Hey, Spinn
Like Phil says, we're not hijacking your thread, we're just joyriding it for a bit!
More seriously, regards your original problem, I'm not sure you are looking for a solution in the right place.
I'm no electronics expert, I have not sorted my own problem yet, but I WILL.
I think you should be looking harder at the TPS for a solution. Your TPS itself may be faulty, or you may have a bad connection between the TPS and whichever connector block connects it to the ECU and TCU.
Here's the reason I say this; your TCU decides to put on power mode, based on a few parameters, such as road speed and so on. You will have noticed it is much easier to get Power on when going slowly, it's programmed that way. Now, aside from road speed, the one thing the TCU takes into account is the RATE, how fast, you floor the throttle. It interprets this call for power based on the rate of change of voltage shown by the TPS, from zero to 5 volts, or whatever the max is, I've forgotten.
Two things can be wrong with the TPS. It can be set wrong, so the TCU and ECU don't see the voltage they expect at tickover, say, and this creates running problems.
The other thing is closer to your problem. If the TPS is internally damaged through wear and tear, and there is a gap in the wiring that the sweeper crosses, this will give momentary zero readings to the outputs, and "confuse " the computers. Put another way, unless the TPS is good internally, the computers will not see a smooth rise in voltage with throttle depression, and will give erratic behaviour.
This is one way it could malfunction, and give your symptoms. Another way, causing the same problems, would be a poor connection between the TPS and the ECU or TCU. In your case, because the engine is not showing any erratic behaviour[that you have mentioned], but the TCU is activating Power mode for no reason, I strongly suspect you have a bad wiring connection between the TPS and the TCU.
Think about it. If for instance, you are stopped at the lights, and vibration causes the TPS signal to suddenly connect, and shows 3v to the TCU. The TCU sees an instant rise from 0v to 3v, and performs its function, switches in Power mode.
I could be totally wrong about the above, it is just my opinion based on what you describe. It could be caused by a bad earth somewhere which is giving an intermittent signal to the TCU, and causing the same symptoms.
But that is where I would start troubleshooting for your problem.
Best of luck with it man, I know you have had more than your fair share of problems.
Joe
