i have a feeling something is going on with my Converter. this is not a "shuddering" problem, but more of a "bucking". under very light to light acceleration from a stand-still, the car acts like it's being choked off. the RPM's fluctuate fairly radically, and i have to lean into it a bit more to get it to accelerate smoothly. everything else afterward, including converter lockup goes off very smoothly. i don't think the problem is the actual locking up of the converter. it seems my converter is the opposite of most; it doesn't want to let go. under steady braking, once the car slows to around 20 mph and is about to stop, it's almost like the engine is being pulled down, to the point that the car has cut off on me several times at stop lights. it starts fine and shifts smooth enough, but with the car starting to cut off, i need to figure out what's going on and get it worked out.

the converter also likes to stay locked at very low speeds in OD. i have to flick the throttle fairly abruptly to get it to let go on inclines.

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call me Steve...

HAI, full 2.5" exhaust, resonator delete, Pioneer Audio, F17 transaxle, Toyo Versado LX 215/70/15's

Have you noticed it throwing any codes at you? (check engine light lit?)

Try unplugging the power to your throttle position sensor and see if it continues. My TPS went bad (sending too little voltage then sometimes too much) completely unrelated to the pedal's actual position. I was having the same problems. Some stop lights my car would almost stall, other times the RPMs would just climb uncontrollably every couple of seconds. Other times when I'd accelerate it would lurch and be really sensitive, then bogged down.

Give that a shot and see what happens. Your Check Engine light will come on without the TPS plugged in. You also won't have O/D (so try to stay below 55) or cruise control, but that's all it really changes.

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Bonneville SE -- Cruising the mountains, surfing the lowlands, and passing broken down competition since 1993!

i haven't had any incidents of high revving, but the bogging and stalling i've had plenty of. if i unplug the sensor and the problem goes away, i'm guessing that indicates i need to replace the TPS?

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call me Steve...

HAI, full 2.5" exhaust, resonator delete, Pioneer Audio, F17 transaxle, Toyo Versado LX 215/70/15's

I'm sorry for the terribly late reply. I don't check the boards nearly as much as I should. Yeah, I'd say that if the problem seems fixed after unplugging the TPS, it's probably a bad sensor. The parts involved in the sensors degrade with time by nature, so with our cars growing ever-closer to legal antiquity, it's not uncommon.

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Bonneville SE -- Cruising the mountains, surfing the lowlands, and passing broken down competition since 1993!