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'01 duratec V-6 stiff throttle


auto117584

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I've checked everything - cable, pedal bushings, speed control - everything slides back and forth. No restrictions in anything. But the throttle spring is a bear!

The Ford engine is in a '01 Tribute (Mazda), but I'm assuming the intake and throttle are the same. Here's a picture. Continue reading below the pic.



But the actual problem might be the design of the gas pedal. Here's a pic of it. Continue reading after the pic, because the bracket looks like a last minute addition to the car during manufacturing. Like maybe they hadn't quite figured out how to build the pedal before they went into production, because the bracket is hand made in a shop. The pedal itself has a single heavy tack holding it to the pivot rod in the bracket, which has plastic bushings, and no sign of grease on it. Holy crapazola, maybe that's the problem!?!? I'll finish after the pic.



So, this stiff throttle situation causes the car to lurch, not slow down when easing off the gas, not speed up when easing into the gas, etc, etc, and it's a pain in the *ss. Okay, I'll go out and grease it up somehow.
 
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Rearanger

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It appears you're not telling us everything. Your vehicle sig says 1995 but engine spec says 2001. Is the pedal from the 01 or 95? My 03 pedal is a plastic arm and mounted in the center of the bracket, not the outside.

There needs to be a mechanical advantage created by the pedal arm and the pivot point of the bracket that corresponds to the throttle spring rate.

How was the action before the engine swap?
 

auto117584

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It appears you're not telling us everything. Your vehicle sig says 1995 but engine spec says 2001. Is the pedal from the 01 or 95? My 03 pedal is a plastic arm and mounted in the center of the bracket, not the outside.

There needs to be a mechanical advantage created by the pedal arm and the pivot point of the bracket that corresponds to the throttle spring rate.

How was the action before the engine swap?
My first sentence in my second paragraph states:
"The Ford engine is in a '01 Tribute (Mazda), but I'm assuming the intake and throttle are the same. Here's a picture. Continue reading below the pic."

What I didn't say is that the Tribute is my gf's car. My vehicle is a 95 B2300. However, I am trying to fix my gf's stiff accelerator.

I took off the pedal bracket and cleaned up the pivot rod a little bit, and I noticed that it is not round. there are facets, it's not round.

BRACKET. KEY SLOTS FOR BUSHING KEYS ARE VISIBLE.

PEDAL PIVOT ROD WITH WORN-DOWN FLAT SPOTS ON IT.

BACKSIDE OF BRACKET SHOWING HAND-MADE CONSTRUCTION.

If ya look close at the rod, ya can see the facets, or faces, on the thing. Sort of like an octagonal nut, with 8 faces, this rod has probably 20 faces or more. When pressing the gas pedal, these faces have favorite spots, so we have to push to get past the flat parts on the rod. If it was truly round, there would be not flat spots, and the accelerator response would be smooth, not jerky as it is now.

I did grease everything, and it works better. Modulating the gas for finely controlled engine speed is easier, but I can still feel the flat spots on the bracket's rod. The engine wants to run in the flat spots, so there's still the problem of giving it too much gas to accelerate, and backing off too much in order to slow down.

I want to round the rod on my bench, but my gf says nay nay nay, so I'll post it here, and I'll also get in touch with Mazda to see if there's a recall on this faceted rod that makes the acceleration jerky and over-responsive.

The worn ends on the rod show where the plastic bushing has rubbed on it. The bushings have keys to keep them from turning in the bracket, so the rod, which is welded to the pedal frame rods, turns inside the plastic bushing. I greased both the inner surface of the bushings that contact the rod, as well as the area of the rods that contact the bushings. As I said, that smoothed out the pedal operation quite a bit, but not all the way. If the rod were round, there would be no problem, I'm sure. I just hope there's a recall on it, so I can get an officially-manufactured round rod (and stainless steel bearings instead of a plastic bushing). However, with the # of similar complaints on the internet, I doubt that Mazda has fixed this yet.

Since the pedal bracket looks hand-made in a shop, this must have been a last-minute item, and not a very good one, in my opinion.
 
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Rearanger

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Is your GF the original owner? Probably only needs new bushings.
 

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BACKSIDE OF BRACKET SHOWING HAND-MADE CONSTRUCTION.


Since the pedal bracket looks hand-made in a shop, this must have been a last-minute item, and not a very good one, in my opinion.

You sir, have in your possession there, one grade-A, genuine, factory-issued accelerator pedal pivot bracket.

In case you really want to argue with me, I'm at home right now. Just went out to the driveway, popped my head under the dash of my mom's 06 Mariner and looked, it's the same.

Ford doesn't generally worry too much about the asthetic finish on parts that are only functional and hidden up under the dash.


Now, as I have already told you, the throttle body is most likely the source of your issue. Get new bushings for the pivot rod since those do look kind of beat up, then when your issue is still present, get a new throttle body.
 
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auto117584

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Sorry, I started this thread under the Urgent! forum, and in that one, I did explain that I cleaned the throttle body with carb cleaner and a good rag, and it was already pretty clean. Before starting, with cables disconnected, I checked how freely it opened and closed, and if it was sticking at all. It wasn't. But i cleaned it anyway, since i was there. The cables all move freely. The only problem is the rod, which has flat spots on it, and has metal scraped off it where it contacts the bushings. Look at the pic of the pedal rod. The flat areas were probably rubbed "flat" by the ungreased plastic bushings. I've since greased them, and the engine runs more responsively, but still has resistance to very slight increases or decreases in gas pedal pressure. The gas pedal likes those flat areas, I think, or is so roughed up that it resists rotating in the bracket when the pedal is pressed or released. I guess it "grabs" the bushings.

I'm busy this weekend, but in the week to come, I'll remove it from the car, put it up on the work bench, and get a good close-up look at it. Maybe i'll get new bushings, too, and sand the rod contact areas smooth when the gf isn't looking. A smooth rod against a new greased bushing will probably make pedal operation smooth, and not herky-jerky, like it's been since she's owned the car (six years). She can't leave her hilly gravel drive without slinging gravel.
 

auto117584

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auto117584

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You sir, have in your possession there, one grade-A, genuine, factory-issued accelerator pedal pivot bracket.

In case you really want to argue with me, I'm at home right now. Just went out to the driveway, popped my head under the dash of my mom's 06 Mariner and looked, it's the same.

Ford doesn't generally worry too much about the asthetic finish on parts that are only functional and hidden up under the dash.


Now, as I have already told you, the throttle body is most likely the source of your issue. Get new bushings for the pivot rod since those do look kind of beat up, then when your issue is still present, get a new throttle body.
No, no, no, no, no. I cleaned the throttle already, and it wasn't even dirty. The cables are all free. But look at the pictures! That pedal pivot rod is a mess. I ordered a new pedal assembly -it's a Ford part - and it will be here next Thursday, shipping out of Detroit. I'll take pictures of both on my work bench before putting the new one in the car, show ya the difference between the new and old rods and bushings. And then I'll test drive it post my re port.

My truck is doing fine since getting that new clutch in NY. Drove it 'cross the country at ab out 80mph or so, with that camper loaded to the gills, plus behind my seats. 18mpg on the highway. Didn't burn one drop of oil. Still running sweet.

:icon_thumby:
 

auto117584

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Is your GF the original owner? Probably only needs new bushings.
I believe that is correct, sir. Bushings and the ruined pivot rod. I have to buy the entire pedal assembly to get them. $91.00 They'll be here Thursday.
 

auto117584

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Jim, et al:

Well, the new pedal assembly works fine. After cleaning and re-assembling the old rod and bushings in the bracket, it was easy to feel the resistant spots in their operation while holding the assembly in my fingers (out of the car). Especially one spot, right in the middle of the working range of the accelerator pedal, it would stick in it. So here's the culprit:




The car now drives smooth, docile even, and can creep along at any speed at all. No sticky or catchy spots in the travel of the gas pedal. The car is now safe to drive in snow or ice, or slick streets.

Here is the happy gf with her old gas pedal.



Told ya so, Jim!

:icon_hornsup:
 

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