P2138 code Accelerator Position Sensor & Control Arm (unrelated)

[evilted_detlive]

Encountered the Accelerator Position Sensor malfunction issue last Thursday. Car went into limp mode and after re-starting would go back into limp mode repeatedly, even after clearing the code. I was by the dealer, so just dropped it off, gave them the fault code and told them to have at it.

They confirmed that the APS was faulty and had to be replaced, so I let them do it and told them to do a general inspection or whatever while the car was on the lift. They told me that day that the rear brakes needed replacing, and I told them to go ahead and do that too.

The shop called me today to tell me that the car was ready and to confirm that I wanted them to do nothing with the control arm. I didn't know what they were talking about, and the guy said, oh, he "must've forgotten to call me." He said that the control arm was cracked, but this wasn't a big deal and I should take care of it before the winter. This sounded alarming, so I was like, "What? The arm is cracked?" and he confirmed. A hunk of metal being cracked doesn't sound like a small deal so I asked if he meant the arm or the bushing. He said "oh, the bushing." I thought it was funny, in any case.

So they charge $500 to replace (both bushings presumably,) which seems crazy, unless things have changed in the past few years. Is that a fair price nowadays?

The arms have to be pulled, the bushings pushed out, the new ones pressed in, then reinstallation and an alignment. $500 seems high. I replaced control arms a long time ago on an '89 325ic. I'm fairly certain the parts (and labor for the alignment) didn't come up to anything close to $500 - but that was in late 1990's and those were simpler times. Plus I figure that the front end of the older BMW (RWD) is a lot easier to work on than the newer Honda (FWD).

[03LXV6]

I was quoted 120 per side for labor by an independent shop to replace mine. I paid about 30 for the parts. If I take the arms off and bring them in it will be $40 per side. It is a lot of work to take them off so I guess $500 is about right for dealership work.

[TonyWare]

Both sides, lower control arm bushings take 2.4 hours to change, at least according to the official Honda estimates in their own "book", and it is not that complicated to do. Even at $100 an hour (!) still nowhere close to a $500 total.

I hope the $500 included a wheel alignment (that is a must after you change the arm bushings or the arm itself).

By the way, if the arm itself ever cracks .... call Honda USA directly. It may be a reason for a massive recall. These things aren't suppose to crack, especially the lower one.

[evilted_detlive]

Hey Tony,

Yeah their price included the alignment, but still, that's steep. I'll look for a local shop.

Thanks!

[evilted_detlive]

Originally Posted by 03LXV6

I was quoted 120 per side for labor by an independent shop to replace mine. I paid about 30 for the parts. If I take the arms off and bring them in it will be $40 per side. It is a lot of work to take them off so I guess $500 is about right for dealership work.

270 labor + parts sounds way more reasonable. Even if the alignment runs like 100, all together that still beats the dealer.

How many miles did you have on your car when the bearings failed? I've got close to 94k on mine, so I don't think that's too bad.

[Accord Inspire]

I encounter the same problem as evilted_detlive on my 03 Accord EX V6, except my check engine light went away after the failure.

I still notice jumpy acceleration even though my right foot is steady on the gas, so I imagine the problem is still there.

Since my money is really tight these days, I plan on fixing this problem by myself, if it's a unplug-old-sensor, plug-in-new-sensor type of thing.

Does anyone know if this is a cheap and easy DIY-er?

Anyone know where I can find the part number?

Thanks in advance.

[Fredsvt]

Curious, which TPS did they change, the one for your foot or the correlation sensor/throttle body?

How much did they charge to fix the P2138?

[Accord Inspire]

Originally Posted by Fredsvt

Curious, which TPS did they change, the one for your foot or the correlation sensor/throttle body?

How much did they charge to fix the P2138?

I went to local Honda dealer yesterday, asking for throttle position sensor. The first guy at the counter showed me the part on the screen, said I have to order it with the throttle body, and that'll be $499 for the part.

But the part didn't look like the thing I was looking for (some other post mentioned it to be around the place where the right front shocks are bolted), so I went to my car to take a picture of it.

When I went back to the counter, the guy had left and a different guy (who seemed to be the managerial type), came and asked if I needed help. I told him the same story but said I may need the "accelerator" position sensor.

This time, it took him a while to find it. It was $170, or dealer price of $140. I was still hesitant about ordering it, as I'm not sure if that's the part I need.

Then I gave him the P2138 fault code, and he looked it up along with my car model, and it directed him to the same part. He said, if I were to bring the car in, and the computer showed that code, they'll replace the same part that's on the screen. So I ordered it. This nice guy also gave me the $140 dealer price instead of $170. Total with tax was $152.25.

Today, the part arrived at the dealership. It looked simple, just don't know how to get the old one off. After 5 minutes of contemplating on doing it right here at home or wait until tomorrow to try it at my work in case something does go wrong (next door neighbors are car service garages), I decided it was held down by simple nuts and bolts, so I went for it.

30 minutes later, I was done. My hand was black from all that engine gunk, but the new APS was ON!!!

My car felt really good when I drove it around the corner (this was 10 PM at night, no time for longer drives). My accelerator seem more responsive. The engine check light didn't even come on this time (last time when I unplugged it, engine check light came on even after I plugged it back in).

I'll see if indeed this APS was the culprit of my jumpy acceleration in a week or two.

The part number that I ordered is: 37971-RCA-A01 I just realized that some places online were selling these for about $100 + shipping. Oh well, at least I saved some money on labor, I guess.

I'll post pictures if anyone needs it.

[Carloscda37]

Please post pictures...

[Accord Inspire]

Ok, if you are not in dire need (chances are, you are not), I highly recommend ordering it online from somewhere. Same exact part, less money, what's not to like?

You will need the 10mm socket, extension, and ratchet.

Step 1: Undo the two bolts that's securing the black dust cover.

Step 2: Undo the throttle cable. Then undo the two or three bolts (on the underside) that's securing the assembly to a plate.

Now the entire assembly is ready to come out. You will need to Tetris it out, as it is a tight fit.

Step 3: After you took out the assembly, undo the two bolts securing it to the plate, swap out the old and put in the new, and you are ready to go with the new sensor.

The rest is just screwing the bolts back on. Very easy. Anyone with medium sized hands can do it.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVEYONE!

[DougNuts]

Originally Posted by evilted_detlive

Plus I figure that the front end of the older BMW (RWD) is a lot easier to work on than the newer Honda (FWD).

They are remarkably similar with their reverse L control arms. Honda front ends are easy to work on.

[ddwheeler]

Originally Posted by Accord Inspire

Ok, if you are not in dire need (chances are, you are not), I highly recommend ordering it online from somewhere. Same exact part, less money, what's not to like?

You will need the 10mm socket, extension, and ratchet.

Step 1: Undo the two bolts that's securing the black dust cover.

Step 2: Undo the throttle cable. Then undo the two or three bolts (on the underside) that's securing the assembly to a plate.

Now the entire assembly is ready to come out. You will need to Tetris it out, as it is a tight fit.

Step 3: After you took out the assembly, undo the two bolts securing it to the plate, swap out the old and put in the new, and you are ready to go with the new sensor.

The rest is just screwing the bolts back on. Very easy. Anyone with medium sized hands can do it.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVEYONE!

I wanted to be sure and leave you this message, advising you that I had this very same problem with my 2006 Accord SE. I read through several websites but bookmarked this page due to your gracious offering of details of the process to replace the accelerator pedal position sensor.

I just, today, referenced your information and was able to replace the sensor in my car, which 100% resolved my problem. Again, thank you, VERY MUCH, for your information. It has proven to be so helpful and so valuable.

I thought I'd like to contribute to the discussion by describing some of the symptoms of my problem, some of which were a bit different than what I've read online (unless I've just missed it).

First of all, acceleration became very sporadic, not smooth. Pardon my freedom of use of the language, but my thoughts were terms like "herky-jerky," or "surgey" (I realize there's no such word.. heh-heh). In other words, if you could view acceleration on a graph you should see a smooth, curving line going upwards from left to right. In my case, you'd see it first staying flat then with a sudden upward surge, then smoothing out, no response/flattening out and then surging again.

That was the basic, everyday response when I'd accelerate. But it had digressed to a point where on several occasions I'd be driving along, and most notably when I was decelerating as I approached a stop (but not 100% of the time) and the check engine light would suddenly come on, you could hear/feel a sort of a "clunk" and then you'd have hardly any response at all, no matter how much you pressed the accelerator pedal. But I could pull off to the side of the road, stop the car and put it in "park," turn off the engine and start it back up and I'd regain acceleration. It would be back to the herky-jerky stuff but I could at least get moving again.

A colleague from work has a computer and we hooked it up to the car in order to see what codes we'd get (this was just before I researched the codes and found this website). It gave me the accelerator pedal position sensor code (I forget the exact code, offhand).

After reading your instructions I looked online and found a place (a Honda dealership service/repair shop, in fact) where I ordered the part. The cost of the part, including shipment, came to $115 and some change.

I replaced the part today and I'm back in business again. I'd say it took me maybe 30-45 minutes, total, to finish the job.

In addition to the 10mm socket w/extension I also used a 10mm crescent wrench... actually used the closed end... as I couldn't get to one of the underside bolts with the socket as there were rigid lines underneath.

I also used a 12mm crescent wrench to loosen/tighten the nut which secures the accelerator cable to the lever on the accelerator position sensor.

I will add that it is also helpful to have a flat-head screwdriver to help you ease the cable connector off of the sensor. You press in the lock on the side with your thumb of one hand and use the tip of the flat-head screwdriver with the other hand, inserting it between the edge of the connector and the base and gently twist/turn it so as to get the connector to unseat and begin lifting it away/upward. Once you've gotten it initially loosened you can easily pull it off with your fingers.

Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to be sure and thank you for your offering of valuable information and insight, and offer any further details which I may, which I drew from my experience in replacing the part.

Give a big "Happy Mother's Day" to all of your mothers tomorrow!

[kingmoocow]

My car threw this code P2138 a couple of times over the last 3 months with the same symptoms someone above mentioned - car went limp. Fine after a restart (funny how I had to reboot the car) and CEL cleared the next day on both occasions.

However in the last few days I've started having erratic acceleration like accord_inspire mentioned -- jumpy even when steady on the gas -- though it's much more pronounced when the accelerator is flat on the floor. Odd thing is that i'm not getting any CEL right now... Ordering this part today hoping that fixes the erratic throttle. Thanks!

[zro26t]

Good thread! Have the same problem on my '07 AV6. CEL came on today while wifey was driving back home from out of town. P2138 TPS Voltage Correlation is what the local auto store's scanner displayed. Guess I'll be ordering a new TPS sensor.

[cavalier858]

Ordered the throttle position sensor part no. 37971-RCA-A01 on Sept 12. honda back order till Sept 26. So I probably will get it 1st week in October. $111.00 plus shipping.

It will sit on my parts shelf in case it's needed.