What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

gas pedal hard to push.

Jonny-K5

Jonny-K5

1/2 ton status
Joined
May 27, 2003
Posts
1,653
Reaction score
0
Location
SoCal
ive got an 89 k5,350 tbi.my gas petal has been hard to push for several years now. i remember when i first bought the truck 4 yrs agoit was fairly easy to push. then one day it became hard. like there was extra return springs hooked up. i tried to figure this out then but came up clueless. i've just gotten used to driving like this and just about forgot it was a problem, til yesterday. i ran into the previous owner and he asked if he could drive it around the block , he wanted to see how it felt after all the mods i've done to it. he noted how hard the gas pedal was, thought i added an extra spring or something.

anyhow, here's what i've done trying to figure this out. disconnected throttle cable at TBI, pulls easy. disconnect TV cable at TBI, pedal is easy to push now. disconnect TV cable at both ends, pulls thru easy. i figured something happened inside my tranny and put more tension on the spring. but i've since replace that trans with a completly new unit from bowtie overdrive. didnt change a thing.
one thing i did notice over the years was once the check engine light came on at a stoplight, when i took off from the light the pedal was alot easier to push. this was two blocks from home. when i got home and started it back up, CE light was off and pedal was hard again. i think the light was a code 32, and i've had that code come on many times, but only this once it changed the pedal feel.

does this make any sense? im completly stumped. anyone else have a similar problem?
 
I have an 87 K5 tbi, and mine is the same way. When other people drive my truck, they always nail it and cant get used to it for a while. I havent figured it out. It doesnt bother me anymore, I am used to it. I can stomp it just as fast as anyone else, and I can inch up to. Oh, and go to www.cfm-tech.com to see what the code 32 is. I believe its either bad egr valve or bad map sensor. Neither should affect the gas pedal pressure.
-Harrison
 
I have a 90 K5, the same as yours, im having the same problem as you, if you figure it out let us know so I can fix my blazer.
 
87BrnRsd said:
I have an 87 K5 tbi, and mine is the same way. When other people drive my truck, they always nail it and cant get used to it for a while. I havent figured it out. It doesnt bother me anymore, I am used to it. I can stomp it just as fast as anyone else, and I can inch up to. Oh, and go to www.cfm-tech.com to see what the code 32 is. I believe its either bad egr valve or bad map sensor. Neither should affect the gas pedal pressure.
-Harrison
Click to expand...
i know it shouldnt affect it, it was just strange that it happened at the same time. it might have been a different code, but pretty sure it was 32. i know 32 is EGR not opening or closing when asked to. replaced it and still happens once in a blue moon. usually at high altitude.

some GM tech on here must know the answer. i know they didnt come like this. were your trucks both hard to push when u bought them? im sure mine wasnt.
 
mine is stiff as well, but i thought thats just how it was. i think i like it though. my friends and family cant drive my truck well either, and most always the note the stiff gas pedal.
 
mine was extremely stiff to the point where if you drove it for 1hr straight ur leg would litterly get really tired. I tried figuring it out myself, both cables flowed well by themselves but i brought it to a shop and they figured out that it was mounted on the gas pedal linkage to low, so all they had to do is move the cable location higher up on the gas pedal and some new linkage on my carb and it works awesome now. its so touchy i almost couldnt drive it because i'd burn out every time, its great now though.
 
haha ive never noticed mine until i read this post, mine is pretty tuff, can't even push it down with my hand
 
Take a spray can of white lithium grease and shoot it down the throttle cable and maybe some on the pivot points in the throttle assembly. Might help, which reminds I'll have to do mine when it comes time, my throttle was getting to be a little PMSy................
 
Bubba Ray Boudreaux said:
Take a spray can of white lithium grease and shoot it down the throttle cable and maybe some on the pivot points in the throttle assembly. Might help, which reminds I'll have to do mine when it comes time, my throttle was getting to be a little PMSy................
Click to expand...
thats the first thing i tried, didnt help a bit. im stumped:dunno:
 
my 88 is the exact same way but i no it didnt come like that. i bought the truck 4 years ago and it was stiff when i got it and now im just used to it but i would like to resolve the issue. im curious, keep us updated on anything you find
-LUKE
 
Chuckle - have to add this...

I got a neighbor who does Big Blocks for fun and profit.

He built a custom 454 to go into a much modified Blazer for a cash paying friend and it included all the goodies: big cam, high flow intake, the works. After it was all sorted out the friend kept coming back complaining that things wern't right... should have more kick in the lower revs. This continued for several weeks. Timing and mixture were reset, everything was worked over twice and still the same complaint.

Finally, with one weekend mod the owner was in tire smokin heaven. Was like a new truck. Responsive, quick, and pulled like a freight train. The mod was a "secret."

I finally asked what the "secret" was and my neighbor grinned, and with a little twinkle in his eye said "Weaker return spring on the carb."

I still chuckle.
 
My '87 is the same way. I went through the whole routine; lubing the cable, cleaning & lubing the pedal, checking the cables, etc. I found a couple things along the way:

1. I have cruise control on mine, with a homemade linkage (coat hangar wire...) between the CC vacuum servo and the TBI. Watching the linkage as my wife pushed the pedal showed that my homemade linkage was pushing the CC servo in cockeyed, whereas the factory linkage (I think) allows the throttle to move without pushing the servo in. When I removed the link, the throttle action got a little better, but not as much as I would have thought.

2. I also found while troubleshooting this issue that my throttle shaft bushings are shot. Actually it's the TBI housing itself, because IIRC there aren't bushings from the factory... the shaft rides directly on the housing material. With the return springs disconnected, the throttle shaft moved smoothly, but if I put a side load on it with my hand (sorta simulating the springs being hooked up), it got stiff and hard to move due to the shaft being cocked in the holes. I think this is the root cause of the stiff pedal (at least in my case).
 
So are you saying the stiff pedal could be why I have absolutely no low end in my truck, but a decent high end.
 
anyone ever figure this out? my pedal is stiff as well, funny thing is that when i stop at the store or something after my truck has reach normal operating temp it's easier to push. makes me think somethings going on with the ecm controlling the tps. i've replaced the tps, iac and coolant sensor. even went so far as to try different tbi units. ran codes and came up empty.
 
So whats the answer? my 88 and 89 are the same way but my dad's 77 c-30 is not...
 
I have owned my '91 for 7 yrs. now and it has been like that since I took possesion of it. I like the fact that no one else wants to drive it, but there are times when it would be nice if I could get the wife to wheel it a little. Did anyone find a definate answer for this?
 
thottle cables can be worn inside, causing them to be stiff to move when under load, but move easy when you have them unhooked. the pressure from the spring will pull the cable inside down into a groove its worn. it also could be the throttle shaft kinda doing the same thing. I'd get a new cable to start with.
 
on my truck, first thing in the morning it was stiff, I undid the cable and it moved freely, so I lubed that black block on the gas pedal, and I also went to autozone and put a new cable on it, and it made a big difference. even though it felt fine when I unhooked it, there was something wrong with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom