[//sen]

Hey all, been daily-ing my 1989 Escort for a few months now and there's an issue that seems easy to fix but I've no idea how besides replacing the cable. On my 1.9 EFI, the throttle cable and cruise (by my observation) connect to the throttle body via a ball joint-esque connector. My cables feel awful loosey-goosey on the mount itself, and it will move slightly when the gas pedal is depressed before the it opens the throttle. This makes the throttle response inconsistent and slightly unpredictable (rev-matching is hard to get consistent) when accelerating, and the car usually jitters/lunges/jumps/lugs when I let off the gas as if the throttle was indeed attached to a slack rope and not a taught cable. The cable, though, feels and appears intact. I'll probably eventually replace it anyway since it's a cheaper part on rockauto and the original is 30+ years old so the cable being scuffed isn't really out of the question, but is that an issue with the cable itself or the mount on the throttle? And if it's the latter, what should I do to fix that?

 

[zzyzzx]

A video showing how loose the mount point looseness would be helpful (and probably answer your question).

 

[//sen]

A video showing how loose the mount point looseness would be helpful (and probably answer your question).

New video by Logan Weir

photos.app.goo.gl

that link should take you to a lil video I just made, hopefully it actually works properly. when I say "supposed to rotate" I mean for it to rotate so it transfers the linear motion of the cable to the circular motion of the throttle body opening and closing.

lemme know if the video is fubar and I'll fix it

 

[pextor]

That looks fine to me, but I haven't been under the hood of a 1st gen GT in many many years.

 

[//sen]

That looks fine to me, but I haven't been under the hood of a 1st gen GT in many many years.

I agree I don't SEE anything wrong with it, nothing looks broken or too too out of place but I don't think it should be that loose still. Like I said, when I depress the gas it'll move that slack before it opens the throttle and from what I know, there shouldn't be more than a tiny smidgen of secondary movement in this throttle body.

 

[pextor]

Hopefully someone else with a 1.9HO can chime in how tight their cable is.

 

[marclar]

I would run it. not a big deal unless the ball socket is coming loose on you.

 

[Shorty]

I just checked mine, this seems to be a normal thing. For improved function, I'd recommend greasing all of those linkages- carefully pop the plastic rod and the cable off and apply grease to all of the ball sockets. Also, make sure your throttle plate and bore are clean of carbon build-up.

 

[//sen]

I'll give it a careful greasing n see if the throttle is dirty, I cleaned it about a year ago when I was doin injectors so it's probably okay (f**k that EGR fitting on the intake by the way imnotbitteratall). Any idea what might be causing this slight lurch/rock feeling when I get on the gas kinda hard/let off quickly then if it isn't the cable or ball joint? Feels like maybe a worn engine/suspension mount. Maybe old dead springs, I have new front shocks and control arms but springs and rear suspension is original. What's most likely to be the weakest link causing this lurch/rock? I got a lot of rubber to replace on this thing anyways so that wouldn't surprise me.