V40 Cutting out - B4184SJ engine - P0220 TPS cctB
 

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 .

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, https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/attac...1&d=1400580378

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

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

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

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

Hi Adam. This is the one you are after. Have a spare one , so took some pics. The only part number I can see on it is 392411. And yes, it is a PITA to access, remove and fit back on. And if I remember correctly, you will need to adjust its position, so you get it in the right place.

Either your one is not right enough and moves around a lot when the pedal is used, or it has gone bad.
If you cant find a replacement part, let me know. This one came from a perfectly working car

Hi Gatos,

Thanks for the photos - have included a photo of mine and they look pretty identical. Hopefully the photo shows mine is still tight on the metal so don't think movement is an issue. Am hoping it's down to the fact that the wear has taken place at the 'cruise' point.

It does look like a nightmare to swap and will, no doubt, end up with a rush of blood to the head (song in there somewhere?).

The number on mine bears no resemblance to yours so have started scouring eBay and under Mitsubishi pedal sensor I get a similar looking unit hit under the reference MR578861 but that has a different looking pedal connector on it and a Google (other search engines are available) search gives me hits under MR578862. May be time to speak with a helpful Mitsubishi parts person!

Will let you know how it pans out.

Thanks again.

Adam

The MR part number is the mitsubishi number, and I am surprised it is not written on these sensors.

I removed these pedals twice and if I remember correctly one of the bolts or nuts was in a very awkward position, making it a bit harder to undo it.

Anyway, see what you find out. The part is available if you need it and it came from a Phase 2 GDI with the B4184SJ engine, so it will be identical to yours. I also spoke to a friend of mine from the FB S40, V40 group and they also have the sensor, complete with the pedal

Ps. I just looked at the photo and the PITA bolt I was on about, is the one visible to the left of the pedal bracket in the photo.

Thanks for the useful photo.

Will give Mitsubishi a call today and see if they can give me a steer as I had only considered changing the sensor - despite having looked at it under the dashboard and thinking 'How the fark can I get the pozidrives out of that?'.

Maybe it would be better to change the whole pedal assembly?

Interesting to know there's a FB group.

Will get back to you