Honda Car Forum

Does anyone here know about a cheap fix for a 1990 Honda Civic throttle body
sensor. Replacement is a killer.

Bob wrote:
> Does anyone here know about a cheap fix for a 1990 Honda Civic throttle body
> sensor. Replacement is a killer.

actually, replacement is really not too bad. i've just done it on my
'90. you can remove the shear head bolts with a chisel. i don't mean
pound them off, just use the corner of a sharp chisel to make a driving
notch in one edge of the bolt, then carefully tap with the chisel at an
angle so the head starts to turn. you can then screw the bolts out by
hand. replace with M5-0.8's allen bolts when putting back together. if
you're cunning, you can do this with the throttle body in place.

fixing the throttle position sensor requires some fiddly work with a
dremel, but again, it's simple if you look at what you have. there's a
line of potting compound around the back plate where the sensor is
assembled. carefully dremel that out until you can access the green
circuit board beneath. carefully bend that up so you can see the carbon
tracks on it. make sure everything is cleaned off. then, /carefully/
"respring" the brushes on the rotator. there's two. also splay them
slightly so they don't all run in the same grooves as before, but also
so they don't touch. carefully reassemble, reseal what you dremeled out
with appropriate filler, then after leaving to harden for 24 hours [i
used silicone] put the sensor back in the same position you carefully
marked before disassembly. do /not/ overfill - you'll glue up the
carbon tracks. do it in two operations if necessary.

reset the computer and enjoy!

you can use this same chisel technique to acquire a replacement tps from
a junk yard if you're not inclined to do the dremel thing. hint:
generally, the tps's on automatics don't get quite as much wear as the
sticks. and look out for tps's from different hondas too, but be
careful they have the same rotation direction. both rotation types look
identical.

jim beam wrote:
> Bob wrote:
>
>> Does anyone here know about a cheap fix for a 1990 Honda Civic
>> throttle body sensor. Replacement is a killer.
>
>
> actually, replacement is really not too bad. i've just done it on my
> '90. you can remove the shear head bolts with a chisel. i don't mean
> pound them off, just use the corner of a sharp chisel to make a driving
> notch in one edge of the bolt, then carefully tap with the chisel at an
> angle so the head starts to turn. you can then screw the bolts out by
> hand. replace with M5-0.8's allen bolts when putting back together. if
> you're cunning, you can do this with the throttle body in place.
>
> fixing the throttle position sensor requires some fiddly work with a
> dremel, but again, it's simple if you look at what you have. there's a
> line of potting compound around the back plate where the sensor is
> assembled. carefully dremel that out until you can access the green
> circuit board beneath. carefully bend that up so you can see the carbon
> tracks on it. make sure everything is cleaned off. then, /carefully/
> "respring" the brushes on the rotator. there's two. also splay them
> slightly so they don't all run in the same grooves as before, but also
> so they don't touch. carefully reassemble, reseal what you dremeled out
> with appropriate filler, then after leaving to harden for 24 hours [i
> used silicone] put the sensor back in the same position you carefully
> marked before disassembly. do /not/ overfill - you'll glue up the
> carbon tracks. do it in two operations if necessary.
>
> reset the computer and enjoy!
>
> you can use this same chisel technique to acquire a replacement tps from
> a junk yard if you're not inclined to do the dremel thing. hint:
> generally, the tps's on automatics don't get quite as much wear as the
> sticks. and look out for tps's from different hondas too, but be
> careful they have the same rotation direction. both rotation types look
> identical.
>

Now that's what I LOVE about this group! bob

jim beam wrote:
>
> Bob wrote:
> > Does anyone here know about a cheap fix for a 1990 Honda Civic throttle body
> > sensor. Replacement is a killer.
>
> actually, replacement is really not too bad. i've just done it on my
> '90. you can remove the shear head bolts with a chisel. i don't mean
> pound them off, just use the corner of a sharp chisel to make a driving
> notch in one edge of the bolt, then carefully tap with the chisel at an
> angle so the head starts to turn. you can then screw the bolts out by
> hand. replace with M5-0.8's allen bolts when putting back together. if
> you're cunning, you can do this with the throttle body in place.
>
> fixing the throttle position sensor requires some fiddly work with a
> dremel, but again, it's simple if you look at what you have. there's a
> line of potting compound around the back plate where the sensor is
> assembled. carefully dremel that out until you can access the green
> circuit board beneath. carefully bend that up so you can see the carbon
> tracks on it. make sure everything is cleaned off. then, /carefully/
> "respring" the brushes on the rotator. there's two. also splay them
> slightly so they don't all run in the same grooves as before, but also
> so they don't touch. carefully reassemble, reseal what you dremeled out
> with appropriate filler, then after leaving to harden for 24 hours [i
> used silicone] put the sensor back in the same position you carefully
> marked before disassembly. do /not/ overfill - you'll glue up the
> carbon tracks. do it in two operations if necessary.
>
> reset the computer and enjoy!
>
> you can use this same chisel technique to acquire a replacement tps from
> a junk yard if you're not inclined to do the dremel thing. hint:
> generally, the tps's on automatics don't get quite as much wear as the
> sticks. and look out for tps's from different hondas too, but be
> careful they have the same rotation direction. both rotation types look
> identical.



You can also use a center punch rather than a chisel for loosening
screws. There is less danger of shearing the head.

Just my 2¢ worth...

JT