Throttle cable broke.... It didn't end well

[Jim Baker]

The throttle cable on my 91 2wd automatic Vanagon Carat broke 4 months ago. I wasn't in a very good place to do anything about it, except to idle it off a very busy road to a very awkward place to get away from the traffic.

I called roadside assistance to get the vehicle towed home, but the situation got worse because when I was waiting for the tow truck (it was evening) it went from being light out to very dark and difficult to see. To compound the matter, the tow truck driver parked in a way which made it difficult to get the van on the truck. The van had to be pushed to get it to line up with the truck. Then the matter became a life altering event. The van began picking up speed (when pushed) because it was on a grade and rolled quickly out of control. It ended up rolling very fast and slamming into the tow truck. Unfortunately I couldn't move away fast enough and was caught between the van and the tow truck, getting crushed and severely damaging my arm. I ended up in a trauma center for the night, and then later it was determined I would need surgery on my arm. I've been in recovery since then.

The van had to go to the body shop to be repaired having been damaged when it hit the tow truck, and since my arm is now severely injured, it would be pretty difficult at this time for me to replace the throttle cable. I elected to have the body shop do it. Now the van is repaired, I picked it up but the gas pedal doesn't go all the way to the floor, it stops about halfway. Since the pedal doesn't go all the way down, its very slow on take off, and at best the vehicle will only go 55-60 mph on a flat road. I let the body shop know about this, but they were not very familiar with the mechanicals of a Vanagon

Is there an adjustment for allowing more movement on the pedal? I tried looking in the Bentley, but I didn't see an area which addressed this. Your help would GREATLY be appreciated. I may or may not be working on it this time, but I plan to see if its something I can do or if I can pass the information on to someone else.

As for lessons learned. Most of you know this already, but I cannot stress the importance of climbing under and around your car on a regular basis to see what might need maintenance. Unfortunately the throttle cable isn't always something that gets inspected and its failure could be detrimental under the right circumstances.

[dhaavers]

Ouch, man - terrible story. Hope you are healing well.

The cable has an adjusting rod back at the throttle end. Bentley 20.32
describes the adjustment at the linkage for your late model automatic.

I s'pose it could also be some weird thing under the pedal &/or the wrong
part. I'm not sure what differences exist between the manual & auto cable.

Best wishes & stay safe out there, y'all...

- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[WestyWanter]

Wow that a horrible series of events, I hope that you're recovering...

Are you able to have someone when the van is off to push the throttle all the way down to see if on the motor that complete movement is occurring?

[djkeev]

You're lucky to still be alive!

I've heard similar stories that ended with worse outcomes.....

Heal well, yes the throttle cable has adjustments but also links into the transmission kick down. Hopefully they didn't mess with that interface.

Dave
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[benandmj]

Hey Jim - Really sorry to hear this. Glad you are recovering. I’m in Atlanta and happy to lend a hand. I just replaced the throttle cable on my ‘91.
_________________
85 Westfalia Weekender
91 Syncro Westy

[dhaavers]

[Jim Baker]

Thank you for the kind words. This is truly a GREAT community. The body shop told me they would take care of it, (they missed a few other things as well) I wanted to have a better understanding of it before I took it back. I was thinking they may have missed something in the transmission kick down. I'm also glad to know that it can be adjusted. I'm going to look at 20.32, sometimes I have a tough time finding where to look on some smaller specific repairs in the Bentley.

benandmj, THANK YOU FOR THE KIND OFFER! If the body shop doesn't get it right, I will reach out to you. Its good to know there are other Vanagon people in Atlanta. You don't see a lot of Vanagons or people who know how to work on them in Atlanta.

One wouldn't think a throttle cable would be such a big deal, but I'm here to tell you, and warn others to check yours every now and then. Bad things can happen.

[B.O.B.Wanders]

Jim,
Sorry to hear about the incident. Hope your recovery goes well.

Advanced Imports in Tucker is great. Their main focus is the older air-cooled VW's but they can deal with Vanagons if you still have any issues. That is the only place I know of close to town. They get pretty busy at times so it can take some time to get your vehicle in there. Bobby did a transmission swap for me a few years ago.

I don't know much about the automatic transmissions but have spent much quality time leaning into or lying underneath my '83 if you need anything else.

Rick
_________________
83.5 WBX 2WD Assuan Brown Westy, B.O.B.

"It feels good to be lost in the right direction” - unknown

[Wildthings]

The throttle cable runs between the throttle pedal and a lever on the right front of the tranny, it does not go to the throttle body. Hopefully the shop didn't mess with the linkage between the tranny and the throttle body. Should be easy enough to grab hold of the lever on the tranny the throttle cable attaches to and see if it will move further.

[mikemtnbike]

are you certain the body shop used the correct part in replacement?

When my cable broke, it also left me in a precarious place, had to coast backwards on a busy 5 lane to get to a safe pull out. I too felt the fool for not having replaced it already and carry a spare now.
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[dobryan]

Wow. Heal well please.

I'm not sure I would let the shop try to get it right a second time since they must have had little clue the first time. On an auto tranny as others have said it is not obvious how to get things right. I would want an experienced vanagon mechanic or samba member to do the work... YMMV.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

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[Jim Baker]

I think you have a GREAT point. The shop is not your ordinary body shop. They do restorations as well, and the reason I chose them. Not only do they do newer vehicles, they work on older vehicles as well. They have done a number of older beetle restorations. They have done a lot of muscle cars. I also realize Vanagon's however are something that require a special understanding.

Since I have already paid them a chunk of money, I feel compelled to give them one more chance, but it may be a mistake on my part. I have copied the pages out of section 20.32 in my Bentley and will give it to them when I take the van back. I'm going to stress not to mess with the kick down feature because it could be a problem with the shift points of the transmission. My other concern, which was wisely mentioned by mikemtnbike, is whether or not the correct throttle cable was used.