TPS question

[NitramA]

Just giving the bike a good seeing to ready for when the sun comes out.
Decided to check the TPS for the first time (only had the bike for 10 years!) and following the advice elsewhere I got a  steady 10k reading.
Initially I couldn’t get it to move to a steady 5k - was bouncing between 5k & 10k until I twiddled with the tickover adjuster. I read elsewhere this is normal.


The question I have is that during this the cooling fan came on!!


I hadn’t started the engine and it was bloody cold in the garage so I was a little surprised to say the least.
Is this normal when in TPS set up mode?


Also, how would you set it up? As I said I’ve got it so it just sticks at 5k, but I’ve read elsewhere it should bounce between 5k & 10k.

[Panthor]

Fan always comes on when idling and then goes off when you put it in first gear.
Not sure about the TPS

[VNA - BMW Wank]

Two options listed here for setting up TPS.
http://www.cartestsoftware.com/fz1/throttlepositionsensoradjustment.html

[Falcon 269]

You need to slacken off the TPS bolts a fair bit and persist with turning it left/right until you get the full range of possible readings.  It will eventually show them all, you just need to keep at it.

The TPS is driven off the throttle plate spindle which is why tweaking the idle adjuster will affect the TPS. 

The ignition curve is in part influenced by the signals sent from the TPS to the ECU.  Setting the TPS so that the needle reads above 5k rpm effectively advances the ignition below 7k rpm or thereabouts.  Max advance is 55 deg BTDC at around those rpm, maybe a shade less - I forget.

Remember that the timing from the factory is slightly retarded to cope with lower octane fuels in some countries.  Advancing it a couple of degrees via the TPS position is often beneficial on bikes run on UK regular unleaded. 

I set the TPS so that the needle bounces between 5 - 10k rpm with the idle set at 1150 - 1200rpm.

You can also use the dynamic (Ivan's) method of setting the TPS with the engine running and that will give a good result but if you check using the tacho afterwards, you will find that the reading is 10k rpm or somewhere between 5 & 10k.  This is why I opt for the 5-10k bounce from the outset ... saves annoying the neighbours running the bike at 3 - 4k rpm while doing the adjustment.

[NitramA]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.
I’ll try Falcons suggestion for the 5-10k bounce at the mentioned rpm.

[NitramA]

Setting it up as per above, the only way I could get the 5k-10k bounce was to back off the tickover setting as mentioned before.
Even then it seems to be a bit hit or miss.

Of course when I started the bike it wouldn’t tick over!
Adjusted it back up to 1k or so.


When I went back to check again today (I know I should just leave it!) it was at 10k and I couldn’t seem to get it to change without dropping the tickover setting again.


Having a rummage around in the Haynes manual I noticed it said that for 2001/2002 bikes you should use the 5k/10k adjustment method, but for 2003 on you just measure the output voltage of the sensor.
Doing that seems to be a bit easier, but Ive not seen it mentioned here or on the “bible” website either.
Does that mean its not worth using?

[Falcon 269]

I never had occasion to alter the idle adjuster to get a TPS unit to give the full range of 0 to 10k readings.  I have done a few over the years, too.

Like I said above, you do need to persist sometimes to get the unit to do what it should and you might need to jiggle it quite firmly in both directions to achieve this. 

However, if your TPS really won't cooperate but you can get an acceptable voltage reading as per the Haynes Manual, I'd settle for that and call it a day.