Throttle Cable too long??

[RobClark]

My accelerator is 'heavy' to push.

Found that my throttle cable seems a bit too long - and hence is not quite a straight run between EFI throttle Body and Firewall. It bends in an S shape.

Disconnected at the throttle body end, and from the throttle body bracket - so that the cable was now straight - and throttle pressure from my foot was much less. So I think I am on the right track.

My questions are:
1) It seems like a genuine Ford part (matches picture in workshop manual) - how can it be 'too long'?
2) Anyway to 'shorten? The flat bracket attachment seems crimped onto the outside of the cable. No way to move it I can see. And the very end (throttle end) of the cable is also crimped.
3) Replacing the entire cable seems to be very hard - as there are bolts I can't get to on the firewall sorta behind the vacuum assist for the brakes. Am I missing something?

The 'extra' length I am talking about is about 3". Guess I could move the Engine forward 3"

Rob The Aussie

[gadget73]

I wonder what throttle cable they're using for your car. The normal one is fairly short, since the accelerator and the throttle body are on the same side. Its probably less than 3 feet total. Yours might be using a Mark VII cable or something. I'd try just re-arranging the cable a bit so it doesn't have any sharp bends. Perhaps if you could pull it back towards the other side of the engine so there is a larger loop down near the accelerator pedal itself instead of having the excess cable jammed up behind the throttle body it would help.

[Archangel]

Rob, actually even the stock setup (left-hand steering wheel) is quite messy, cable is again too long for a nice straight fit and on all cars I've seen it's so kinky routed it ain't even funny. I agree with Gadget, try to route the cable as loosely as possible, let it rest on top of the right-hand valve cover if necessary. I'm attaching two pictures of my cable setup to clarify what I mean, look at the cruise control servo cable - it is way too long, so I had to let it loose over the alternator and then rout it between the brake lines coming out of the master cylinder:





If you are wondering why my cables go to the throttle body from the front, that's cause I'm using Mustang intake, throttle body and EGR spacer, and those normally face towards the right of the vehicle, when flipped to fit in a Town Car cables can only come from the front. All cables are from a Mark VII, by the way.

[RobClark]

Does this look right to you?

More on Robs-Throttle-Cable-Adventure.

Have a look at these photos. Is the throttle cable too long? I have highlighted it with the red arrow.

It bends around pretty sharp - certainly not straight.

My workshop manual says I need the part 9A758 which is 19.5" long ('86 EFI 5.0L). But from my measurements - that would be way too long!

Before I go and import the 9A758 - want to make sure it will make things better.

Rob the Aussie

[Archangel]

Holy crap Rob, that's one helluva kink they put into that cable. That don't necessarily mean the cable is too long, it simply means whoever installed it should be strangled up with same cable :evil: Here's something you can do - take the cable off the throttle body and straighten it up, then manually put a 90-deg bend in it so that when installed back it will point towards the right side of the engine bay, try to make that bend as smooth and wide as possible and just pull the excess cable on the other side of the engine.

[RobClark]

Thanks for the suggestion - but can't see how moving the bend from one side to the other makes a lot of difference. The pics you see are after I have re-routed best I can. Things are already a bit better - but it still looks very wrong.

'Cos I am so far away from you guys - can't exactly find another car to compare with. So - can someone with similar car ('86 Townie, 5L, EFI) tell me if my cable is the wrong part or not.

Cheers

Rob the Aussie

[gadget73]

That looks like the right cable, and its even run through the firewall in the same location a LHD car is. I wonder what sort of nonsense they did inside the car to run the throttle cable...

I'll see if I can get some pics tomorrow of how my cables are routed. Its currently dark and raining, and I'm not really inclined to go get wet in order to take a picture of darkness.

[RobClark]

No rush

Should have mentioned. Car was made in USA as a LH Drive model.

Throttle cable goes to standard accelerator pedal on LH side under dash (Well half of the pedal mechanism anyway).

Then there is some magic with more cables running under dash from LH to RH side where there is a new pedal.

Bottom line...as far as the throttle cable is concerned - it is going to (the top of) a standard Ford pedal on the LH side.

BTW - it is not these extra cables making my throttle cable tight: If I take the engine-end of the cable off the throttle ... accelerator pedal moves nice and easy.

[Enigma]

Rob, I had the same exact problem with my car and it made for a very heavy pedal. The people at my local emmision station had problems running it on the treadmill, they were never used to such a heavy pedal. One friend I let drive my car couldn't believe how much pressure it took. I tried ordering new replacement cables from the parts houses, but none of them were ever correct. Didn't even have the correct mounting flange on the engine end of it.

The way I fixed it, I went to my favorite bone yard, and looked at all the cables down the line of cars. (there is usually a good 20-30 to choose from) I found several with our same situation, but then I came across a couple that seemed to be just a little bit shorter. I tested it out from the inside, and it worked nice and smooth. So I snagged it, and put it in my car, and it worked like a charm. Real smooth, and feather light to the touch. First time I drove with it, I almost backed into the telephone pole in my alley, it had that much improvement in acceleration. It now has hardly any "S" shape to it. (see attached picture) I can't remember if it was Lincoln, Mercury or Ford I snagged it from, either.

I doubt you would have that option in your bone yards, and I'm not planning any trips to mine within the next couple of weeks, so I can't help you out there. But, at least you know what to aim for. And yes, the little bolts on the firewall are a royal pain in the ass to get to. What the engineers were smoking when they designed that, I have no idea. It takes a flexible socket extention, and good finger dexterity (and ALOT of cussing) to get the little buggers removed and replaced, but it is possible. Also, don't forget to remove the flat spring plate keeper from the inside of the cabin.! #@^%$!!

[Archangel]

Bottom line...as far as the throttle cable is concerned - it is going to (the top of) a standard Ford pedal on the LH side.

BTW - it is not these extra cables making my throttle cable tight: If I take the engine-end of the cable off the throttle ... accelerator pedal moves nice and easy.

Aaah, well then, if it will make you feel better I had the exact same problem in my '88 cable was way too long and it had a very similar nasty kink in it. Unfortunately short of replacing the cable assembly with a shorter one there really ain't a whole lot you can do, the throttle bracket is just way too close to the firewall to allow re-routing and stuff.

I solved the problem when I switched to the Mustang intake, that requires the cable to come from the front of the engine so a throttle cable for a Lincoln Mark VII was just the right length to make a reverse loop and move relatively smooth.

[85crownHPP]

the pedal in my 85 is hard to push too... much more than the 91. Im gonna look for bends...

MLSC the way you did your cables intrigues me... seems like doing that would be so much easier than modding the TB... did you have to re-set the TV pressure?

[Archangel]

Pete, yes I did have to re-set TV pressure, but that's expected considering the fact I changed the TV cable. Actually I changed cables twice, first I ran all of the Mark VII cables but the TV one was a little too short, so I pulled a TV cable from a 3.8 T-bird and installed that as it is several inches longer than the Mark VII cable.

Also I just bumped the tranny to max TV pressure last Wednesday, and good that I did that cause them PA hills would have toasted the clutches if tranny was set as they normally are for slush action.

[gadget73]

Finally got around to getting this. Pic is from my 86. Yeah I know my cable looks horrible but it works so I'm not changing it.

[RobClark]

Guess Ford screwed up the design on this one - and seems I have the corect cable.

But - will order some new ones anyway and see if I can mod one of them (shorten).

Stay tuned!

[Lincolnmania]

want me to harvest a shorter one for you?
not sure how much shipping down under will cost tho