donnieshortpants

Can anyone tell me where the throttle position sensor is located on the
87 Tempo. Also is it easy to replace? What function does the
Potentiometer serve and would it have any thing to do with erratic
ideling and stalling?
Thanks, Don

neil nelson

At the end of the throttle shaft in the throttle body opposite
the end where the throttle cable and detent cables attach.


Yes, 2 screws although they may be sealed with loc-tite, so
heating the heads with a soldering iron/gun may be necessary to
avoid breaking the screws off.

It reports to the ECM a value that represents the amount of
throttle opening, the rate of throttle change and which direction
the throttle is moving (open or closed).

Absolutely, it's the only sensor that can tell the ECM that the
throttle has fully closed and that the ECM should apply the
proper idle strategy from its programming. But it's not the only
cause.

thomas moats

The TPS is as Neil puts it. Your engine I believe is CFI not multipoint. That
will mean you have a Idle Speed Control motor with an Idle Tracking switch on
the end of the motor push rod.. The job of the Idle Tracking Switch is to tell
the processor that the Idle Speed motor push rod has made contact with the
throttle linkage. When the switch goes bad the processor can not tell if the
motor has made contact so it will "hunt" the idle will go up and down repeatedly
and sometimes the engine will stall. The reason is that the primary value the
engine processor uses is the engine RPM, the TPS is read in ranges ( the
processor does not look at it in a linear fashion ).

bob

I could be wrong but IIRC Ford built some of each in 1986, but 1987 models
all used multiport injection. That's referring to the Tempo. The 2.5 Taurus
used CFI and that stupid idle tracking switch for a couple more years I
think.
Bob

thomas moats

I believe 88 was the change to multipoint on the Tempo/Topaz it went along with
the body change.