My car's throttle problems after getting fixed at the local Ford dealer.

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kikie

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Last thursday, I wanted to go to Wilrijk (a place in Belgium not far from Antwerp). I drove out of the garage, and off I was. Suddenly I felt that the car wasn't responding to the trottle input anymore, the car stayed on idle.
There I was standing in the middle of the road. I was only about 100 metres from my house so no problems there.
I had to get to the side of the road of even better, home. So I put the car in reverse and let go of the clutch very easily. Luckily it is a 3 litre V6 engine with a lot of torque and I could get home easly. I jumped into my father's very old Mercedes (34 y.o.) and drove to Wilrijk.
On my way to Wilrijk I phoned home to tell my father that he had to call the insurance company to tow the car to the local Ford dealer.
After I came back from Wilrijk I drove straightly to the local dealer to find out what was wrong with the car.
They said that the gas valve (I don't know if this is the right word, it's the valve at the engine were you can revv the engine directly by hand) was broken off. So They installed a new one the next day. The head of the mechanics department said that it was not normal for this valve to be broken after only 6 and a half years and only 43.000 miles (67.500km). He said that the valve must have functioned stiffly/tightly all these years. It is a synthetic valve by the way.
The car was ready friday. There very first thing I foud out was that the engine is very, but very responsive when I touch the trottle. The car reacts to to slightest touch of my foot and accelerates much quicker. It feels that I have a lot more torque etc... .

In short, it feels that I got a race car back from the garage.
Ofcourse I called the local dealer and explained everything and they said that it is normal. That the gas valve has been adjusted/installed correctly, that I have to adjust my foot input, etc.... They also said that the previous valve was working to stiffly and that I'm used to push the throtle hard before getting a response.
I say, in a friendly way, this is BS.
I have driven my share of cars/ busses in my life. From stock (fastest was a Porsche 997 S and Boxter S) cars to a Formula Renault, trained in a auto training school and I have never had a car, not even the Formula Renault, that responded so directly to the slightest foot input.

You can compare it with a race sim. In some hardcore race sims you can adjust the sensitivity of a lot of things, including the throttle. Well with my car it feels like the sensitivity went from 30-40% to 100%, almost undrivable. Everytime I lift of the car from standing still, it sounds like an old lady that is slipping the clucth while revving the engine way too high.

The only positive thing, my car feels as fast as I always wanted it to be, after all these years. I have always been a little bit discouraged by the performance of this car. It always felt that the car wasn't perfoming like it should.

Half an hour ago, I phoned a guy whom is a rally/race car pilot (he is the owner of a small raceteam) and an ex official Ford dealer. He wasn't available but I'm curious what he has to say about this.

What could be wrong?



:)
 
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Nothing wrong... you're finally feeling the benefits of a responsive throttle.

Is it an electronic butterfly valve or cable-actuated?
 
Yeah, it sounds like his cable broke or came disconnected.

Anyway, Kikie, don't worry about it. The dealer installed a new cable. What you're feeling is the way it should have been all along, but you're so used to the old way that you're refusing to accept the new way.

The dealer doesn't let a car back into a customer's hands without testing it first. The technician installs the new part and then goes on a short test drive to make sure it works. He drives those cars every day and knows what's wrong and what's right--trust him. He's the guy with the tools and experience.
 
This is pretty much normal. Plus, it's a brand new part, so I would assume it was going to be much more responsive anyways as there's no wear on it.
 
I went back to the garage and got the part that has been replaced. Its called the Body- Air intake throttle. I took some photo's.

As you can see this part (rod) (1) is bended. And this little piece of plastic has been broken (2), which operates this valve (3).









 
from the look of it, in american car-guyeze, they replaced his whole throttle body.

I had a similar problem with my first car. I was heading into work, and the throttle stuck ON. turns out the whole thing needed greased :P
 
I still don't get how this could happen. A rod doesn't just bend if you're a simple daily driver.
 
Does the throttle open all the way when you twist the rod? Does it shut completely closed when you let go? Then it's not problematic.

And where does it idle at? If the idle is normal, and the movement of the plate is smooth, then there's no problem... maybe your cable is just poorly adjusted.
 
Does the throttle open all the way when you twist the rod? Does it shut completely closed when you let go? Then it's not problematic.
That part with the bend rod has been replaced so there shouldn't be any problem with the throttle opening up all the way.

niky
And where does it idle at? If the idle is normal, and the movement of the plate is smooth, then there's no problem... maybe your cable is just poorly adjusted.
I haven't noticed any problems when the car is idling. The throttle paddle works very smoothly, the only problem I have is, like I explained in my introduction post, that the throttle is extremely sensitive. The slightest touch results in revving the engine. The car reacts very promptly and much more aggressively than it use to.
Like I said, I have driven many different cars and busses and I have never come across a car with a sensitive throttle like that. Not even mine before I had this problem.
 
I know how you feel, kikie. I've driven cars with super extremely sensitive throttles, and it makes smooth driving/shifting difficult. I could adjust to it given enough time, of course, but then my foot would be confined to a miniscule range of motion. How can people drive a car where the slightest breath on the pedal revs the engine to 2000RPM and beyond?

I think a tip of the toe should reliably produce a mild climb to about 1200RPM. If you need more throttle, the floor is your limit.
 
I'm getting used to it. Shifting isn't a problem though. But what if I there is a unseen situation and I suddenly touch the throttle by accident. I could cause an accident.
 
Did they install a new cable when the replaced the throttle body? If so after a while the cable will stretch and will have some slack in it (or you could adjust the cable to give it a little slack).
 
I'm getting used to it. Shifting isn't a problem though. But what if I there is a unseen situation and I suddenly touch the throttle by accident. I could cause an accident.

Just learn to work with it, or adjust the cable for the throttle. Should be a screw or bolt style mechanism that you can use to adjust the tension a bit.

Did they install a new cable when the replaced the throttle body? If so after a while the cable will stretch and will have some slack in it (or you could adjust the cable to give it a little slack).

Under normal use and loads, a cable like this won't stretch out. You have to put a load that well beyond normal use to stretch steel cable out.
 
Did they install a new cable when the replaced the throttle body? If so after a while the cable will stretch and will have some slack in it (or you could adjust the cable to give it a little slack).
They did not install a new cable.
 
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