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How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

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Old 12-04-2002, 01:49 AM
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Default How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

So i measured the WOT volts with my digital voltemeter and it read 4.4V. I knew the mod was to go to only 4.7V. So i kept shaving off more and more of the stop until i reached 4.65V Then when i was all done i made a freind of mine make sure it worked so i had him floor it while i was watching the TB blade. It stopped 1/2 inch before the stop and i measured it there to be around 4.4V. So i was wondering how i could pick up this slack in the throttle line?
Old 12-04-2002, 05:20 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

I have the exact same problem. I'm sure you can just adjust the pedal but I would really want someone who knows to tell me.
Old 12-04-2002, 06:10 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

It's hard to explain, but aproximately in the middle of the throttle cable there's a little plastic section that allows you to adjust the cable by sort of pinching the cable together.
Old 12-04-2002, 06:24 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Like Predator said, it is hard to explain. Here's my attempt:

There is a black plastic piece in the middle of the throttle cable. If I remember correctly, the top piece pops off. You then adjust the cable length. Put the black piece back on once you have the cable at the correct length. That little piece has threads on it and it actually holds the throttle cable at the right length.

Kind of confusing explanation. I hope it helps.

Dan
Old 12-04-2002, 10:53 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

You guys are doing something wrong if your throttle cable is 1/2 inch longer after the Bump Stop mod than it was before you took your throttle body off. What made your cable grow by 1/2 inch? Something ain't right. You better go over everything you did real closely. The TPS should be NO higher than 4.64 VDC at WOT because the manual says the DTC sets at 4.65 VDC. The manual also says the closed throttle value should be NEAR 0.6 VDC. If the throttle cam is 1/2 inch from the bump stop when the pedal is to the metal something is binding. You better go fish. Your probably not going to find that much take up on the cable adjustment.
Old 12-04-2002, 06:42 PM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Well my cable has ZERO slack and if I attempt to adjust it it will start to move the cam. I never took the TB off when I did this mod I just completly covered everything in the engine bay and mad sure nothing could get into the TB. It feels as if though my pedal is bottoming out before the tb plate opens all the way. I have only about a 1/8-1/4" of extra space. Is their a way to adjust the pedal so it has slightly more movement or will I have to shim the pedal further away and give the cable a little more slack to make up the difference? Hope that makes since.
Old 12-04-2002, 07:18 PM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Found it. The plastic clip over the middle of the throttle cable i guess wasn't clamped down enough so the cable towards the throttle body from the plastic part was loose and was creating slack. After snapping it in and securing the lock, my cable goes to the stop and the car hauls ***!
Old 12-04-2002, 07:35 PM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Hey cool, someone asked a question - got an answer - and then closed the loop to let folks know it worked.

I hate it when people don't comment on the suggestions, cause then I'm the guinea pig in my garage late at night :-)~

Mike M
Old 12-04-2002, 11:33 PM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Trans Am (and everybody else): Don't forget to adjust the throttle cable AT THE PEDAL as well. The cable that goes from the black plastic box to the throttle body is only half of the slack in the system... sometimes even less than half. The REAL stretching takes place on the other side of the firewall. I guarantee that if you haven't taken up the slack at the pedal in the past 12 months, your throttle body isn't opening all the way.

How to check it: Move your seat all the way back & get down by the accelerator pedal. LIFT UP on the pedal. The amount you can lift up on the pedal is the amount of slack you have in the line. Take up that slack, and your throttle body will open farther.

How to do it: First, remove the two kick panels on the driver's side. Then put a spacer (I use scrap sheetmetal, folded over to pinch the throttle cable) between the end of the throttle cable and the hole in the pedal arm that the cable goes through. You'll not only ensure that the throttle is opening all the way, you'll have better throttle response because your foot doesn't have to take up any slack on its way to the floorboard. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

I've documented substantial increases in performance on every car I've done this adjustment to, from my old '83 Regal, to my '91 Sunbird, to both my Camaros. (On my Regal, I took up so much slack that my 0-60 times (stopwatch-based) went from a dismal 14 seconds to about 10. Still slow, but hey, at least it was an improvement.) The more miles your car has on it, the more of an improvement you'll see, since the cable stretches more over time (sorry if that's stating the obvious).

Good luck!
Old 12-05-2002, 01:46 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Good point Killer, but i doubt it would pertain to me. I felt an immediate difference after the throttle adjuster was secured. The pedal is nice and stiff with no slack either way. I'm glad i found that damn thing loose. OH yeah, and WOT screams now.
Old 12-05-2002, 09:54 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Killer '01 SS:
<strong>Trans Am (and everybody else): Don't forget to adjust the throttle cable AT THE PEDAL as well. The cable that goes from the black plastic box to the throttle body is only half of the slack in the system... sometimes even less than half. The REAL stretching takes place on the other side of the firewall. I guarantee that if you haven't taken up the slack at the pedal in the past 12 months, your throttle body isn't opening all the way.
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Is the throttle cable split into two cables as it goes from the pedal to the throttle body? If not, the tension is constant throughout the cable and it only needs to be adjusted at one spot.
Old 12-05-2002, 11:45 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

It's two cables. They attach at a black plastic box near the battery.
Old 12-05-2002, 02:27 PM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Hey Killer '01SS, You mean to tell me that there isn't supposed to be any slack in the pedal. I can pick mine up like 2 FREAKN INCHES. It's a 99 SS that I've only had for a year. Adjusting that is going to kick some serious ***!!! <img border="0" alt="[Burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_cheers.gif" />

Iv'e never done any kind of work with adjusting cables, so your saying that there's not an adjuster linkage and I have to put some kind of spacer in there? If so, the spacer goes in after the cable goes through the pedal correct?

I can't stop <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> . I can't wait to change that!!!
Old 12-06-2002, 11:00 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Ok, I just took the kick panels off and actually have about 1.5 inches of slack. So needless to say I got pretty excited about the spacer mod, but I had a buddy sit in the car and floor it while I was at the TB and the cable turns the dial all the way to the stop bracket.

Will this mod still help me (trottle response) or will it just raise my pedal and then not allow me to put the gas pedal all the way to the floor?

Thanks for the help. <img border="0" alt="[chug]" title="" src="graemlins/gr_chug.gif" />
Old 12-07-2002, 12:22 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

SixSpeed: I guarantee you're going to get noticeably better throttle response. (Or your money back, heheheheh!) There is no adjuster linkage that I'm aware of, so just fab up a spacer out of a v-shaped piece of sheetmetal, put it between the ball at the end of the cable and the plastic cup that the ball sits in, and you're done.

Be sure to post your results after you're done. (I'd love to see if you can pick up a tenth or two in the quarter because of this adjustment!)
Old 12-09-2002, 10:14 AM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Well it did help alittle with throttle response. Sorry, I don't have any numbers. But a tenth or two would not be out of the question. What I like even more is that all three pedals are relatively level now instead of my gas pedal being half way down. Helps gas and break movement with my size 13 shoes.

I used a wire clamp thing. Two pieces of metal with two screws holding them together. Home Depot Rocks.

Thanks Killer! That helped out alot.
Old 12-09-2002, 01:42 PM
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Default Re: How do i tighten the throttle cable? TB stop mod

Definitely take his advice and check out the
pedal end. For folks with cruise and TCS,
the pedal-to-pulleyCluster line is the one
with no adjuster on it. After I snugged up
the two adjustable ones, I still couldn't
get the throttle tang to hit the bump stop
(never mind the ground-back part, wouldn't
even go as far as the original).

I found about 3/8" of slack in the pedal
cable. Taking this out, I got to where full
pedal makes full throttle, which is what
we want.

I used a slightly different spacer scheme.
Took a piece of small vacuum hose and slit
it lengthwise, put it around the cable, and
the slipped a sheath of heat shrink tubing
over the cable end and that hose piece.
The whole thing sets down inside the plastic
thing that slips into the pedal lever. Seems
pretty clean, although you need to have the
right junk in your junk boxes.

Much more "go-happy" with the extra pedal.
Some of this is just what your foot is
trained for and your mind expects. But the
TCS doesn't stand a chance of stopping
wheelspin now, where before its "kick-back"
used to have the final say.



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