Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

Well guys, me and my dad were outside troubleshooting about engine noise I was hearing through my new speakers I just added, and I looked at the throttle, looked like it had some slack in it.
Well previously when I had driven my 98 GS3 It seemed like it took some lag time before the acceleration jumped in.
Well guys, I just spent 5 minutes tightening the throttle wire to where there is barely any slack, and the lag in acceleration is gone, and most of the rough idle has disapeared also.

You can thank me later

koreanpers

hi, can u tell me where this is located? like in what general area? can u post a picture of it? wat type of tools do i need to tighten it? thanks

Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

In the back of the engine bay there is a little spool looking thing with a silver wire attached. If you have someone with you they can mash on the gas when the car is off and you can see it move.

To titen the spool you need two 14mm wrenches, and It helps to have a second person there just to help, not a big job though.

koreanpers

hi, ok, so i need to tighten it? is there 1 bolt that i will see rite in front of my face? i will look tonite..and see if it is loose.

so before, how did u tell that there was too much slack in the wire? did it look loose, or only when he steps on the gas?

thanks

Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

It's not that you need to tighten the bolt, you have to loosen two bolts, then slide the line backwards, you'll understand once you get under the hood. I could both see and feel slack in the line, and it felt laggy when driving.

SeattleGS400

iTrader: (1)

On the GS4, I believe it's under the main plastic engine cover (4 small bolts to remove, then the whole cover comes off). You should see a set of cables to the throttle (close to the front of the engine), tighten the cable a little to cut down the slack. It may or may not help with the rought idle issue, but it's worth a try.

I tighten mine a few months ago, but I don't know if it really did anything, as my car still has a bit of a rough idle w/ the A/C and accessories off. It may work for you. . .

roguenode

I think BananaGS did this a while back to fix rough/low idle and it worked pretty well. Here's the thread -->Rough Idle Poll/Thread

There's a pic in the thread of where to tighten, etc.

Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

Huh, well I guess I never saw that thread, but it fixed my problem

Here's the pic of the throttle

koreanpers

hey sweet! thanks for the info and pix. i will try this on friday

rominl

iTrader: (4)

on the gs4 it's different position, but take off teh engine cover and you will see it too

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Henry,
this is the same adjustment I told you that I made on my car a while ago.

The throttle response will be better from idle at a standstill since there is no slack in the cable when you step on the pedal, so the butterfly actually gets opened as soon as you step on it, especially when you are only pushing down slightly.

If you have ever adjusted the hand brakes on a bicycle, it's pretty much the same process with the throttle cable. You need to loosen one nut then tighten up the other nut until the cable slack is gone. Then when it is set, just re-tighten the 1st nut.

As far as low idle roughness, yes my low idle roughness went away with the A/C off.

Advice on this adjustment:

Do not make the cable too tight. I adjusted the nuts and had someone read out the tach RPM while the car was in drive. Anyone with low idle roughness can just tighten the cable ONLY enough to bring up the RPM to about 600 (while in drive).

Caution: Do Not adjust the cable or stand in front of the car, while the car is in drive !

The other key thing to note is that if the cable is tightened too much, the idle RPM will be too high and you will feel the car running faster than you expect when you lift off the throttle. You will notice this on the freeway, where I actually needed to brake instead of just lifting the throttle when I wanted to slow down a little. Also when driving in slow city traffic, I would find myself riding the brakes cause the car would go too fast without even stepping on the gas.

You should be able to adjust the RPM where you can remove the rough idle without having this problem.

Just takes a little time.

KVA

LOL...good advice!

ADVANGS

Blue, THANKS FOR THE TIP!!!!! I hated the slow reaction after throttle tip in. I thought for some reason Lexus intentionally set it up like that for old folks. I never thought to even check the slack on the throttle cable. DUH!!! Thanks for opening up my eyes. Now it feels correct when I tap it.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

good job....I remember recommending this on another thread...i did this to my Integra a few years back....felt good....response was quick.

Pete

Blue98Gs3

iTrader: (1)

Happy to report that after two days with this simple fix, the lag in acceleration is completely gone, feels like a completely different car. I dont know why they put that much slack in the throttle wire, seems really funny.