bk7794

I am having issues when the weather gets hot. The throttle cable seems to stick just a bit which causes the engine to start having a hunting idle. I know it is the throttle because when I stick my foot underneath the pedal and press up it will stop...plus I have had this problem and fixed it by replacing the throttle cable last year in April 2011. However, now it returned. I do not think the cable itself is sticking..atleast I hope not. Whatelse could I do to help ease this situation.

I already loosened the throttle cable.

91 civic dx

shiroun

Pull your intake piping off and clean the throttle body. It's probably gummy buildup in the Throttle Plate

bk7794

That's as clean as a whistle.

Volpi

This could be a few different things.

Try lubing up the throttle cable itself and anything it is attached to. Clean up the pedal assembly as well, spray it down with cleaner or pull it out and soak it - then lube everything up again. Make sure there's no resistance from the cable also.
I know you said you loosened your throttle cable already, but maybe you didn't loosen it enough?
And I also know you say your throttle body is clean as a whistle, but inside and out? Around the spring assembly and arm that holds the throttle plate in place? It wouldn't hurt to tear it apart entirely to make sure everything is absolutely clean.
Also make sure everything on the throttle body is adjusted properly. Now, forgive me for forgetting the name of this exact piece, but on the spring assembly is that plate the throttle cable end plugs into.. There should be a screw that keeps that piece from coming in direct contact with the body of the throttle body itself. I've had a couple of EFs where that screw has been adjusted wrong and has caused a sticky accelerator. So failing everything else, that might be your problem.

Off the top of my head, I'm not sure what else could cause your problem. Good luck.

bk7794

Good advice, I am going to try and see what I can find underneath. The sad thing is that this would be my third throttle cable. I already replaced one that was doing a similar thing like this.

Tomorrow I will try to clean all around and maybe adjust it, the mounting points I think are wrong. The thing that makes me mad is that I just fixed this issue and now I have it again.

Volpi

I doubt the cable is causing the problem. If the throttle cable you used as a replacement was a brand new OEM Honda cable, then I highly doubt that there is anything wrong with it. Maybe it could use some lube, but I don't expect you will find any kinks in the cable itself. Especially when it is barely a year old.

ax77

Make sure there is .5" - .75" of slack in the throttle cable. I had the same problem and couldn't figure it out until I looked at the manual which showed there has to be significant slack in the cable.

bk7794

I think I might have fixed it by re-adjusting it. But I don't see how the throttle cable could have become tighter over the span of one year.

EDIT:Holy crap that much? Maybe I was way below the slack requirement.

Volpi

.75" seems like a bit much. I wouldn't recommend more than .5" (12~mm) of slack. My throttle cable is currently adjusted to 10~mm (.4"~? or 2/5"? something like that) in slack. I would imagine any more than 12mm of slack would cause the throttle response to be too loose.

ax77

its about .5" of slack. I don't have the factory manual in front of me but it says exactly. I say .5"-.75" because i had the same problem and i adjusted it to about .5" and the problem went away but in a few weeks subtly came back so I gave it a bit more slack and haven't had an issue since. .5" should be good thou.

bk7794

Where should the slack be measured?

Okay so I actually found it in my service manual and measured it. Its around a half an inch, that is the max play I would give it. Tomorrow is going to be 100 so I will try and tune it tomorrow and see what I can do.

bk7794

With it adjusted to spec it feels better and it is better but I still get some rev hang when I tap the throttle.

bk7794

I wonder if it could possibly be the pedal return spring.

ax77

if the slack is there it wouldn't be the pedal. Try pushing on the throttle lever with your thumb to close it and see if the reving goes away. If it does you may want to throw some WD40 on it. also try giving the cable more slack, it's not going to hurt to see if it fixes it.