i have a few questions, i've searched this site as well as google and can't really find what i'm looking for.

back info on the car
car belongs to my mother, it's an 02 accent with the 1.6 dohc motor and automatic transmission. it has 51k miles on it.
about a week ago the tranny started acting weird, it would shift really hard and sometimes i would have to take my foot of the gas pedal all the way for it to upshift.
i checked the tranny fluid and it was full, but was a little dirty looking.
i did a pan drop and changed the filter and fluid.
that didn't fix anything.
2 days ago my mom called me an said that the check engine light came on.
the cel was 0121, i found this to be the tps code.
after searching around google i read that a bad tps could cause tranny issues like the car was having.
i checked out the tps and it didn't seem that bad, but it wasn't in spec so we bought a new one.

still having the problem.

i've done a few searches and i keep reading that it might be an issue with the MAF. i can't find a MAF on this car anywhere.

i pulled off a sensor on the intake manifold and it was pretty gummed up so i cleaned it a little. it seemed to make a small difference. right now i'm going to go out and take that sensor off again and clean it better to see if that fixes it. the sensor i cleaned is the iacv. i'm going to pull the map sensor off also and see if it is dirty.

anyone have an idea of what the problem might be?

 

Is your Mom the original owner? If so, it's still under warranty.

 

yes my mom is the original owner.
however the dealer wants money to run a check on the car. also they told us the tranny is not covered under the warranty because we didn't change the fluid at 30k miles or something like that.

i'd rather stay away from dealers, kinda why i'm asking here.
i've worked at dealerships, and i don't go there unless i need to.


anyone have an answer to my question?

does this car have a MAF? i keep reading online that it does, but i can't find one under the hood. also napa auto parts told me only the 1.5 has the MAF, i have the 1.6

 

I don't think you have a trans problem, you'd have a trans code if you did.

The 1.5 has a MAP, which is similar to a MAF. Can you see this image?




http://www.hmaservice.com/data/Passe...G/efdd301l.gif

 

well i did a lot of searching on google and read about pulse generators causing the same tranny problems i'm having. strange that i'm not seeing a code for them.
i'm going to take a look at the map sensor tomorrow. i pulled it out today, it looked really dirty, but it started to rain hard so i packed up.
like i said i cleaned the iacv while i had it off. it was really dirty too.

i'm also going to test the pulse generators to see if maybe they are bad.

the map sensor looked like it had some fluid on it. looked like oil, but as soon as i saw it the rain started and i didn't want to get anything wet so i closed the hood quick.

also i've looked all over that hmaservice.com site and i can't find pics like that. how do you search around there?

 

Once you login to the hmaservice site, then just click on "Shop". There is good info for the 1.5 L Accent LC, info for the 1.6 is lacking about the motor, but I would bet they are exactly the same thing.

Transmission codes go from the P0700 to P0800 range.

http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/

 

P0121 could mean just having a bad connection.

Causes

A code P0121 may mean that one or more of the following has happened:

* TPS has intermittent open or short internally
* Harness is rubbing and causing an open or short in the wiring
* Bad connection at the TPS
* Bad PCM (less likely)
* Water or corrosion in connector or sensor

Possible Solutions

1. If you have access to a scan tool, see what the idle and WOT (wide open throttle) readings are for the TPS. Check if they're close to the specifications mentioned above. If not, then replace the TPS and re-check.

2. Check for an intermittent open or short in the TPS signal. To do that, you can't use a scan tool. You'll need an oscilliscope. The reason is because scan tools take samplings of many different readings over just one or two data lines and can miss an intermittent drop out. Hook up your oscilliscope and watch the signal. It should sweep up and down smoothly with no drop outs or spikes.

3. If no problems were noticed, perform a wiggle test. Do this by wiggling the connector and harness while watching the pattern. Does it drop out? If so, replace TPS and re-check.

4. If you have no TPS signal, check for 5 Volt reference at the connector. If it's present, check the ground circuit for open or shorts.

5. Make sure the signal circuit isn't 12V. It should never have battery voltage. If it does, trace circuit for short to voltage and repair.

6. Look for any water in the connector and replace TPS as necessary.

 

well i checked the tps and it was a little off of spec so we got a new one.
this didn't fix the problem.

an old friend of mine used to work for kia and he told me that sometimes he saw something similar and it was the map sensor. he said that somehow oil got in the intake manifold and would mess up the map sensor.

i didn't even tell him that i found oil on the map sensor.
so right now i'm gonna go out and check everything, the sun is shining today so i should be safe from the rain.

 

Let us know how you make out. Good luck.

 

i will, thank you for the help