FTO AUSTRALIA

Alright, the problem. I was accelerating moderately heavily and the accelerator pedal became loose and the rev meter just slammed all the way to full rev. and it kept on doing it coz the accelerator had no control and it seemed as if it was letting the throttle wide open. So i had to switch of the engine whilst driving and pull into a street. Had a look at the throttle body and it seemed the tension cable had come out loose from somewhere, even though it was still attached to the throttle valve.

Then i checked the accelerator pedal, and u can see the tension cable, similar to a bicycles brake cable, was pushed out and hence no tension. How do i get around to fixing it? it sucks, coz as soon as u start up the car, the rev needle just wants to rip past the rev limiter!

Well thats weird cuase if it had of snapped it would just close the throttle (due to the throttle spring. I would disconnect the cable at the throttle body and see if the throttle closes.

ok after having a look at mine, i think the cable must have hooked on something, as to hold the throttle at what it takes considerable amount of pressure. Whats happening with the accelarotor pedal, is it stuck in position or is it floppy?

The galant I used to own many years ago did exactly what you are describing. Ended up being a broken accellerator cable. Its effectively like having cruise control at 140 and having to brake against the accelleration (had to drive for an hour to get home with this problem - right angle corners are not pleasant) .

- Does your accellerator still have the little cyllindrical piece of metal on the end. If not, you have a broken cable and will need to replace it.

- If it is on the end, it may just have slipped out of its mounting. Check to ensure the metal on the end of the cabe is in the propper slot in the throttle body.

- The cable itself should be held by a bracket to stop the cable from moving (follow the cable back). Is the bracket still there (or is it loose).

Oh, and its possible to put this bracket on back to front (which will make the accellerator stick). Make sure the cable lines up nicely with the throttle body.

Good Luck

Hope this helps

The accelerator is not stuck, it is floppy. And the metal cylinder is still there at the end of the cable on the accelerator pedal side. I'll give it another go in trying to hook the cable back into the throttle. and check out the other possibilities you guys have mentioned. Will let you know as soon as i check it out, ive left it at my mechanics at the moment, but since its sunday, they wont have a look at it till monday, so if can get it fixed then all and well, if not then those guys can do it.

Cheers for the help, let you know how it goes!

No such luck, but took some pics to show what it looks like.

Above the Accelerator Pedal


Throttle body from the right hand side


Throttle body from birds eye view ( with the throttle pushed down to show the groove)

so if you disconnected the cable at the throttle body side and then pulled on the cable inside the car, does it move the cable under the bonnet? If it doesnt then id say its definilty a breakage. However i still dont see why the throttle would of stayed what, that makes me believe it must be something else

This sounds like a broken throttle return spring.
It's not returning the butterfly to it's stop in the throttle body. The cable would be shown as loose and also explains why you have a floppy peddle.

righto, i got tired of squeezing into gaps to find out the problem so took the whole damn cable out and had a look at it. Guess what i found? 2 kinks. one in the centre and one at the throtte body end, which were prevent it to attach into the grooves. So got that straightened up, and before i attached it back, i took of my air intake piping etc, and the inside of the throttle valve was really greasy and filthy and was contaminated with accumulation of dust and dirt on the grease. cleaned it all up. While i was at it i did a minor service of my own, topped up all fluids, full engine oil draining and fill up. and now the car seems to have a new life breathed into it! absolutely smooth acceleration, no remotely jerky movement, exhaust note has improved considerably!

Good idea to check the throttle body after some time! Thanks all for your help, appreciate it mates!