My mother-in-law has a 2002 Toyota Camry 4-cyl. The other day her check engine light came on and her Camry started acting up as follows;

It starts and idles fine but if you step on the gas pedal nothing happens until you get it about 1/3 of the way down, then it goes. If you floor it, either from a dead stop or while moving it does not accelerate at all and if you are moving the engine acts as if you suddenly removed your foot from the gas.

It also doesn't seem to want to go into OD. I drove it to the shop and going about 50 mph the thing ran around 3000 rpm.

I had the engine code read and it was P1120. The guy at the shop replaced the air flow sensor which apparently didn't fix it. Now he is saying that it needs a new throttle body ($900). I don't know much about the throttle body but what little i do know makes me believe that it is not the problem.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any ideas?

Thank you!

 

P1120 Accelerator Pedal Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction

The engine computer needs to know the how open or closed the throttle valve is. This sensor determines the position of the throttle for the computer.

The air flow sensor was a good guess but is not related to this code which is very specific, the mechanic should not have changed the air flow sensor.

The position sensor is attached to the throttle body, it should be able to be replaced without needing a new throttle body.

Suggest getting a second opinion.

 

I am having the same problem on my 2002. It has always had a problem with a low idle and it stopped a few times but the engine was still running and when I press the accelerator nothing happened. I need to fix it, and my two options are that accelerator pedal sensor at the gas pedal or the throttle position sensor on the throttle body...
ANyone know which one??

 

The electric throttle is only on the 4 cylinder, the V6 should still has a throttle cable.

If the engine has the electric throttle have some turn the ign key on and press the throttle up and down while you listen to the motor in the throttle body. If it is working you will hear the motor working.

There have been complaints about the throttle motor in the throttle body sticking or failing. Typically a failure will cause the check engine light to come on.

If you have an ohm meter and can do the electrical test you can test the throttle pedal sensor.

 

My 2002 camry has also had a problem going when you have the pedal to the medal so to speak. It won't move at all. It is really nerve racking when it does it in the middle of traffic. The check engine light came on and we managed to make it to a parts store and had the code ran it came back as 3 different codes. We took the codes to the dealer and the one they came up with was an accelerator pedal positioning sensor. This part costs close to $500 and that is no guarantee that is the problem. I am trying to narrow down the problem before i make any drastic decisions. Did the throttle body have to be changed on the other vehicles or was it something else? Any insite as to the fix to the problem would be greatly appreciated