• Accelerator Sticking

My 92 LE has an annoyingly stiff accelerator. Once it (the pedal) is in motion it's fine however. The problem is in the initial few millimeters.Overcoming the stiffness with my foot tends to over-rev the engine when starting out from a full stop. An interesting aside, if I rev the engine, let it back down to idle, then rev it again there is no (or very little) sticking. hmmmm.  I've tried squirting WD-40 into the shift linkage near the engine with no result. It seems that the problem is inside the air intake (manifold?) which the accelerator linkage is bolted to. I assume that there ia a valve of some kind in there that is sticking.

Any suggestions? Can I take this area apart in my garage or is it best left to a Nissan mechanic?

TIA

Re .1

Hey, come to think of it, I think my 96 Maxima has the same problem. What's up with them stock units? Suggestion: get the throttle body bored with a new larger plate (from JG/RC/or AEM) and those problems will be gone for sure, as well as other performance benefits . If not, the other DIY alternative is to clean the "mating surface" of the throttle body and of the plate with some solvent and steel wool. Remember to use caution not to leave behind debri that the engine and ingest. Also, don't overdo it, just clean it, so that factory tolerances are retained, as well as the idle.

Simonizer.

Re .2

Take off the hose clamp on the rubber flex pipe which is attached to the air intake. This is located by the accelerator wire linkage on the passenger-side of the engine. You only need to remove the side of the rubber hose that is closer to the engine (not the side closer to the rad). Also, you only need to get it off to the point where you can squirt some carb cleaner into the manifold. Take the carb cleaner - which you can buy in a spray can for about $6.00, attach the skinny plastic tube to the can and squirt the liquid inside (be sure not to lose the plastic tube into the manifold). There is a butterfly valve inside the housing which is binding, causing the problem. You need to use the carb cleaner to clean away any gunge that has collected. Run the engine while doing this. I have heard that the engine will not run if this hose is completely disconnected but since in my case I only diconnected it partially, it ran OK. I used about 1/2 of the carb cleaner can (saving the rest in case I need to do this again). The problem seems to be solved for now.

Now the difficult part - putting the hose back onto the manifold: The area is very difficult to get your fingers into and it may take a while to get it on properly. *Be sure that the hose is seated all the way around, especially on the bottom where it is difficult to see*. You can use a flashlight and fingertips and various contortions to do this. The reason that this operation was difficult (for me) is that the hose kept "wrinkling" on the underside so that even though the upper side was properly seated, the bottom was not. Also, I *think* that the hose on my car was not properly seated before I performed this operation. I wouldn't be surprised if the mechanic failed to do this properly as it took me about 45 minutes and about a litre of sweat to get it back on!

Another Solution

Check the throttle butterfly valve stop position adjustment. On my 1993 240SX LE the nut on the adjustment screw had come loose, allowing the valve to go too far when the accelerator was released, and the valve would bind. Adjust the stop position with an Allen key, then tighten the nut with a small wrench.

Name: Bob Gatzke
Email: [email protected]

Keep on cleaning until you notice that the butterfly doesn't stick anymore. Becareful not to turn the car on otherwise you will choke the engine and you won't be able to turn it on for a hour or so!

HUGO FIGUEROA
Email: [email protected]