what part is this? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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what part is this?

Oxygen

Well-Known Member
Joined
September 2, 2004
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City, State
USA
Year, Model & Trim Level
03 XLT
i was just cleaning the engine bay and i noticed one of the screws (top one) on this part (i think its a TPS or some sort of sensor i'm assuming) is stripped ... the bottom screw looks stripped too but it actually comes off with a philips head ..

does this part go often? or should i not be concerned about the stripped screw?

IMG01053.jpg

IMG01052.jpg
 



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Yes, that is the TPS, and They do go bad, but not often.. I'm on the 3rd one on our '92 explorer which has 380k miles on it. I'd say its a 200k mile part.

Also, those screws look like square drives, not stripped phillips. At least that what I see in the pic. I've never seen square drives on an engine before but they are common on deck screws and even to hold panels on in conversion vans.

~Mark
 






ahh i see .. what does the TPS actually do?
 






The Throttle position sensor (TPS) senses the position of the throttle :D Sorry, I just couldn't resist that...

Basically, it lets the computer know how far open the throttle is, or how hard your pushing on the gas.

~Mark
 






haha ya ya .. jokes on me lol

that's what i figured, just making sure..

how would one know when that part goes bad?
 






If it goes out of range, it will throw a code.

I know on our '92, we were getting a very bouncy idle. Turned out the TPS voltage was bouncing, so we replaced it. I replaced it again when we rebuilt the motor.. I tried to change all the sensors at that point since I was rebuilding.

I don't know what symptom it will give on a newer X, but I'd "assume" it would throw a code sooner since the ODB-II computers have much more info and can tell when things are out of whack.

~Mark
 






oh ok, so it won't leave me stranded.. good to know!
 






It tells the transmission how hard to shift and at what speed.
Mine went dead and I thought my tranny was going.
 






Oh and those screws are stripped I had to use and impact driver to get mine out.
 






really? didn't know that it somewhat controlled the transmission
 






Actually, the computer controlls the trans but one of the sensors the ECM uses for fuel/ignition and trans control is the throttle position sensor, along with a whole slew of other sensors too.

~Mark
 






easy to change one of these things? i found some on eBay for around $30-40 shipped.. it wouldn't hurt to change it right?
 






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