Sometimes, when I start to press on the gas pedal I feel a little resistance and have to push through it. Sometimes it feels a little scratchy. Other times it feels fine. The temperature of the engine doesn't seem to have a bearing on when it works properly.


When the engine is off the gas pedal always feels good. Something is causing it to “stick’ only when the engine is running.


I tried lubricating the gas pedal pivot and the spring up on the intake, but no joy.


Any ideas what may be causing the resistance/sticking/roughness at the start of pressing the gas pedal only when the engine is running?

 

clean the throttle body, could have a small ring of carbon that catches? Disconnect the cable, and see if the pedal still has a stick to it, or if it's at the throttle body. Could be the cable has a burr in it, or needs lube. As for only when running it might just be it's easier to feel since you can also hear it

 

On mine there is a tight spot about half throttle. Actually works good for picking a consistent staging/leaving RPM (until I get to a class where 2 steps are legal). It's been there with both the V6 and V8 throttle bodies and cables. For all I know, may be a kink in the cable making the loop around.

More legitimately, remember that there is more to it than just the pedal and spring. Cruise control also connects to the throttle body, as does the transmission TV cable.

 

I did take a look at the throttle body yesterday (didn’t clean it). It seems to move smoothly, but can’t hurt to clean it. Other then spraying in throttle cleaner, and suggestion on what product and then best way to clean it? I have Sea Foam spray I can use and I’m sure I have some other cleaners in the garage…


The cable appears to be OK, but I didn’t lube it. How would I lube the cable?


There’s no sticking at all when the engine isn’t running. When it’s running and it sticks you can really feel that you have to push on the pedal harder than normal to get it going. It also can feel “scratchy”.


I did try moving the throttle manually when the engine is running and it did feel like maybe the problem is with the throttle, or the spring maybe hitting/sticking on something. I wasn’t sure if there was some kind of mechanism (maybe vacuum related) that is activated when the engine is running.

 

Cruise Control.

 

Mine seems to only stick just after the slack in the cable is gone and I’m starting to move the throttle.


I don’t have cruise, I have a manual transmission, and my sticking just started recently.


Sometimes I can go all day and it feels fine, other times I have it for most of the day. Yesterday, when I got to the driveway and had it in neutral I tried the gas and felt it stick. I turned it off and it was good – no sticking.

 

Only thing I can remotely go on is that the change in manifold vacuum is affecting how easy it is to open the butterflies.

 

yeah there is a slight vacuum when running, but shouldn't be near enough to make the pedal feel sticky should it?

 

no idea, but I wouldn't think so. But it's the only logical thing I got for a non cruise MT truck.

 

It’s only my foot, but to does feel like a mechanical force that I have to push against when it sticks. Once I push through it the pedal is easy to move.


Can the vacuum be causing something that is dirty to get stuck easier?


On the spring I did notice a skinny spot on top of it. When you push on the pedal the spring gets smaller so it doesn’t seem like it’s the spring, but I tried putting some grease on the shiny spot anyway, which didn’t seem to fix it.