strange sticky gas pedal

[khamul02]

Strange thing. My 80SC has sat for about 2 months now with a weekly cranking. I take it out today and the gas pedal or something... sticks. I'm not sure what is going on.. here is what happened twice.

When driving and keeping the RPM under 5 K nothing irregular.

If I pushed it over 5 K for just a second and released the clutch to change gears the car revved to MAX... well past the red line... It is like I was flooring it..
I just did a quick check to make sure nothing was holding the pedal down such as the carpet. Nothing appeared to be. I haven't looked into it any more.. Any advice before I start troubleshooting?

[paulgtr]

how high did it rev?

[khamul02]

all the way!

[crustychief]

Do you have a toyota gas pedal? Just kidding. Maybe the linkage on the throttle body is gummed up and hanging? Or the sensor plate?

[JohnJL]

Try this procedure...

1. Unhook the linkage at the throttle body and manually move the throttle body open all the way. Does it stick? If not...

2. Manually push/pull the linkage to the throttle. Does it stick? If so...

3. Leave the linkage off the throttle body and get under the car. Disconnect the rearward linkage from the pivot on the transmission. Which side sticks, the throttle pedal side or the engine side?...keep moving forward until you narrow it down.

You definately want to fix this. I had a throttle stick going into a hairpin at the track and it is an experience I'll never forget.

[khamul02]

I know... I thought the same thing about Toyota.. It is very strange and out of nowhere. Since I knew it would sit for a while I even put some seafoam in the last fill up.

[Por_sha911]

Cruise control?

[khamul02]

Thanks John. That will be my plan of attack tomorrow.
Joe, My cruise control hasn't worked in years.

[steely]

Not sure about your year, but my 87 has a bell crank on the engine deck - and one of 2 springs had broken - you might want to check that too if the configuration is similar. I didn't get hi-revs, but the pedal return as weak.

[Jtilden]

I JUST had the SAME issue with my 80 SC....here is what I did...after checking all the usual suspects mentioned above (that did not fix the problem), I finally took the pedal cluster apart. That is where I found my problem...the accelorator bushings had totally broke apart and were causing my pedal shaft to bind. I ordered both the brass and the OEM bushings. Once they arrived I decided to go with the brass bushings because i figured the brass would not fall apart in 30 years....

[WHCJr72S]

a leaking master brake cylinder on a nonpower brake car will cause the pedel shaft bushings to swell. The swelling will cause the shaft to stick in the bushings.

[wildcat077]

I had the pedal stick a few times as well on my 89 Coupe,although not at full throttle...
Turns out it was the bushing in the throttle linkage where it is attached to the transmission under the car.That is an area exposed to heat and road grime and needs to be lubricated and cleaned at times.
Solved the problem for me !

Phil

[paulgtr]

maybe there is another issue to worry about here. if it revved way beyond redline there could be some internal damamge

[K Sykes]

One other thing to check is the cruise control cable. It can bind up the throttle linkage and cause the symtoms you describe.

[kodioneill]

Originally Posted by K Sykes

One other thing to check is the cruise control cable. It can bind up the throttle linkage and cause the symtoms you describe.

This is the most likely the problem. The cruise cable attachment point will break and when you go wot the cable pops out and hangs up the throttle.

[cgarr]

You might also check the peddle cluster clutch and throttle arms where the cables attach. My clutch arm was bent just a tad and the throttle arm would snag on it when going to WOT. The two are very close to each other.

EDIT: I see you said it still does it even when you push in the clutch so this may not be the problem?

[bdisco]

O noes! Not Porsche too!

[schoward]

Originally Posted by kodioneill

This is the most likely the problem. The cruise cable attachment point will break and when you go wot the cable pops out and hangs up the throttle.

Don't disregard this bit of advice - I have seen the above mentioned many times - even among local folk with SCs - not just here on Pelican. Check it.

[sig_a]

Originally Posted by khamul02

Thanks John.
Joe, My cruise control hasn't worked in years.

Sometimes a faulty electronic cruise control box leads to trouble by cycling on/off, up/down without warning.

It's your call, but you should consider either fixing it right or removing the complete system including cable and servo.

[khamul02]

Thanks everyone for all of the insight. I'm on it ... ALL. Just another handful of projects to attend to