Good advice, thank you...I did check stuff, but only with an eye towards
obvious 'foul leads' or binding.  There is a curve in the throttle cable
housing as it clears the 'fire wall' to enter into the engine bay from above
the tranny.  That may be worn...I know bicycle cables wear eventually when
they are made to curve..  I shall look into getting some new cable housing
or something...after checking the other things you suggest...
  This does seem to be a wear issue rather than a faulty install or
adjustment...It has gotten worse slowly over time.

  thanks    Don Hanson

On Tue, Nov 16, 2010 at 9:34 AM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:

> The linkage/cable is shown in chapter 20 of the Bentley manual.
>
>
> I recall the accel cable on a stock diesel system curving up at the rear to
> go into engine compartment, that might be a wear area.
>
> Another thing to watch is how your cable is attached to the throttle. Do
> you have the plastic cam in place? The varying lever arm with the cam helps
> in the "tip in" part of throttle application.
>
> And at the TB again, check the throttle shaft for wear.
>
> And the old answer has to be put in here, check adjustment of throttle
> position switch.
>
> alistair
>
>
>
>
> On 16-Nov-10, at 7:32 AM, Don Hanson wrote:
>
>  My gas pedal has become a little 'touchy' lately.  Manual tranny with an
> inline motor.  I have checked and lubricated (with the SA Besto spray lube
> 2000 product I like) the portion of my accelerator linkage in the engine
> compartment and above the tranny.  Also, I've lubed the pedal and the
> linkage above the spare tire carrier.  Operating that portion of the system
> by hand, it feels perfectly smooth..and in the past it has been quite
> satisfactory.  I changed nothing with that system when I recently 'revised'
> my motor.
>
>   When coming off 'no throttle' at slower speeds in traffic, it is
> somewhat difficult to feed in just a little throttle slowly and evenly....I
> carefully depress the accelerator pedal but it seems to 'stick' a bit and
> then 'release' and cause more  sudden throttle than I would like.  This is
> no problem in most situations, but when 'plonking around' a parking lot or
> inching ahead in traffic, it is irritating to be unable to smoothly add
> just
> a little throttle in my lower gears without the van wanting to 'jump
> ahead...a little'  I have taken to 'slipping the clutch' to control it's
> tendency to jump/lag/jump.....I'm thinking I might need a new accelerator
> cable at the worst, or possibly just to lubricate my current one.
>
>   So, I've been at both ends of the system, and squirted the linkages but
> where do I get "into" the accelerator cable housings?  Can someone guide me
> here, if there is any 'tricks' to this process?  I want to get this done
> before we have our first snow (maybe very soon here in the Pac. NW)..The
> Vanagon I own is difficult enough to keep traction with without having a
> jerky accelertor linkage to contend with.
>
>  Thanks,  Don Hanson
>
>