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TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:19 am
by Fishtank
I'm struggling with my TPS tuning and smooth shifting. My van is shifting well all the way into 4th while accelerating and holds 4th gear when cruising at 80 Km/hr and above. Once I back off just enough to slowly decelerate to 70 or less, it downshifts into 3rd. I am not backing off to the 0 throttle position, just so I stop maintaining speed.

I've adjusted my TPS to .78 V and I'm playing with slight variations on either side of that setting with little success.

I have some questions if everyone can take some time to chime in.

1. Is the 3 digit number on the top of the TPS of any significance? Is it a part # or just a batch #?

2. If it is a part #, can everybody look at theirs and report what it is? I seem to have two of them with different #'s.

Mine say 423 and 571.

Thanks all.

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:32 am
by jessef
Mine says 423 along with the others I've seen. Part#

How is your ATF colour ?

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:06 pm
by lopar
did you adjust the cable lengths (just below ish around the tps), kickdown and throttle? All three work together with respect to your shifting up and down.........

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:31 pm
by Fishtank
My old one says 423, new one is 571 (sent as replacement by Mardy)

ATF colour is good and smells normal.

I didn't adjust any cables, just the idle stop screw it wasn't touching the throttle arm so I threaded it in till it gave a positive idle stop.

FYI, purchased from Mardy almost 1 year ago.

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 5:15 pm
by Rising Sun Auto Import
Our new stock says 571,but our used IP says 423 T13.
I guess it is a batch number.

According to zexel diagram, it shows 310 as it seems a serial number.

Steven

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 6:53 pm
by thedjjack
I still wonder if the first generation dodge TPS fix would work for L400

Dodges everone wires in a volume control on the dash and then sets the shift point removing the TPS all together....

I pasted up the infor a year or so ago and think it might work perfect here too...it is the $15.00 fix and you set the shift points and never really touch it unless you pull a trailer or want to drag race....

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:39 pm
by Fishtank
Thanks Steven, kinda confirms that either should be working.

Thanks Jack, I've seen that thread on the Dodge forum but I don't see how that would fix the problem unless you used the potentiometer to splice into the TPS wire and adjust your set point from there.

The TPS needs to adjust the voltage throughout the throttle sweep, you'd have to be adjusting the volume knob inside the cab while you accelerated and decelerated. The TPS is not set to one voltage for all throttle ranges, it needs to adjust.

Beuller.... Beuller.... Beuller?

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:54 pm
by thedjjack
yah the dodge it replaces the tps and you just go with a middle point shift point....works really good in the dodges but they do have a little more torque then the L400.

It just is an idea since the TPS seems to be a little bit of an issue.

Just and idea as you can test drive it without commiting to installaction...I just think it is an interesting idae....maybe look at the range of the TPS as you give it move it through the range...

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:24 pm
by Fishtank
lopar wrote:did you adjust the cable lengths (just below ish around the tps), kickdown and throttle? All three work together with respect to your shifting up and down.........
lopar, do you have any more detail on the kickdown cable and how to adjust it?

For that matter, does anyone have any suggestions on how to address my shifting issues?

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:13 pm
by Fishtank
Really...?

Nobody out there has adjusted the kick down cable on an L400?

Am I the only one having problems with my shift points?

C'mon guys, anything?

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 1:11 am
by Diver
You're not the only one, PLENTY have had a tinker. :-)
The consensus is that the kickdown cable doesn't do much and most agree it doesn't do anything for top gears. You can try disconnecting it altogether and going for a drive, most say they can't tell the difference. If you feel it is causing the problem, mark its current position then try giving it some slack and try again. Trial and error. I heard that 35mm of cable showing with the throttle hard down is about right, but don't take that as the same for everyone.
TPS seems to be favourite, you need to get it between 0.8 and 1v when warm, more like 1v when cold. If it won't adjust that far, it has been known to elongate the holes a bit further.... It seems to be the contolling factor for top gear kickdown. Can also try unplugging the gearbox ECU (or disconnecting the battery for a while), it's supposed to have some kind of fuzzy logic which 'learns' your driving style. Killing its power resets it.

Re: TPS information, having trouble.

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 9:13 am
by jessef
Hey Ted. Never had any noticeable gain when adjusting the kickmyass cable. Like diver said, the TPS takes control.