Thread: Engine management

Hi all,
Hope you don't mind a bit of a story followed by a question. Otherwise it.s something I'll take up with the dealer next time the car goes in for a service.
I have a 2015 110 and bought it partly due to its lack of bells and whistles. Once out of warranty I intended to service it myself as with all the cars I've owned/ even my wife's Beemer after I got a scanner for it. This is partly because I'm a TA but also because I like to know how a car works and can be looked after. This and other forums are great for this. While under warranty the Landy had a few issues, Turbo hose failed, MAF sensor failed, and just out of warranty the Intercooler split. Each time the car goes into Limp mode and I lose a days work. The dealer was pretty good and the way they operate is pretty good for Metro areas, they send out a tow truck to take the car to a service centre and send out a driver with a replacement vehicle. Since then I've had 2 times It's gone into Limp. The first time it was taken to the dealer who reset the fault then kept it for a few days test driving it to see if the fault recurred, it didn't. They said the fault was a turbo boost fault when I got the car back. The problem is, I don't fancy being 100's of K's from anywhere on "the great Aussie adventure" and have to drive at 35Km/hr.
I have previously tried to get a cheap diagnostic tool (I'm a TA remember) but it didn't work and I gave up. It was a PC based OB11 plug/dvd software thingy. I Googled a bit and got a cheapie version of Ultragauge as I liked the idea of data streaming in real time. I didn't really expect it to work properly and was a bit surprised when it gave what looked like real information. A week or so later the car went into Limp and the error showed P2263 which is Turbo boost related. I reset it and all is OK for now.
The question: One of the data's is Throttle Position Sensor, is shows 93%, has always shown 93% and doesn't change from 93%. I took this to be a mis-readind and ignored it. The other funny thing is, just when accelerating from idle the indicated fuel consumption jumps to 80/90+ Litres per 100Km for 30 seconds or so before going to a more normal reading, and the car blows black smoke on acceleration. All of which I have ignored, particularly the blowing black smoke. Is it possible for the TPS to be faulty and not bring up an error such that it will operate somewhat normally (ie, not drive like you're flooring it constantly) but yet let the engine management think the injectors should be pumping heaps of fuel into the engine.
Also, is it possible to check the TPS voltages where they input to the cpu? It looks awkward to check them at the pedal.
Thanks for any input, it's my first post here.

I recently had a TPS fault. I use a GAP diagnostics tool (App on iPhone with BT dongle). Live data was showing TPS sensor 1 (at throttle) working normal (ie 1 to 100% as i pressed the throttle), TPS sensor 2 (i assume ECU reading) was either intermittently reading parallel to sensor 1 (1 to 100%) or remaining no higher than 10% when sensor 1 was at 100%. Turned out to be a shorted wire in the harness touching the cabin.

I also had recently (yes lots went wrong in short succession) a sticky waste gate actuator which wouldn't fully open therefore over-boosting. You could feel it was short of full range by pushing the actuator rod into the turbo body (it will reset to neutral when released). I sprayed it with loob in hope to work it unsticky. The actuator is in the turbo housing. i was told is not serviceable. thus i have a new turbo (Bailey Diesel about $850 on core exchange).

FWIW, a good diagnostic tool will save you money in the long term and may be the difference between moving or not in the outback.