A few questions

[oVerboost]

It's been a good few years since I last had a nova, and sadly I've misplaced most of my knowledge lol

Anyway, heres a few questions, hopefully some of you kind folk can advise me the best way to solve the problems:

1. Second gear is sometimes hard to engage and it goes straight into 4th, is this a case of re-setting the linkages or is it something else like the plastic connectors etc? Its a F16 box on a C20XE.

2. I have asked this already, but would a faulty throttle position sensor cause the car to kangaroo and jerk violently at full throttle (foot to the floor) but be fine everywhere else in the rev range?

3. The car has a poor idle when cold and wants to die, is this also going to be linked to the the TPS or more likely to be the idle control valve? Whats the best way to clean this out?

Thanks.

[meritlover]

1. adjust the linkage as per the haynes, check for wear/play in the knuckles and replace if required.

2. yes, but so could other things like the CTS or the ATS for eg.

3. if you have doubt about the TPS change this first before overhauling the ICV. Strip down, use carb cleaner or petrol to remove the gunk. if its only poor when cold then that would suggest the valve works when hot.

you can test the ICV by:
applying the handbrake
engage 1st
bite the clutch but dont touch the throttle.
increase the load on the engine, the ICV should try and open to control the idle speed.
press the clutch and the revs should jump up then drop back down again.

[oVerboost]

Well with the TPS unplugged, it lets you use full throttle so maybe it is related.