Way Too Much Slack in Throttle Cable

This weekend we joined a fantastic bunch of folks from the FCA-MAR for a drive from the DC/Baltimore area to Pittsburgh for the Vintage Grand Prix. Great setting, great cars, great people. The trip was four-plus hours each way and the QV really did great.

One thing that was becoming apparent was that the 308 really doesn't keep up with the newer and more powerful cars. And then it became clear that it really doesn't do all that well going up hills. And then it occurred to me--Hey! Something ain't right here! The long, skinny pedal on the right doesn't seem to be doing the job!

As it turns out, depressing the pedal isn't moving the cable enough to open the throttle. I guessed that the cable was fraying, and since I couldn't see any evidence of damage on the engine end of things I assumed it had to be at the pedal. So tonight I opened it up and found...nothing.

The cable is fine, but has somehow gotten way out of adjustment. I made this quick video to illustrate the problem. I am hoping for some feedback from the group. What should I do? Lower the pedal stop? Adjust some slack out of the cable? Both? Replace the cable?

Watch the video and let me know what you think! And Thanks!

http://youtu.be/1TWjEv4ouiU

 

Paul nailed it--why I am not surprised that the problem is a loose nut? Clearly it vibrated loose over the course of the long highway drive. I backed the adjuster out of the threads in the intake manifold and took as much slack out of the cable as I could, and then re-tightened the locking nut.

But when I went to check my throttle throw again, still not anywhere near enough travel. Which brings me to an interesting thought. I've had this car for just under a year. It's been fun. But I've always thought of it more as fun vintage car and not really a supercar. It never seemed nearly as fast as my E36 M3, which has the same 240HP output. My conclusion is that it's quite possible that I was not really getting anywhere near the full potential out of the engine--because the throttle wasn't opening all the way.

So I decided to drop the stop under the pedal to dramatically increase the travel. What was less than an inch of travel is now a bunch more. I need to get someone to operate the pedal while I put the final adjustments on everything, but this is going to be interesting. Perhaps some previous owner replaced the cable (it shows no wear) and never got things adjusted correctly.

Ever wish you could find a free 50HP? That may be me! More this weekend...