Sticky accelerator pedal or something else?

I have a 91 240 and I'm not sure if this is causing my hesitation issues, but when I press on the gas pedal in neutral, it doesn't go fully back to idle. Rather, it keeps idling at a higher speed. If I tug up on the bottom of the pedal, it returns to idle.



I have replaced the cable, but not the clevis pin which attaches the cable to the pedal. (It looks slightly out of round) Also, the side to side play in the pedal assembly has maybe a 1/16" or a little more of play when moved side to side.



When I open the throttle valve under the hood, it doesn't seem to make any binding noises or metal to metal noise.



What should I look into replacing?



I thought it might be my ignition switch before I noticed this, but after installing a new part, it acted the same.

Lube the cable? Check the housing angles.

OMG the font

slightly higher rpm ? could be normal since in N








my cable wore out at the firewall after 300k. would randomly stick at 2/3k for about a week then it was fine and then snapped after few weeks of no issues.

you can unhook the cable at the throttle then pull the gas pedal back to see the condition of the cable

or dirty throttle. could be a crazy number of things or nothing.

Where did you get the cable? The last one I bought from fcp is too long, or double check the routing do that it's not binding. Also check that the spring on the throttle body isn't broken.

Where did you get the cable? The last one I bought from fcp is too long, or double check the routing do that it's not binding. Also check that the spring on the throttle body isn't broken.

Click to expand...

I got the cable from a seller on ebay. It's a Gemo. While the throttle spring was still intact, I did bend the throttle cable a little bit downwards, and that seemed to improve the smoothness of the lever action.

I should probably lube it up as well, but I wasn't sure of what to use. Maybe that will take whatever hesitation stickiness out of it!

Thank you all for the great ideas!

Is the gas pedal itself moving freely, or are the pivot points rusty and seized? Any floor mats or under-dash panels rubbing against the pedal?

Is the car an automatic. If so, I would recommend temporarily disconnecting the kick down cable and checking the operation of the throttle.

Good question about the kickdown cable: I forgot to mention it's a 5-speed, so I can rule that out.

The clevis pin that goes through the upper part of the pedal to the the throttle cable was somewhat loose when I inspected it. I would like to get a replacement for it, but I'm not sure of what size it is. I didn't see any rust or binding when I took out the pedal assembly though and pressed it several times; lubed with 3-in-1 oil. The carpet didn't appear to be caught in it either.

I lubed the outer moving parts on the throttle body with 3-in-1 oil; the cable, the springs on the TB and the upper spring that is on the circular mechanism which sits atop the intake manifold and connects the throttle cable. While the action is much smoother, and the car drives better, the issue of backfiring out the exhaust has come up again when the car isn't fully warmed up yet.

Would a new(er) throttle body and clevis pin fix this problem?