PreludeRob

Ok, recently I have just noticed that the throttle cable is very loose. I blip on the throttle, then like 1 second later my engine revs. My question is exactly how do I tighten it. I looked at it in the engine, and it looks pretty easy. I just wanted to make sure and ask someone before I attempted it because I'm really good at messing things up.

marcucci

Are you sure it's your cable? If it's the cable you'll have play before the throttle cable opens, not delay. You might want to be sure it's loose. The cable under the hood will be taut if it's OK.

I'm not sure if this has been discussed here before, but this was a problem early on with the 5th gens. What happens is that the cable wasn't adjusted properly from the factory and the rubber "spacer" at the pedal tears. Once it tears, you'll develop "slack" in the cable as the spacer is effectively not there.

The spacer serves as a safety mechanism to keep you from damaging the cable or the throttle body. If you simply tighten it (with this rubber damaged or "out of the loop") you will likely damage the cable or TB by going WOT. Not immediately, but over time it will likely stretch the cable and bend the throttle body plate mechanism.

What you should do is check for slack. If there is no slack, look at other things like plugs or a tuneup. If the cable does have slack, crawl up under the dash and look at the gas pedal. The pedal has a lever going up that "pulls" on the throttle cable. Look where it pulls and you should see a spacer between the lever and the cable stop (end). If the rubber is torn, missing, or otherwise damaged, you should replace the entire cable. Check by pushing the pedal to the floor, you should press until the cable hits the spacer, then the spacer compresses to the stop.

You'll also be able to see the slack here. Until you hit WOT, the stop should be against the spacer and the spacer not compressed. If the spacer is always compressed, or you take up some slack when you initially press the pedal, You've got slacked. It's possibly you are mis-adjusted but VERY unlikely.

If you are pretty sure the spacer isn't damaged, you can easily adjust the cable by loosening the retaining nut on the sleeve by the throttle body. Rotate the sleeve until the cable is taut (but does NOT move the throttle plate), then tighten down the retaining nut. Now get back under the dash and check to make sure the rubber is OK- if the rubber is damaged you'll see a tear or break when you go WOT. In normal operation, the spacer should compress evenly.

Been meaning to write this up for years... can someone FAQ this?!

Pete

I second that--definitely FAQ material. Thanks, Todd. You saved me from possibly a big mistake.

malken00

FAQ'ed