Hi Ed,

You live in balmy Connecticut, right?

It has been my experience that the black colored flexible throttle cable
sheath under the van near the right rear wheel area is what becomes
internally moisture laden and then freezes the cable in place. Usually after
it starts getting moisture in it, it rusts the inner steel casing, as there
is a low spot there. The resulting "swelling" of the sheath can make the
throttle action stiff in warm weather, and impossible if any water in it
freezes.

Try heating up the low spot in the cable sheath, and then try to get some WD
down inside it. I have found that the only permanent fix (for me) is to
replace the cable and sheath.

Good Luck,

Dave

On Feb 12, 2008 11:37 AM, Edward Duntz <eduntz@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the suggestions so far. I thought I had solved the problem,
> cleaned and lubed everything that could be causing me trouble, but then it
> happened again. The pedal itself moves up and down when you move it by hand,
> but does not return to the up position and you can't pull the cable back at
> the engine. Right now I've got a heater in the van and a light for warmth
> aimed up at the cover over the linkage.
>
> The plastic cover over the linkage underneath looks like there is a piece
> missing at the top so water could get in, but I didn't see any there.
>
> When I get home I'm going to try shooting some WD-40 down the cable sheath
> at the back end until it comes out the other side.
>
> But nothing really looked frozen. I wonder if it was something mechanical,
> i.e. metal sticking to metal and locked up rather than freezing, and it
> was just a coincidence that warming it helped.
>
> Any other ideas?
>
> Thanks,
> Ed
> _________________________________________________________________
> Helping your favorite cause is as easy as instant messaging. You IM, we
> give.
> http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/?source=text_hotmail_join