Gas pedal got stuck while driving.

T

The "A" Team

Member
Hi everyone.

While driving my A yesterday I pushed the gas down and the gas pedal got stuck in the down position. Luckily I didn't panic, pushed the clutch to stop it from accelerating and got it to pop back up by just nudging it a little with my foot. It didn't happen again that night and when i looked at it today without starting the car it seemed fine, but I did notice that if it's pushed all the way down it almost "clicks" like it wants to stay down, and sometimes did. It's not getting caught on the wood floor. Do you think the throttle piece just needs a drop of oil or something?
 
Easy fix. Pull your floorboards out and bend away from clutch housing where it probably stuck. This happened to me about 50 years ago when I did not remove accelerator assembly before pulling engine. Made sure your spring is retracting properly as well. A drop of oil never hurts.
 
There are two things that have caused my gas peddle to stick. One is it catching on the hole in the floor board and the other is catching on the bolt head that attaches it to the block. In the case of the hole, the hole needs to be enlarged. In the case of it sticking on the bolt head I had to bend it away from the nut using a large screw driver as a lever. To bend it away from the bolt head you will have to take the floor board out.

A safer way to handle a stuck throttle is to turn the key off. Pushing in the clutch will cause the engine to race which could cause some damage.
 
One quick piece of advice. Reach for the ignition switch FIRST when that happens.
NEVER PUSH THE CLUTCH IN. That will let the engine free wind which could lead to a destroyed engine and in some cases an exploded clutch or flywheel.
I can tell you from first hand experience, an exploded clutch will pretty well total your car.
 
Pete said:
One quick piece of advice. Reach for the ignition switch FIRST when that happens.
NEVER PUSH THE CLUTCH IN. That will let the engine free wind which could lead to a destroyed engine and in some cases an exploded clutch or flywheel.
I can tell you from first hand experience, an exploded clutch will pretty well total your car.
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In hindsight I kind of knew that could be a problem. Luckily it all happened in the middle of shifting from 2nd to 3rd, so the whole ordeal only happened over the course of a second or two. 😰
 
The "A" Team said:
In hindsight I kind of knew that could be a problem. Luckily it all happened in the middle of shifting from 2nd to 3rd, so the whole ordeal only happened over the course of a second or two. 😰
Click to expand...
That's the way every bad thing that happens,I have been hit four times on a motorcycle and after the last one I never rode again even though I never got a scratch,All the gear all the time was why.I saw everyone of them coming.
 
Update.

I removed the rod and it definitely seems to be the carburetor. After removing the rod, the gas pedal swung up and down with no problem. Can that linkage on the carburetor be lubricated so it doesn't get stuck?

I also noticed that the flap on back of the carburetor (I think where the air filter would go on), is opened and doesn't seem to close at all, pictures of both are attached.
 

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Loosen the carb mounting bolts so that you can rotate the carb one way or the other. The carb's butterfly valve may be hitting the inside of the intake manifold runner, most likely because the mounting holes in the manifold have been enlarged or wallowed out from running loose. You could also remove the carb and check that the action of the butterfly valve is free from peg to peg, no sticking. If it sticks, loosen the two screws that secure the valve to the throttle shaft and reset the valve so that it closes. Be sure to back off the idle screw so that the butterfly valve will seat inside the carb's throat. Then tighten the screws again and check for full travel. Mount the carb on the manifold as straight as possible and check for the full and free travel. If o.k. you can now rule out the carburetor. If the linkage sticks again, you can be sure it's caused by one of the suggestions given so far.
One other thing: I have found it better not to put a lock washer beneath the bolt head on the left bolt that holds the accelerator linkage to the engine block. Sometimes that keeps the accelerator from going all the way down = 3/4 throttle. Because you have a Tillotson carb instead of a Zenith, it's usually necessary to bend the linkage to achieve full throttle. The throttle arms are in different positions between the two carbs so that when swapping them, the new carb may not have full travel to the stop peg. Don't test by using the hand throttle rod under the hood. That will give a false reading. Someone must sit inside the passenger's compartment and push the accelerator all the way down while you see where the butterfly arm stops. If it doesn't peg against the post, you'll need to bend the accelerator linkage arm that connects to the carb one way or another. You'd be surprised by how many Model A's are running around that don't have full throttle travel, resulting in disappointing performance and lower top speed.
By the way, if the linkage sticks again, just put your toe beneath the accelerator button and lift up. That will instantly return the linkage to the neutral position. Much faster and more reliable than "nudging" it, which may or may not free up the stuck linkage.
Marshall
 
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And leverage has not been compromised? I shouldn't think the accelerator linkage arm AND the rod would need to be bent so drastically. Yikes!!! I'd suggest removing the rod and straightening both it and the linkage arm, and starting over. Bend the linkage arm much higher up, which will require less of an angle than bending it so low. It also won't need to be bent as far to achieve the same results. You may have to remove the linkage and heat the arm in this area to bend it because it is thicker there than at the tip, where it will bend easily. A little time spent doing that will result in restored leverage and a correct-looking connection. It can be done and HAS BEEN DONE millions of times before when switching between a Zenith and Brand-X carburetors during the past 90+ years. You are merely the newest member of this club. :)
Marshall
 
Update.

I oiled the shaft and it stopped squeaking and moved a lot more freely, and when I straightened the throttle rod again and pressed the gas, it sprung back. So I think it might be safe to say that it needed a drop of oil in the end.

Another thing I noticed is when I took the carburetor off, one of the nuts was sheared off on one side. Maybe that could've caused a problem too. I changed the nut.
 

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I had a sticking throttle and it ended up being the tillotson carb, I switched it to a zenith and it stopped. That tillotson was on a different car before that and never had any problem so I'm not sure why it would do it on that particular car. The throttle shaft would start sticking and if I pulled it back with my foot it would stop for a little bit and then start sticking again.
 
On another but slightly related note, I had a carb that just would not close the throttle valve regardless of how much I fiddled with the throttle linkage. Was idling too fast and I could not adjust it down. Turns out the rod from the steering column was too long. I shortened the rod by putting a coupler in the middle to allow play at the throttle linkage and problem solved. I also had to enlarge the hole when I put in new floorboards to prevent sticking there, so I suspect some aspect of body alignment issue may be in play that affected both.
 
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