Hey, I tried searching but to no avail. Then again I probably don't know the correct terms to search for.

Anyways, recently the gas pedal has been acting up, and every now and then it would lose its sponginess and feel like it would lock up. Normally I just let the rpms drop below 3k and it would go back to normal, so I didn't worry about it too much. But tonight, when I get her on the highway, I let her loose, up to about 65 mph, then let off her, and shortly afterwards, I lost all sponge to the gas pedal, but it still has a bit of acceleration, up to around 3.5k rpms, but I have to push the pedal as hard as I can to get it there.

Needless to say, I came straight home, and I am now asking for help in diagnosing the problem. Any help would be appreciated. BTW, it's an '83 GSL completely stock, and I am not mechanically savvy at all, so take it easy on me and use small words for me please :P

 

Take the cable off the carb. Try and see if you can turn the throttle on the carb by hand. See if you feel any binding. Then do the same with the cable. Check to see that there aren't any kinks in the cable and the cover for it anywhere. Take a look on the firewall where the cable comes out and behind it inside the car above the pedal. Good luck.

 

check around the carb are all 4 cables hooked up? it kinda sounds like some thing is getting cought when you step on the gas.

 

The cables all seem fine. Is there an easy way to get to the throttle to remove the cable and turn it by hand? It's relatively hard to reach to turn it by hand. I tried as best I could and it seemed really tight, and best I could get by hand was around 3k rpms.

 

there are adjuster nuts where the cable hooks to the carb (12mm?)
loosen that and you can pull the caple off. work the carb by hand with the car off if it gets tight you can try oiling it ( i use a mix of wd-40 and sae 30 ) i oil evey moving part.

 

I'm not exactly sure what I did, I loosened up the accelerator cable, and got my hand in there and worked the throttle a bit, and I have a gas pedal now, so thanks alot guys.

 

ok, I took it out and drove it a bit, and the gas pedal still feels a bit shallow. Will moving the adjuster cables a bit more give me a deeper pedal?

 

Pull on the main cable anc check for play/ Make sure the cable didn't fall off the guide on the throttle linkage. You'll see a jam nut to adjust the tension of the cable. Adjust it accordingly. You may have to adjust it a few times.

 

OK, I've got the cable adjusted and the gas pedal feels great now, but I can't get it to go over 6k rpms... I'm beginning to wonder if this is a throttle problem rather than a cable problem...

 

when was your last tune up?

 

It has never been tuned up since I got it, I bought it last October and it has ran great since, except for this incident. Will a tune up help?

 

A tune up will always help out unless you do something wrong. Preventive maintenance is just that. Atleast you'll know you've gone through all of that. Check your timing, make sure your gas level is good on the carb throught the glass sites, check color on the spark plugs, compression test....... Give it a good once over and see how it runs.

 

Is the emergency return spring activated?

 

Which one is the emergency return spring? I'm not all that knowledgeable on carbs, only that which I can read and understand from the FSM, other threads here. Is that the throttle return spring or the throttle sub return spring as named in the FSM, or is it a separate spring altogether, and how do I know if it is activated?

Sorry to be a newb, I would love to have a better understanding of all of this though

 

You are already headed in the right direction looking through the FSM. The only way you're going to learn is by doing some of the maintenance and tuneup procedures yourself.

 

^word^

:AA: