V40: V40 Cutting out - B4184SJ engine - P0220 TPS cctB

[Adamnw]

Hi all,

A couple of years ago my mother gave up driving (good news all round) and 'gifted' me her car. It's a 2001 V40 1.8i with the fly-by-wire Mitsubishi (Carisma?) B4184SJ engine - an absolute stalwart of a car that sails though MOTs for 25 quid leaving autobahn cruiser owners looking on enviously!

Over the past few months it has started cutting out randomly and an eBay sourced bluetooth OBD reader tells me it's a P0220 issue which translates as Throttle Position Sensor - Cct B. Volvo want about £160 just to connect it to their code reader and considerably more, no doubt, to resolve it. The car is probably worth that in cash terms though as a 'load lugger' worth considerably more.

I have changed the Throttle Position Sensor on the Throttle body (good news is that it was a straight swap with no recalibration necessary) but the issue is on-going.

I've been reading other forums that imply the 'Italian decoke' (Redex and a good thrashing) might help but this seems more 'electronic' than that.

Anyway, having browsed the forums here I came across this:

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...ighlight=P0220

referring to P0220 which suggests it might be the accelerator pedal sensor - however that information was for a more recent vehicle (a 2008 S40). Would the codes from the 2001 V40 be the same?

Questions are: Might it be the pedal sensor: How easy is it to swap the pedal sensor; If it's not that how do I go about isolating a potential fault on the wiring loom (which is where my gut is telling me the issue might be)?

Grateful for any help someone could provide on this as would love to keep the car going.

Thanks.

Adam

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Adamnw

Hi all,

A couple of years ago my mother gave up driving (good news all round) and 'gifted' me her car. It's a 2001 V40 1.8i with the fly-by-wire Mitsubishi (Carisma?) B4184SJ engine - an absolute stalwart of a car that sails though MOTs for 25 quid leaving autobahn cruiser owners looking on enviously!

Over the past few months it has started cutting out randomly and an eBay sourced bluetooth OBD reader tells me it's a P0220 issue which translates as Throttle Position Sensor - Cct B. Volvo want about £160 just to connect it to their code reader and considerably more, no doubt, to resolve it. The car is probably worth that in cash terms though as a 'load lugger' worth considerably more.

I have changed the Throttle Position Sensor on the Throttle body (good news is that it was a straight swap with no recalibration necessary) but the issue is on-going.

I've been reading other forums that imply the 'Italian decoke' (Redex and a good thrashing) might help but this seems more 'electronic' than that.

Anyway, having browsed the forums here I came across this:

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...ighlight=P0220

referring to P0220 which suggests it might be the accelerator pedal sensor - however that information was for a more recent vehicle (a 2008 S40). Would the codes from the 2001 V40 be the same?

Questions are: Might it be the pedal sensor: How easy is it to swap the pedal sensor; If it's not that how do I go about isolating a potential fault on the wiring loom (which is where my gut is telling me the issue might be)?

Grateful for any help someone could provide on this as would love to keep the car going.

Thanks.

Adam

The throttle body spindle tends to seize or go stiff on these . worth dismantling and cleaning and making sure it is completely free to open and close by hand against the spring pressure .

[gatos]

More specifically, one or both magnets on the spindle may come unglued and that causes erratic idling.

When you fitted the new TPS, did you use a multimeter to test the resistance on the four contacts. You should aim to adjust the position of the RPS , so it can give you values as close as possible to 0.5KΩ and 2.5 kΩ,

Also, if you are anywhere near East London, you can drop by and I can read the codes of your car with my Vida DiCe foc

[Adamnw]

Hi gatos,

Thanks for the reply (and the offer of a code read) - appreciated. I'm about 70 miles north of you and not sure the car would make it down there!

When I replaced the TPS it was by the side of the road as the car had died for the second time in about 2 miles. So the short answer is No I didn't meter the values. When I swapped it I thought there was a fair amount of play in the fitting - I will optimise the position to give me values close to your suggestions.

As for Magnets - how did they make it in to the equation?

The car doesn't idle badly - in fact hasn't exhibited rough idling as far as I am aware.

The problem seems to occur when I'm driving gently with accelerator up and down in response to country lane road conditions when the car will suddenly start to run rough, then revs drop to a maximum of about 1000 and the EWL light comes on. Pull to the side of the road, switch off for 10 seconds, restart the car and everything is good. When I am driving hard I haven't experienced the issue - so my work around is to accelerate hard, jump into neutral and coast. Not best practice I know. However it's the engine off reset that makes me think this is electronic rather than mechanical.

Will meter the TPS and get back to you.

All the best.

Adam

[gatos]

Yes, the TPS has a little play, a few degrees either way. That is intentional, so it can be rotated slightly, until you get the desired values. They don't have to be spot on and the car ECU should eventually work out how to work.

The main problem with the GDI is that once you disconnect the battery, or replace one of the critical components that control the fuel/air ratios, the ECU takes some time to adjust. The main thing here is that you are getting an error code, which you shouldn't, since you replaced the TPS and reset the codes. So either the new TPS is not working properly, or there is a wiring issue.
As for the TPS sensor on the pedal, it could be an issue, but that would be super rare.

Anyway, keeps us posted and we will eventually get to the bottom of it

[Adamnw]

Hi gatos,

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you. Inclement weather and some unexpected work came my way. Anyway I took advantage of no rain last week and measured the values and get 0.55K and 2.45K (roughly). Which seems to ally with what you told me to expect.

I also mentioned the problem to someone in work who is in the transport section and he scanned the car with some amazing code reader (considerably more than a code reader but ....). Apparently, with the ignition on (therefore no mechanical movement to affect the wiring harness) and engine not running he was able to see there was a variance in voltages from from the two tracks fed from the accelerator position potentiometer as he depressed the accelerator.

Having hung upside down from the steering wheel (!) I can see the 8 pin connector but can't make out a part number. I suspect it will be a Mitsubishi part - do you have any idea?. It doesn't look easy to disassemble but with perseverance it should be possible. If you have any useful tips they'd be appreciated.

All the best.

Adam