Installing & Tuning Your Throttle Position Sensor - Code 7

Honda and Acura designed the TPS to make themselves money- plain and simple. If you took your car to a mechanic they'd charge you the $400 for a brand new throttle body, if they could even order it. Even the repair manual says the Throttle Position Sensor can't be removed.. fortunately that isn't the case. The Integra TPS is riveted onto the throttle body but can still be removed with a few hints. If your car has a check engine light on and is throwing a code 7, first test the wiring to the TPS by following the troubleshooting steps below. If your wiring checks out you'll need to replace your TPS..

You'll  need a Dremel or other multi-tool to cut slots into the top of the rivets.
A flathead screwdriver, also to remove the rivets
A hose clamp tool or pliers to remove vaccuum hoses from the TB
Vice grips to pinch off the ends of the coolant hoses
A wrench or ratchet to remove the 4 nuts holding the throttle body to the intake plenum
A new throttle body gasket
a razor blade to scrape the old gasket off
& a digital multimeter




First remove the air duct connected to the throttle body- loosen the screw on the hose clamp and it should slide off. Disconnect the MAP sensor hose and the hoses to and from the charcoal canister. You might want to label them if you think you'll mix them up. Detach the throttle cable by giving it some slack and pulling it off the TB. Next detach the coolant hoses and clamp them off so you don't lose fluid. Unscrew the four mounting nuts/bolts and remove the throttle body.

Bring the throttle body assembly over to your workbench- I put it in a vice with the TPS facing up to make it easier to work on. You need to cut a slot into each rivet, and use a flathead to remove them. The new Throttle Position Sensor should come with allen screws so you shouldn't need the rivets anymore. Install the new TPS with it's new gasket and thread the new screws in without tightening them.

After scraping what's left of the old throttle body gasket off, reinstall the throttle body with a new gasket and tighten the mounting bolts. Reconnect all the air and coolant hoses you disconnected in the removal, slide the accelerator cable back into the throttle assembly and put your intake duct back on. Now you have to tune your new TPS.

With the electrical connector plugged into the TPS, engine off and throttle closed, connect the positive probe to the red/blue wire and the negative to body ground. Your DMM should read .5 volts at closed throttle. The voltage should increase smoothly as you manually open the throttle, gradually rising to around 5 volts at wide open throttle. Adjust your TPS by rotating it to the left or right until you achieve these voltages. Tighten it down, recheck the voltage and you're good to go!

Troubleshooting code 7- the TPS:
If you disconnect the TPS' electrical connector & backprobe the positive side of the DMM to the yellow/white wire and the negative to the green/white wire with the ignition on it should read around 5 volts. If voltage is zero repeat the test with the negative probe connected to body ground. If 5 volts show now follow the green/white wire to the PCM and check for breaks or other damage to the wire or connections. If this wire is okay check the yellow/white wire which also leads to the PCM.