DIY: Tightening your throttle cable (and cruise control)!

[ELVA164]

Hey guys!

Anyone else ever feel like their throttle response was even slower than an M20 usually is? Having trouble with heel-toe? Feel a bit of a dead spot in the throttle pedal? You should check the tightness of the cable! I did it today and it made a HUGE difference for me. I took some pictures to share the process with others!

First, do a quick check for slack in the cable by lightly pressing on the pedal while looking into the engine bay. If you can depress the pedal without the assembly atop the throttle body moving, you have slack.

Take a look at the end of the cable:

You'll see there's a plastic knurled thumbwheel and a super-tiny nut. You'll have to break the nut loose to be able to adjust the cable. Believe it or not, the nut is 7/32", not metric. Go figure.

Once you've loosened the nut, you may want to hold the end of the threads with your fingers or a pair of pliers:

Turn the plastic thumbwheel in until you've removed the slack.

NOTE: Make sure you do not partially open the butterfly of the throttle body by overtightening the cable! This will raise the idle, drop fuel efficiency, mess up shifts, and generally suck. Leave a small amount of slack in the cable, enough to avoid this happening.

My cable needed this much slack removed:


Once the cable is adjusted, retighten the nut to the thumbwheel and you're good to go! Enjoy your improved throttle response and your regained self-confidence! :D

[3rdtimearound]

Just a quick adder - you should adjust your stop under the gas pedal after adjusting the cable length. This is to ensure 2 things. One is to make sure the butterfly opens all the way when you floor it. The other is to make sure you hit the stop before hitting the end travel of the butterfly to ensure you don't prematurely stretch your cable more.

[Schnitzer318is]

I tried this... but unfortunately the problem is the throttle body itself and not the cable... :(

Need to make a PnP run to find a nice and tight butterfly. Good info though for those who weren't aware. Nice post.

[estoguy]

Hey guys... I just noticed something the other day... the little white/yellow plastic block on the cruise cable (the one you see in the pics above the throttle cable) has gone missing from my car. Is there a way to just get this piece, or am I going to have to MacGyver it?

Never mind, looked at a different realOEM diagram and found it. In case anyone is wondering, the part number is 13541747519 ;)

[enigmaticdream]

You can also run the car and adjust the cable until it effects idle then back it off a bit. Then tighten things down and go for a drive. Then make a any more tweaks until you get it the way you like it.

[jalopi]

You can also run the car and adjust the cable until it effects idle then back it off a bit. Then tighten things down and go for a drive. Then make a any more tweaks until you get it the way you like it.

+1, this is the best way to adjust a throttle cable. tighten until you hear the idle start to raise, then back the adjuster off a few turns

[Vincent Brick]

I guess the bot was useful? If not for it bumping this thread, I would not have seen it and I would still think I had some sort of minor throttle response issue.

I've had my E30 18 months now and never realized this adjustment was there, I recommend any M20 owner confirm theirs is set right. My car's driveability and obviously throttle response is greatly improved and heel-toe downshifts much smoother.

[Mushroom Stew]

Hey dudes, just wondering what I can do if I've twisted/tightened the throttle nut as far as it possibly can go and still have a bunch of slack?

[Schnitzer318is]

Hey dudes, just wondering what I can do if I've twisted/tightened the throttle nut as far as it possibly can go and still have a bunch of slack?

replace it. grab one from a junkyard for <$10.

[shoshottz]

great thread.

[richardb]

Great tips here with the adjustment. I would also suggest replacing the cable all together, it makes a huge difference. Here's a DIY on how to replace the cable:

[jeffnhiscars]

I'll just add...a new Febi cable is $20

[rustneversleeps]

great thread.
will check that out today cause i notice ifi touch the gas a bit nothing happens until a press the pedal about 1/8 down or 1/4 and then it kicks in....