In January of this year I started having stumbling issues with my Jeep Cherokee. The throttle body was cleaned, fuel pressure checked, the spark plugs, wires and distributor button were replaced yet the stumbling continued. As I drove my Jeep more, the worse the stumbling got. There were times I would hit bumps and it felt as if it were cutting off on me. Then one day as I was heading to my mom’s work to meet her, the check engine light came on so I turned onto a side street, pulled over and checked the code. It came back as #24, Throttle Position Sensor.
Since I had a spare TPS from a donor Jeep, I just switched it out which cured the stumbling issue, for a few months. Recently the stumbling came back again. I cleaned the throttle body, checked spark plug wires, put in some seafoam in the gas tank and once again checked the fuel pressure. All were in check. As I continued to drive it, the stumbling was getting worse very quickly. Hitting bumps resulted in it cutting out numerous times. A couple of times it even died on me when I stopped at traffic lights and even parking at home. I also noticed my gas mileage was terrible which is one of the signs the TPS could be bad.
Before letting it get worse to the point the check engine light would come on, I went ahead and purchased a new TPS from Autozone for $38. It is a very simple 5 minute replacement and all you need is the T20 hexhead for the two screws holding the TPS at the throttle body assembly. So far no stumbling and the gas mileage has greatly improved.