

The TPS is on the throttle body. Read what brand it is. Probably a Dae Sung.