2007 Ford KA accelerator issues

[harryface]

Oh wise community of piston heads, may you help me out. I have a 2007 ford KA which is barely holding on. On my journey back home for xmas it decides to pack in. perfect timing.

So basically. When the cars not started the accelerator is really lose, you can wiggle it quite a long way with your hand.

When I start it, it rolls over a few times and eventually starts. Accelerator does nothing but the car revs up and down, up and down.

i managed to drive it back to my house just on the clutch and with it revving. But once I got it into 3rd the accelerator tightened up and seemed to be working again.
I’m guessing it has something to do with the accelerator cable??

[996TT02]

Or the throttle body? Ought to be pretty obvious by the sounds of it. You only have two places to look, in the footwell and underneath the bonnet.

[GreenV8S]

harryface said:

the accelerator tightened up

Do you mean the mechanical resistance of the pedal changed? That would be pretty extraordinary unless you have cruise control with a mechanical throttle.

Is it possible the pedal force was the same but the engine was simply unresponsive to the throttle input? A failed load sensor can do that - the effect is to lean the engine out as you open the throttle which prevents it from making any power. This also fits the hunting behaviour you described.