I'm sure everyone knows how to do this, but i did not see any threads showing the steps; this might help a newbie prepare for the job.
So, ever since i bought my LX, it's had a pretty excessive idle. After drives, when it went in park it would jump from 800 to about 1.5k RPM. When i put my foot behind the gas pedal and pulled towards me, the high idle would immediately stop. Not good! after looking at my throttle cable and finding it was disintegrating, i knew it was time for a replacement.
SO... here's how i did it.
TOOLS I USED
REMOVAL
STEP 1: Make yourself some space
STEP 2: Remove the accelerator pedal
STEP 3: Separate cable from pedal
STEP 4: Unbolt cable bracket from firewall
STEP 5: Pop the hood and unhook cable
STEP 6: Feed wire into the cab
INSTALLATION
I could just say install is reverse of removal.. but that would be half-assing things. So...
STEP 1: Feed wire into the engine bay
STEP 2: Sandwich the brackets together, and attach to firewall
STEP 3: Place cable in the hold downs
STEP 4: attach cable to throttle body.
STEP 5: Attach accelerator pedal
STEP 6: Adjust cable slack
And that is about it! go out and enjoy your car-like smooth idle, being able to hold conversations at red lights, and getting 0.25 mpg more!
So, ever since i bought my LX, it's had a pretty excessive idle. After drives, when it went in park it would jump from 800 to about 1.5k RPM. When i put my foot behind the gas pedal and pulled towards me, the high idle would immediately stop. Not good! after looking at my throttle cable and finding it was disintegrating, i knew it was time for a replacement.
SO... here's how i did it.
| DIFICULTY | TIME INVESTMENT | REPLACEMENT PART NUMBER |
|---|---|---|
 / 2 | 30 Minutes | 78180-60280 |
TOOLS I USED
- Ratchet
- 10 mm Socket
- 12 mm wrench
- 10" extension
- 18" extension
- Swivel Adapter
- Head Lamp (not pictured)
REMOVAL
STEP 1: Make yourself some space
Move seat all the way back, remove any floor mats if applicable, fold carpet to completely uncover accelerator pedal assembly if needed. Put on your handy head lamp on at this time; there is no real estate down there for a light, and holding one in your hand just makes you 50% less efficient.
STEP 2: Remove the accelerator pedal
The pedal is held on by two 10 mm bolts. One at 12 o'clock, one at 6 o clock. Use your ratchet with the 18" extension and the 10 mm socket to get these bolts out.
STEP 3: Separate cable from pedal
The pedal has a hole with a slot where the end of the cable rests. To remove this, simply pull the cable head (cylinder looking part) and then slide it towards the slot. At this point you can put the accelerator pedal aside.
STEP 4: Unbolt cable bracket from firewall
Now you have a better view for the two 10 mm bolts holding the cable assembly to the firewall. Use the ratchet with the 10" extension, swivel joint and 10 mm socket to remove this. I find it most comfortable to lay on my back, route the socket with my right hand, and then work the ratchet with the left hand.
STEP 5: Pop the hood and unhook cable
After you remove the two bolts, you'll have to unhook the cable from the throttle body. Use the 12 mm wrench to loosen one side. If your nuts are tight (hehe) i recommend using a second wrench on the second nut to avoid bending or breaking anything.
With the cable removed from the base, use one hand to pull the throttle body valve towards the cab, to remove cable tension. Hold the valve open while you work the cable loose from its slot. You will have to raise the cable until it is aligned with the open slot on the valve, then you simply pull it off to the side.
Once the cable is undone, route it towards the drivers side, and pull it out of the three hold downs. Make sure you pull back on the cable and not down; pulling down will bend the bracket open and it will not hold the new cable in properly.
Here are pics of the three hold downs
STEP 6: Feed wire into the cab
With the cable completely loose, try to align it with the hole in the firewall to begin feeding it through to the cab. The cable needs to be above the center line of the master cylinder for it to easily slide into the cab. If it does not want to go in, it is because the cable is bent too far down.
INSTALLATION
I could just say install is reverse of removal.. but that would be half-assing things. So...
STEP 1: Feed wire into the engine bay
Feed the new cable through the hole in the firewall. make sure you don't drag it to much, as that can chafe the cable. Start with a short section, move to the engine bay to route it where it has space to move, then continue feeding it out from the cab. Do not push it all the way back, having it closer to you is better for step 2, below.
STEP 2: Sandwich the brackets together, and attach to firewall
It is way easier to mount the metal bracket to the cable bracket, and then both of those together to the firewall, than it is to do it separately. Align the metal bracket with the cable bracket and feed both 10 mm bolts through the holes. The cable bracket has two tabs that fit into slots on the metal bracket, make sure those seat properly. Then, align the bolts with the holes in the firewall and start driving the bolts in. You can tighten them at this time.
STEP 3: Place cable in the hold downs
Back in the engine bay, route the cable through the original location, making sure that you place the cable in all the original hold downs. The cable includes nuts at specific portions of the cable. These nuts indicate that a hold down point comes immediately after.
STEP 4: attach cable to throttle body.
NOTE: I found it much easier to attach the cable to the throttle body first, and then attach the cable to the accelerator pedal. Your experience may be different. Steps 4 and 5 can be interchanged per your preferences.
Once properly routed, pull on the throttle valve to insert the new cable end in the hole. Align the cable with the open slot, feed the cable end bead into its hole, and then let go of the throttle valve. Watch your fingers!
STEP 5: Attach accelerator pedal
Get your pedal, and place the end of the new cable through the hole with the slot. Make sure the clip behind the cable end seats properly onto the pedal.
Grab your two 10 mm bolts, feed them through the accelerator mounting bracket, and put the assembly in its original location on the firewall. You can tighten these bolts at this time.
STEP 6: Adjust cable slack
Push the throttle valve all the way down until it hits its stop. If your cable is loose when doing this, adjust it so that it provides slight tension to the valve at the end of its motion.
If the cable is too tight and it does not allow the throttle valve to fully close, loosen accordingly.
I like to adjust throttle with the rig on. Once you made the adjustments above, start up the Cruiser and listen to the engine while you look at the RPMs. remember the sound while you adjust the cable. The warmed up idle for these trucks is 650 +/- 50 RPM per the Toyota FSM.
And that is about it! go out and enjoy your car-like smooth idle, being able to hold conversations at red lights, and getting 0.25 mpg more!
This is some good stuff, that's fer sure. Be sure and heed the reassembly directions. Stick it thru the firewall, then let if drop over the grille/ARB/whatever you're rocking up front like that tongue on a Stones album, then hook up things under the dash.
