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engine problem?

P

posthuman63t

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Jul 27, 2004
Messages
608
Location
Wisconsin
this morning I left for work and 2 minutes down the road the red light by the contour emblem inside came on and my Rome jumped from 3k to 4k to 2k in about a second. The car jerked around during the problem and then the car died. It took a minute but I got the car started and back home with no issue. Any idea of what happened?
 
PATS light is a sign og an electrical issue usually. Sounds like something arced. Either a harness issue or a battery/charging issue.
 
If it gets worse, try unplugging the TPS (throttle Position sensor on the TB). The car will run this way.. it will likely throw a code, but still..

What I am getting at is that you likely have a problem (electrically) with a VREF signal, and that usually happens with a shorted or bare wire on things that utilize the VREF reference (TPS being one of them.)
 
yes its the pats light. I will check the wiring when I get home and see if I find any issues with anything. This has happened before this past winter. Same problem happen on and off for a couple days but it went away until now.
 
okay, i checked the tps wires and saw nothing exposed, a little insulation coming off so i individually taped them up so they would gain some space/insulation from the other wires. I took it for a short drive and the car didnt jerk around like it did before but the pats light did come on and stay on for a few seconds. Any specific harness i should try checking? Any quick ways to find out what wire and where?
 
The PATS light SHOULD come on and say on for about a second when you first turn the key to "ON" or start it.

If the car is OFF, it should flash once a second or so.
If the car is running, it should never illuminate (other than the original 1 second self-test I mentioned)
 
Ray said:
The PATS light SHOULD come on and say on for about a second when you first turn the key to "ON" or start it.

If the car is OFF, it should flash once a second or so.
If the car is running, it should never illuminate (other than the original 1 second self-test I mentioned)
Click to expand...

Yes, I know, it was after drivin around for about 2-3 minutes the light came on and stayed on for a few seconds. This leads me to believe that something somewhere has rubbed off the insulation and may be causeing the problem.
 
You're right... if, while driving, it comes on, it lost power (VREF) for a second and then re-tested itself.

You'll probably notice, when it does it, that the CEL flashes briefly (VERY briefly) the tach may dive toward 0 for a sec, and the car may lurch due to lost power.
 
If I unplug the tps, what side effects will I suffer besides a cel. Obviously it should only be used as a short term fix but it could take awhile to find and fix the problem.
 
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