Hi guys I have a 5 spd te 3l with a brand new motor that only has about 8000k's on it.

I have a problem now though, I was going out to dinner when the car started spluttering at 70k's an hour, I pulled over and It sounded like my tappets were going to town, I turned the car off and started it again it was fine, and the tappets were quiet again. Forgot about it until 15 mins later it started doing it again, I pulled over and the car was idling at half its normal revs, I gave it a few seconds then I revved it and it was fine again. I drove the car home no worries, but the car has felt like there was a bit of lag in the acceleration for a while now, and I think this might be a carry on.

What does it sound like it is? I was thinking isc, cat, Maf or tps but I'm probably wrong. Also air filter is new.

Thanks in advance.

Spark plugs? Sounds like a misfire, just a thought, injector leads ok? Assuming new since new engine, plugs new too?

The plugs came with the block, injector leads and injectors did not

I wouldn't rule an internal fault in the distributor out..

Ok so before I checked the dizzy out I figured Id try a few things. Now the ignition leads that are on there, came from my old motor and the leaking tube seals in that ate away at some of the rubbers where it seals, so I found 6 good ones at U Pull it and put them in the shed to replace them down the track. So today I refitted the front bank with 3 better leads, I replaced the Idle Speed Controller with one that I had in the shed and cleaned up, I cleaned out the TB (even though I will still spotless from the last time I did it), I check the bolts on the accelerator cable, then I replaced the TPS with one from a Verada I have sitting here.

Now on the TPS I didnt realise that the angle played such a large part in the cars electrics, I pulled mine off, the one from the verada had markings to reposition it in the right spot, so I figured I would go by that, put in the one from the verada and see what happened. Took it for a drive for about 20 mins, and nothing went wrong, I will reserve my celebrations for the coming week as I could happen on the way to work.

Question really is, could a bad positioned TPS cause the car to idle rough and want to stall once say every 20 minutes?

I was going to check the dizzy, but Im still not sure about setting TDC as my manual is useless like that.

considering the tps tells the ecu how far the throttle is opened and in turn the ecu delivers the amount of fuel needed, im assuming it could cause the car to idle rough????. my tps died yesterday, and after replacing it, it has made a hell of a difference in running, power and economy. now to adjust the tps is something im not 100% clued on, so im also waiting patiently for some advice here :)

TPS adjustment procedure is in the manual. Read and learn. (or wait for someone to give you the details. lol) I can't remember, but I do know you need a small philips head screwdriver and multimeter.

For the first test you need to measure the voltage, you back probe terminal 2 and terminal 4, however I could not get a reading for back probing.

Back probing is a PITA, the manual (I only have TH/TJ) suggests using a test harness which is basically a set of paired leads that you can use to connect disconnected connectors (!!) while connecting your multimeter to certain terminals. I have found twisting narrow gauge wire around the multitester probes, essentially making really thin probes (as advised by the Gregorys manual for my old TN) is effective when back probing but I have always been a bit concerned that could damage the plugs somehow. You will need the manual for the full procedure (as well as feeler gauges) as there are a number of steps and careful considerations and there is a difference between the TCL and non-TCL procedure. Considering that the sensor contains both an idle switch and a TPS (which is really just a variable resistor) its position needs to be spot on if you expect good idling and proper performance.