just an update, after fooling around with this, i noticed that the mechanic had left a small hose from the TPS running to the intake manifold off. it was just laying right beside the intake. I put it on, the hesitations stopped, and the MIL cleared itself. Not sure what the hose is, but it was certainly the culprit. Saved me $491.

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1996 E300 D
1992 300D
1990 Ford E-350 7.3 Diesel AKA "the Deep Fryer"

What is this hose? Can you post a picture? I don't have any hoses on my TPS, just a couple leading to/from the transmission vacuum controller plus a loose (black) hose that I'd like to find a home for -- it's possibly a vent but I can't find any information on it.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

96E300d here, and I had a code P0120 come up, which seems to be a generic code for a TPS malfunction, but does not mean that the TPS sensor itself is the culprit. After doing some searches, another poster brought up the fact that the TPS is also in a circuit with two other vacuum pressure sensors located on the side of the air filter box. One sensor controls the egr valve, the other the resonance flaps. Also in this vacuum circuit, is that small hose that comes off the intake manifold. It seems that all three work in conjunction with one another along with the TPS, and send information to the computer system. In my case, I cleaned off the vacuum pressure sensor that controlled the resonance flap circuit, and the code dissapeared.

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96 E300d