It is on the side of the throttle body which is on the top of the intake manifold. You would get to it by going in from the front, under the hood, and removing all of the air cleaner housing and the large rubber hose ducting attaching it to the throttle body. The throttle body is sort of like a carburetor in that it controls the amount of air coming into the engine in accordance with the amount of pressure applied to the gas pedal. The TPS is attached to the side of it and also reacts to the pressure applied to the gas pedal and in turn puts out an electrical voltage representative of that pressure to the PCM. The PCM then raises or lowers the voltage according to this input, as well as the input of other sensors on the engine, to the injectors thereby increasing or decreasing the flow of gas to match the flow of air coming in through the throttle body.

When the TPS is not working within specified values it can cause too much or too little gas to be injected which COULD be the cause of the problems that you have mentioned. I emphasize could because this is just one thing that you can check to determine what the problem is, along with the others mentioned previously. It is a simple electrical test that is done with a digital volt / ohm meter. If it test ok don't replace it.

You can retrieve any codes that might be stored yourself as well as run the other PCM related test. Go ahead and get a manual for your van. They are only about $15.00 at Auto zone or a book store. If you don't find one for your model year, the one that covers the early years (?92 up) of the next generation vans will have the same information on this subject.

I haven't replaced the TPS on my van but I have done it on other vehicles. It usually is fairly simple although it looks like the bolts might be a little hard to get to on this application.

Gene

 

idle is still high on this van and the gas pedal seems to hold its on gas now.when i give it gas i can take my foot off the pedal and it will stay at that speed? is there a cable on the gas pedal that could be binding up or kinked in some way to cause this? also the stumbeling and miss have for now gone away ,sometimes it wants to miss or stumble but with high idle now van will run and stay started for the most part?? fords are very touchy when it comes to these year vans! have a great day all you have all been a great big help!

 

Yes there is indeed a cable that could be bad, two of them in fact. There is one from the pedal to the throttle body, and another from the throttle body to the transmission. If either one of these are binding or stiff it can cause some serious problems.

 

Have you tryed pulling the gas pedal back with your hand and see if the idle drops?

 

no i havent tryed that as of today. i will try that in idle? to see if it drops! have a great christmas all

 

hi everybody ,i have been using the van for the past week and it sems to be running much better.no more stumbling @ 30 or 40 mph,and now even the high idle sems to be getting back to its original running condition.i have a question to ask the forum.i usallly fill my back gas tank and try to keep it full.latly when i have gotten gas i put in about 15 to 20 dollars (gas prices).my question is if i do not fill up the back tank as much as i used to can it affect the performence of the idle and the engine operation?im thinking seeing i used to fill up tank and now i do not can the sediments in the tank cause my van from stumbeling and miss all this time>?and if so can the sediments in my gas tank or lines or injectors take this long to clear it self out? i switched gas companies,used to use mobil now i use hess,which is amoco and they are 1 of the best .also latly i ran straight gas and its been better ,i used to add octane boost and tryed it last week and the van did not like this it acted up a lil bit with the octane boost.all info is appreciated and have a great day.

 

i forget to mention that my front tank is filled with gas that i have to drain out due to varnish being in there.does the front tank of gas run to the injectors with out the switch being activated?im also thinking that my front tank is leaking foward into the fuel lines????? (causing a small clog and causing sensors to go crazy with air and fuel intake??? all info appreciated.no codes were pulled as mechanic told me that if emissions light does not come on it would not show codes?(process of elimination that i have already went thru.have a great day.all replies welcome in this mattter

 

I have duel tanks on one of my trucks.Early this spring i switch to the front tank and the motor started to stall.The tank was about half full.I put it back to the rear tank and every thing was fine.I then went to the gas station and filled the front tank up.I drove down the road and switch it back to the front tank and every thing worked fine.Why did it do that?Come to find out i had a hole on the top of the tank.

 

I had similar problems. The intake manifold was leaking under the plenum, the "upper to lower". Makes a bunch of problems:
*there is air the throttle being closed can't stop, so it will idle high.
*the computer doesn't have a way to meter the air so it confuses the mixture.
*the air leaks differently into different cylinders, so it won't fire very evenly.

The problems are most substantial at idle, when the amount of leakage is as much or greater than the little bit of air coming through the Idle Air Control Valve. At full throttle, the amount of leakage versus the air coming through an open throttle is not much of a problem.

Testing:
Spray carb cleaner/starting fluid around this manifold gasket at idle. Someone's also said to use a propane torch with the valve open but which isn't lit, might be safer because it doesn't pool. Keep a fire extinguisher on hand, a stray spark can ignite this stuff. The point is the sound of the idle will clearly change if it's sucking in the starting fluid/propane through a gasket leak.

If you have to change the gasket, replace the passenger side valve cover gasket, clean the intake manifold especially the EGR hole, and you might want to give the injectors a cleaning soak and replace the injector o-rings at the same time.

 

update!
van is running muchbetter the past week week and 1/2 it seems that all the parts that i cahnged out and or cleaned out along with a few cvacuum lines at the cannister,caused it to find a beter idle latly,no more sticking at 40 mph,the van is running like it should for no.it does seem to have a lil high idle which is ok for me for now seeing the time this van put me thru.engine is running strong as it should and it starts all the time,i guess i have to keep using it alot more often as it seems to run better with usage instead of just sitting in driveway,eng. computer had to adjust engine speed and air and fuel mixture to get it running better.this took about 2 weeks to happen and a diffrent brand of gas i use now.thanks for all the help this forum is great for helping stubborn stubborn ford vans !!!!

 

thank you danny m i will try this and see what happens.have a great day ! go steelers from a patriots fan!!!!