Throttle Cable replacement, help!!!

[Willys]

I'm doing the infamous throttle cable replacement, and just keep running into roadblocks... my question now is how to get the throttle rod off? I see no retainer clip to 'gently pry off with a small screwdriver' as the revised directions say. And I have pried with a bigger than small screwdriver with no results. I dont want to force things as I managed to break the end on the throttle valve cable to the transmission(why do they put plastic ends on something like this??????) Any how, once I get the rod off, then I've gotta get that spring. If anyone can tell me a better way to do this, please let me know.



Danandme, I saw you were having problems with the same thing a while back, but you got it off before anyone could respond, what's your trick?



If anyone wants to know 'the rest of the story', tuesday I noticed the cable was frayed, like 2 strands holding out of originally six strands. So I research the old messages, hey cool! theres a recall on them. Call the dealer, "we need your vin number". "I'm sorry, there's no recall on that cable for your vehicle" 96 model made in january of that year. So, I called the parts dept. , ordered the cable, "It'll be here in the morning. " Pick it up Wed. , try to put it on Thurs. Oops, wrong cable, call them up, order the right one, exchange Friday. Try to put on Saturday, break the throttle valve cable end. One strand is left on the accelerator cable by the way. Murphy has the upper hand and the parts dept. is closed Sat. afternoon. So, I call this morning and get the second cable, try to put them on and THE ROD WONT COME OFF! arghhh!!!!! well so far I have over $100 in something that should have been in the recall, and have requested a complaint form from the NHTSB. Plus lost wages because my truck wont work... .



Sorry for ranting, but this is getting annoying...



Please help,

and thank you!

Andy Turner

Georgia

 

[Joe G.]

Willys,



The aggravating little clip is very easy to get out once you find it. It's kind of difficult to describe so that it makes sense but I'll give it a try. The ball end on each end of the rod is shaped like a tootsie pop with a short thick handle where the rod screws in. The end of the clip is wrapped around in the crease where the ball meets the "handle". If the ball is the least bit dirty you can't see it. Feel around the bottom of the ball in the crease and you should find a little wad of dirt about 1/8" long. These is the end of the clip wire folded over to make a place to grab it. You should be able to pry up on this tiny thing with your finger nail. Once it has been unwrapped from around the base of the ball, pull in a direction parallel to the rod to remove the wire from the ball. The wire sticks thru the ball so that it prevents the lever end from falling out of the rod end. If you have bent the wire it may be a little work to get it out. DON'T drop it or you will never find it! These things fall out once in a while so the rod falls off one or both of the levers. There should be a clip on both ends of the rod. It's a good idea to take the rod out and lube the balls. There are a couple of other versions of rod ends, but this is probably the one you have. I hope this makes some kind of sense.

 

[Willys]

Thanks Joe! With your help, I managed to get the spring and rod off. I even got off the e-clip and primary lever. The secondary is bent a little, should it be? I dont think I bent it while prying off the lever, I wasn't prying real hard. Also, now that everything is off I've noticed the hole in the new bellcrank is smaller than the old one. I'm assuming I have the part for the 5 speed truck. Other than that(and the obvious change of making the pivot ball longer) I see nothing wrong with it. I'm going to drill out the hole and hope it lines up right. Hopefully I can finish this up in another 4-5 hours.



Thanks again,

Andy

 

[Joe G.]

Willys,



Ya got the one for the automatic trans.

 

[Willys]

Well I have an auto, and the one with the big hole fits. I called the dealer and they had the other size, so I didnt have to drill after all. Now I've started putting things back together and realize the original valve cable is different than the replacement. So, another trip to the dealership... .



Good news though, I got the starter solenoid rebuilt kit from Arizona today. Hope it goes smoother than the cable replacement... .



Now to replace that sending unit for the fuel tank... .



Joe, why'd you have to tell me not to drop that clip???? Of course I did... and managed to find it somehow... . even in a wet gravel driveway.



Thanks again

Andy

 

[rhoads]

'throttle cable"

Lost me on this one,i replaced mine once a few years back,On the end of the cable that fits over the ball stud there is a for better words" Thingie" (clip) with a small screwdriver ,place the tip against the front end and push back--hold and pop the socket off the ball stud end. .

 

[Joe G.]

The little clip we were talking about is the one used on the ends of the trottle rod from the linkage to the lever on the pump. There are a few different kinds of the things, but this type is like the ones on my '95. The cable ends just snap on and are easy to remove.



Andy,



When I changed my cable the lever in the kit had the big hole and I had to get the one with the small hole. Maybe it was changed for the '96.

 

[Willys]

The parts guy told me he'd seen the cables marked with different part numbers(the big hole on is marked last three digits 406 if I remember right, the small one is 407) but could never tell the difference till I brought mine back. He said by now, I probly know more about this truck than his service guys do. The dealership has only been open about a year, and trucks are used more for grocery getters around here and just not driven as much. I got everything put together this morning and it runs just as good as it did before, but I havent adjusted the throttle linkage. I'll go back and adjust it as I figure out exactly how it works. This TPS voltage stuff is confusing... .



Andy

 

[danandamy]

this may be a little late, but...

... a couple of more tips for you. First, the throttle rod was a real booger to get off both my Rams, even after finding that !$%&% little clip. The little lever it hooks to bends real easy so you probably did bend it a little. It's easy to bend back, no biggie. Next, remove the TPS and TPS bracket before you tackle the bell crank lever. It's just three small screws and once you pop the other cables loose, it will lift right off. It's made out of some kind of cheap crap pewter stuff and when you pop the bell crank spring loose and it snaps against it it can easily brake. Trust me, I know this one first hand Last tip, when you go to pry the bell crank spring back onto the lever, here's the easy way. Get a piece of baling wire approx. 3ft or so long. There's a small hole directly to the front, up by the radiator. On the top part. Stick the wire through that hole and then position the bell crank spring to where you are ready to pry back on it. Be sure you get the bottom part of it on the bottom part of the lever. Loop your baling wire around the top hook of the bell crank spring and back to itself and twist it together pretty good. Now take a pair of pliers and start twisting the baling wire. This will tighten up the wire and pull the spring back. You will be able to easily move the spring over onto the lever and release the baling wire. The factory directions in the parts packet is a joke. Oh yeah, don't put the TPS bracket back on until your done with this part. That way if the spring slips loose, you won't be in danger of breaking the bracket.

Hope this helps someone. The first one I did on my wife's pickup ate my lunch and I wouldn't want to see anyone go through that again.

Sorry so long.

 

[Joe G.]

Dan, I hear what you're saying. I got a black finger nail as a souvenir from changing mine. It still looks like there are scorched places on the spring from the way I spoke to it!

 

[ScooterH]

throttle cable

I just tackled mine today. It looks like my original ball end stud for the throttle cable is the same size as the new ball end that came with the new cable. The only difference is the new ball stud is about 3/16 in. longer. I see no reason to disassemble everything if I don't have to. The new cable is differant than the old one. Am I missing something?

 

[danandamy]

Sorry, Scooter it's not the same size around. Believe me, I checked. It's just a fraction larger. That's the sucky thing about the whole deal, if they would have simply made the end on the replacement cable the same size, it'd be an easy job. That part of it doesn't even have anything to do with the throttle cable fraying, either. Just some engineer justifying his existance, I guess.