Gas pedal stuck?

[refugeefromcalif]

Any body have a clue why a gas pedal would stick all of a sudden?
At the Worst time also. It is about 20 degrees here, could that be an issue? I can use the throttle from the spool but,,
I'm at a motel out of state and trying to go visit my son and his family for Christmas.

Any help would appreciated.

George

[Jonathan]

Do you have any or all of the deice shield recall done on your car, George? It sounds like some moisture in the cable might be frozen at the moment. Can you get your car safely to somewhere indoors, like a heated garage or something? To get the moisture to thaw that is and then you can perhaps do some anti-freeze lubing of the cable where you are just to get you through the day.

[refugeefromcalif]

DMCF did all the updates on my car. No place I can go to thaw it out at the moment.
It's stuck right at the pedal?. I think.

George

[Iznodmad]

Have you warmed up the engine fully? Let it sit there and idle up to operating temperature. That should melt any ice in the throttle cable.

[refugeefromcalif]

Have you warmed up the engine fully? Let it sit there and idle up to operating temperature. That should melt any ice in the throttle cable.

I ran it about 10 minutes to clear the windshield. Now I've switched over to the heater and trying that.

George

[Iznodmad]

Awesome. Keep doing that. Too bad no access to a portable hair dryer or something of that nature. Don't force it. If you snap the throttle cable inner cable, you are done for.

[Cory W]

At the same time, set your HVAC to heater, hot, and at least fan speed 2. Moisture can travel the length of the sheathing, so this is just covering all bases.

As Jonathan said, if you're able to, run straight antifreeze coolant through the cable sheathing. It WILL do it again otherwise, possibly as you drive along at steady speed (and throttle position)

-40 dweller.

[refugeefromcalif]

I just tried it again. It works!

Thanks guys!

George

[sdg3205]

Be careful!

[David T]

This can become a VERY dangerous condition. Any time you cannot have FULL control of all of the vehicle's controls you are in trouble. As soon as possible you must do the de-ice/lubrication procedure detailed in the throttle recall. Part of it involves flushing anti-freeze through the throttle cable. If the throttle should freeze while you are driving the only thing you can do is turn off the ignition key and stop the car immediately.

[SherryC]

I had my old Corvette do this to me once, at a very inopportune moment. I just shifted into neutral.

[David T]

I had my old Corvette do this to me once, at a very inopportune moment. I just shifted into neutral.

Shifting to neutral can allow the motor to overspeed and damage itself. The safest thing to do is shut it off.

[Jonathan]

Shifting to neutral can allow the motor to overspeed and damage itself. The safest thing to do is shut it off.

And leave the key IN the ignition while you are coasting to a stop. Last thing you need is for your steering column interlock to engage while you're in the middle of all of this.

[ALEXAKOS]

Had this on my c3 corvette. I found that the balancing spring under the pedal tangled on the floor mat keeping it at full throttle!

At 270 horsepower it is a very scary event while approaching a red light.
Reaction was instant, turned off the engine while slamming the brakes.

Thankfully the brakes always kneel down those horses.


Sent from a mobile device. Please excuse typos etc

[DMCVegas]

To add a quick "me too" on this one, I once had one of the screws on the WOT microswitch come loose. The plate on the underside of the throttle spool bracket then swung around and locked my throttle open. Shifted to neutral, killed the engine, and costed to the side of the road. Pulled the switch out and drove on to work.

[DMCMW Dave]

I just tried it again. It works!

Thanks guys!

George

This was a known defect/factory recall all the way back in 1981, i.e. the first winter the cars were on the street.


See http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/SC-01-1.82.html

You have water in the throttle cable that goes from the gas pedal to the engine. The low spot is inside the car near the shifter.

If you let the car idle for a while with the heater in full blast it will thaw out since the part that freezes is inside the car.

It will also freeze back up again when it gets cold. The only way to really fix it is to do the full recall and get the water out of there. I'm not sure I care for the factory-recommended use of antifreeze in the long term, but you need to get the water out for sure.

Or never let it freeze. I get a call about this from time to time but I'll bet it's a pretty rare issue in Alabama!

[cybercusp]

For my motorcycles I've used this kit to blowout/clean/lubricate the cables with some success. A little messy but it's a simple way to directly inject lubricant while dispelling moisture at the same time...short of taking the cable off completely and gravity feeding lubricant from one end to the other.

http://www.motosport.com/dirtbike/product/?psreferrer=http%253A%252F%252Fsearch.yahoo.com%25 2Fsearch%253Fp%253Dmotorcycle%252Bcable%252Blubric ation%252Bkit%2526ei%253DUTF-8%2526fr%253Dchrf-yff20&pssource=true&segment=badger&key=CABLE-LUBER-KIT&utm_source=Bing_PLA&utm_medium=cpc

[refugeefromcalif]

This was a known defect/factory recall all the way back in 1981, i.e. the first winter the cars were on the street.

See http://www.dmcnews.com/bulletins/SC-01-1.82.html

You have water in the throttle cable that goes from the gas pedal to the engine. The low spot is inside the car near the shifter.

If you let the car idle for a while with the heater in full blast it will thaw out since the part that freezes is inside the car.

It will also freeze back up again when it gets cold. The only way to really fix it is to do the full recall and get the water out of there. I'm not sure I care for the factory-recommended use of antifreeze in the long term, but you need to get the water out for sure.

Or never let it freeze. I get a call about this from time to time but I'll bet it's a pretty rare issue in Alabama!

Thanks for the link Dave.

I wished I'd been at home in Alabama but, I was at a motel in Greenevile TN. so I could visit my son and grandkids for Christmas.
Even in the mid 20's here at home, I'd never had an issue so it took me by surprise.
Running the heater on fan speed 4 for 20 minutes up did the trick.
(I did this after I'd run the defroster for 10 minutes to clear the windshield, noticed the stuck pedal, then Panicked and opened this thread). :o

I'm going to have to go over the service bulletins again. When I bought my car from DMC Florida I was told that ALL of them had been done.
The bad part is, they can't give me any paperwork copies of the work they did on the car before I bought it.

Thanks again for all the input/help everyone!

George

[DMC5180]

I'm with Dave on this. It's seems odd to put anti-freeze in the cable jacket. Too me anti-freeze is thick and would be some what gummy and cause excess friction in the cable assembly. Of coarse it would be free, which is better than frozen. Too me the best lube is just a dry cable assembly or perhaps dry power graphite lube.

[David T]

I'm with Dave on this. It's seems odd to put anti-freeze in the cable jacket. Too me anti-freeze is thick and would be some what gummy and cause excess friction in the cable assembly. Of coarse it would be free, which is better than frozen. Too me the best lube is just a dry cable assembly or perhaps dry power graphite lube.

Anti-freeze is pretty slippery stuff. The easiest way to get it in there is to undo the inner cable at the throttle spool, slide a piece of hose about a foot long over the inner cable and use a hose clamp to secure it to the outer cable sheath. Fill the hose with anti-freeze and then hold a blowgun on the hose and give it a squirt till you see anti-freeze come out by the gas pedal. The shield is supposed to prevent water from getting in and if any does the anti-freeze is supposed to keep it from freezing. My biggest worry would be that you can thaw it out but once you start driving it could freeze again, that water is still in there. Good point about being careful to NOT turn the key too much, just enough to shut the motor down or you lock the steering. That could be an even bigger problem than a stuck throttle!

[Bitsyncmaster]

I would not think freezing is a problem when your driving the car. The engine heat will keep the back from freezing and the inside heat keeps the front from freezing. Think the most important thing with the recall is that little sealing nipple over the end of the cable near the throttle spool.

[David T]

I would not think freezing is a problem when your driving the car. The engine heat will keep the back from freezing and the inside heat keeps the front from freezing. Think the most important thing with the recall is that little sealing nipple over the end of the cable near the throttle spool.

If it is cold enough it certainly could be a problem. That tiny sealing nipple isn't going to do much once it wears. The big things are the cover plate to keep water from getting in and the anti-freeze to prevent any that does get in from freezing. Or don't drive the car in freezing temperatures. This does point out the real problem of not doing all of the recalls. Those old problems don't just go away. They MUST be corrected by doing the recalls. For the government to issue the recalls they had to be really serious problems that clearly impacted on safety (and STILL do). You can't just go on the PO saying that they were all done.

[refugeefromcalif]

You can't just go on the PO saying that they were all done.

I'd agree with that if I bought 6599 from a private individual but, I got it from a Respected DMC vendor/dealer and they stated that All updated work had been done.
The car also included a 12 month/12,000 mile powertrain warranty for the Premium price that I paid for it.

(Of course I did forget that DMCF is also a USED car dealer)... :rolleyes1:

George

[Cory W]

Do you have the throttle shield on your car? Im wondering if it didn't get done because "This is Florida".

[refugeefromcalif]

Do you have the throttle shield on your car? Im wondering if it didn't get done because "This is Florida".

Nope, No shield. Here's a pic of my engine, (Prior to my buying the car).

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=24099&d=1388257113

Although, I'd think a Safety Recall wouldn't matter what region the car is in.?
Nowadays, the DMC vendors/dealers sell cars that end up all over the country/(World).

George

[micmak]

I had this too a couple of Winters ago. As I don’t drive the car in the off season, it wasn’t a problem. I just turned it off and the next time I tried it, it was a few degrees warmer and there was no problem. But I always wondered about putting antifreeze down into the cable. Isn’t antifreeze corrosive? I would think that over time, it would corrode the inside of the cable jacket at it’s lowest point and cause possibly more trouble that just ice. I mean if both the cable and the jacket are corroded, how can the cable move freely inside there? I am not trying to be an alarmist; I am just asking if antifreeze is corrosive enough to cause a problem over time.

......Mike.....

[DMCMW Dave]

I had this too a couple of Winters ago. As I don’t drive the car in the off season, it wasn’t a problem. I just turned it off and the next time I tried it, it was a few degrees warmer and there was no problem. But I always wondered about putting antifreeze down into the cable. Isn’t antifreeze corrosive? I would think that over time, it would corrode the inside of the cable jacket at it’s lowest point and cause possibly more trouble that just ice. I mean if both the cable and the jacket are corroded, how can the cable move freely inside there? I am not trying to be an alarmist; I am just asking if antifreeze is corrosive enough to cause a problem over time.

......Mike.....

Use a light machine oil. The factory bulletin says antifreeze but I don't think they cared about the long term effect, they just wanted it to thaw out. I don't like the antifreeze idea either.

[Cory W]

Do you have the throttle shield on your car? Im wondering if it didn't get done because "This is Florida".

The first year I had my car (2008 ), we picked it up in Montana and drove it home. We stopped at DMC Midwest along the way and bought a bunch of things. This recall was one of them, as my car didn't have one either (it originated in Oklahoma, and spent time in the Southern states for the most part).

The car sat outside for the first summer, while we prepared the old garage it now resides for winter storage. It wound up spending two nights outside in the snow, and a bunch of rainy nights. I never thought much of that, until I had to move it once in the winter...

I put the battery in place, started the car, put it in gear, and tried to move forward....nothing. The pedal went nowhere, and I quickly put two and two together. After the car sat for about half an hour with the heat on full, vents in the heater position, the throttle cable thawed enough to let me move the car.

In the spring, I pulled the (frayed) cable from its sheathing and replaced it with a new one. I was surprised at how much water came out with it. Haven't had a problem since. I don't recall exactly WHAT I put in there to try to prevent it again, but I know my car has the shield now.

One thing I had to do after the fact was adjust my throttle pedal. I always wondered why it had such little travel, and could always put my foot to the floor during that first year. While the throttle pedal should have been at the same level as the brake, it was much further down. Apparently over the years, people tried to force the throttle open when the cable had frozen, gradually bending the pedal downwards. The car suddenly felt a lot peppier after that; I could put my foot to the floor and engage the microswitch! I had to do that with the other car in my city too, but it was one of the earlier projects during his ownership.

[Jonathan]

It might be worth noting that some of these safety recall kits come with more than just the obvious. The deice shield is there of course, but there are some other fittings and washers and clips that play an important part in the overall recall. Same goes for the front end recall kit that is more than just the strengthening brackets (also important in that one are the suspension castle nuts and cotter pins.)

I can think of a couple cars (mine being one of them) where not everything in the recall kit/bulletin was completed, even though a quick photo of the engine bay or front frame extension might try to tell you so.

[DMC5180]

One thing I had to do after the fact was adjust my throttle pedal. I always wondered why it had such little travel, and could always put my foot to the floor during that first year. While the throttle pedal should have been at the same level as the brake, it was much further down. Apparently over the years, people tried to force the throttle open when the cable had frozen, gradually bending the pedal downwards. The car suddenly felt a lot peppier after that; I could put my foot to the floor and engage the microswitch! I had to do that with the other car in my city too, but it was one of the earlier projects during his ownership.

This happened to Ron W. (Screaming yellow D)

He was trying figure out why his car was so sluggish in keeping of with another group of Deloreans during a drive up to a spring tech day at Dave's (pre DMCMW) days. He said, had it floored and could barely keep up with the group. I had him step on the peddle (floored) and I noticed he was only getting 2/3 rds travel on the throttle spool. I looked at his Gas Pedal then compared it's position to my car. The difference was quite noticeable in height off the floor. After closer examination I could see his was bent downward. I grabbed hold of it and pulled it back to the position similar to my car. We reconfirmed he could now achieve full throttle then took it for test drive. He came back grinning from ear to ear and said what difference that made.