Questions and Answers
Honda Civic Hatchback Accelerator Cable
Q. Hi, I searched and searched the About.com site and couldn't find anything about the accelerator cable and/or pedal. Here is my problem: I was starting my car and everything was fine at first. I have an 1985 Honda Civic hatchback.
Often I have to pump the gas quite a bit to start it and keep it running. Well about a week ago I was doing this, had gotten it started fine, and then it died. So I was preparing to restart, I pumped the gas pedal again, maybe twice, except this time there was a light pop that I felt in the gas pedal. I'm assuming there is one of two problems;
- The accelerator cable broke.
- (This information I got from my dad) there is a clip that is broken that helps connect the cable to the pedal.
The pedal does not stick to the floor, it still comes back up (as there is a spring that attaches it to something underneath the dash) but it does take a lot less pressure than normal to press the pedal down.
I'm leaning toward the explanation of the broken clip because that's exactly what it felt like, a small pop like a little piece of plastic had broken. So I'm looking under my dash but I cant locate anything that looks like that. Would you be able to tell me if:
- My assumptions about the problem are correct.
- What I can do and where underneath the dash can I locate the problem?
I have a Haynes manual and it shows nothing about where the cable goes after it is inserted into the firewall.
I would appreciate your help tremendously!!!
Thank you,
CrystalA. Chances are the cable is broken. What you can do is have someone looking at where the cable connects to the throttle linkage and see if it moves while you step on the gas pedal. If it doesn't move, you have a broken cable.
If you look right above the gas pedal you'll see a metal rod and one end of the throttle cable connected to the end of the rod. Slip the cable end off the rod and then pull the cable from the engine side of the firewall out.
On the other end loosen the two lock nuts and slip the cable off and disconnect the end from the throttle linkage. Install the new cable in the reverse order.
When you are done, the cable has to be adjusted. To do that you use the two nuts on the cable. There should be about a 10 mm deflection in the cable between the lock nuts and the throttle linkage. Use the lock nuts to get the desired deflection. After you drive the car for a month or so, recheck the adjustment as it will "settle" in and may stretch a bit.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
