S40 Accelerator Spring

[Jane]

In 2004, I purchased a MY2001 Volvo S40 SE. I have a chronic condition of my right knee and found the accelerator pedal stiff to depress. I asked the Volvo mechanic if he could fix this by changing the spring. A new spring was fitted (under the bonnet) and during a test drive, the car was found to accelerate by itself. The Volvo mechanic returned the original string and said that it was unsafe to change the string.

Last month, I had the accelerator pedal replaced. The original was quite curved and the new one is flat. Surprisingly, this has helped.

I mentioned all this yesterday to a new Volvo mechanic when I was getting my car serviced. So when I collected the car, he told me that he had removed the large spring (under the dashboard). I was somewhat alarmed because of the experience back in 2004. The mechanic yesterday thought that there was no problem with removing the spring.

So, now I am confused and concerned. Is my car safe to drive with one of the accelerator springs missing?

Thanks, Jane