Limp home 14miles without throttle cable
Discussion
Morning all.
After nearly 900km on Sunday and Monday returning home from Le Mans Classic my throttle cable broke just 14 miles from home.
The car was parked and left for the night and I have to go fetch it tonight.
I have a new complete throttle cable but I also have a very very bad back after nearly 14hrs travelling yesterday so I need a bodge to get me home when the traffic is light tonight so I can fix it at my leisure when my back is a little better.
Has anyone any tips on how to do this?
After nearly 900km on Sunday and Monday returning home from Le Mans Classic my throttle cable broke just 14 miles from home.
The car was parked and left for the night and I have to go fetch it tonight.
I have a new complete throttle cable but I also have a very very bad back after nearly 14hrs travelling yesterday so I need a bodge to get me home when the traffic is light tonight so I can fix it at my leisure when my back is a little better.
Has anyone any tips on how to do this?
I've not done this before but as a thought you could raise idle to somewhere between 2 & 2.5k. That should allow you to get a reasonable road speed through the gears.
As a hindsight comment, how many throttle return springs are you running? There's three on the normal set up, four if you count the throttle pot. Removing one of the large coil springs from the throttle cable lever will significantly reduce friction stress within the throttle cable
As a hindsight comment, how many throttle return springs are you running? There's three on the normal set up, four if you count the throttle pot. Removing one of the large coil springs from the throttle cable lever will significantly reduce friction stress within the throttle cable
Ian,
I had a similar thing happen to me.
I had RAC cover at the time. I called, advising what the problem was, and when the RAC van arrived, the guy made up a new inner cable with the correct pedal 'end' and secured the butterfly/linkage end with a screw type fitting which allowed me to drive the car.
Could you do something similar....maybe get a bicycle brake cable and electrical chocolate block???
Nick
I had a similar thing happen to me.
I had RAC cover at the time. I called, advising what the problem was, and when the RAC van arrived, the guy made up a new inner cable with the correct pedal 'end' and secured the butterfly/linkage end with a screw type fitting which allowed me to drive the car.
Could you do something similar....maybe get a bicycle brake cable and electrical chocolate block???
Nick
I turned the idle speed up on a car to about 3000rpm to get me home like this once, no spares on me.
Just drove the car using clutch and brake, felt like a total bell sat at roundabouts with the engine roaring though. And it wasn't fantastic for acceleration. And only had to get about 10 miles back home.
I also snapped a clutch cable and got home about the same distance rev-matching, had to stop a few times so it was in to neutral, engine off, in to first key it in gear when I wanted to pull away, engine starts (I have a geared IMI starter motor that makes about 2.5hp
). Fairly amusing / terrifying for passengers.
I now carry a cable repair kit for bodging stuff together like that, although I don't think it would hold a clutch on a car, especially with a higher rated pressure plate.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL-CABLE-REPAIR-...
I'd try and change it out if I had the spare tbh, it should be pretty easy.
Just drove the car using clutch and brake, felt like a total bell sat at roundabouts with the engine roaring though. And it wasn't fantastic for acceleration. And only had to get about 10 miles back home.
I also snapped a clutch cable and got home about the same distance rev-matching, had to stop a few times so it was in to neutral, engine off, in to first key it in gear when I wanted to pull away, engine starts (I have a geared IMI starter motor that makes about 2.5hp
). Fairly amusing / terrifying for passengers.I now carry a cable repair kit for bodging stuff together like that, although I don't think it would hold a clutch on a car, especially with a higher rated pressure plate.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL-CABLE-REPAIR-...
I'd try and change it out if I had the spare tbh, it should be pretty easy.
Edited by Cardinal Hips on Tuesday 10th July 18:23
Barreti said:
With a brand new cable in the boot, can I just rip out the old inner and slide this new one through from the peddle end
sorry if thats a stupid question but I'm at work and never even looked at the throttle cable
Chances are the cable will have a dog leg or shaped attachment for the carb / throttle body on one end and another fitting on the pedal end so it won't pull through the outer. They'll be crimped on.sorry if thats a stupid question but I'm at work and never even looked at the throttle cable
I drove my Caterham home for about 40 miles once operating the throttle by pulling on two long bootlaces. It was dead tricky because I had to pull outwards from the inline engine. Balancing that with the clutch was one of the least-fun things I've ever done. Fortunately I didn't have to negotiate many tricky road junctions although the two or three I remember did give cause for much stress.
Barreti said:
I've had a chance to look at some pictures of the cable and pedal box now.
My guess is with a combination of a bike brake/derailleur cable and choc box innards I can knock something together to get me home.
Yes you will Ian My guess is with a combination of a bike brake/derailleur cable and choc box innards I can knock something together to get me home.
the wedged throttle trick will work also back in the 90's I got my 2.8i Capri back home with snapped cable and no tools (cocky or stupid) drove home with the throttle wedged at around 2.5k and that Cologne engine had s
t torque 
but still did the trick but at a leisurely rate Colin RedGriff said:
I had this happen to me and you can extract the old inner and insert a new one through from the pedal. There is a smal metall collar that fits into the throttle pedal arm. Not easy to see while you are in the footwell but you need to get that out to fit the new inner
Aah, that’s good to hear Colin. We suspected as much when we looked at the bits we removed versus the new cable assembly. Thanks to everyone for your help.
I’m pleased to be able to say the car is home, thanks to its latest modification - the hand throttle.
Good for 60mph and surprisingly controllable once you get the hang of fixing your arm position on the door rest and squeezing your hand closed to go and open to stop.
Edited by Barreti on Tuesday 10th July 16:38
I've driven home by putting a 10p piece in the throttle mechanism .. gives a 2k tick over .. easy to drive.
Also have another method.. buy a bicycle cable and a couple of electrical block connectors (screw type) .. very easy to make a working cable. Takes up negligible if you are going on a long trip.
Also have another method.. buy a bicycle cable and a couple of electrical block connectors (screw type) .. very easy to make a working cable. Takes up negligible if you are going on a long trip.
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