Stuck Throttle
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
From: Crowley Texas
Stuck Throttle
Experienced an interesting few seconds several days ago. I was pulling away from a stoplight, and being first in line, I stuck the gas pedal on the floor. When I hit the clutch and lifted the gas to shift from second to third, the motor revved to redline, and I realized the throttle was stuck wide open. I killed the ignition and the motor died. The pedal was still on the floor, but after a few pokes with my foot, the pedal popped back up. Got home with no issue. I didn’t see anything wrong with the throttle cable or return springs, and it didn’t look like anything was binding under the dash. I was able to duplicate the problem (without the motor running), and determined that the pedal was catching where the carpet transitions from carpet to the plastic padded area under the pedals. Very subtle, but just enough to hold the pedal down. I had installed new carpet recently. I was able to trim the area to create a smooth transition rather than a step. Lesson learned. Experiment with a few dead “gas pedal on the floor” excursions before you do so under power.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 926
Likes: 2
From: Castle Rock CO
Yea it can happen where it will get caught. Last time it happened to me I sent my 1976 Chevelle Malibu Classic into a Tranny Shop for a tranny rebuild and they did not hook up my throttle linkage properly. Was driving out of shop and darn throttle got stuck in almost full throttle since I was testing out the Shift Kit I had them install. Glad I was on a side street and shut off the car. Pulled the hood and fixed the problem myself after I saw they did not hook the linkage up properly.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 2,520
Likes: 11
From: Hinckley OH
I had a clip on a carb linkage rod come off and it caused my throttle to stick at almost full throttle. I did exactly what 68vxm and MakoJoe did. Shut the engine off. Isn't it scary that when Toyota was having problems with the throttle sticking there were people who were going 100 mph for long distances trying to stop the car with the brakes.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,123
Likes: 433
From: Gladstone MO
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
The thing with the Toyota just proves that people have lost the capability for common sense. But on the other side of that, some cars, if you turn the key to OFF, the steering locks. Or at least people THINK it's locked since to power assist goes away.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 926
Likes: 2
From: Castle Rock CO
I had a clip on a carb linkage rod come off and it caused my throttle to stick at almost full throttle. I did exactly what 68vxm and MakoJoe did. Shut the engine off. Isn't it scary that when Toyota was having problems with the throttle sticking there were people who were going 100 mph for long distances trying to stop the car with the brakes.
