308 Gt4 Throttle replacement

Hello
Can anyone post a description of a throttle cable replacement job for the GT4 , I have a new complete throttle cable ?

 

I was told it slides out and the new one slides in thru the gas pedal way. They told me its easy.

Ha, I would like to see it done first before I attempt it.

 

I've done a couple. Not a bad job since it runs through a tube on the underside of the car. I think the easiest way is to disconnect it from the throttle linkage and drop it down to the floor. Then jack up the car, remove the cap on the engine end of the tube and either attach the new cable to the old one, or tie a string securely to the old one, then pull it through the tube to the front of the car. Replace the caps and attach the connections and you're done.

Since they are prone to break at the most inopportune moment its a good idea to check them regularly and replace them if they are even slightly frayed. I speak from experience - I performed the operation once under an oak tree in Sacramento, and once in the pits at Sonoma Raceway (on a friend's car).

 

Thanks for help , all done now and and an easy job

 

Friends,

I am going to do this as my yearly service begins. Does anyone have any more suggestions. Any lubrication used. Mine is fine but figured what could go wrong with a modern cheaply made part! HA

Rob

 

Just had my throttle cable snap yesterday...see this thread for more:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/457484-just-when-you-thought-safe-go-back-into-water.html

Sounds like this is relatively and easy fix from some recent posts but had my 308GT4 flatbedded over to my mechanic to replace the cable, sheath and whatever else may be the culprit. The previous owner said that the throttle cable broke twice on him and then he installed a stainless steel aircraft cable...but that broke on me yesterday.

My mechanic mentioned that that he does put some lubricant down the sheath. I'll try and see what he uses and pass that along.

 

Friends,

My cable was fine but replaced it anyway. It was the right part and correct length but the new version has a longer threaded tube the attaches to the rear valve cover. A few observations:

*Mine had a thick rubber tube that covered the cable cover iafter the firewall. I had to cut about an inch off it to get the new one to work as of the longer threaded piece I alluded to above.

* I decided to remove the pedal assembly and glad i did as the grease was hard in on set of needle bearings and going in the other. The bearings were still good so I cleaned them and used the same Redline CV joint grease I use on just about everything now that needs grease. I bet the car goes faster as The mechanism was very plugged up now its like butter.

* The pedal had some kind of powder coating on it an my buddy says they had the ability to do this in 1975. I sanded it and painted it with SEM Satin Black them wet sanded with Micro Mesh sanding cloths until very nice.

* I found the easiest way was to remove the lower access cover and rubber plug . Loosen the small jam nut on the cable as it attaches to the pedal assembly under the car. This is easy and you can use a 12mm wrench to hole the fork section to loosen. Unsnap the assembly (see photo) Remove the fork assembly and remove the small jam nut. The rubber grommet under the rubber plug has a slit in it to easily remove the cable. On my car the cable had to be pulled from the firewall engine said after removing all the bits. Here are some before and after photos.

I would also say this was easy but you really have to remove the air box so that makes it a bit time consuming, not sure how I could do this in the field!! On to the clutch cable which seems harder........

Rob
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well????

 

Looks better than new, Robert. How is it after a couple of months on the road?

 

Now there are two obsessive compulsive disorder GT4 owners on this site, you and Peter.

 

Cant even tell the difference! I was hoping it would go faster!

 

LMAO!
Both great guys with a lot of knowledge on GT4's, though.

 

Nice pictures as always. I did the clutch cable a year ago. A bit more complicated, a difficult part was actually to connect the wire to the clutch pedal. Very limited space and very uncomfortable lying on the floor trying to get everything back.

/Peter



[

I would also say this was easy but you really have to remove the air box so that makes it a bit time consuming, not sure how I could do this in the field!! On to the clutch cable which seems harder........

Rob[/QUOTE]

 

Been there, done that...

My reason for going into this thing was I always had a "squeak" when I pressed the pedal and it drove me nuts after a while. When I took it apart, one of the needle bearings was seized solid and the rest had dried up grease. I replaced the bearings and lubed everything up and boy is it quiet now!
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I am proud to be mentioned in the same sentence with Peter, we are all GT4 brothers but Peter has helped me out on more occasions than I can count!!!!

 

I replaced the a broken throttle cable which had frayed at the junction of the engine mount. It enters the tube on the back of the firewall, one would assume this tube runs contiguously to the accelerator. Maybe it is due to the modifications done to create the RHD version, but it is not a single tube. The end of the engine bay tube can be felt with your hand, just in front of a cross member of the frame. The tube running from the pedal runs straight to the centre point near the other tube, but does not connect. It has a small hole on the side which you will not be able to feed from the front without cutting an access window.

You must pull through a wire attached to the broken wire, as in my case, if the cable is frayed at the junction of the sleeve, you must carefully cut through the sleeve and get hold of the cable. You can then release it from the pedal and attach a wire to the pedal end which you then need to pull from front to rear. In my case, the sleeve had deteriorated quite a bit and was mostly just a spring. you can pull it out from the tube on the firewall as it is not connected which will clear the tube so you can pull it through.

Once you have the old cable pulled through, simply reverse the process and connect the new one to your guide wire and pull it from rear to front. Be very careful to ensure it is secure, but not too thick to make it through the opening. Use a bit of electrical tape to create a smooth junction to pass through easily.

Good luck, be interested to know if this is just a RHD drive issue. Not much thought put into it, but I am sure they thought "why would you want to drive on the wrong side".

 

Just to say if you are replacing the whole cable (inner and outer from front to back) on a RHD car and replacing with the Superformance cable - be prepared for a bit of work (and some swearing)! My opinion is that it is ONLY possible to do this by getting the new cable in going from BACK (carbs) to FRONT (throttle). This is due to the large adjuster fixture on the carb end of the cable. That cannot travel through the tube so the other end (with the pedal fitting threaded end) is the one that makes the journey through the pipes. The hardest bit was getting the new cable (or actually the new cable sheath) into the flexi rubber fitting and concealed pipe in the engine bay. I ended up filing the metal end of the sheath fitting until it acted like a mini-ramp to expand the tube as it went. Had to file it until it was the same diameter as the sheath. Even then took plenty of wahing-up liquid as lubricant and plenty of pulling on the cable end under the car between the 2 tubes to get it through. On mine, the original old cable sheath metal fitting has seized in the end going into the tube to the throttle. I had to cut the old cable, pull the sheath metal out and the dig out the end fitting from the end of the tube. Once that was done, I could thread the new end into the tube going to the pedal.
The old original cbale had a nice slim sheath inside the tube going to the throttle but the superformance one doesn't so I used plenty of lithium grease to protect it inside this tube. There is a rubber bung at the throttle end to once that is out, getting the cable to the pedal is easy enough. In short - allow a good few hours for this job - mainly to try and get the new slightly larger cable sheath into the pipe in the engine bay.

 

If you want to lubricate the cable before you fit it, then get some motor bike synthetic chain lub. This comes in a spray can so you coil up the wire into 5 or 6 inch circles- lay on a flat plate and spray this stuff on. It goes on like wd 40 so it gets into the wire core, but it dries like grease. Do this until you get a this excess coating.