My car runs great, but I cannot accelerate using the gas pedal anymore!

It seems that there is some kind of pulley/motor system on my 1996 Z28 throttle cable...something to do with the ABS/ASR because these error lights come up on the dash when the motor connector is pulled.

I can temporarliy get 'some' throttle control if I manually move the gears on this pulley assembly (connected to this motor), but I cannot 'punch' the gas pedal, and ultimately, it reverts back to this state (no acceleration control). The gas pedal feels really stiff when it gets to this point...

Manually controlling the throttle works fine (actually moving the part where the cable ends) on the TB, so I think it is isolated to this 'ABS Pulley/Motor' only. My Haynes book doesn't show what this part is either!!

Any info would be appreciated,
JR

 

i take it that you have asr or traction control. the first time i hit it with this on, the pedal pushed my foot right back. i found that a little weird but it does it everytime that the asr is on.

 

This is a new problem (I have been driving this car since 1996)...I was driving normally and then it felt like the car died becuase I had no acceleration. I actually took it in to a mechanic, and he said it would cost at least $700 for the part (this pulley assembly). I don't think I can trust this guy, he didn't even know what the part was called.

I am convinced this is a minor problem, so I am not willing to go this route yet. I can drive the car, and get the pedal to control the throttle (somewhat), but it eventually slips back into this mode.

Thanks,
JR

 

the best guess i have is try to find the asr fuse and pull it, wish i could help more!!!!

 

I will check the ASR switch, and test the fuse...

By the way, here is a link to a picture of where this mystery box is located if anyone is interested:

http://www.rcsprogramming.com/throttle_pulley_box.jpg

The cable from the gas pedal goes directly into this box where there is an intricate pulley system, with gears that are connected to a small motor, and then out to the throttle assembly.

Thanks,
JR

 

It's kinda interesting because I just started having a similar problem. I did a search and looked through a lot of the posts, but I didn't see where anybody had this sort of problem (most were "how do I remove it"). I took a corner pretty sharp today and after I did that, I had no acceleration because the traction enabled (although I didn't take the corner fast enough to even remotely come close to loosing traction) and I couldn't mash the gas pedal down more than 1/4 of the way. My car now tops out at about 55 mph and takes about 45 seconds to get there. I have tried turning off the car/turning on and the pedal works fine for one depress, and then the traction control enables and stays on so the pedal can't be pushed in more than a 1/4 again. I'm going to scan with autotap tonight to see if could be anything else, but I'm guessing it's the motor/switch that you pointed to in your picture.

BTW--I forgot to mention that it stays on even if the ASR is disabled by pushing the switch to disable it.

Daniel

 

Just an update to the ASR problem in case anyone has this problem:

I managed to "reset" the ASR gearbox by inserting a flat-head screwdriver down into the gears and spinning the motor gear (the small gear) toward the front of the car. This serves to turn the larger grayish gear which keeps the gas pedal from moving/working. Once you can use the screw driver on the teeth of the grayish gear, rotate that toward the front of the car until it stops. You will now have full throttle control again. I have been running the car for several days now and the problem has not occured again, so either the motor malfunctioned and is dead, or it was some fluke problem.

Take care
Daniel

 

I had to do this 'manual reset' again for some reason, so the motor on this traction control must be working. I did notice that the 'low traction' light came on the dash before it happened, so it must be related.

My question is, if the motor can move these gears one way, but not back, maybe there is another problem? Would the computer need to tell this motor to go in the other direction now because traction has been restored? Maybe there is a voltage problem too...

I just turn the 'ASR' off before I move the car now...seems to work.

JR

 

That's bad news because I think we have the same problem--so that means my problem probably isn't fixed either. I was thinking that the motor should be able to turn both directions, so perhaps the motor is messed up and only turns one direction now? BTW, when my ASR malfunctioned the first time, I was just going around a corner sharp and never even received a low trac light! Keep me posted on how everything is going for you.

Daniel

 

I just took mine off when I got the motor. Pretty straightforward and now my pedal is directly tied to the throttle

I still have the motor if any of you guys need one. Make an offer if you are interested.