Last time I was out with my 74 GS Stage 1 I gave her the hammer, and guess what happened was, that the throttle was stuck in full! I was in panic, and the car was accelerating like mad! Luckily the road was clear and straight! I tried to brake, but there was no way! Turned off the motor, then there was no steering nor brakes.... turned it on again, and hammered several times on the gas pedal, the it was loose again. I was white as my seats!!! Then while standing I tried again and again to hammer it down, but it was good then. I haven't looked at the car yet, as it was too dark and I had no time, but do u know for what to look first? Is there a typical spot to look at, or a typical problem?
Throttles ae not supposed to 'hang up' wide open! Check the throttle linkage to make sure it's adjusted to spec. and operates smoothly from idle to WOT. Sometimes rust, rot, or dirt can cause the linkage to bind (especially if the car has sat or been stored for a long period of time). Most throttles have a return spring to assist the return to idle - check the return spring. Make sure there are no other restrictions affecting the operation of the pedal (floor mat, carpets, ect.) Make sure the air breather, and hoses are routed or installed correctly and not interferring with the linkage. Use a silicone lube, or carb cleaner on the pivot points of the linkage, but use it sparingly as it will attract dust and dirt, that may cause binding, which is not good. Shouldn't be that hard to trouble shoot and rectify, but make sure it is operating properly before you punch it again, as it could be very dangerous under certain conditions ! :TU:
Check for a broken left (driver's side) motor mount. Typical symptom, as the engine will rock to the right pulling the throttle linkage tight as a drum. Devon
I've had the accelorator stick on me a few times, though never on the Buick. It's fun. My first reaction is always to shut off the ignition.
Get up close and personal under the hood and check your WOT and pay close attetion to the throttle cable and be sure you can not slide the inner pastic sleave past the outer sleave on the cable (if yours is that style) I had one do the same thing and it was due to incorrect throttle cable and the inner sleave wnet past the outer and hung upo No: Also a good place to be sure is clean an a little silicon lube.
Re the return Spring check and make sure there is a spring within a spring at the carb. Lottsa times the center one (inside) is missing ,goes unnoticed at purchase ,and if the remaining (larger of the two) breaks or flys off-------- you get the picture I'm sure --white knuckle fever!!!
good catch, but it seemed to spring back after a few foot stomps later? Means, this can happen again? Also, the floor mat can get caught up down under the pedal and do itou:
I had this happen on my Cat. I turned it off too. Fortunately I had enough distance to brake with the car off. My situation was that the plug wires ran under the air cleaner and over the throttle linkage. When I went to WOT the wires would bind between the linkage and the air cleaner. Needless to say the plug wires go AROUND the air cleaner now. Rick
that happened to me with my 64 wildcat, A firebird picked a race with me on the interstate and i grabed 3rd gear and opened her up.apparently the return spring on the 2nd 4 bbl picked that exact time to break and when i shifted to 4th the car really jumped but when i let off it stayed WOT had to stomp it a couple times to get it to shut down.it almost scared me for a minute(i did spank that firebird though) scott 1964 wildcat 425-2-4bbls 4-speed:3gears: 1970 wildcat 455-4 :TU:
Turned off the motor, then there was no steering nor brakes... 1. stand on brake for all you're worth 2. flip ignition switch off 3. return ignition switch to the 'run' position. do NOT go past 'run' to 'start' you now have BOTH steering AND brakes, you just don't have power assist ( vacuum boost or hydraulic pump ). this will make both systems heavy and slow to react but they WILL be functional. try this in an empty parking lot several times to get the feel for it. it's a useful skill to have for any vehicle.
On a 1974, there is a position on the switch between the "on" and "lock" (which locks the steering column) thats where you should leave the switch in a case like that. brakes will loose their power assistance (should be good to stop once with the vacuum reserve in the booster but sometimes, it won't) but pressing harder on the pedal will stop the car anyway! It happened to me once to have a stuck throttle on my 1967 as when I floored it, the linkage that pushes on the acceleration pump piston bent and stuck the carb at full throttle. The accelerator cable could be bad too on a 1974. The same happened to me with my 1965 Wildcat because I had not replaced my air cleaner correctly and the throttle linkage blocked under the air cleaner. This is unlikely to happen in a 1974 however. Another problem that was mentionned in a post above is a bad motor mount (again, for 1960's cars, not the 1970's models). GM recalled cars such as our 1965 Wildcats and dealers installed a cable bolted to the driver side head that attaches to the suspension shaft.
I hd a similar situation happen to me in my Grandma's 84 Le Sabre on the way back from Lime Rock park. I was able to shut the car down and get to a service station. I took the air cleaner off and banged on top of the carb in hopes of dislodging any dirt that may have stuck the accelerator pump open. It did the trick and I changed her fuel filter the next day when we got home and the car was cooled off. Never had the problem again.
I had the same problem with a '79 Lesabre 4 door that my uncle gave me when I was 17.I had the 3.8 2brl and had just done a tune up on it and cut the pipe at the cat to run open exhaust.I did a smokey at the stop sign and let off the brake,I then realized that the throttle was stuck.I was on a straight stretch of road headed toward a major Highway(55).I panicked,didn't think of turning the switch off and tried to shift into neutral.I hit park instead.The rear tires locked up and I slid down an ditch with the rear passenger door smacking an oak tree which stopped the car from sliding down the embankment any further.I wasn't wearing my seatbelt and busted the top of my head open on the window crank of the passenger door.I walked 1/4 mile back to my grandma's house with blood gushing out of the top of my head.I ran cold water on my head while expaling to her what happened.She called the shop down the road to come out with the wrecker to pull the car out of the ditch.Luckily we got the car out before somebody called the law.After we got the car back home to the Hospital I went they didn't do stitches,but put a staple in instead:eek2: .I learned a valuable lesson that day,if I'm in a car and it does that always kill the switch first.
Sounds like you had more than a problem with a stuck throttle...by design, ratcheting into "park" while moving won't lock up the rear wheels until you've slowed to a crawl. Devon
I dunno I could have hit reverse instead.But when they rollback driver asked me to start it up(I guess he didn't believe the throttle stuck) it was in park 'cause all I did was hit the switch and she fired up.I had a column shift,if that makes any difference.
That happened to me too........I smacked it so hard messing around, the accelerator pump lever on my front carb bent and jammed the throttle open pretty good. ou: Lucky for me I was almost home, and the road here is very long and had no traffic on it. When I got near to my house, I was doing over 80 and just shut her down and coasted around the corner and up the driveway! Very scary indeed...............
