More throttle problems

[Brian in VA]

Took her out for a little spin last night, almost home, gave it a little extra and pedal drops, revs go way the hell up. I put the clutch in, neutral, revs higher, engine off and rolled to the side of the road. Some very nice passer by stopped and helped me push it into a space at our neighborhood little club house thing. In the meantime it starts raining all crazy monsoon Florida style, dumps several inches into the car (targa top was safely stored in the garage at home) and soaks me.

Anyway I recently fixed some issues with throttle return springs, and after thinking/searching/drying myself off I'm thinking the problem is now at the pedal (sticking bell housing). I'll look today and hope to limp it back home. Hopefully the engine is ok. The joys of old cars.

[tirwin]

Yep, check the pedal cluster and also on the side of the transmission.

There are little plastic bushings in the throttle bellcrank on the back left side on the top of the engine. When I dropped my motor last year mine were disintegrated. I replaced them with the little bronze ones from Weltmeister. Sold here on Pelican.

There is another bushing on the side of the transmission IIRC.

[Jose_JGC]

Sticking throtle is a relatively common issue with early 911 if the car is driven without the throtle pedal stop. I recall at least one thread here
911 3.2 Gas pedal problem
Jose

[DRACO A5OG]

THE FIX: Binding Accelerator, NOT Pedal or Bell Housing BUSHINGS, not even @ Tunnel

LOL, me too, I was enjoying my drive and all of sudden caught in a rain with top off. Got to love my Targa in the rain

[timmy2]

Cruise control cable in good shape?

[Brian in VA]

Yeah I don't know what the cc cable looks like now. I'll look at those three today - couldn't see much in the downpour with the iPhone flashlight last night haha.

[Brian in VA]

OK, so not the bent pedal bellcrank that catches the cutout near the pedal. That all looks fine.
The linkage at the tranny looks ok.
The throttle return springs are new and fine. In fact, when the car is off, the throttle is all the way down like it should be at idle.
The cruise cable's plastic housing is broken. I was wondering if maybe I accidentally turned it out (not aware that it actually worked) so I turned it off, started it for a half second and it revved up again.

If the linkage is catching up somewhere enough to rev that high shouldn't I see it pulling the throttle linkage at the engine down, even if not running? Unless it is hanging up on the clutch cable, and then I press it in and it pulls the throttle down too. I'll have to push in on the clutch and see if that moves. Otherwise I'm thinking for now I'll pull the cruise relay and maybe cut that wire that goes to the throttle linkage since I don't care about cruise / don't know if it works / want to get it home out of the rain. Otherwise, flat bedding it to the house.

[Tippy]

I had my gas pedal bellcrank stuck doing 118 MPH in my 3.2 (was on a dragstrip how I know the exact MPH). I let off and it was still pulling.

The bushings wore and the bellcrank got caught underneath the sheet metal of the floorboard.

[Brian in VA]

OK, no change with cruise control fuse out.
If I push in the clutch, I don't see any movement at the throttle linkage in the engine compartment.
Raining again.
Oh well, I'll get her towed and lifted and figure it out eventually.

[Brian in VA]

So, an update. Got her home and tucked away and dried out. The cruise cable housing was cracked and I think that was the problem. Zip tied and solved. But, also the linkage at the tranny was bad, bushings are gone, so those are on their way from our host. Bushings at the linkage at the engine are fine, surprisingly.

Anyway, with the zip tie CC fix and the throttle linkage at the tranny apart, she idles along nicely. I think I moved the CC cable when I was replacing the return springs before, got it in a different angle, and it pulled or whatever. Not fun. Thanks for the help before.

[Brian in VA]

Man, this is the nightmare that never ends. Now, I let it idle for longer than 2 seconds and it sounded horrible, all kinds of noise. I pulled the valve covers off and several of the locknuts were off, having fallen into the lower cover and the adjusting screws were pretty much completely loose. I re-did the valve adjust again but ran into a problem on #3. The threads must be fouled, because it wont go in far enough and I torqued hard enough that it started to chew up the adjusting screw. Great.

Now, how hard is it to get the rocker arm on #3 out with the engine in the car? I've read the how-to threads but I'm starting to get frustrated...

[Flat6pac]

On the #3 you can only move the shaft toward the center of the engine. Proper assembly dictates that the 5 mm Allen will be to the right side on the shaft. Once loose, use an 8 or 10mm Allen to pry against the left side of the shaft until you can get a flat screwdriver on the shaft cutout to continue prying. You don't need to remove the shaft, just until the rocker is free.
You probably won't get the adjuster out of the rocker, if you do, I have spares in the box, if you need a rocker let me know.
Bruce

[Brian in VA]

Originally Posted by Flat6pac

On the #3 you can only move the shaft toward the center of the engine. Proper assembly dictates that the 5 mm Allen will be to the right side on the shaft. Once loose, use an 8 or 10mm Allen to pry against the left side of the shaft until you can get a flat screwdriver on the shaft cutout to continue prying. You don't need to remove the shaft, just until the rocker is free.
You probably won't get the adjuster out of the rocker, if you do, I have spares in the box, if you need a rocker let me know.
Bruce

Thanks for the good instructions, worked perfectly. You are correct, that adjuster is jammed in there and even with the rocker out I can't budge it. PM sent on the rocker.

[Brian in VA]

Another update: Man I can't believe I've been messing with this since Sep/Oct. Anyway, got it put together and it sounded horrible. I was really worried that the engine had serious damage. So pulled it all apart again, and there were 3 more rockers with barely adjustable / stripped screws that needed more adjusting. Replaced those (what a pain while the engine's in, all kinds of pry bars, sockets, screw drivers, tapping with hammers), another oil change, checked all the valves again.....etc and today FINALLY started it and drove it around the neighborhood.

Purrs like a kitten!!!! Idle is perfect. No valve or engine noise. I can't believe it.

So, to reiterate for future searchers - when you replace one part of the throttle linkage, check them all and replace the bushings or it'll break somewhere, stick WOT, and ruin your day.

A special thanks to Flat6Pac for hooking me up with rockers - he's a great guy!

[steely]

That's Great news!! way to go.