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How common is a broken throttle lever?
by
rumbling_caddy
on 17 Jan, 2011 22:03
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I have an 82 winter beater caddy. It has an 86 1.6 NA hydro head engine when I bought it last year. Since, I added external 1.6 TD components, Giles pump, and 2.5" exhaust, and gauges. It's been running great for the last six months or so with a disabled bov. Last weekend I decided to bump the boost to 20 psi by installing a manual boost controller. Naturally I've been driving it harder the last few days.
All a sudden something snapped on the freeway today and the accelerator pedal had no tension. After working my way from the fast lane over to the shoulder and popped the hood I discover a piece of the IP throttle lever had sheared right off (the anchor plus a small piece it attaches to) So the engine still run but only at idle. Good thing I had some extra wires and a zip tie to reattach the throttle cable to a different part of the throttle lever. Will try to take a pic so it's clearer what happened and what I did to rig up an emergency fix to be on my way.
Anyone had a similar experience? Is it just my lead foot or I need accelerator pedal stop in additional the max IP lever adjustment?
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#1
by
fatmobile
on 17 Jan, 2011 22:38
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Probably should adjust your new lever so it hits it's stop, just as the peddle is hitting the floor/stop.
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#2
by
Powered by Spearco
on 17 Jan, 2011 22:54
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Have "Billy"
climb inside and give it full throttle while you adjust the cable at the pump to full throttle.
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#3
by
coke
on 17 Jan, 2011 23:02
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First thing I had to do when I installed my Giles pump was uninstall the accelerator stop from the floorboard.
Sounds like your IP "go" lever broke off, though? Do take pictures and post them so we have clarification.
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#4
by
vanagonturbo
on 17 Jan, 2011 23:18
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Probably should adjust your new lever so it hits it's stop, just as the peddle is hitting the floor/stop.
This is what happened. A properly adjusted throttle is one that has the pedal to floor and the throttle is at its fullest on the pump. It is critical to make sure that there is not too much tension on the cable. Unless you enjoy what happened today
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#5
by
rumbling_caddy
on 18 Jan, 2011 11:02
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This is piece of the throttle lever that broke off:
I lengthened the cable adjustment and reattach the cable end to another part of the lever. Seems to to holding ok with a piece of wire and a zip tie as backup. I'm going easy on the accelerator until this get fixed.
Is it safe to weld back the broken piece in place?
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#6
by
coke
on 18 Jan, 2011 14:04
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Gotta say, never seen that before. My pump is the same as yours, minus the LDA. There must have been some undo strain on it causing that.
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#7
by
rabbitman
on 19 Jan, 2011 19:47
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That's weird, a friend of mine had that happen to him a couple years ago, he quit driving it for other reasons but now he's looking at it again so he asked me about it. It's a TD also.
He also said he tried welding it but it's a cheesy zinc (I think) plated metal and wouldn't really weld.
Anyone know a source for these?
I just remembered, I have an LDA that's missing the lever too so that could make three cases and I might remember a couple years ago someone else on here broke one...........
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#8
by
TITan
on 20 Jan, 2011 05:20
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My dad an I just bent a AAZ throttle lever for a install into a Vanagon and it started cracking when bending. It seems to be made from quite a fragile material. But atleast in our case it was easy to weld the cracks (with a inverter welding unit with inox rods if it's any help).
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#9
by
damac
on 20 Jan, 2011 14:24
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When I first started messing with the pump on my jetta a couple months ago, I did not know about the relation of the cable and had the floor piece way far away from the pedal. I went for a drive anyway thinking I could keep out of the pedal, just around the block.
Lol, it popped out a few times just trying to get back home. I had to get upside down at night with a keychain flashlight to try and feed the accelerator cable back into the pedal. So looking at this I guess I got lucky that day, no fatigue on the pump.
I also got the firetruck/ambulance called on me because somebody apparently thought I was having a heart attack, with my feet up in the air and the car shaking stuck in the right lane with the emergency lights on
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#10
by
R.O.R-2.0
on 20 Jan, 2011 14:31
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When I first started messing with the pump on my jetta a couple months ago, I did not know about the relation of the cable and had the floor piece way far away from the pedal. I went for a drive anyway thinking I could keep out of the pedal, just around the block.
Lol, it popped out a few times just trying to get back home. I had to get upside down at night with a keychain flashlight to try and feed the accelerator cable back into the pedal. So looking at this I guess I got lucky that day, no fatigue on the pump.
I also got the firetruck/ambulance called on me because somebody apparently thought I was having a heart attack, with my feet up in the air and the car shaking stuck in the right lane with the emergency lights on
thats awesome!!!
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#11
by
rumbling_caddy
on 21 Jan, 2011 08:40
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...
Lol, it popped out a few times just trying to get back home. I had to get upside down at night with a keychain flashlight to try and feed the accelerator cable back into the pedal. So looking at this I guess I got lucky that day, no fatigue on the pump.
I also got the firetruck/ambulance called on me because somebody apparently thought I was having a heart attack, with my feet up in the air and the car shaking stuck in the right lane with the emergency lights on
Great story!
I was only on the side of the freeway for like 5 minutes. Gotta love how simple these IDI diesels are. With the manual boost controller install, I have gotten the little caddy up 25 psi a couple of time yesterday (with the throttle cable hack and no intercooler yet). Wow! It really moves!
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#12
by
R.O.R-2.0
on 21 Jan, 2011 08:44
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25 psi starts getting kinda scary with stock head bolts and gaskets..
idk how many times you can safely visit that part of town before your coolant starts running for its life..
ive been there a few times, but ive also blown quite a few head gaskets, and cracked a few blocks..
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#13
by
rumbling_caddy
on 21 Jan, 2011 13:24
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I'll heed you warning and try not to push my luck too far. I do have ARP head studs, however they are in a box and not installed. Will try to do something about the broken throttle lever this weekend. If it's not too much trouble to remove the throttle lever from the IP, I do that first. Was thinking of either welding it back and/or making a mending plate. Another option is to cannibalize the lever from another 1.6d turbo IP that I have.
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#14
by
R.O.R-2.0
on 21 Jan, 2011 13:41
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if you weld on the arm, take it off the pump, dont wanna clamp the ground on somewhere too far away and wipe out the bearings in your pump from a rogue arc..