Stiff throttle

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 10 Jul 2016, 17:35

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick question regarding my gas pedal/throttle. With this being my first Volvo I've ever owned, and actually ever driven, it has the stiffest gas pedal of any car I've driven. I'm wondering if these cars just have stiffer than normal gas pedals, or there's something binding in the cable or something else. I've lubricated the wheel in the attached picture, with little change in effect. Even after the oiling, moving the throttle itself is still stiff. I'm wondering if I should attempt to disassemble that wheel to really get it lubed up correctly, or if this is normal for these 850s. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 10 Jul 2016, 18:12

As long as it moves smoothly and doesn't jerk when you press it, there's nothing to worry about. In my experience, US cars have a "mushier" feel to the accelerator pedal, which I don't like at all - that's just a personal opinion.

If you want to make sure that's everything is working okay, take off the intake tube and check that the TB is closed when the pedal isn't pushed, check that the mechanism is working smoothly, clean the TB if its gummed up, and grease the spring and the "wheel" with white lithium or something along those lines. Other than that, the main thing is smooth movement w/o jerks or discernible binding.

- S

Post by **precopster** » 10 Jul 2016, 18:14

Remove the throttle cable from the throttle assembly.

Slowly drip 10 or 15 drops of oil down the throttle cable where the bare cable disappears down the sheathing while it's pointing up then tie the cable in a position that will allow the oil to drop down for at least 2 hours.

The cable will loosen markedly and be far easier to press the pedal.

I have a new LHD cable here if you want it. Just pay for postage to US (I incorrectly ordered a LHD one instead of RHD last year)

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 10 Jul 2016, 18:45

Thank you for the responses!

I recently cleaned the throttle body when I cleaned the idle control valve and replaced the corresponding hoses. The throttle body was a little dirty, but nothing noteworthy, since I cleaned it throughly when I did my PCV system a few months back. Unfortunately my car isn't in a position where I can leave the hood up with the throttle cable elevated to oil it. I will run out and remove the cable from the assembly and verify that it can move freely. If it's binding, I may have to take you up on that offer Mike. I haven't noticed any binding while driving that I can tell.

My main concern is prematurely wearing out whatever allows cruise control to work. This may seem far fetched, and not even how cruise control works on these cars, but if it has to work hard to hold a stiff throttle, I don't want to have it burn out.

Post by **precopster** » 10 Jul 2016, 19:37

Aha the bonnet will be open for 2 hours to fully replace the cable and you will get a headache from blood rushing to head (more of a problem for me these days than for others) I'd take the oil suggestion, it's free and you can use a light oil such as sewing machine oil and it will drop down in far less timesuch as 10 or 15 mins.

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 10 Jul 2016, 20:24

Hey everyone,

I just ran outside and unhooked the cable from the assembly, and tested from within the car. It's fairly smooth, no binding or anything of the like, but there is some stiffness there. Likely it's just 19 years of dust slowly working it's way in. Just for piece of mind I think I may try to get some oil down there tomorrow. I'm actually in Chicago right now, so my car is parked on the street, but I don't mind standing around with my hood open for a while I let it work it's way down the cable

I think my lack of a cover over the entire assembly isn't helping either. When I bought the car it wasn't there, so naturally all those moving parts were exposed to the elements more than intended.

Prior to driving out to Chicago from Minnesota, I attempted to lube the assembly with silicone lubricant, both the wheel, and the arm and socket piece that moves alone with the throttle. Going off of what Sommerfeldt mentioned, I may just not be used to a stiffer throttle, as this is my first non-American car I've ever owned. I'm still curious to drive someone else's 850 to compare though.

Post by **tryingbe** » 11 Jul 2016, 10:31

My friend always complaint about the stiff pedal feel of my manual transmission swap car with the automatic throttle cable. The automatic throttle cable also have a kick down switch built-in to it.

I just changed it to the manual throttle cable and the pedal feel is a lot softer, but I have a manual transmission car. Number 1, it doesn't have a kick down switch built-in to it. Number 2, it uses the larger spool on the throttle body.

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 11 Jul 2016, 10:38

tryingbe wrote:My friend always complaint about the stiff pedal feel of my manual transmission swap car with the automatic throttle cable. The automatic throttle cable also have a kick down switch built-in to it.

I just changed it to the manual throttle cable and the pedal feel is a lot softer. Number 1, it doesn't have a kick down switch built-in to it. Number 2, it uses the larger spool on the throttle body.

Interesting, that's good to know! Can I see a picture of the larger spool used on a manual please?

Post by **tryingbe** » 11 Jul 2016, 10:52

dorvin wrote:
tryingbe wrote:My friend always complaint about the stiff pedal feel of my manual transmission swap car with the automatic throttle cable. The automatic throttle cable also have a kick down switch built-in to it.

I just changed it to the manual throttle cable and the pedal feel is a lot softer. Number 1, it doesn't have a kick down switch built-in to it. Number 2, it uses the larger spool on the throttle body.
Interesting, that's good to know! Can I see a picture of the larger spool used on a manual please?

Sure.

See where your throttle cable is? Look at the empty groove next to it, that's where the manual cable goes.

PS, you're missing a screw for the fuel injectors wiring.

dorvin · Post by **dorvin** » 11 Jul 2016, 12:55

tryingbe wrote:
dorvin wrote:
tryingbe wrote:My friend always complaint about the stiff pedal feel of my manual transmission swap car with the automatic throttle cable. The automatic throttle cable also have a kick down switch built-in to it.

I just changed it to the manual throttle cable and the pedal feel is a lot softer. Number 1, it doesn't have a kick down switch built-in to it. Number 2, it uses the larger spool on the throttle body.
Interesting, that's good to know! Can I see a picture of the larger spool used on a manual please?

Sure.

See where your throttle cable is? Look at the empty groove next to it, that's where the manual cable goes.

PS, you're missing a screw for the fuel injectors wiring.

Ah, thank you for clearing that up

I know about the missing screw for the fuel injectors, been meaning to replace that..

EDIT:

I just went out and oiled up the cable, holding it upright to allow the oil to travel down the line. After about 15 minutes, I hooked it back up, and noticed a significant improvement in the smoothness of the throttle