SHO Forum, Here is Your Easy Solution to a Stretched Throttle Cable

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

Well after hearing so much about the potential HP loss due to incomplete opening of the Throttle from a stretched cable, I decided to check mine.



The throttle was coming about 1/4" shy of WOT.....ouch

Shoforum search showed the solution to be a new cable. Temp fixes were exactly that....temporary. Plastic pieces dont work due to the force exerted on them.

You could find a used cable on ebay, but they were found to be just as stretched as the one on your car. Darnit.

Well, being cheap, and impatient (a wicked combination for a man who is desperate) I came up with a more permanent/temporary solution to regain those lost horses.

Take a couple of small lock washers and separate the space enough to slip it over the cable. Not alot, just a bit. I actually squeezed the diameter of the lock washers down before I installed them so the diameter was small enough to keep the washer from being pulled thru the cable end. The Washers tend to hang such that the opening is at the bottom, so they dont pop off. My throttle is now opening 100% but not so much that I put undo pressure on the tired old cable. Took 2 measly washers to fix mine.

Total fix time: 10 minutes.

Total Horses gained: varies

Total cost: a whoppin 3 cents. This is now the best bang for the buck HP wise.

Go forth and enjoy

 

[Denny]

Nice work Mike however, I did this fix myself back in oh...January of '02

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

Just a thought...how do you know the throttle is not at WOT (aka your cable is streched)?

 

[projectSHO89]

Just a thought...how do you know the throttle is not at WOT (aka your cable is streched)?

Remove the air tube, have someone mash the throttle to the floor, then look into the throttle body to see the position of the throttle plate.

A fully open plate will be horizontal. Any stretch in the cable will reveal itself as a throttle plate that is not fully open.

Steve

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

An easier way to tell, ie, less stuff to remove, is just to look at the linkage on the outside of the throttlebody. When someone mashes the gas, you will see the linkage rotate in a circle and there is an arm on the rotating linkage that should touch the stop plate (for lack of a better term). If it does not hit the stop plate, your cable is stretched.


Oh and Denny, a 3.2 conversion is only the second method for fixing a stretched cable. Albeit the most difficult, it is probably the most satisfying.

 

[DHMag]

as common with all Fords, there is a bit of slack in the throttle cable. another site i frequented years ago suggested the use of lead fishing weights crimped onto the cable at the accelerator pedal. it only worked if enough force was applied to the weight to clamp onto the cable. personally, i used a bushing with a slit cut in it, and used zipties to secure it onto the cable.

 

[jelloslug]

I found in my car that it was the gas pedal arm that was bent rather than the cable being streched.

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

An easier way to tell, ie, less stuff to remove, is just to look at the linkage on the outside of the throttlebody. When someone mashes the gas, you will see the linkage rotate in a circle and there is an arm on the rotating linkage that should touch the stop plate (for lack of a better term). If it does not hit the stop plate, your cable is stretched.


Oh and Denny, a 3.2 conversion is only the second method for fixing a stretched cable. Albeit the most difficult, it is probably the most satisfying.

Ah yes, thank you much.