VERY hard to push throttle

[SARCruiser]

Ok, so I'm new on here, but I did some searching and couldn't find anything simmilar to this, but maybe I just wasn't using the right keywords.

I have an 87 FJ60 with a Weber carb (not sure what size, previous owner installed it) and cable throttle. Since I bought the truck about a year and a half ago, I've noticed that the gas pedal is harder to press down than I think it probably should be. About 5 months ago it got bad enough that it bent the stock gas pedal to the point where it was useless. I bought a heavy-duty universal gas pedal and fabricated a modified mount to install it figuring the aftermarket carb just required a heavier pull than the stock pedal could handle. It continues to be VERY hard to push the throttle down. I've tried carb cleaner numerous times and also replaced the throttle cable with the Weber part thinking it might be friction between the cable and the cable tube. Nothing seems to make this better. The thing that confuses me the most is that the throttle actuator on the carb can be pushed open with one finger so to me, there is no logical reason for the pedal to be so hard to push. Any ideas? I'm open to any ideas on this one.

 

[D'Animal]

Welcome to MUD


Take a look at your throttle return spring. If it is bigger than the hood spring, get a smaller one.


Take pics if you cannot find the binding in the assy.


Are you using linkage or cable?

 

[Mace]

is it sticking or binding anywhere??

Does the throttle snap back rapidly?

 

[Eporter]

My old Aisin carb would give my knee a workout. It would hurt after driving for hours. I had it rebuilt by Jim C., and when I had it all hooked up and went to start it, I pushed the pedal and _nothing_! It felt like I hadn't hooked anything up. So, I double checked, sure enough, all linkage was there. Got back in, tapped the gas, still no resistance, FIRED RIGHT UP!

Guess I had 25 years of sludge resistance to the pedal. Cleaning and lubing your linkage points would help, too.

Barring this, maybe there's some weird twisting occurring in some area of the linkage. Perhaps some pivots are out of line with each other?

 

[SARCruiser]

It's a cable linkage, not rods. The cable is free from end to end, no spots where it could bind, unless it's binding inside the sleeve, but this is the second cable and sleeve and same issue.

Throttle comes back up just fine. The return spring on the carb seems fairly wimpy and I can easily stretch it with a just a finger but it's enough to re-close the carb when I let off the gas.

I occasionally have to nudge the gas pedal back up the last 1/2" or so with my toe (probably one time in 50 I press it down).

If I get some carb cleaner, how far might I have to tear it down to get any sludge out of it that might be binding it up?

 

[D'Animal]

Take some picture and post them.

 

[slcfj62]

Since you can actuate the throttle with one finger right at the carb, you don't need to do anything with the carb. Odds you need a new throttle cable, even if the previous owner says they put a new one in. I have an fj62, and the throttle was really hard to press down. I took the cable off, and the cable slid easy inside the sleeve. I decided to buy a new throttle cable anyway, and problem solved. Get genuine Toyota. They are expensive, but I'd rather spend money on a new cable than have to stand on the gas pedal hard enough to bend it!

 

[Texx]

Well, if you remove all linkage connection points and the butterflies operate easily by hand, everyone's right, cable. If the new cable doesn't solve it, it's kinked, attached incorrectly (doubtful), the throttle return spring as mentioned (pretty likely) or the rods are bent inside the carb. Work backwards from the carb itself, shouldn't be much to it.

 

[SARCruiser]

Finally got the chance to get in and pull some stuff apart. Pulled out the Weber throttle cable that was in there. See pic below.

Is it just me or isn't there supposed to be a coating on the cable to help reduce friction? I was pretty sure there was one on there when I installed it.

Anyone know where I could get a stock throttle cable? I looked on SOR and saw ones for almost every cruiser except the 60.

Thanks for aall your help so far!

 

[D'Animal]

The coating or plastic sleeve is generally on the inside of the conduit.


The LHD FJ60's uses linkage when stock.

 

[SARCruiser]

The coating or plastic sleeve is generally on the inside of the conduit.


The LHD FJ60's uses linkage when stock.

I wondered about the linkage/cable thing. I bought the truck with the Weber, header and smog removed and some other "modifications" so I've had to figure out what is stock vs. not when it comes to certain parts.

The cable seems to be pretty rough moving through the conduit and when I blew on the end of the conduit, a lot of rust powder came out. Is is possible it just got gunked up inside and that was enought to cause my gas pedal to bend? That doesn't seem like it would be enough resistance to me.

Haven't been able to look at it much more as highs here have been in the single digits the last couple days and my detached garage does not retain heat. Hopefully I can get this figured out by new years.

 

[Texx]

Unless you're going back to factory Aisin carb, forget the linkage. Google redline weber and order a new cable. Anything from heavy grease buildup, exacerbated by cold weather, to kinked or rusty housing can cause the problem you're having. You can probably get a cable for under 25 bucks. Problem solved.

 

[SARCruiser]

Update to this:

Ordered the new cable and the the attachment bolt (the both with the hole that holds the cable to the lever arm on the carb, sorry, don't know if that has a technical name or not) as the bolt/clip/throttle cable holder broke removing the cable. Those came in and I'm getting ready to go put this in tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure I'm putting it back in the correct hole (dirty jokes aside).

The lever arm on the carb has 8 or 9 different holes, that I'm assuming may or may not serve different purposes.

This is the best picture I could find of the carb side of the linkage. The arrow indicates the butterfly lever I'm talking about. When I took it off, the cable was in the topmost hole closest to the driver's side of the truck and the return spring was looped through the hole directly under that. Is that right? Or did I just copy something the PO did wrong when I put this back together the first time?

If someone could let me know if that's right or wrong or doesn't make a bit of difference, I would greatly appreciate it!