Vacation

Parked the car in my garage for three weeks. Drove this morning and the gas pedal seems to be stuck. Drove for a bit and had to push the gas pedal down for acceleration. Need advice.

Please…Thanks.

How about the model year and miles on your Mitsubishi Galant? Also you want to check to make sure no carpeting is interfering with the accelerator.

Also maybe a clearer description of exactly what is happening.

“Drove this morning and the gas pedal seems to be stuck. Drove for a bit and had to push the gas pedal down for acceleration.” is not very clear.

  • How far is “a bit.”
  • Most of us push on the accelerator to accelerate.
  • Did this start happening after filling up with fuel?
  • Is all the recommended maintenance up to date? (Like fuel filter, air filter spark plugs and wires?
  • Has any CEL (Check Engine Light) come on?

I have a 1997 Mitsubishi Galant-DS. Oil has been changed and so was the oil filter, air filter is new, maintenance was done last Summer. It had three quarters tank of gas. Carpeting was not interfering the gas pedal. Just came back after taking an 18 hours flight from India…Took the car out of the garage, it started fine, gas pedal seemed to be inactive- kind of stuck, noticed that even if I pushed the gas pedal down to the maximum, no acceleration, I let it run in the parking lot, and then it felt like the gas pedal was unlocked and the car ran fine, drove 5 miles, and when the car was started again, same thing happened-I had to push the accelerator down to the maximum, then it drove fine. Had the transmission replaced three Summers ago…things have been fine ever since. Do I take it to the mechanic that worked on the transmission? The check engine light was not on.

Nothing should have changed while the car sat inactive for three weeks, but obviously something did.

When you push the gas pedal down, does the engine speed increase with no corresponding acceleration, or does the engine fail to respond to the throttle?

Have you checked all fluid levels.

When I pushed way down, the engine speed and the acceleration responded to the throttle. I will check the fluids, I will also pay attention to any leakage. I will get back to you a.s.a.p. Thanks

It sounds like your throttle needs to be professionally cleaned.

I second Whitey’s suggestion.
I believe that your Throttle Body needs to be cleaned.

Thanks-a-ton!
Went to the mechanic, throttle butterflies were pretty dirty, he just cleaned them…Thanks once again for your professional and instant assistance. You are the BEST friends for a gal like me who is a car illiterate…