How to fix sticky gas pedal?

ChevyHDGert · January 23, 2004

I have been noticing this for a little while, but today it felt a lot worse. I had to press the pedal hard to go and then when I did, it thrusted me forward.

What's the fix for this?

Machine · January 23, 2004

Clean your throttle body.... go here to read more

Gas pedal

Engineer · January 25, 2004

Yep had the same problem with my Blazer.

Just a little carb cleaner, and a toothbrush, and you are good to go.

Machine · January 26, 2004

Engineer has the right idea but I don't recommend carb cleaner or a toothbrush. Instead, get a can of throttle body cleaner that is designated safe for all types of throttle body surfaces. Our butterfly valves have a Teflon type coating on them that help reduce buildup - carb cleaner and an abrasive tool could damage the coating. Use the throttle body cleaner and a soft rag, if needed. Usually, the cleaner itself will loosen the buildup.

Engineer · January 26, 2004

Maybe I should have been more specific- carb cleaner is kind of a generic term.

I used a soft bristle toothbrush so that I didn't have to spray so much cleaner into the throttle body. I figured that any excess cleaner was only going to wash the oil off the piston rings, if it trickled down into the engine. By using something to agitate the carbon, it will loosen quicker. A nylon toothbrush shouldn't remove any coating the additives in the fuel wouldn't dissolve. Just don't use anything metal like brass or steel, should it lose a bristle or two, and fall down into the engine.

Anyway, I did this about 30K miles ago, haven't noticed any further buildup since.

Machine · January 27, 2004

Perfect. I actually had to do this to my Escalade @ 14K miles. It's been 3 wks and not a problem since.

cowboy02 · January 27, 2004

Don't you think this would be a waranty item?? Why not make GM fix it right?

It sounds like this has happend on more then 1 occasion....

Just sems to me like GM has some weird Waranty rules....

EX:

36,000 mile bumper to bumper waranty right....

Then why can you only get your alignment done for free up to 7500 miles?

THAT IS BS!!!

Yankee7985 · February 1, 2004

Hey Cowboy02,

I'd rather spend $3.00 and take 5 minutes to do the job rather than let the dealer have it for a day. I've never found it convenient to take any vehicle to the dealer.

Machine · February 2, 2004

Hey Cowboy02,
I'd rather spend $3.00 and take 5 minutes to do the job rather than let the dealer have it for a day. I've never found it convenient to take any vehicle to the dealer.

Agree with that. Too easy for me to fix a simple problem like this rather than mess with the dealer. Besides, my dealer actually told me that this problem was caused by the software - not the throttle body.

WEFs99 · February 5, 2004

I cleaned mine today for the third time in 40k miles. This time the cleaning wasn't quite enough to completly free it and the stop screw (torx) for the butterfly had to be adjusted.