Throttle cable clean and replace

[Tikvah]

Somewhat related to another post about a heavy accelerator peddle.  My peddle is getting sticky and hard to push.  I have heard of removing the cable, cleaning by boiling, the re-greasing then replacing.
Can someone please explain the procedure?  Where to disconnect, how to clean, how to adjust and what potential problems to watch out for.

Dave

[bevans6]

GM used a cable inside of a hard tube outer, from what I have read.  MCI used a Belden type cable that is a flexible outer sheath with a teflon liner and a twisted steel cable inside of that that cannot be usefully lubricated.  If it's sticky it's worn out, the teflon is worn through or the steel cable has corroded. It runs through all of the bulkheads down the center tunnel of the bus through punched holes in the bulkheads, not through a steel tube.  Some of the holes are smaller than others, and at least one is .515" diameter, so your replacement cable must have no part of the fittings larger than .500".  Mine did, and I spent days figuring this out when I could not pull the new cable through.  What I did, in my naivety, was pull the old cable out the back of the bus pulling a pull cord through behind it.  I took the old cable to a shop and had them duplicate it (airports often have a control cable fabricator).  I tried and tried to pull it through from the front, but it would hang up about 15 feet in, right near the AC/heater compartment.  I took the center tunnel panels off to look, and discovered the small hole in the bulkheads issue.  I eventually ended up grinding the one oversize fitting on the cable end off, pulled the old cable back in to place, made up a fitting to screw the two cables together ( they have 1/4" threaded ends on the inner cable).  Then lots of tape to make the whole mess very smooth and finally managed to pull it through the bus.  Then I made up a new fitting to replace the one I cut off (it's like a swaged end cap for the outer cable to keep the teflon liner in place).  I would expect that MCI installed the cable before they installed the bus floor or the tunnel covers.  The cable cost about $350 to have made.  Luke tried to find me one for a few weeks, but came up dry. 

Brian

[Tikvah]

WOW Brian,
That's more work than I expected.  I appreciate the update.  This just cements my decision to go with an air throttle.  I'll simply eliminate the cable and run an air line.
Plus, with the air throttle it will be easier to install a cruise control. 

Thanks for the input.

Dave

[bevans6]

The cable comes out at the front at the rear passenger side of the spare tire bay.  I would undo it there, tape your air line to it and pull the cable out from the back (it can be seen easily from the rear-most hatch inside the bus) and pull the air line in as you pull the throttle cable out.  If I had an automatic trans that's exactly what I would have done.

Brian