One issue I am having is that when I decelerate to a stop, say I am coming to a stop sign, the car will stall. Just for fun, I decided to first check the throttle position switch and see if it is working. After all, it is just a matter of disconnecting it and checking for continuity at the two extremes. So, I pull the harness connector. It does look rather nasty:
The switch end is not very pretty either. I then test the switch pins. No sign of life here.
Well, it seems I should take it out of the car and take a better look at the switch. It is not as easy as a Volvo since it is buried under a few hoses (from left to right, the hose from the compressor bypass valve (or blowoff), a coolant hose, and one of the hoses that feed the idle control valve).
Let's take the idle control valve hose and see if that gives us enough room.
I tried to pry the hose by hand and it did not bulge. So, let it talk to Mr. Big Plier,
Ok, that did not work. How about taking the clamp completely out and then trying to brake the hose loose? Well, the clamp had a different idea of what it meant to be completely out:
I did wrote down on my list that I will need a new clamp. Next I used a skinny screwdriver to break loose the corrosion between the hose and the throttle body.
Which finally allowed me to remove the hose. Now I had more space, a wrench and a short 10mm socket were all I needed to remove the throttle body switch.
Now, why is it called a throttle switch instead of a throttle position sensor? Well, if we look inside it, we will see it has two switches: a white one on the right (throttle closed) and another one that looks like exposed copper strips on the left (throttle open). Now, if I am not mistaken, in this car (turbo LH 2.2) the open throttle switch is not used. But, it is there. If you press the little tab on the top of the white switch, you will hear the switch click. That is very important clue because it is used to adjust its position when it is back in the car. But, for now, we can see that it looks rather clean inside.
That is possibly due to the light oil that coated all the parts inside the switch. The connectors on the outside are a different story. So, I used a piece of fine sand paper -- Emory cloth would have been a better choice but I had none -- to clean the connectors until they were shiny again:
Also, between sandings, I used this contact cleaner to remove the goo.
This time I got a good signal. So, I closed the switch and bolted it back. I started finger tightening the bolts, then using the 10mm socket between my fingers to get a bit more torque.
But, it has to be placed just right to work. If rotated too far one way, when you let go of the gas pedal it will stall because it would not click the closed throttle switch and go to idle mode. If you rotate it too far the other way, you will actually pull the throttle plate open some, making it idle high. In my case I did that and was idling at 1500RPM instead of 700. Very annoying.
This was th
The switch end is not very pretty either. I then test the switch pins. No sign of life here.
Well, it seems I should take it out of the car and take a better look at the switch. It is not as easy as a Volvo since it is buried under a few hoses (from left to right, the hose from the compressor bypass valve (or blowoff), a coolant hose, and one of the hoses that feed the idle control valve).
Let's take the idle control valve hose and see if that gives us enough room.
I tried to pry the hose by hand and it did not bulge. So, let it talk to Mr. Big Plier,
Ok, that did not work. How about taking the clamp completely out and then trying to brake the hose loose? Well, the clamp had a different idea of what it meant to be completely out:
I did wrote down on my list that I will need a new clamp. Next I used a skinny screwdriver to break loose the corrosion between the hose and the throttle body.
Which finally allowed me to remove the hose. Now I had more space, a wrench and a short 10mm socket were all I needed to remove the throttle body switch. 
Now, why is it called a throttle switch instead of a throttle position sensor? Well, if we look inside it, we will see it has two switches: a white one on the right (throttle closed) and another one that looks like exposed copper strips on the left (throttle open). Now, if I am not mistaken, in this car (turbo LH 2.2) the open throttle switch is not used. But, it is there. If you press the little tab on the top of the white switch, you will hear the switch click. That is very important clue because it is used to adjust its position when it is back in the car. But, for now, we can see that it looks rather clean inside.
That is possibly due to the light oil that coated all the parts inside the switch. The connectors on the outside are a different story. So, I used a piece of fine sand paper -- Emory cloth would have been a better choice but I had none -- to clean the connectors until they were shiny again:
Also, between sandings, I used this contact cleaner to remove the goo.
This time I got a good signal. So, I closed the switch and bolted it back. I started finger tightening the bolts, then using the 10mm socket between my fingers to get a bit more torque.
But, it has to be placed just right to work. If rotated too far one way, when you let go of the gas pedal it will stall because it would not click the closed throttle switch and go to idle mode. If you rotate it too far the other way, you will actually pull the throttle plate open some, making it idle high. In my case I did that and was idling at 1500RPM instead of 700. Very annoying.
This was th
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