Accelerator Rod Bushing: How Do I Get To Them

[Gunter]

The wire inside the female part of the linkage is the spring that prevents the knuckle to pop off by itself.
To make removal easier, put a drop of oil on the connection first, twist the linkage a little, then use a screwdriver to pry it off the small ball.

And yes, the long spring connects on the underside of the #2 intake runner.

[Grady Clay]

An important point:

Many untouched SC and Carreras still have the locking ‘safety pin’ on the ball sockets here. This is a little wire pin that goes in the throttle ball sockets here and the socket won’t come off the ball until the pin is removed.

The pin goes through two very small holes in the ball socket (alongside the ball) and has a ‘clip’ that goes around the ball socket. You must rotate the clip off the ball socket before you can pull out the pin.

Don’t bother to reinstall this troublesome pin.

Best,
Grady

[Gunter]

Ah so.............

Never had one on mine.

Learned something new.

Thanks Grady.

[Baby]

Troublesome is an understatement. Unable to see the safety wire on the linkage socket, I pried on that thing for half an hour. It’s possible that for some people, removing that little wire will be impossible while the assembly is in the car. Disconnecting the linkage down by the transmission and pulling the rod up through the firewall was a piece of cake.

Update: I solved the spring installation puzzle this morning, explained below. If my memory doesn’t fail me, I should have everything buttoned up this evening after work. Overall, I ended up spending quite a bit of time trialing and erroring to determine how to get things off. It would have gone much quicker had I known what I was doing. The magnet was a great call, Cooper. Also, I recommend gloves.

Fredmo, that was my original approach to refasten the throttle return spring. It’s an angled path, so you’ll probably need an angled tool. I had two issues with needle nose pliers: they were 4 inches too short, and my hand tired of keeping the pressure on to grip the spring. The right tool for this job is a 12” curved or angled hemostat or similar clamping device. I ended up grabbing a 12” piece of light gauge wire and bending a hook at the end. Here’s how it went:

1. I pulled the plug to the left of the intake. (I’d tell you what it’s for if I knew. Directly behind the plug is a hose. I don’t know what that’s for either, and I didn’t need to remove it.) The area cleared by the pulled plug gave me side-access to the eyelet at the bottom of the intake---access I’d need in step 5.

2. I used the needle nose pliers to connect the spring to the throttle linkage. Then I let it rest there while I retrieved the pliers and set them carefully on the bench instead of throwing them as hard as I could into the drywall and screaming like a madman.

3. Next, I threaded the bent wire underneath the intakes, hooked it onto the hook at the end of the spring, and pulled it back, stretching the spring.

4. At this point, I had to bend the wire 30 degrees or so, still hanging on to it and maintaining the spring tension.

5. While holding the wire with my right hand, I reached my left hand in from the left side between the intakes and used my finger to help the hook at the end of the spring find the eyelet while I wondered to myself if I’d ever be able to stand straight again.

6. Finally, I very carefully withdrew the wire I used to pull the spring through so as not to punch it out of the eyelet.

Good luck, and as others have emphasized, patience is your friend.

[Superman]

I've heard they do heart surgeries through an incision in the upper left leg. I wonder if that's harder than Baby's throttle plate bushing project.

[Baby]

Beware of surgeons who, to quote Lindy, "Dig in and see what happens."

[Baby]

Just to wrap up, when I started the car it idled high. I lengthened the rod at the intake and it's good to go. My initial reaction is positive. Much better feel, particularly going from closed to open throttle. Feels like my foot is standing right on the throttle plate. Many thanks once again to all who shared their knowledge and experience.

[AlfonsoR]

Hey Guys,

My gas pedal is sticking above 4K rpm. So I need to do this job too.

I found this bronze bushing kit from canyon, here on Pelican (p/n: 10-1792-423-M105). Is this what you ordered? Do you recommend anything else?

Pelican Parts - Product Information: 10-1792-423-M105

Thanks for you help. By the way Baby, in the end, did you wish you had dropped the engine a bit?

[RV Flyer]

This thread was helpful when doing the job on my 78 SC. Cooper's advice on removing the console is on the money; I would add that the little airbox support bracket (that attaches at the passenger side stud of the console) also attaches at the back of the airbox, and a little work with a 13mm wrench or wobbly socket will remove that nut. At that point, the bracket can be wiggled off both studs, though it is still attached to some other bracketry behind the airbox.

A few other notes:

1. A 13mm wobbly socket and suitable extension(s) is ideal for getting to the console mounting nuts.
2. I was able to remove the ventilation blower motor assembly from its mounting studs, and simply ease it over to the driver's side, without disconnecting wiring or any of the other stuff (CIS lines, etc) that were clamped to the bottom of the assembly.
3. Return spring was actually pretty easy to reconnect, both at the little tab on the bottom of the #2 intake runner, and on the bellcrank arm. I was able to reach in with my left hand and get the spring, attach it to the CIS runner, then extend the spring and grab it with my right hand, for attachment to the arm.
4. I used the bronze bushings, 901-423-253-00-M105, at $1.75 each. These went in easily. My original bushings had come apart, so the shaft was a little beat up but the bores in the console actually looked fine. The bushings go in from the outside of the bores, since this prevents them from backing out and also gives the correct end to end distance for attachment of the throttle arm on the inboard end of the shaft. Make sure you put that on with the ball facing the right way (in my case, at least, that means facing away from the engine centerline.

All in all, not as nasty a project as it appeared to be at first, though there is plenty of "remove this to get to that . . . " which seems to be common on my car at least. And now I have full throttle travel again, and a nice light and smooth throttle linkage.