> What would you guys consider to be a normal fluctuation in the 5v supply
> to say a TPS? I read up to .5v variance at my TPS at idle, throttle
> closed -- this is in the supply voltage and, obviously, the TPS signal
> that the ECU reads.
The few I've checked have almost no variation. One thing that may mislead
you is the earth, are you measuring between the car body or battery negative
and the TPS supply? The TPS signal to the ECU is not usually referenced to
earth directly, it's another wire to the TPS that goes direct to the TPS and
if it's earthed then it's by an indirect route probably through the ECU, so
you could get misleading readings if you don't measure directly across 2
terminals on the TPS. Your 0.5v is very high though so you my have a bad
connection somewhere. Some Nissans even respond well performance-wise to
directly earthing the 'earthy' TPS terminal with an extra wire to cut down
this extraneous voltage.
JM - 22 Apr 2007 16:13 GMT
> The few I've checked have almost no variation. One thing that may mislead
> you is the earth, are you measuring between the car body or battery
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> respond well performance-wise to directly earthing the 'earthy' TPS
> terminal with an extra wire to cut down this extraneous voltage.
I was measuring between the TPS and battery negative, so I tried again using
the ground at the TPS, and got the same thing. The voltage ranged from
about 5.2 to about 5.8. It was most stable at idle, but even then was
probably wavering over a range of about .3 volts. If this isn't normal, any
idea what might cause this?
I suspect that since I get the same thing whether I'm using the ground at
the TPS or at the battery, it's not an issue of a bad ground.. is there a
regulator built into the ECU that provides it with a good +5v? From what I
can tell the ECU is only fed 12v. I don't think there is any spec in the
service manual as to any tolerances for the 5v supply.
Steve B - 22 Apr 2007 20:54 GMT
>> The few I've checked have almost no variation. One thing that may
>> mislead you is the earth, are you measuring between the car body or
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> I can tell the ECU is only fed 12v. I don't think there is any spec in
> the service manual as to any tolerances for the 5v supply.
I think you'll have to measure another car of the same year and type to be
sure. It's normal by the way to measure the voltages without the engine
running, just have the key turned so the ignition is on.
> What would you guys consider to be a normal fluctuation in the 5v supply to
> say a TPS? I read up to .5v variance at my TPS at idle, throttle closed --
> this is in the supply voltage and, obviously, the TPS signal that the ECU
> reads.
The 5V source is derived from a solid state voltage regulator. These
type of regulators are extremely stable and accurate. Your 5V should
certainly be between 4.95 and 5.05 volts.
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