Broken throttle cable.. Topic is solved

Post by **erikv11** » 10 Oct 2016, 12:19

abscate wrote: ... I run two of my cars on PM philosophy and three on FOF ....

Yes, I mix them too. There are different ways to run the fleet be it one car or ten, everybody needs to find the right fit for their situation. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) one size does not fit all, there are shades of gray.

Post by **850 LPT** » 10 Oct 2016, 12:28

Very interesting to hear that for some the car feels more responsive with a new throttle cable. I kinda thought, well it works or it doesn't.

I think I will replace the one in the 850 with 248k on it. That car has a funny quirk: when I let go of the gas pedal to shift, then the RPM's don't drop sharply like in my 05 V70. They drop very slowly which makes for rather harsh shifts. I wonder if a new throttle cable will fix that?

Post by **cn90** » 10 Oct 2016, 12:42

As @theWIFES_S70 said above...

Once you have the old cable out, you will see....it is somewhat sticky from years of service, salt corrosion (if you live in a winter salt area) etc.
The new cable slides very smoothly.
It is like driving a new car from the show room feeling.
It is "cheap fun" with the new cable.

Post by **theWIFES_S70** » 10 Oct 2016, 13:41

850 LPT wrote:when I let go of the gas pedal to shift, then the RPM's don't drop sharply like in my 05 V70. They drop very slowly which makes for rather harsh shifts. I wonder if a new throttle cable will fix that?

Absolutely! That's exactly what a new throttle cable will fix!

Post by **tryingbe** » 10 Oct 2016, 17:47

850 LPT wrote: I think I will replace the one in the 850 with 248k on it. That car has a funny quirk: when I let go of the gas pedal to shift, then the RPM's don't drop sharply like in my 05 V70. They drop very slowly which makes for rather harsh shifts. I wonder if a new throttle cable will fix that?

Negative. That delay drop of RPM is programmed into the manual ecu.

I find that putting an auto ECU in a manual car will solve the delay drop of RPM, but I don't know if that will cause your check engine light to come on or not.

Post by **abscate** » 10 Oct 2016, 20:40

Dirk..try driving your manual with the MAF plug off sometime. You'll feel like a teenager grinding the gears for the first time

The default fuel map is really hard to drive well.

Post by **mecheng** » 11 Oct 2016, 08:20

I lubricate the cable on both ends, that helps with the life and 'feel' of the cable. Most ppl don't hence why they bind and break.

I operate on PM for items that will cause irreparable damage to the car: clean fluids, hoses that show looming danger.

All other items, are using abscate's acronym, FOF: fix on the fly!

Not replacing a cable will not cause any damage, and if you have road side assistance (which I recommend for an old car, one tow and it pays for itself), its no big deal if it fails. The problem is, you go insane thinking about all the potential failure points on a car close to 20yrs old.

Post by **cn90** » 11 Oct 2016, 08:58

@mecheng,

Nice if the throttle cable breaks in Toronto, near your home so you can tow it home.
Towing costs money too, unless you have AAA (or CAA in Canada).
Not fun if the throttle cable breaks when the car is hundreds of miles from home.

BTW, this cable is very inexpensive!

PS: Different topic but I lubed my hood release cable at both ends (in the cabin and at the engine latch areas), guess what, it broke at 140K or so (I posted a DIY in forum).

Post by **mecheng** » 11 Oct 2016, 15:43

cn90 wrote:@mecheng,

Nice if the throttle cable breaks in Toronto, near your home so you can tow it home.
Towing costs money too, unless you have AAA (or CAA in Canada).
Not fun if the throttle cable breaks when the car is hundreds of miles from home.

BTW, this cable is very inexpensive!

PS: Different topic but I lubed my hood release cable at both ends (in the cabin and at the engine latch areas), guess what, it broke at 140K or so (I posted a DIY in forum).

I actually with cdn tire roadside assistance. I get one free oil change/yr and they tow up to 250km
Or to the closest cdn tire in both USA and Canada. I got it when I had my Hondas which I used a couple of times, knock
On wood never had to with the Volvo. My point is when does all the what if repairs end? It's cheaper, easier to pay $100 /yr for peace of mind roadside assistance and is insanity to replace all what ifs. Might as well get a divorce

I think the best what if repair I learned on this site is the turbo cooling hoses, they looked like a mouse was stuck in them and they are so small I would never have looked at them. Changing turbo vacuum hoses was a waste of time but hindsight is 20/20

Post by **abscate** » 12 Oct 2016, 04:59

I did the whole cooling group on my 1999 except the water pump. I was cruising this car 500-1000 miles from home si it needed to be PM service strategy.

Now it's at Smith College, 99 miles from home. Perfect for FOF and AAA 100 mile limit.

Best score this year was putting new coils on the 2005...2 were new, so I put three new ones on and got three good working spares..one of which went into the 1999 parts box in the trunk.