Accelerator Cable

Anyone ever change the Accelerator Cable. Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal on most cars, but this is a Ferrari. I know I have to take the bottom cover off. Will it then just feed through?
Thanks

 

There was a thread on this awhile back. Yes, you will have to remove the cover panel under the fuel tanks, as the cable is routed down one tube that penetrates the firewall and then has to be fed by hand to a tube that carries the cable up to the pedal. There's no chance the cable will make the bend by itself.

When you do the job, the old cable is extracted from the engine end, and the new cable is then inserted from the engine end. It is one of the easiest jobs to do, but it will take a little while if all you have is ramps to put the car on (as I did). The only thing I'd pay particular attention to is to make sure that it won't rub against fuel hoses, and that it is out of the way of the shift rod. The subsequent adjustments at the pedal end and where it meets the throttle body are pretty obvious and trivial to make.

A possible "while you're in there" activity would be to refresh the crossover hose and the fuel pump intake hose since they're both visible when you remove the panel. Of course, this means draining the tanks, etc. You might want to swipe the exterior of the hoses with your finger, and then smell your finger for fuel. That test convinced me that I needed some fuel system parts. (Went with the Scuderia Rampante stuff... top notch.)

 

Thanks for the info and especially the "while you're in there" tip. Those are always worth their weight in gold.

 

Just to elaborate on the "while you're in there". If you don't know the provenance of your fuel hoses, or if they're original equipment, replace them. The S.R. kit I mentioned provides for the crossover hose between the tanks, the intake hose for the fuel pump, and a couple of sections of hose needed for the fuel fill. He also includes some top-quality clamps. It gave me a lot of peace of mind, and it is not hard to install these.

I also replaced most of the braided hoses, and tons of evap. and vapor lines while I was at it... that is a bigger job.

The crossover hose between the tanks was the one that I could swipe with my finger, and then smell fuel. Autopsy revealed that original hose was made of two layers of material, with a braided fabric in between. The inner and outer materials are apparently different, I assume chosen for their different environmental resistance needs.

Anyway, the hose autopsy revealed that the inner liner had become permeable to fuel, and the outer material had developed many radial cracks that ran along its length. The combo was entirely capable of leaking fuel. The lower fill hose looked just as bad.

 

I just completed this fix on my 1988 Mondial 3.2 cab with ABS. Everything described above is correct. Thanks!

Some extra notes for anyone doing this job in the future:

1. Note that the ABS-equipped Mondial 3.2 throttle cable has a different part number than prior cars. I used part number 133750 from Eurospares.

2. You can (barely) reach in to disconnect the hard end of the cable sheath from its mount on the intake manifold by simply removing the oil filter. A 13mm open-end wrench will fit and allow you to slowly back it out.

3. As noted above, you have to remove the bottom plate covering the fuel tanks to feed the cable through to the forward section of the car. It emerges cleanly in the middle underneath near the shift rod when you push it through the metal tube from the top side near the engine (you have also removed the car's interior engine access cover...)

4. Passing the cable forward to the pedal end is trivial since there is a tube starting under the car between the fuel tanks and ending near the pedal under the center console.

5. The connection of the throttle cable at the pedal is done inside the car and can be done easily by removing the section of the center console that is forward of the radio. Mine was fairly easy to remove by pulling up the carpeting on the passenger side of it, which was attached by velcro near the floor - not sure if all cars have velcro there or not though. Once exposed, the console's structure has several screws holding it to the left half as well as attaching it to the middle section. The left half of the console is attached to the middle section by a couple of screws at the rear of it, near the driver seat.

6. Install the engine end of the cable sheath into its mount at least deep enough that it starts showing through on the side near the throttle body. The cable appears to be just barely long enough to cover the necessary length so you'll need every millimeter! Don't allow any unnecessary slack in the engine compartment either.

Overall, 4-5 hours if you have only jackstands is a reasonable time estimate.

 

One note of caution at least for RHD cars, not sure if it applies to LHD as well. To connect the cable on the pedal side, you need to remove the centre console forward section. When replacing, make sure its vertical right wall is OUTSIDE the small metal guide on the floorpan. Else, the pedal will stick and you'll end up with an "unintended acceleration" case of your own, as the throttle body return spring won't be able to pull back the pedal to idle against the resistance of the actual lever rubbing on the inside of the vertical wall of the centre tunnel cover.
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Hi, read this thread and others. Cable on
Its last legs at engine side. I read remove/ replace engine side - exposed sheath at pedal and between gas tanks I don't see anywhere to feed the cable into the sheath excepting entrance below plenum. Per earlier below can someone confirm I need to feed cable forward of plenum at firewall? Would appreciate any expertise on this, Thanks,
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attach safety wire to one end. Pull cable out bringing wire along. Remove old cable and attach new cable. Pull the wire out with the new cable.

 

Good idea - Thanks!

 

When you did this replacement......did the conduit for the accelerator cable start and stop under the car? I have the gas tank cover off and am looking at the conduit and it looks like it just continues past the shift shaft and fuel tank sharing hose and continues into the sealed channel where the coolant hoses run forward to the radiator. I see access plugs made of rubber every 10" but they are only 1-1/4" diameter. Did you need to tie a string onto the old cable to help aid with pushing the new cable back through? Thank you

 

Hi,
I just received my cable from eurospares 133750. It appears that the pedal side of the cable is a nominal 6mm, but the original is a nominal 5mm and therefore doesn't fit. Does anyone know what it should be?



Thanks,

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Thank you for the quick response.

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