Does this sound like a throttle cable issue? (1 Viewer)

[Josh83]

I hopped in the 97 last weekend and fired it up and it immediately jumped to ~2500 RPM and idled there. I shut it off quickly and let it set a second and fired it back up and it started and idled normally. I did not touch the gas pedal in the midst of all of this. My cable is original to the best of my knowledge(purchased truck with 140K, currently at 145K) and the outher black sheething is cracked in one spot and peeling off some, but the cable inside is not rusted or otherwise coroded. This is the first time I have had this issue since purchase last September and I have not had any "sticky throttle" issues like were reported by others here this past winter even when the temp dipped into single digits.

 

[turbocruiser]

I cannot say for sure that this is the throttle cable but i can say for sure that if your cable is cracked in any way any at all, REPLACE IT!!! It is too important a thing to take the chance with. If the problem persists after replacing the throttle cable, you can start to look at the throttle position sensor or any other sensor related to air/fuel ratios, rpms, etc. But first, just for safety's sake, not for the sake of throwing parts at problems which is almost never advisable, replace the throttle cable. HTH.

 

[Cruiserhead05]

Turbo, i dont disagree with your statement and its probably not a bad idea to replace it but im at 248k miles. original cable which still seems to operate fine, its severely cracked in many places. Just wanted to know the real safety concerns involved...just want to know why i should look into getting a new one. Also, i thought i read they are a pain to swap out, is this correct or is it just me?

Thanks

 

[turbocruiser]

Turbo, i dont disagree with your statement and its probably not a bad idea to replace it but im at 248k miles. original cable which still seems to operate fine, its severely cracked in many places. Just wanted to know the real safety concerns involved...just want to know why i should look into getting a new one. Also, i thought i read they are a pain to swap out, is this correct or is it just me?

Thanks

Well, if the cable is indeed cracked inside it can "grab" the braided steel section inside and prevent it from retracting within the outer sheath which will then translate to preventing the gas pedal from rebounding as you remove your foot to decelerate. This could be catastrophic.

Of course filter everything i say through my paranoid mind but really, I'd rather take a chance on bad drive belts, bad batts, bad almost anything other than an accelerator cable or bad brakes - just not worth the potential problems. That is the context of my post, not that the cable is definitely the reason for the high idle - that could be so many things that a "phone diagnosis" is impossible but again because it was mentioned, my mind went with it!!! HTH.