Another P2135 Thread - Orange Wrench

[PotatoExplorer]

Hey guys,

The wife was driving the Explorer around today and contacted me about the orange wrench popping up. She said it was accelerating weird like it has on a few occasions in the past. We drove the Explorer a bunch in the last few days with no issues (besides my normal rpm surge issue). I go out and get the FORScan hooked up and check it out.

Right off the bat I see the PCM module is saying "P2135-FF" and under OBDII module it's saying "P2135-P." I go to the PID Data and throw on a few values like the TPS sensors (1 & 2) and Accelerator Pedal Position sensors(1, 2 & 3), along with some other relative values and test drove it.

It would accelerate through 1st gear fine, acceleration completely cut out for a second or two when it would shift to second, then it kicked back on and continued as if nothing happened. Very strange stuff. I've looked over the live data and can't really seem to pin point anything. I saved out the live data and uploaded it to my DropBox if anyone cares to take a look - Dropbox - FORScan

I tried to watch the live data as the problem was occurring and nothing but the TPMode (Throttle Position) was really changing (CT vs PT) but I think this is normal data behavior but could be wrong (should is taper off instead of abruptly going up CT and PT?

 

[PotatoExplorer]

I had some more time to look at the data and found this snippet -

I'm a complete amateur at this, so my extreme apologies... Should TPS sensor A & B should have mirroring voltages? I'm seeing a bunch of discrepancies between the 2 voltages. Anyone know if I'm reading this right?

Everything says to replace the TPS sensor but I don't think this is the case. I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to start cracking into the wiring harness to the TPS sensor and see if there's any exposed wiring.

 

[PotatoExplorer]

Got to cut back a bunch of the tape/plastic crap protecting the TPS sensor wires and the throttle body wires. Got about 8 or so inches back before calling it quits. Even started going back on the MAF wire for S&G. Wires were surprisingly better than I had expected them to be. Nice and pliable and looked pretty pristine with no visible cracks/exposures. The MAF wires looked a little more beat up than the others, but again, nothing visibly wrong. As much as I hate throwing parts at stuff, with my limited expertise that's about all I can really do at this point. Ordered a new TPS sensor and will hopefully get it on by next week. Will reset the PCM after installation.

Before I inspected the wires, the CEL finally turned off last night. Drove it this morning and it drove perfectly fine. Seems like some days it drives better than others but I haven't noticed any correlation with the weather. Not sure if it's the throttle body, I'm doubting it though since I replaced it about 1 year ago. Fingers crossed that its the TPS sensor...

 

[WaltZ]

My orange wrench came on the first time ever after the Super Bowl. Truck would start, but press the accelerator and nothing. It just idled. After several tries, I got it to go, however, cruising down the highway, it just went back to safe mode. This happened a few more times on the way home and again the next morning to the service station. It ended up needing a new throttle body ($600)

 

[PotatoExplorer]

Ok, I figure it's time for a status update. It's been about 3 weeks since my last post and about 2 weeks since the new TPS sensor has been installed. The 1st week I was waiting for the new TPS sensor to come in and I noticed something strange since messing with the wires. I noticed that my shift points were drastically different. Previously, at 45MPH (like clock work), the Explorer would shift into a bog down zone and I'd have my RPM surge issue - Vehicle surging with shudder/maybe torque converter clutch?. After messing with the wires the RPM surge issue ceased at the 45MPH mark and only did this at 35MPH. This was AMAZING. I no longer really felt the effects of the RPM surge since most of my driving was either at 30 or 40MPH (usually 5mph above the speed limit).

I received my new TPS sensor and installed it around week 2. I said I was going to reset the PCM but after this change in shift patterns I was pretty happy with where it was at and didn't want it to go away. About 2 weeks of driving with the new TPS sensor (I've been driving the Explorer a lot more lately since the Ranger decided to poop the bed and I even took a 300 mile round trip to Pittsburgh) and the strangest thing happened. Slowly, day-by-day, the RPM surge issue completely disappeared. I purposely try to get it to bog down and not even a single flutter on the tachometer. The Explorer feels like a completely new vehicle.

Now, will this prevent the orange wrench from popping up again? I guess only time will tell, but right now I'm so happy to be driving the Explorer I always wanted.

 

[gdgiordano]

Ok, I figure it's time for a status update. It's been about 3 weeks since my last post and about 2 weeks since the new TPS sensor has been installed. The 1st week I was waiting for the new TPS sensor to come in and I noticed something strange since messing with the wires. I noticed that my shift points were drastically different. Previously, at 45MPH (like clock work), the Explorer would shift into a bog down zone and I'd have my RPM surge issue - Vehicle surging with shudder/maybe torque converter clutch?. After messing with the wires the RPM surge issue ceased at the 45MPH mark and only did this at 35MPH. This was AMAZING. I no longer really felt the effects of the RPM surge since most of my driving was either at 30 or 40MPH (usually 5mph above the speed limit).

I received my new TPS sensor and installed it around week 2. I said I was going to reset the PCM but after this change in shift patterns I was pretty happy with where it was at and didn't want it to go away. About 2 weeks of driving with the new TPS sensor (I've been driving the Explorer a lot more lately since the Ranger decided to poop the bed and I even took a 300 mile round trip to Pittsburgh) and the strangest thing happened. Slowly, day-by-day, the RPM surge issue completely disappeared. I purposely try to get it to bog down and not even a single flutter on the tachometer. The Explorer feels like a completely new vehicle.

Now, will this prevent the orange wrench from popping up again? I guess only time will tell, but right now I'm so happy to be driving the Explorer I always wanted.

Congrats man. It’s exiting to fix something like that isn’t it? They are awesome trucks, just need to have a little patience with them.

 

[Beachcomber86]

Have you checked the vacuum tube off the manifold? If it looks bad, replace it. It might not be throwing a code, but when I replaced mine, the beast started behaving better!!

 

[PotatoExplorer]

Hmmm, I believe mine have a foam insulation on the outside so I can't really tell the inside condition. The outside looks pretty good if I recall correctly. Maybe it's cheap enough to replace for the hell of it?

 

[Beachcomber86]

Hmmm, I believe mine have a foam insulation on the outside so I can't really tell the inside condition. The outside looks pretty good if I recall correctly. Maybe it's cheap enough to replace for the hell of it?

$5 of fuel line. Rub it and if it turns your hand black, change it.

 

[Vince Eaton]

Ok, I figure it's time for a status update. It's been about 3 weeks since my last post and about 2 weeks since the new TPS sensor has been installed. The 1st week I was waiting for the new TPS sensor to come in and I noticed something strange since messing with the wires. I noticed that my shift points were drastically different. Previously, at 45MPH (like clock work), the Explorer would shift into a bog down zone and I'd have my RPM surge issue - Vehicle surging with shudder/maybe torque converter clutch?. After messing with the wires the RPM surge issue ceased at the 45MPH mark and only did this at 35MPH. This was AMAZING. I no longer really felt the effects of the RPM surge since most of my driving was either at 30 or 40MPH (usually 5mph above the speed limit).

I received my new TPS sensor and installed it around week 2. I said I was going to reset the PCM but after this change in shift patterns I was pretty happy with where it was at and didn't want it to go away. About 2 weeks of driving with the new TPS sensor (I've been driving the Explorer a lot more lately since the Ranger decided to poop the bed and I even took a 300 mile round trip to Pittsburgh) and the strangest thing happened. Slowly, day-by-day, the RPM surge issue completely disappeared. I purposely try to get it to bog down and not even a single flutter on the tachometer. The Explorer feels like a completely new vehicle.

Now, will this prevent the orange wrench from popping up again? I guess only time will tell, but right now I'm so happy to be driving the Explorer I always wanted.

Mine seems to be having the same problem. It’s been a few weeks since your post, is everything still going well? I’m thinking of starting with replacing the TPS too.

 

[PotatoExplorer]

Mine seems to be having the same problem. It’s been a few weeks since your post, is everything still going well? I’m thinking of starting with replacing the TPS too.

Hey, sorry for the delayed response. Yes, so far so good! I did have a few flareups pop up (RPM surges) which was slightly annoying but it only happened like 4-5 times since the replacement. Probably should have reset the PCM and probably still could but I'm pretty happy with it and don't want it to come back or get worse if I do. Still no orange wrench *knock on wood* but the orange wrench only showed up once in a blue moon in the past... so only time will tell on this. I'd say for the cost to replace the TPS, why not start there first?