eddybell98

my 300rx 2002 has a sticking gas pedal. we replaced the throttle assembly and then it started. any ideas??

Lexmex

Welcome to Club Lexus.

I am not sure what you mean by sticky. You push it down and it has a hard time going back up?

salimshah

This problem is life threatening for occupants and other people on the road. Please have it looked into without delay. I know the brakes and steering control are there but do not discount the importance of gas control.

Things to look into would be
1. Pedal (carpet interference or bad spring/hinge).
2. Cable (can be frayed or just needs lube). Kink or wrong angle (specially when the throttle body was worked on).
3. Return spring on the throttle valve.
4. Interference by cruise control and very unlikely interference by ac-kick up relay.

Salim

greyBLITZ

iTrader: (2)

I'd say check the throttle body first, had that happen to my dad one time and it was horrific, not in a Lexus though.

eddybell98

it sticks when you first push down on the peddle- afterthe initial stick it works fine

Lexmex

I'll take a look at mine on the weekend as I have some small maintenance items to work on, but offhand I wonder if some accumulation of some kind is on the wire, or perhaps there is a loose thread along the accelerator cord that is causing the stickiness.

Lexmex

I looked at this and still can't see other than what Salim mentioned earlier. I would figure that tightening the accelerator cord would pull up some of the slack or some lubrication along the cord itself. The cord actually starts inside the vehicle (the part without insulation). I wanted to take some more pictures of the areas, but I need to charge my camera's batteries first and can take some pictures tomorrow morning before I head off to work.

Only other thing I could remotely think of is that there is some accumulation on the throttle body butterflies themselves.

With that spring, I do get some very minor stickiness, but nothing really to write home about.

Lexmex

Of course this is the general area. You can also see the black rectangular OBDII port on the left.

Lexmex

This is the spring and should be lubricate. Some stickiness can come about here.

Lexmex

This is one area I have an issue with just above the spring and where the accelerator cable/cord goes to the engine bay. This should also be lubricated in this area. WD40 does a good job to start, but someting like lithium grease ain't bad either. My uncle likes something like a Liquid Wrench for these type areas (I asked him about it yesterday).

Lexmex

Now here it comes through to the engine bay already insulated.

Lexmex

Now, I can't emphasize this enough even though you already may have seen it, but tightening the bolts on the accelerator cable toward the left as shown gives a stronger response out of the pedal and eats the slack. Pheonix over in the ES forums came up with this idea and it has worked really well for me.

Lexmex

Finally, the throttle butterflies themselves. Over time this area can get a lot of muck due largely to crankshaft circulation that throws a bit of oil back into this area as part of the combustion/emissions process. One reason that an upcoming modification for me will be a catch tank.

What occurs is that over time accumlation gets on the interior of the throttle body and on to these butterflies and and accumulates on the edges. Very easy to remove the black tube leading from the airbox to the throttle body as there are just two clamps holding this piece on as you saw in the preceding pictures. Some carb cleaner in these areas should help get rid of it.