Nope. Just rolled out of Starmark about six weeks ago. Part of my rationale for removing and inspecting the TBA was the knowledge that I could no longer rely on Starmark, and that if the unit was visibly deteriorating, I should take steps to replace it preemptively myself.

Turned out that the throttle actuator unit itself looked *fantastic* internally. No wire cracking, no signs of overheating. The only point of complaint was lots of carbon on the underside of the butterfly plate, which I cleaned off meticulously.

I suspect that there may just be something simple and stupid that I'm overlooking in the re-install. I pinged TomE500 by PM and asked him about his throttle actuator re-install (by a tech). Tom helpfully dug up his notes for me.

Tom's notes say that the tech, quote, "R & R'd the Actuator then reset the Throttle Stop, Valves are OK. Cleared Faults. Runs to factory spec."

Our big mystery now is about these "valves" that the tech was referring to. The only valve on or around the TBA is the butterfly, which I guess should be checked to ensure that it pivots cleanly (this one is fine). Anyone have any light to shed on that?

On the throttle stop reset, I had had the impression that all one needed to do was to leave the car with the ignition on (but not running) for about five minutes after reassembly. This reportedly lets the computer learn the new dead-stop point of the throttle.

For fault clearing, I went to the diagnostic panel in front of the computer box. The LED there read off a 6 code when I prompted it with the input button, with no other codes in the system. I cleared the code using the button.

ASR warning still comes up instantly after ignition. If the car is driven for any distance (in limp mode) it stores another 6 code.

I'm thinking of polling the local dismantlers to see if I can find a high-mile but working TBA as a test. If I swap in one of those and the engine still throws a 6 code, that would be informative and rule out the TBA as the failure point.

On the other hand, if a boneyard unit works, that isolates the failure to the original TBA. Good as the original looks, there might be some subtle internal failure anyway. This strategy also puts the car on the road while I get a new OEM unit ordered from Phil at PartsShop.

s/b

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