# Code 43?



## LucidOne1 (Mar 26, 2009)

Just pulled a code 43 from my computer but the problem is that I'm getting too much unburned fuel to pass emissions on my truck. Code 43 so that you don't have to look it up is Throttle Position Sensor. Can someone give me a few steps to remedy the unburnt fuel problem or has someone had a code 43 drop and it turned out to be something else. I should also mention that I did the mode 4 test and it checked out okay for the TPS.

I know to check, plugs, wires, distributor, rotor, egr, timing, vacuum leaks, etc. 

Plugs- just visual or can I ground them on the block and crank the engine and look for a spark?

Wires - just replace them?

Distributor and rotor - again replace?

EGR - no clue

Timing - don't think it's this one, no reason for it to be.

Vacuum leaks - I don't have a vacuum tester so I was going to try the starter fluid trick.

Any suggestions are welcome or if someone knows a way to check the distibutor, rotor, or wires without just replacing them it would be great.

BTW, it's a '95 XE with a 4 cylinder.


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## zanegrey (Dec 5, 2005)

check the tps for looseness or cracks.
check it's connector ..

is it idle high ?

look at the o2 sensor and its wire ..

most times it is an injector or 2 sticking open but the other end of that is a bad ecm..


i have never done it myself but one of the members here posted that he removed the dizzy and with the key in the run positon he turnd the dizzy by hand and listened for each injector to click..

he sumarized that if it did not click it was bad...


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## LucidOne1 (Mar 26, 2009)

It seems like it might be a sticking injector after consulting the FSM and your comment Zane. It is kinda intermittent which also points me to that. By intermittent I mean that the idle was fine all day yesterday and only acted up when I went to emissions this morning. My buddy is coming over after work cuz I need him to crank while I check spark. He's also a reformed mechanic and now works for beer so he'll guide me through your instructions.


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## LucidOne1 (Mar 26, 2009)

Alright, since time was of the essence, I took it to the mechanic and he cleared the code 43 by cleaning the connector to the TPS. I knew it had a bad thermostat which he replaced and said that should make it pass. $175 later and I pass by 3 points on the hydrocarbons. Not exactly the vast improvement I had hoped my money would buy me, but it still passed. I'm beginning to think that my truck just doesn't like emissions facilities. Either that or the stationary dymo doesn't let it get the air it needs to breathe.

Any thoughts?


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## Pat D. (Jan 12, 2010)

LucidOne1 said:


> Alright, since time was of the essence, I took it to the mechanic and he cleared the code 43 by cleaning the connector to the TPS. I knew it had a bad thermostat which he replaced and said that should make it pass. $175 later and I pass by 3 points on the hydrocarbons. Not exactly the vast improvement I had hoped my money would buy me, but it still passed. I'm beginning to think that my truck just doesn't like emissions facilities. Either that or the stationary dymo doesn't let it get the air it needs to breathe.
> 
> Any thoughts?


FWIW, to get my '90 to pass, here in MD with a tailpipe test on the treadmill, I ran it very low on fuel, and then added several pints of "dry gas"(alcohol) to the tank a few miles before the test. Worked the last 2 times, now it's "Historic"(20 years) and thus not subject to emissions anymore.
Pat D.


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## Grug (Aug 20, 2009)

Wowsers! I thought our vehicle inspections were tuff! We don't have any emissions tests to pass or fail in my part of the world. The closest we'd have to that is that some guys will cut out the catalytic converter and try to get by with a straight pipe...when the coverter fails. That's a no-no.

I suppose, though, that emission tests will be somewhere in the future.


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