[Mk2] [Turbo] Warning to all

[Craigo]

Guys - my throttle jammed wide open last nite. Luckily it was on a clear motorway and i could safely turn the engine off and glide to the hard shoulder before potentially having a serious accident.

I checked the throttle cable (which as you know is simply mechanical) and it was full of dirt and muck that had dried and clearly obstructed the movement. Car was only serviced two weeks ago at a very respectable garage (imoc affiliated) and therefore can only imagine that this component is not usually checked.

Please, for your own sake, can you make sure to clean this with some WD40 or something as i wouldnt want this happening to anyone else

Cheers

[fearless]

thanks for info will check mine thats the last thing you want happening

[simmo490]

hmmmm how many people check the accelrator pedal on a service?? have you ever seen accelrator pedal on the check sheet?

sorry mate but its not the people who sericed its fault.

[Craigo]

no im not having a crack at the garage! the point im trying to make is that, if they dont check it, i'd advise you to do it yourself.

[davyboy]

Sound more like you have a frayed inner cable jamming or something, can't imagine it either works or is seized with nothing in between, has it been sticking a while...?

[ryan]

hmmmm how many people check the accelrator pedal on a service?? have you ever seen accelrator pedal on the check sheet?

sorry mate but its not the people who sericed its fault.

Even a basic service will include lubrication of mechanisms

[simmo490]

yes but they wont do a proper cable lube will they, just spray the linkage

its the cables fault not the linkage. no service in the world will remove all cables and lube them

[djmartinp]

does not matter which car I have, I always go nuts in the engine bay spraying WD40 left right and centre to get rid of crap around vital mechanical parts!

think its just a routine thing I do (cleaning whore)

I suggest others do it just for the sake of doing it (sounds daft I know) but once you done it then your mind can be at ease!

as stated I dont think id like that to happen to me and id most certanly would not want it to happen to others

good info and cheers for the heads up !

[simmo490]

you can go as nuts as you want with wd40 but you will never lube the inside of the cable properly

simmo

[Dale_V]

My throttle stuck at WOT once, but it was my own fault for playing with the throttle stop screw

as simmo490, this wont get checked/lubed on a service... im not too sure on how dirt can clog within the cable, most likely to be wear/fraying

[jdbecks]

you can go as nuts as you want with wd40 but you will never lube the inside of the cable properly

simmo

and wd40 is not a lubricant,

[simmo490]

wd40 is a lubricant although not sufficient it is so thin it acts more of a barrier I think the 40 side of it refers to the oil spec in it

[RobCrezz]

wd stands for water displacement I think.

[simmo490]

and what displaces water

[CM1GT]

forgive me if im wrong but i think you'll find wd40 stands for water disperant no 40, as in it was the inventors 40th attempt at making a water dispersant, technically its a penetrating release spray, not a lubricant

[simmo490]

so wd40 is a penatrating oil then. Which can be used as a very light lubricant.

Comeon we all know what it is I am just stating it's not sufficient to lube a cable

[JeffD]

The people who make it appear to think its a lubricant..... ;-')

http://www.wd40.com/uses-tips/

[ryan]

so wd40 is a penatrating oil then. Which can be used as a very light lubricant.

Comeon we all know what it is I am just stating it's not sufficient to lube a cable

Would have been more benefical than not lubing the cable at all, anyway, who said youve got to use WD40, there are more viscous lubricants on the market....

[simmo490]

would it or would it have just attracted crud?

no one said you had to use WD40 if your gonna lube your cables properly buy a proper cable lubing kit

[ryan]

hmmmmm....