Lately, when first starting my car and after it’s been sitting for a while the gas pedal seems to be stuck.
When I push on it slightly it doesn’t move; but if I push a little harder it will make a noise and become free and movable. No further problems until it sits for a while or the next morning. Then the same stuck pedal. Exert a little pressure and it frees up.
I tried squirting WD40 on the linkage but it does no good. What could cause it to bind up?
Contrary to popular belief, WD40 isn’t a very good lubricant.
PB Blaster* or Kroil is really the weapon of choice.
*HomeDepot
But where and why is it binding??
But where and why is it binding?
Sounds like the throttle plate is hanging up. Pick up some throttle body cleaner at a parts store, remove the intake tube, & let the cleaning begin.
I agree with the dirty throttle body. In 11 years of operation, the throttle body, no doubt, has a lot of build-up stuck to it. Make sure you get throttle body cleaner and not carburetor cleaner. The formulation is different, and the carb cleaner can remove the coating on the throttle body that is designed to slow down the gunk build-up. With the coating removed, the throttle body will get dirty again very fast.
"But where and why is it binding? "
Sorry but I can’t see a thing from where I’m sitting. But seriously throttle plate is a good place to start. You can check this easy enough, before you start the car open the hood and try manually turning the throttle linkage if it is binding that’s probably it. If it turns easily with no binding it could be the cable or the pivot on the gas pedal.
I looked near the fire wall and saw a cable coming out of the fire wall. I tried moving the round pulley and it wouldn’t move.
I saw the air intake tube and it looks like more than I’m capable of doing. Would running several tanks of Top Tier gasoline through do any good?
I’m 74 and on very limited income so the repair shop is out of the question.
Running Top Tier gas will not help a sludgy, gunked up throttle body. The fuel flows through the injectors just above the valves, quite a bit away from the throttle body. The air intake tube needs to be removed to expose the throttle valve. Don’t be deceived if the front of the throttle valve is clean. The gunk build-up is worse on the back side. And, if the valve is hard to turn, the gunk is probably gumming up the valve shafts. When you clean the throttle body, spray some cleaner directly at the shaft bores (both sides), and work the throttle to break up the gunk.
I see a couple of doohickys attached to the top of the rubber air inlet tube. Are they hard to remove? How do I remove them so I can remove the rubber air inlet tube?
Do they just unplug, like I just pull them free of the tube? I think, if I can get them off the tube I can remove the tube and spray throttle body cleaner in there.
G stands for “Great” and also for “Google” because, using Google, I was able to find a video that showed how to remove the top doohickie nut and to slide the hose off the smaller side doohickie so now I’ll be able to remove the air inlet tube to get to the throttle control plate.
A thanks to all of you for steering me in the right direction. Now I just hope my problem is with the stuck plate.
I went out first thing this morning and tried moving the cable pulley and after pushing very hard it freed up so I know for a fact the plate is sticking. I’ll buy some CRC throttle cleaner and this weekend I’ll clean the interior of the throttle body.
I have some small foam rubber paint brushes that I’ll use to clean with.
This is a heads up on cleaning your throttle control body valve. Before you go to the trouble of removing the intake air hose to clean the body be sure to check the hose to be sure it is not cracked or damaged.
I checked and my old hose had openings in the accordian section of the hose. I was able to buy a new one so now, when I take off the old one I can replace it with a new one.
There is an excellent video on the Internet describing, in good detail, how to remove and replace the hose. Glad I watched it a second time.
Here is the youtube video: