Throttle is stiff at the start

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 8:56 pm

My recently bought 2000 had a sticking throttle, so the dealership I bought it from pretended to fix it by applying grease to the TB end of the cable, and hot glue to the pedal end. So I replaced the cable myself with a good one with no kinks from a parts car.

The pedal is now smooth, except at the very start. There is some initial resistance to overcome before it will begin to open the throttle. It is rather like playing tug of war with someone who suddenly lets go of the rope. It's not a lot, but it means I have to be extra careful when taking off or shifting to avoid lurching the car forward. I have plenty of experience driving standard and know this is not normal behaviour. What may be causing it? I suspect it may be related to the spring in the pedal end of the cable. What is the purpose of the spring? I don't think the first generations had that.

sunburnedaz · Post by **sunburnedaz** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 10:24 pm

Take the cable off the TB and feel how it acts without the cable then that would rule out the TB or the cable.

gcretro · Post by **gcretro** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 12:55 am

there is another post about sticky gas pedal. Turns out it's the pivot point on the pedal itself.

I have this issue too on my 04 neon. I put sprayed some lithium grease on the back side of the pedal as much I could see. Seems to have partly cured it...

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:23 pm

The pedal pivot already has grease on it and moves freely. I did however find the other thread which suggested sanding the throttle body plate. Doing so has solved the problem quite nicely.

gcretro · Post by **gcretro** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:21 pm

ah so you sanded the edge of the throttle plate....?

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:53 pm

Yeah, I took it out and saw that it was snapping into place every time it closed. As the plate is made of plastic, it's fairly thick which makes it harder to open. Narrow arcs on each side were making contact with the throat (I held it up to the light) so I only sanded those areas, and only enough to prevent throat contact. Idle quality hasn't been affected.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:08 am

Turning the idle screw a touch might have been simpler. Depending on how bad it was.

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:59 am

This was pretty easy anyway. Someone put red loctite on the idle screw, so I'd rather leave it alone.

gcretro · Post by **gcretro** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:51 pm

Also the throttle cable to the gas pedal....

any point in removing that and putting some lube? (greasing the metal wire?)

ShayM · Post by **ShayM** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:06 pm

gcretro wrote:Also the throttle cable to the gas pedal....

any point in removing that and putting some lube? (greasing the metal wire?)

You shouldn't be greasing a throttle cable. They aren't designed to be lubricated, and they are far too cheap and easy to replace anyway. I've already replaced mine.