Stiff Accelerator

[Jotto82]

Hey All, 1979 K20. Just like the heading says the accelerator in my truck is very stiff. Is there anything I can do to soften it up? I have a 12 year old son that I wanna let use the truck when he needs to move hay and other things around the property but it’s difficult for him to press the pedal. When he does press it he takes off to quick. I want him to be able to accelerate comfortably. Any ideas? Thanks All!

[mongocanfly]

put a lighter weight return spring on it....if its a cable throttle make sure the cable slides freely....if not lube it good with pb blaster or wd40....if its linkage throttle make sure it isn't binding..

[4x4k30]

it acts you may need a new throttle cable the plastic casing the wire cable slides thru it is just worn causeing it to bind once you take off the old cable you can see where its worn .if that's not the reason it is stiff it may have too heavy of return spring . I would take the cable loose and the spring at the carb. to see if it works back and forth and doesnt . bind .

[Jotto82]

Ok. I’ll take a look. New to all this so I really have to learn the truck. I appreciate the response

[Jotto82]

The way the pedal responds I have a feeling it’s the return spring. I am under the impression I can order them with different specs? If that’s the case how do determine the “weight “ of the current spring so I can improve the situation without buying stock in the company that makes them lol

[wilkin250r]

If you DO find out it's the cable, you can lube it up as mongo suggested, but I would only do that as a temporary fix.

Don't mess around with a sticking throttle cable, replace the whole thing. If that cable sticks and hold the throttle open, you can get into serious trouble real quick.

[mongocanfly]

depending on what kind of spring it has most parts stores carry a assortment of springs

[RedBed]

I would also vote for changing the cable. They're around $15 and easy to change. I recently did mine, and changed to a new spring as well, and it made a world of difference. Plus I added an extra dose of lube before the install.

When I looked mine up on the Auto Parts Store website, it showed a 23-1/2" cable as the correct one. I also looked up a shorter one (18-1/2") and ordered it as well. When I did the change, it turned out the shorter one was better for my application. So I just returned the one I didn't use.

[Jotto82]

If it looks worn at all I will change the cable. The guy I bought it from just installed the new carb so there again I was thinking it should have been changed but who knows. I will take a look in the daylight. It has to be safe if the boy is going to be driving it. Do they make these vehicle specific or are they universal?

[cadillac_al]

I have never worn out a throttle cable on anything, new one on me. I'll bet it has the wrong springs on it; especially since it had a carb swap. just my .02.

[geezer#99]

Originally Posted by Jotto82

If it looks worn at all I will change the cable. The guy I bought it from just installed the new carb so there again I was thinking it should have been changed but who knows. I will take a look in the daylight. It has to be safe if the boy is going to be driving it. Do they make these vehicle specific or are they universal?

New carb,eh!
Maybe the cable is hooked up to the carb in the wrong spot.
Take a pic for us.

[Jotto82]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

New carb,eh!
Maybe the cable is hooked up to the carb in the wrong spot.
Take a pic for us.

I will take a picture today. I have a business meeting for a few hours but will be home in a while to do that. Apparently it had an edelbrock on it but he put a Holley on it instead because he hates edelbrock... I believe it’s a 600 Holley dbl pumper but I’m not 100% on that.

[Pontiac1976]

I have never worn out a throttle cable on anything, new one on me. I'll bet it has the wrong springs on it; especially since it had a carb swap. just my .02.

I agree Or they put the spring to far out of location.

[Jotto82]

Let me know if these work

[Jotto82]

Let me know if these work

[geezer#99]

Can you pull the air cleaner off and zoom out a bit.
Hard to tell how cobbled up your linkage is. Looks like the linkage has been moved on the carb.
That return spring will make it jerky. And your cable should be attached higher.

Could you burn off a couple more pics.

[Jotto82]

Yup. Just gotta finish helping my wife with her horse chores

[Pontiac1976]

Looking @ the pic. I would take the spring out of the factory loction up high on the frt of where the throttle cable is run the spring foward to bracket should be a mounting hole in the intake between the water neck and throttle linkage side. You may have to hold it there
with some pliers have some one test the peddle in side. Take a needle nose vise grips cut two 3" 3/8 rubber hose. Take them push the two on the vise grips nose ends, then clamp off the rubber fuel line to the fuel pump. Run the truck till it stalls then do your test on the foot peddle & spring. Take measurement then bolt mounting tab that is high enough that it will not hit the air cleaner on the angle to the throttle linkage. drill a hole in the mounting tab other side of the spring. you should be gold.

[Jotto82]

Better pics

[sweetk30]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

put a lighter weight return spring on it....if its a cable throttle make sure the cable slides freely....if not lube it good with pb blaster or wd40....if its linkage throttle make sure it isn't binding..

p.b. blaster should NOT be used as a lube . makes stuff gumb up and stick up and rust up faster .

wd-40 or a light oil is best .

and like said check the return springs and free movment of the cable when NOT hooked to the carb . should slide like butter on a hot knife in the housing .

[Jotto82]

Just so everyone knows. I’m essentially illiterate with this sort of thing so if you can dumb it down lol. I do my best and if I don’t understand I look it up but just saying

[geezer#99]

I suspect a combination of the cable hooked too close to the pivot point of the throttle plus the spring not in the right spot. Cable needs to be higher, spring lower.
You can buy a bolt on bracket to fix both those.

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...ge/parts/20-14

And that’s not a double pumper. Likely single feed vac secondary.

[geezer#99]

[QUOTE=Take a needle nose vise grips cut two 3" 3/8 rubber hose. Take them push the two on the vise grips nose ends, then clamp off the rubber fuel line to the fuel pump. Run the truck till it stalls then do your test on the foot peddle & spring[/QUOTE]

Why would you do all that just to eliminate a little extra fuel in the intake plenum from repeated accelerator pump shots. If you think it will flood it just let it sit for an hour to let the fuel evaporate.

[mongocanfly]

not sayimg its best but i never had a issue with pb blaster...we use lots of it at work...but at home I do prefer wd40 personally..

[Jotto82]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

Why would you do all that just to eliminate a little extra fuel in the intake plenum from repeated accelerator pump shots. If you think it will flood it just let it sit for an hour to let the fuel evaporate.

Truck doesn’t flood. I put the pedal to the floor once and it fires up right away. Even at 10 below