Gas Pedal Hard To Press (at times)

[cyman73]

Hello all,

I have a 1997 4 cyl Camry 110K miles and I have noticed recently tha the gas pedal becomes very hard to press for a smooth takeoff. This problem occurs intermittently. It seems like the pedal is stuck and I have to press so hard that it seems like I am almost floring it. I don't like this behavior.

I looked at the pedal itself, thinking there might be a flat spot making it stick, but no such thing. The pedal pulls on a "wire" which seems to be attached to a few other "pulleys" (Cruise control? and throttle) and I did not detect movement problems when I moved them manually from engine bay.

Any help on what might cause this problem is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[Maim Menu]

That sounds like something mine does but not that bad. It usually occurs when I stop at a convenience store or something to buy a pack of smokes for example. Doesn't matter if I let the engine run or not. When I get back in the car sometimes the gas pedal is stiffer.

If it's bad to the point of unsafe driving I would stop in a parking lot next time it does it and pull on the wires and manually turn the pulleys. You're gonna notice a difference for sure.

[JayMax03]

I think you need to vlean your fuel injectors. I used to have that problem. I went to the dearlership and got a feul induction service when my pedal was sticking. Now it doesn't stick anymore.

[RningOnFumes]

First try a throttle body cleaning.. Search for "throttle body"

if that doesn't work , you could try what I did.

....it was to actually keep the pedal depressed a bit by adding a bolt to where the rubber stop is for the gas pedal and adjusting the cables accordingly. PM me for more if the cleaning doesn't work and you'd like to try it.

edit: what I did was a last last last resort...nothing else worked. Thinkinng about it..looking at the cables and how they affected eachother, my problem seemed to come from the tranny

[Mike Gerber]

I agree with RningOnFumes. Clean your throttle body. That takes care of this problem 95% of the time.

Mike

[mr.pringles]

might want to spray some WD-40 on your acceleration cable [sorry i dont know what its called] , its the cable right under ur wipers a bit and it looks like a pulley

[Tom 2000]

Concur with others. Sticking throttle body. Happened to me as well. Cheap 5 minute fix.

[HomeGrown]

This same thing happened on my wife's '99 Blazer a few years ago, very annoying issue. I tried cleaning and lubricating the TB, but to no avail. I had to end up adjusting the TB stop screw just a tad. Only raised the idle RPM's very slightly, but it was enough to get the TB off of that nasty sticking spot.

[eyeball96]

Clean the TB for sure!! That'll fix it!!

[NancyHawaii]

I am having the same problem with my 2003 Sienna. It happens everytime I'm at a stop.

Where exactly is the throttle body and is it easy for an inexperienced person to clean?

Thanks, Nancy

Originally Posted by eyeball96

Clean the TB for sure!! That'll fix it!!

[touringcamry]

Look for the air filter box and then follow the hose to the intake manifold. The throttle body is the metal thing that connects to the intake air hose from the filter box. Once you take the hose off, you'll see a metal flap which is what you'll need to clean.

[bigdaddymak20]

I agree with the throttle body cleaning. For all who don't know it should be cleaned about every 15k. Can of carb cleaner is very cheap and you dont need a lot of tools.

[NancyHawaii]

Thanks! I will look for it tomorrow. Do I need a special cleaner for it? someone mentioned a carb cleaner.

I was reading the other posts about how to clean it. Can someone explain it in steps? Sorry.. never done this before.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by touringcamry

Look for the air filter box and then follow the hose to the intake manifold. The throttle body is the metal thing that connects to the intake air hose from the filter box. Once you take the hose off, you'll see a metal flap which is what you'll need to clean.

[NancyHawaii]

Another question...

When I start my car, there's white smoke coming out of the muffler... for maybe 5 seconds. Is this because the throttle body is dirty?

It seems to happy only after the car is parked for a few hours...

[redgtxdi]

SMoking at startup is probably burnin' some oil. (You'll see threads here about "blue smoke", etc. but it's basically oil getting by the valves. No biggie, & not worth rebuilding the cylinder head over).


As for the sticking pedal..........listen to the folks saying "TB cleaning" 'cuz that's what it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pull your plastic intake hose off so you can see the intake at the metal housing. (That is the throttle body).

Get some TB cleaner in a spray can and start sprayin' that sucker down. Open the throttle butterfly (you don't need to have somebody step on the pedal, just grab that "C" shaped arm that your accelerator cable pulls on and you can open the butterfly right there).

Just spray & spray & spray. If you've got an old toothbrush, you can scrub a little in the opening & the butterfly valve, but even just spraying will work wonders.

IMPORTANT ---------------------> I recall hearing horries stories about when you go to start your car after you're done, not to stomp on the throttle. They say to let the car just sit for a while after you've done this & let the TB fluid evaporate. Then when you start the car, just leave the throttle alone. If it doesn't start after a few tries, let it sit another hour & try again. (Supposedly can quasi-hydraulic the motor???)

I don't know if it's true or not, but I adhered to those rules when I did mine, just to be safe & didn't apply throttle 'til the motor was up & running on its own. (shrug)