Rpm's Surging *solved * Bad Throttle Position Sensor

[HenryJ]

Shortly after purchasing the truck I started noticing that while I was driving down the road the RPM's would all of a sudden spike and wouldn't come back down. The only way that I could control the RPM's was by dropping into a slower gear and "bog" the motor down. I knew that the intake manifold gaskets needed to be replaced and figured that my problem was more than likely a vacuum issue. Not so.

I replaced all of the necessary gaskets, got the motor back together and the RPM surging problem became worse than ever. I started doing some troubleshooting including doing voltage and resistance tests on various sensors including the throttle positioning sensor. Everything was checking out as per the normal specs.

One day I got an SES code which prompted me to break down and have it scanned at the dealership. The code indicated a bad Throttle Positioning Sensor reading. Long story, short...the spring in my TPS had broken and each time that I put my foot down on the accelerator the sensor switch was remainng wide open. I popped a new sensor onto the back of the throttle body and voila, problem solved.

Hope this helps someone having similar issues.