Throttle Spring

[YoungMoneyVII]

I have this spring linked from where I usually hoist engines on the head to the throttle. Any insight people? I drove my 88 trans am before this and when I test drove this truck I thought the park brake was on because the pedal was so stiff. Guess it makes for a stiffer pedal but do I need it/ whats its purpose?

 

[readymix]

I bet the previous owner added that. I'd remove it and see what happens

 

[YoungMoneyVII]

I bet the previous owner added that. I'd remove it and see what happens

yea I thought about removing it but im just going to leave it for now

 

[496truck]

I had one of those when I bought my truck. Wonder if we had the same PO?

Is it turns out, my t-body shaft bushings were so worn the throttle blades were not closing all the way causing a high idle. PO thought adding the spring would fix it, it didn't. Remove the spring, it's not supposed to be there and it makes hitting the gas a real chore. And if your throttle shaft is loose and doing the same thing mine was you need to find a good used throttle body from a 4.3 or 5.0 or 5.7. Just swap over your injectors if you can only find a good one from one of the smaller engines. The body and blades are the same size just different injectors. Or, there is the 454 t-body upgrade, but since yours is stock I wouldn't bother with that yet.

 

[YoungMoneyVII]

I had one of those when I bought my truck. Wonder if we had the same PO?

Is it turns out, my t-body shaft bushings were so worn the throttle blades were not closing all the way causing a high idle. PO thought adding the spring would fix it, it didn't. Remove the spring, it's not supposed to be there and it makes hitting the gas a real chore. And if your throttle shaft is loose and doing the same thing mine was you need to find a good used throttle body from a 4.3 or 5.0 or 5.7. Just swap over your injectors if you can only find a good one from one of the smaller engines. The body and blades are the same size just different injectors. Or, there is the 454 t-body upgrade, but since yours is stock I wouldn't bother with that yet.

How will I be able to tell if my throttle bushings are worn? Perhaps a visual inspection? I was going to replace the TBI with a holley or G P Sorensen but I dont feel like resetting the IAC and TPS

 

[496truck]

With the truck off, disco the spring. Grab the linkage there and try to push/pull it back and forth (rad to firewall). Also open the throttle and do the same thing. You should also look down into the throttle bore while opening and closing the throttle to see if the throttle blades are closing properly. In my case, you could let go of the linkage and it would close most of the way, but then you could give it a pull forwards and it would close all the way. And we're only talking a slight click closed but it was enough to cause a high idle, high enough that you would have to hold the brake pretty good at a stop.

 

[YoungMoneyVII]

With the truck off, disco the spring. Grab the linkage there and try to push/pull it back and forth (rad to firewall). Also open the throttle and do the same thing. You should also look down into the throttle bore while opening and closing the throttle to see if the throttle blades are closing properly. In my case, you could let go of the linkage and it would close most of the way, but then you could give it a pull forwards and it would close all the way. And we're only talking a slight click closed but it was enough to cause a high idle, high enough that you would have to hold the brake pretty good at a stop.

I dont think im experiencing this problem although the p/o did mention the throttle would stick sometimes.

 

[Mastiff]

Funny, I think the TBI springs are really stiff even in plain factory form. IIRC, I snipped one of the springs on mine to soften it up. Modern vehicles have very light throttle resistance and I prefer that personally. I've talked to guys who like it stiff though too...