gas pedal sticks

[03highlander]

Hi, I've got a 2000 camry, 4cyl. and the gas pedal sticks. I have tried the easy topical treatments without any luck - at least no longterm luck. I have lubricated the pedal assembly, the throttle body and the housing assemblythat the cables run into (not sure what it is, the black plastic box). Any ideas? Anybody had this problem?

[Athlon_64]

i was having the same issue. My gas pedal would stick and some times my car would fail to start. I noticed that the throttle plate had so much carbon build up behind it that it would stick. I actually removed my throttle body and seafoamed the everliving hell out of it. I scrubbed the carbon build up off with a tooth brush and pipe cleaner. I also went ahead and gave my idle air control valve some TLC while i had it all out of the car. this work cured the sticky pedal and now my car starts every time.

here is the seafoam thread...
How to: Cleaning Throttle Body -4 Cylinder Engines- With Pictures

These two threads talk about throttle body removal and cleaning the idle air control valve. The first one is a picture guide on taking the throttle body and IAC off. Its for a gen 3 but it was close enough to help me to stumble through it. The second one is a discussion on IAC cleaning.
DIY removal & cleaning of IAC
Should I Remove & Clean the IAC Seperately

Word of caution though, if you decide to tackle the IAC it is attached by four phillips head screws. They were a raging PITA to get loose for me. So try not to strip them out if they give you grief. I hope this helps.
good luck!

[Mike Gerber]

^ What Athlon_64 said above. I would refer to the first thread he referenced for on the car cleaning of the throttel body, but you don't necessarily have to use Seafoam for this procedure. Any good throttle body cleaner or O2 safe carb cleaner will work fine.

Mike

[03highlander]

Thanks guys for the replies! I really appreciate it. I'm going to try cleaning mine tonight (in my 20 degree garage-yee haa).

[Mike Gerber]

Originally Posted by 03highlander

Thanks guys for the replies! I really appreciate it. I'm going to try cleaning mine tonight (in my 20 degree garage-yee haa).

Just make sure you open the garage door before you start it. It will smoke quite a bit as the cleaner burns off.

Mike

[Zembonez]

You can also use throttle body cleaner. It doesn't cause the serious smoke cloud that some of the other stuff causes.

[510Ryder]

simple solution get this sticker

[lantol]

clean butterfly valve with throttle body cleaner

[03highlander]

This fix worked perfectly. I used the deep creap cleaner without removing the throttle body. Smoked like crazy! Glad the fire department didn't show up!

Oh - and I should have known I might get a few comments about the gas pedal sticking! At least nobody told me to replace my floormats....