Throttle cable slack

[DynaSpeed]

I was taking a look around the throttle body and while I was there I noticed that my cable had waaay too much slack in it. I've heard this before from some other people, so apparently it's the factory setting.

After tightening it up, the throttle and pedal feel so much better. I would recommend tightening the cable to everyone that can feel a little bit of play at the pedal.

Just take off the plastic injector cover (two 12mm bolts) and then take a 12mm open-ended wrench and loosen the nut on the throttle cable. Take the adjustment nut down until you take up the slack. Re-tighten the throttle cable nut.

You'll notice the pedal to be a lot more responsive.

[02blksi]

"Notes:
1. while uninstalling my imprompto attempt at making the "icebox" i found my main throttle cable had a shit load of slack (see link on bottom)!!! i have never seen the amount of slack that i found on my car! i quickly adjusted it and reinstalled my shortram, and was pleased with the outcome. IMO - ill buy the ICEBOX when it comes out for my car. for now my shortram works just fine! -- cheers.

http://boostedhx.20megsfree.com/images/throttle_slack.jpg "


I posted this in another thread, i found the same excessive slack in my throttle cable. --joe

[fishboy]

cool thanks for the heads up. :)

[02SilverSiHB]

damn, I totally forgot about the slack. I knew it was there...did the same for my previous civic

[civic hatch boi]

will it make our cars faster?

[DownTheHatch]

It makes your pedal response quicker. Like a hair-pin trigger if you want it to.

Make sure you adjust the trottle cable and not the cruise control cable.

[DynaSpeed]

good call DTH - I thought it was interesting that the cruise control cable was really tight and the actual throttle cable was loose.

[02blksi]

if anyone is confused as to which cable is what, the cable with all the slack that my finger is on is the one that goes to the gas pedal. This is the one that needs adjustment. -- (click the link in the my other post for a picture) --joe :)

[natesi]

Originally posted by 02blksi
if anyone is confused as to which cable is what, the cable with all the slack that my finger is on is the one that goes to the gas pedal. This is the one that needs adjustment. -- (click the link in the my other post for a picture) --joe :)

The picture isn't working....

[02blksi]

sorry try now :)

[natesi]

Originally posted by 02blksi
sorry try now :)

cool thanks!

[civic hatch boi]

where exactly could i find this throttle body?

[DrPimpSiR]

Originally posted by civic hatch boi
where exactly could i find this throttle body?
It's at the end of where the air duct from the air cleaner assembly connects to the engine.
Seriously, you should consider getting books on cars and learn before going in and screwing around with things you don't even know about. Just to prevent any mistakes.

[myeverlovinsir]

Have noticed the slack after 20k and am gonna take it up, thanks for reminding me. cheers.;)

[BlasTech]

When I took my '00 civic in for its first maintenance, thats one of the things they checked/fixed, too. Guess a little stretching is part of the breaking in...

[madbrain]

Just did this today and I must say it is much easier to rev match for smoother shifts.

[myeverlovinsir]

found about 1/8 inch of slack. and noticed an immediate diff. in how the pedle reacts now. Much more tethering is neccesary without it being tight. I found on the highway it would hit a blind spot and sort of float, when my foot never moved on the pedle.
Well no more. tks


My Ever Lovin SIR...



:p

[NamingException]

I finally got around to tightening up the throttle cable over the weekend. It made a huge difference in terms of responsiveness of the pedal. Very cool.

It seems like I'm getting worse gas milage now, but that's got to be my imagination. I'm getting rid of the crusty break in oil tomorrow, I'm hoping that my mileage improves.

[nikkotyper]

It will.
I changed my break-in oil and filter about 3 tanks ago. Now I am getting about 28 mpg (including a weekly autocross...)

[ssvr6]

The pic isn't working for me, so I have more questions. What bolt am I loosening and adjusting. It's hard doing this from text instructions alone. I think I know what cable is what, but I need some pics to verify it.


Thanks,


Steve

[02blksi]

steve go to my website,

http://boostedhx.20megsfree.com

click on photo page.
scroll all the way to the bottom to see the pics of the throttle cable slack. -

BTW: you must remove the intake manifold cover
look for the throttle cable outermost one is for the crusi control and the iner most one (towards firewall) is the one you are adjusting.
all you need is to loosen the bolt that is attached to the throttle cable (10mm bolt) then move the bolt forward to tighten the slack retighten the bolt and walla your done --hope that helps, it will maybe take you 5 minutes to do with a break for lunch included. REALLY easy! --joe

[punkdork]

Originally posted by 02blksi
steve go to my website,

http://boostedhx.20megsfree.com

click on photo page.
scroll all the way to the bottom to see the pics of the throttle cable slack. -

BTW: you must remove the intake manifold cover
look for the throttle cable outermost one is for the crusi control and the iner most one (towards firewall) is the one you are adjusting.
all you need is to loosen the bolt that is attached to the throttle cable (10mm bolt) then move the bolt forward to tighten the slack retighten the bolt and walla your done --hope that helps, it will maybe take you 5 minutes to do with a break for lunch included. REALLY easy! --joe

Okay I'm being stupid as hell here too. There are three "bolts" on the cable. From your picture there is the one with the yellow on it. That's the one that you loosen first. I've got that. Now, there is a bolt that shows in your picutre to the left of the bolt with the paint (towards your finger). Is that the bolt that actually takes up the slack? If so, do you have to remove it from the gold bracket first before adjusting?? I got confused by the bolt to the right (not pictured) and it didn't really seem to do anything except spin and be a pain in the ass. Thanks for posting the pic, it helps for explaining this mess.

[ssvr6]

I'm with you on being confused. What are the exact steps to tighten this mofo up?

:)


Steve

[DynaSpeed]

Maybe I can clear some things up.... first of all you guys are making this harder than it needs to be :)
To the rest of you, don't let these guys scare you out of attempting this :)

With reference to 02BlkSi's pic - the cable that his finger is bending (under his finger), not the cable in front of his finger, is the cable in question. The throttle cable is attached to a bronze colored pulley, whereas the cruise control cable is attached to a black plastic pulley. As punkdork noted - you must loosen the nut to take the whole cable out of the gold colored mounting bracket... after this you can move the "tensioning nut" up or down the threads. Move the tensioning nut so it moves closer the throttle pulley by about

[ssvr6]

That's all I needed!


Thanks!


Steve

[DownTheHatch]

Its really easy, take an open-end 12mm wrench and loosen the top nut, then move the bottom, smaller nut all the way down and re-tighten the upper nut.

I just did mine today and it makes a huge difference, I can chirp 2nd alot better now.

I also have a theory, if you tighten your throttle cable, you get a wider WOT (Wide Open Throttle), which gives your more horsepower. Am I correct in making this assumption that the throttle body opens wider with a tightened cable?

[DynaSpeed]

I don't know about the throttle being able to open any "wider", but I do not think you should take the adjustment nut all the way down (unless your cable is freakishly stretched). Your throttle will always be open slightly, even at idle.

DTH - do you idle at like 1200 now even at warm operating temp?

[DownTheHatch]

I made sure to not tighten it too much so that my idle is high, its just far enough so all the slack is gone, yet it doesn't hold the throttle open.

[MadBeatChemist]

I was thinking about doing this a few weeks ago but never got around to it. Then I read this post today and I went out and did it. It only took about 5 minutes. And most of that time was spent taking the intake manifold cover off.

I wanted to do this because I had done this to my 99 Civic and noticed a considerable difference in throttle reponse. I forgot how much of a difference it made. The car now feels like it did when I bought it. When I first bought it, the throttle response was very sensitive. It helps me to control the cares take off better instead of bogging down slightly at take off. I didn't realize it was bogging slightly because of the throttle cable. Now it no longer bogs, and like DTH said, it is easier to chirp in 2nd gear. I began to notice that it was a little harder to chirp in 2nd than when I first bought the car. Not that I like to chirp in 2nd, just something that happens sometimes when I'm taking off really fast.

[DownTheHatch]

Even if it doesn't open your throttle wider, think about this.

When you shift gears, you let off the gas, press the clutch in, shift and press the gas again.

When you press the gas again, throttle slack is your enemy, that means you will have a slight .5 second or more delay before your throttle responds. Tightening the throttle allows for instant gas right after your shift, this is why it's easier to chirp second. Because it takes less time to get gas after a shift.

Coupled with a short shifter, and shift light, these three modifications could improve your 1/4 mile times quite a bit.

I think just but tightening my cable I would run a much better 1/4 than before.

[COSi]

Alright, I just got done doing this, however.....I still have slack and I have put the tensioning nut all the way to the end (closest to the pulley per prior instructions)! What now??? I drove it around the parking lot and didn't notice that much of a deference. Any suggestions?

[02blksi]

ummmmm im hoping you adjusted the right cable, the one if you are looking at the front of the car its the one in the back. Tighten that nut and pick up SOME slack dont overtigten that or else your car wont idle properly (the throttle plate wont be able to close properly)...... good luck, JOE-- Who is impressed someone actually used the SEARCH button! WOW;)

[COSi]

It was the correct cable. I read this thread over and over till I was COMPLETELY SURE as to which I would be working on.

[02blksi]

well then, if you tightend the cable there should still be a little play in the cable itself. You will not notice anything except a crisper/snappier throttle when doing this. it will not ADD horsepower in any way to your car. --Joe

[COSi]

Thank you Joe, but I'm not THAT much of a newbie, not to mention the fact that the issue of not gaining horsepower was mentioned in prior posts in this thread. All I wanted to know is whether or not the remaining slack that was left on my cable was the best I could do. Thanks.

[02blksi]

Didnt mean to come across the way you took me. there is supposed to be some slack less than the stock 8mm of deflection maybe more like 2-3mm deflection after adjustment. --hope that better helps you -joe :)

[COSi]

My bad, that does help me, cause now I'm not sitting here all the time wondering if I could do more. Thanks Joe.:)

[TrippZ]

How many miles were the majority of you guys doing this at?

[ssvr6]

I did mine at about 1100.

Steve

[TrippZ]

1100 and that much slack? shit... i guess ill be doin somethin' tonite..

[TrippZ]

sorry, i need to ask this... which cover is the intake manifold cover? :(

/me is a newb.
/me appologizes for the dumb question.

[amctmg]

Ok I was looking at this today and I haven't adjusted mine yet but I will. The play on my brake pedal is about half an inch and when the pedal is all the way down it hits the throttle stop so I took my dremel and started grinding away at it and with the intake hose off you can see that the throttle plate doesn't open to a flat position unless you adjust your throttle stop. I don't know if there is any horsepower to be gained but Its an idea while your there to grind the throttle stop till the blade opens level:cool:

[klik]

i just did mine 2 minute ago, and i love it it only took me about 10 minute including test drive.

[BISDAK-R]

woooooooohaaaaaaaa.....hey the car feels like when I first bought it, faster throtle response.

[DynaSpeed]

The play on my brake pedal is about half an inch and when the pedal is all the way down it hits the throttle stop so I took my dremel and started grinding away at it

:eek: your brake pedal?

[slc71]

kinda late to the game on this, but I just did this tonight.
WOW what a improvement.
Gave second gear a whole new meaning.

[the JigGa mAn]

Originally posted by slc71
kinda late to the game on this, but I just did this tonight.
WOW what a improvement.
Gave second gear a whole new meaning.

lol what did 2nd gear mean before?

[slc71]

For me it was hesitation, I really had to hammer on the throttle to get good launch out of 1st and 2nd.
Now its not a problem.
My throttle cable was really loose, but my car has about 25,000.

[chubbychu]

my dealership is extremely ignorant. they told me...it couldnt be done. lol! uhm..ok

[KimchiBoy_TypeR]

I did this mod if you wanna call it that:rolleyes: one day I saw that my throttle cable was about to fall off my pulley. I tighted it and, yeah it did help with throttle response.Feels a lot more direct and I would recommend this to anybody. Just don't tighten it to much or you will F-up your idle.

[slc71]

I wonder if this cable will tighten up at all during real cold winter?
Also what is the reason for the slack from factory anyway, cause it could not have gotten that much slack after 20k.

[02CivicSI-VTEC]

what about the slack?? do you clean it off 1st or just leave it there and tighten it??? just got alitle confused

[civicracer1128]

damn, im gonna give this a shot tomorrow. it makes sense for sure. i feel that into 2nd now. kinda bogs. ill tighten her up tomorrow and see how ti works.

[siver-SI]

Did this yesterday and I must say I love it. I have to get use to it though. I just installed a CAI and when I have been fun with it I am noticing that I am not fully getting off the gas. I was fine before this so I guess I use to the slack in the cable and now I have to fully get my foot off the gas unlike before.