I posted a similar problem last week - I have the water out of my cable and
it was a bear of a job.  :(

- WD40 doesn't work
- Break cleaner doesn't work
- Isopropinal (lock de-icer) doesn't work

At least this stuff didn't magically fix it for me.

My frozen section was at the lowest spot on the cable where the trailing
arms are.  I ended up removing the throttle cable from the engine and making
it all go 'down hill' from the union just forward of the trailing arms to
the rear of the cable.  I took my heat gun and laid under my van at -15C
about six times and heated the cable good and hot - starting at the union
and going to the end of the cable - I got it good and hot.  I also popped
the end piece off of the cable to encourage any moisture coming out.  It
took six times of about 5 minutes of heating the cable but now it isn't
freezing any longer.

Changing the cable isn't that hard - maybe 30 minutes with 'driveway'
technology.

David Marshall

Fast Forward Automotive Inc.
4356 Quesnel-Hixon Road
Quesnel BC Canada  V2J 6Z3

http://www.fastforward.ca    mailto:sales@fastforward.ca
Phone: (250) 992 7775        FAX: (250) 992 1160

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-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]On Behalf
Of Jay Brown
Sent: January 15, 2003 12:54 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Accelerator cable woes

On my way home for lunch today I had the wonderful surprise of having my
throttle stick open at about 3500-4000RPM.  While this made for a nice
cruise control effect while underway, it is quite unnerving when I push in
the clutch.  My guess is that after washing the undercarriage last weekend,
I have some water in my accelerator cable that is freezing (it was 4 degrees
F this morning when I got in the van).
How much of a pain is it to change out the accelerator cable?  I am guessing
that you just crawl underneath and drop the spare, look up, and things will
pretty much explain themselves?  Any guesstimates of how long this will take
to fix?  If it is a quick fix, I will most likely do it in the driveway,
otherwise I am going to have to find some heated garage space...
One other thing, I have the part # for my '85 listed as 251 721 555Q, is
this the p/n for the "new teflon coated" cable that is mentioned in the
archives?

                                                Thanks in advance,
                                                Jay Brown