Tighten Your Accelerator Cable

[jonheld]

So I was having a look under the bonnet for the first time since winter started and noticed the slack in my accelerator cable. I don’t remember if it was here or on the 3FE list that someone mentioned tightening it. Anyhoo, I believe I’m now using parts of the throttle that haven’t seen the light of day in quite some time.

Woke the old girl right up.

Groovy.

 

[DA MN]

How tight should the accelerator cable and cruise control cable be? Should they be tight if you put a little pressure on them with your finger? Or should there be a little slack?

 

[jonheld]

The only adjustment I made was at the throttle body. It's essentially all one system from the pedal to the CC actuator to the throttle body. I gave it just a touch of relief so I was certain the throttle would always return to idle position.

The transmission kickdown cable (the other cable on the mounting plate on the throttle body with the orange cap) gets adjusted to spec in the FSM.

 

[Tools R Us]

As long as it returns to idle, the amount of slack at idle is irrelevant, the correct adjustment technique is done at full throttle. Loosen the nuts on the cable housing under the hood. Remove the excessive carpet, floor mat, gummy bears, etc, from under the accelerator pedal and confirm that it moves easily to full travel stop. Have a helper hold it fully down. Under the hood, pull on the cable housing until the throttle butterfly is fully open, spin the cable housing side nut until it just touches the bracket, then tighten the cable side nut.

Have your helper cycle the pedal several times and confirm that the butterfly fully opens when the pedal hits the stop. Your foot on the pedal is stronger than the cable, so if adjusted too tight, cable wear, chance of breakage goes way up.

 

[DA MN]

ok i will give that a try. I know when I set my cruise control it actually speeds up 1 or 2 mph from the speed I was setting it at. I am thinking I need to adjust the cc cable.