Hiya, my first thread on this site and hopefully will get my 2002 multipla back on the road, the throttle keeps racing upto between 2500-3000 revs from starting up the engine it idles initially then starts racing, ive been told it could be the potentionmeter on the throttle pedal, does this sound viable, and if so how difficult is it to change, if possible. thanks - lawrie

Re: Location of White Connector.............

It's general its worth mentioning one of the best technical tools in any master mechanics chest. The five~fingered tool is one of those brilliant and underused bits of diagnostic equipment, always available [in fact you have two] never gets rusty its a first line finder of intermittent faults. It works with any electrical wiring / connectors / etc particularly where you need 4 hours to dismantle bits and get under dark inaccessible seats / bulkheads / dashboards etc. Grab it with your 5 fingered tool and shake it gently, you would be amazed at how many connectors in 20 miles of cables get loose or dirty after 5 years let alone 10 years.

In the particular then, its a lump of wire from the drivers footwell to the passenger footwell. If someone gets hold of the wire coming out of the potentiometer at the top of the throttle and (1) shakes it and you grope for and find shaking wires in the passenger footwell, then find which (2) single wire is being shook - you've found it - and which of the two connector blocks [usually the white one] is at fault.

The fault manifests itself as an intermittent or very occasionally permanent lack of acceleration dead spots. The volts read by the TPS is sent down that wire in the form of OHMS resistance value eventually to the ECM under the passenger seat. The result of a 'break' in transmission of OHMS value to the ECM means the ECM will put a 'safety default limiter' on the RPM output to the engine by the ECM.

Essentially it will limit the revs [Limp Mode] on the engine, though as I remember it was lower than the 2500-3000 revs you mention. Fixing it permanent can be any which way but a simple snip / solder & sleeve will make it permanent and protected from ingress.

Best of luck.

Hiya thanks very much for your prompt reply, i'll that 5 fingered tool a whirl, and let you know the outcome cheers, so no need to replace the item i can just isolate it and all should be well then ?? thanks again - lawrie

HiYa, not sure what you mean by isolate ..... as in make alone / apart from / quarantine etc - I meant remake the bad connection as a good connection by whatever means you decide. You might find that pulling apart and putting it back together 6 times cleans the contact surfaces enough to give good continuity, or solder & sleeve or just snip back and use 2a chokky blocks to make the connection good. best of luck.

Hi there.
It is a sod to get to and usually involves removing the entire pedal block, so I was told by Fiat who quoted four hours at £80 an hour! The part is about £160 on eBay. Before trying anything else, find the white multiplug under the dash in the passenger footwell, unplug it, then plug it back together again. I did that and all my throttle issues disappeared. No guarrantees, but worth a try.
Biggles