1998 Protege Sticky Throttle

[dirtyd]

Hey all!

My buddy just bought a 1998 protege and when I drove it, the throttle seemed to stick a little bit. I would have to push the gas down with a little force, and then as soon as the throttle was pushed hard enough, the pedal would push in easily and the RPMs would shoot up. It made for some very high RPM launches! HAHAHA! Anybody else run into this problem? Would cleaning the engine bay throttle with some WD40 and then spraying some lithium grease solve this?

Thanks for the help!

~DirtyD

 

[dmention7]

I'd guess it's probably more of a cable problem, rather than the actual throttle body sticking. But you can tell for sure by working the throttle open with your hand. If it moves freely, it's the cable. If it's hard to move, then yeah, just hose down the throttle pulley with WD-40, and then get some throttle body cleaner and really spray down the inside of the throttle body.

 

[dirtyd]

Thanks! I'll let him know, and hopefully we'll get it figured out.

 

[niterydr]

Another common cause of this is a floor mat that is hanging up the pedal assembly, easy and often overlooked if the throttle body doesn't look like it is partially carbon'd shut.