Throttle Position Sensor

[Jordan Tremblay]

Alright guys I need some help. Went fishing for the weekend a few weeks back and had the check engine light flashing and beeping. For the entire last day of the trip, the motor only flashed and beeped twice and still allowed me to run back ot the launch no problem. Brought it to the mechanic and the codes showed that my throttle position sensors were going bad. He said it was interesting that both of them would go bad at the same time as he has never seen that since they are on completely different systems. He tweaked a few things and we changed out the cranking battery (he said that it was underpowered and that could have been causing the motor to alarm) and couldn't get the motor to alarm again. Went fishing again this weekend and it alarmed again. The read out shows that both of the sensors are coding.



How hard are these to change myself? When he was looking at the motor with me, it seemed like they are not that hard to change. Is this true? Always looking for ways to save money and just wanted to ask.



Boat:



2001 Nitro 896 with 2000 Mecury Nitro Series 200hp Opti



Anybody have any suggestions or tips? Thanks,



Jordan

 

[Dan J.]

Changing them isn't difficult (bolt/unbolt switch out three leads each), but you'll need a test lead (Mercury TPS test harness #91-816085) plus a DDT for setup and to check them properly. You may need to try another shop to get a proper diagnosis first. It's possible just to swap and go, but I would definitely let a good tech do the job proper. The consequences aren't worth it IMHO. Good luck!