I have endured a month long battle between me and my TPS! First I decided to set it using the 1K OHM resistance method. Set it dead nuts on at 1K OHMS and still had bad hunting idle...Finally, I pulled up the carpet and hooked my meter to the ECU. Set it dead nuts on at idle of 1V. Idle is a bit better. Then I thought about comparing the other settings after I got it at 1V at the ECU. Using the test lamps, no lights were lit, so I made a small adjustment until one of the lights lit. Went back to the ECU and now it reads 0.85V. Run it a while and the idle is acceptable. Go back and check the resistance at the TPS connector and now it's reading 1125 OHMS. But the idle is acceptable, so I think I'll just leave it and give up. Why is this such a difficult task? (Sorry about the length!)

 

mazda conspiracy

 

God hates you... now go kill a kitten.

Really though, our cars have notoriously bad wiring so it doesn't surprise me that you're getting fluctuating readings on the car. As Wayne likes to say, "set it from the ECU".

 

Well, for one thing did you warm up the car before you set the tps? Temp change has an effect on the readings for the tps.

The reason you have a bad idle could be any number of things. My guess is that the idle mixture is set wrong. Maybe more so now since you've apparently just been messing with the tps without setting the idle properly. (my assumption, if it's wrong I'm sorry). Anyway, to the point, just setting the tps will not fix the idle, you need to use the idle setting proceedure in the FSM.

I had the same problem for a while, and tried setting the tps. Nothing worked till I went through the FSM idle setting step by step. Then it idled perfectly.... till I took some more stuff off

 

Chimeron...yeah I went back and grounded the test connector and readjusted the idle after each iteration...I think that maybe the gap in the throttle body plate may need adjusting. That's going to be my next step.

 

Besides wiring & connector issues, the S5 ECU TPS function is auto-adjusting.
That's what the lights were telling you.

At a 1K ohm initial setting mine worked fine for deceleration & idle, but it would not go closed loop at all.
After some experimenting, mine likes to work best at 1.2K ohms.
That way I get closed loop at 0-12 InHg of vac.

 

Another satisfied customer. If you read a write up of what I posted quite a while ago, you'll find that the 1k ohm/1 volt will be only a starting point, in MY OPINION. Final setting should be with the test checker contrary to most on this forum.
I encountered a similar problem 3 years ago. After setting to 1k ohm/1volt, the car (S5TII) would "kick back" under 3/4 throttle etc. After numerous tests found the test light the way to go. bee perfect evr since until just 1 month ago, the car hesitated ever so slightly on normal acceleration so I checked the lights, both on. Made a very minimal tps adjustment. Everything fine once again.

 

Yep, if your check connector lights work, by all means use them. A VERY long time ago mine did, and the adjustment accuracy was about 1/2 turn of the adjustment screw, versus maybe a full turn range for the voltage settings at the ECU. Only after hearing several guys complain that their lights testing was not working (at least one light would never come on seems to be the norm), and realizing that mine were no longer working either after some solenoid/ wiring removals, I began recommending the 1v at the ECU "method", because it's next on the list for accuracy. If you've got her dead nuts at 1v and she's still not running right, tweak her 1/4 (or even 1/2) turn either way during different drives (write down what you've done, so you'll remember which way to turn her back if needed) to see if that helps.

I think the older/ more worn the TPS gets, the harder it's going to be to make the ECU happy too. Just a hunch