1989 S-10 Blazer ENGINE LIGHT TPS? WATER IN SYSTEM?

[midnitegardener]

i have an 89 s-10 blazer that i just bought used. it had a rough idle when stopped in drive but would go away if the brake and some gas was applied. maybe idle setting or timing? anyway, it was tolerable until i put Gunk on the engine and hosed it off. immediately after hosing, i started it and the "service engine soon" light came on. over the last day and a half, it still comes on although sometimes takes longer after start up.

now it runs very rough and sometimes stalls at stops. a lot worse than before. could i have wet some connections? how do i get them to dry out and how do i get the light to go off? i took it to an auto parts store and they said the code says it could be the throttle position sensor. how can i find this under the hood and test it?

i need this car for work and i would like to figure this out asap. thanks for the help.

[riddick79]

first of all what engine is it? remove your dis cap and look for water, or just beening wet. if it's the 2.2L the cap is kinda upside down in the rear of the engine on the passenger side. so take a loot at that.

[midnitegardener]

Originally Posted by riddick79

first of all what engine is it? remove your dis cap and look for water, or just beening wet. if it's the 2.2L the cap is kinda upside down in the rear of the engine on the passenger side. so take a loot at that.

it's the 4.3. i believe the cap is toward the fire wall in the middle. it appears to be next to impossible to remove. i don't know if it is upside down or not. it is right where the bottom of the hood meets the engine compartment so not a lot of space to work with. say i get it off, how do i dry it out or fix it? thanks.

[riddick79]

just blow it out with air and wipe dry. or you can try PB Blaster, it's a spray lube that if your dis cap gets wet you can spary this stuff in it and it will start.

[midnitegardener]

thanks. i'll try it. hopefully that's it. if so, will the light go off? the code that it gives is 21 which relates somehow to the TPS.

[riddick79]

the light probley won't go off. but if the code had to do with the (tps) test it with a mutlimeter to see if it's bad or not and go from there.

[quaddriver]

Im betting it aint dis but rather a tbi z-motor.

cap comes off easy, you can change the cap, heck the whole distibutor with the motor in the truck.

you likely have water in the cap and/or the coil pack is porous.

common problems, fairly inexpensive fixes.

[midnitegardener]

i guess i should have started off by saying i know nothing about cars. i have no idea how to check the tps, let alone know what it looks like. as far as the distributor cap, how does it come off? again, talk to me like i'm 3 because i'm dumb when it comes to cars. thanks.

[Mikado14]

The '89 should have two phillips screws (no 1) holding it on. I would not spray PB Blaster to displace water. Use WD40 or an electrical spray for that purpose. Most cans will say if they displace water and are safe for electrical connections.