SHIT!

[Rupert]

I drove all day today, and at the end of the drive, my throttle seems to be sticking. I'll lift off the accelerator and the RPMs stay high and don't change until I hit it again. Stuck cable/pedal? Any other ideas? I'm not super concerned since the clutch and brakes still work...

(I changed the topic title to reflect the current situation).

[S204STi]

The throttle body is dirty.  Grab a $2.00 can of carb clean and spray it down, working the plate back and forth as you do so.  If you want to be really thorough, get an old toothbrush and scrub around in there and get all the carbon off the back of the throttle plate and deeper in the bore as well.

[TheIntrepid]

Oh, my friend's Neon's got this too. I asked him about it once and he said it's to help you on the highway because it doesn't have cruise control. I just shrugged it off at that time.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Oh, my friend's Neon's got this too. I asked him about it once and he said it's to help you on the highway because it doesn't have cruise control. I just shrugged it off at that time.

That sounds like something my sister would say.
I think I can understand why your friend doesn't drive. :P

[JWC]

That sounds like something a car salesman would say, Intrepid. 


R-inge's correct.  My sister's Toyota did the same thing and the garage offered to fix it for $150.00.  I spent $4 and twenty minutes and corrected the problem.

[Rupert]

Good. I figured it was easy...

Why did it wait until it was run all day to do this? It's never happened before, and yesterday was the first time I drove it for more than half an hour.

[TheIntrepid]

That sounds like something my sister would say.
I think I can understand why your friend doesn't drive. :P

Well it's not my car so I'm not about to do any cleaning to it. I use his Explorer when the NEon's in the shop, which is quite often.

[Rupert]

Well, fuck.

Now it's doing this all over the place. I drove a couple of blocks and turned back-- the rpms now rise sometimes (probably the same problem?). The little throttle plate thing moves back and forth freely, but there's no tension in the cable. Any ideas? No one is open until Tuesday.

I'm seven hours from where I need to be on Tuesday.

[ifcar]

It was predicted.

It's an over/under until there's a catastrophic breakdown, Psilos.

Seriously though, I'm sorry to hear it. I hope it doesn't give you too much trouble, and that you can still make your trip.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Well, fuck.

Now it's doing this all over the place. I drove a couple of blocks and turned back-- the rpms now rise sometimes (probably the same problem?). The little throttle plate thing moves back and forth freely, but there's no tension in the cable. Any ideas? No one is open until Tuesday.

I'm seven hours from where I need to be on Tuesday.

So, is the throttle return spring kaput?

[Rupert]

It seems to work fine...

[Rupert]

I can't get it to do it again, but I wasn't driving it, just sitting there revving to various RPMs.

[Rupert]

And the Haynes is no help.

[Rupert]

But if I drive it around the block a couple of times, it does the thing again.

[Eye of the Tiger]

What about the Idle-Air-Controller-valve thingy??

[The Pirate]

What condition is the throttle cable in?  And because we like bikes, what condition is the housing in? 


Other than that, maybe the idle air control valve?

[Rupert]

I'll check that out.

The cable (and housing ) are in fine condition. The cable moves smoothly...

[Eye of the Tiger]

My sister's '94 Escort has a problem like that... when it's in park or neutral, the revs will continually go up and down between 500 and 1500 rpms. The slightest pressure on the throttle though, and it goes away.

[Rupert]

The revs seems to rise while it's in gear and driving, like I've got the pedal pressed down. (Yay for the clutch, I suppose).

The IAC solenoid thinger seems to be OK. The manual said to unplug it with the engine idling and the revs should fall or the engine should stall. The revs fell. Other tests require a ohm/volt meter, which I don't have.

[Eye of the Tiger]

The revs seems to rise while it's in gear and driving, like I've got the pedal pressed down. (Yay for the clutch, I suppose).

The IAC solenoid thinger seems to be OK. The manual said to unplug it with the engine idling and the revs should fall or the engine should stall. The revs fell. Other tests require a ohm/volt meter, which I don't have.

Take it to Autozone or one of those places, they'll usually plug in the OBD scanner for free.

[Rupert]

Yeah... The CEL isn't on and I don't want to drive it that far. I'm pretty sure that the revs will rise until it hits the limiter, and I don't want to be sitting at a stop light bouncing off 6000 rpm.

[Rupert]

Unless I can figure it out, I think I'm just gonna stick around until Tuesday when I can get it fixed.

[JWC]

With no MIL lighted, I look for something mechanical, not electronic.  To be sure, you can do some "TAP" tests.  Tap the maf sensor, tps, etc and see if anything changes. 

BTW, what are you driving?

[Danish]

He has a Ford Ranger, 4 cyl. I believe

[Rupert]

Yeah, that's it. Year 2000.

What about the clutch? Driving down I was following a log truck around some curves and I smelled brake/clutch, but I figured it was the truck ahead. I can't figure out how the clutch being bad would cause this problem, though. I was talking to someone tonight who used to have a '92 Ranger, and he suggested that weird things like this might be the clutch.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Yeah... The CEL isn't on and I don't want to drive it that far. I'm pretty sure that the revs will rise until it hits the limiter, and I don't want to be sitting at a stop light bouncing off 6000 rpm.

Oh... so it just starts going up as soon as you start it, and never goes down? Sounds like something in the throttle linkage is screwy. It couldn't do that unless the thorttle was opening somehow.

[Rupert]

No, it's fine and normal for a couple of blocks, then when I put the clutch in, the revs rise. If it's in gear, it seems like it wants to accelerate if I have my foot off the brake. It started last night when I'd put the clutch in and the revs wouldn't fall, but would just kind of stay where they were.

I initially thought it was something like the linkage, and that was sorta confirmed initially, but now I'm thinking not. The throttle plate moves fine, and the cable is OK. The pedal seems to have some kinda jerky resistance, but if I move the pedal up with my foot, the problem isn't affected. I"d suspect a computer thing, but the CEL is off.

[traumadog]

The revs seems to rise while it's in gear and driving, like I've got the pedal pressed down. (Yay for the clutch, I suppose).

The IAC solenoid thinger seems to be OK. The manual said to unplug it with the engine idling and the revs should fall or the engine should stall. The revs fell. Other tests require a ohm/volt meter, which I don't have.

Doeesn't mean the IAC couldn't be sticking.  Might be worth trying to clean it out, if possible.

[Eye of the Tiger]

If all the throttle linkages and IAC check out, the next thing I'd look for is an air-leak downstream of the throttlebody. Also, have the Throttle Position Sensor checked. If not that, look for a leaky fuel injector and/or a reason why the fuel pressure might be too high.

[JWC]

Actually, my best guess is a vacuum leak.  Check the vacuum lines, especially the PCV harness.  I see those often.