Throttle Cable Woes

[Max Mini]

Hello! This is my first time posting here though I often search your forums for the answers to my questions.

My 1991 E-350 cutaway short school bus has a 7.3L IDI.

I sent the bus to the shop to diagnose a problem that turned out to be the cam sensor going bad, but during the test drive, the throttle cable broke. I actually ended up getting the cable and bringing it to them as there was a 3 day delay from their vendor. I searched high and low for an OEM cable as I've heard the after market ones don't fit right and/or stretch, but there were none to be had - it's a discontinued part. So we went with one made by pioneer.

Got the bus back today, and the pedal is like mush. Before all this, it was a rocket ship, now, my foot is literally on the floor at 55 mph. It doesn't seem like the cable is the right length. Yet when I look for the part, no matter who makes it, it lists the same length, and all sources list this as the appropriate one for my vehicle.

I found a thread on here from a few years ago warning not to use an after market cable for this exact reason. However, back then, there may have been a few OEM's kicking around. Now there's nothing, or at least nothing I've been able to find. The cable does not have any kind of built-in adjustment that can be made. Is there any way to jerry rig this, or has anyone successfully navigated this issue in some other way? I will attempt to find one at the junkyard, but the problem is, I'm not at a level where I could install it myself, so I'd have to pay the shop to do it all over again. I could maybe insist they replace it, but, ever in a hurry, I bought that part myself.

 

[Thewespaul]

Welcome to the forum, doing a quick search myself it seems theres no oem options for your cutaway, I believe thats not the case for the trucks. What you can do, is go under the dash where the cable goes through the pedal and pull the pedal towards you. A length of cable will stick out and you can tie small zipties behind the round cable end, shortening the total length of the cable.

 

[Max Mini]

Welcome to the forum, doing a quick search myself it seems theres no oem options for your cutaway, I believe thats not the case for the trucks. What you can do, is go under the dash where the cable goes through the pedal and pull the pedal towards you. A length of cable will stick out and you can tie small zipties behind the round cable end, shortening the total length of the cable.

Are you talking about on the interior of the vehicle, pull the pedal toward me there? Sorry, I'm super novice at just about everything, but when I pull the pedal toward me I don't see any cable. The pedal goes into a sort of housing, would the cable be in there? I'm concerned I'm going to be messing with the wrong thing.

 

[Thewespaul]

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The part on the right side is what goes into your pedal, the flat piece is what bolts to the firewall. This is inside the truck, you want to put the ties just under the round piece at the end of the cable.

 

[Randy Bush]

So they replaced the cam senor on an IDI? Interesting being an IDI does not use one to best of my knowledge.

 

[Thewespaul]

Probably the tach sensor, lots of shops that arent very familiar with these older diesels call those cam sensors for some reason.

 

[Max Mini]

So they replaced the cam senor on an IDI? Interesting being an IDI does not use one to best of my knowledge.

I pointed this out, and yes it's the tach sensor. According to the shop their vendor was calling it a cam/crank sensor so they went with it.

 

[Randy Bush]

Probably the tach sensor, lots of shops that arent very familiar with these older diesels call those cam sensors for some reason.

That makes a little more sense

 

[Cubey]

I pointed this out, and yes it's the tach sensor. According to the shop their vendor was calling it a cam/crank sensor so they went with it.

O'Reilly lists it that way too for the category (camshaft position sensor), but for some silly reason, they don't list it as compatible with my 87 F250 6.9. Maybe because it's half 7.3 (such as the glow plug system) being the last year of the 6.9. They do for 88+ when 7.3 was out.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...26323/5849133/1987/ford/f-250?q=926-323&pos=0

 

[Selahdoor]

If you could remove the cable and replace it yourself, then I'd suggest you cut it to length, and put a new end on it. It's not that difficult.

 

[Max Mini]

Well... as of now I can't even FIND the cable.

 

[Cubey]

Is it just me, or are you saying the cable is too long? It seems like that would cause the throttle not to fully open since your pedal would be to the floor before the throttle is fully opened. Unless it's a problem with the plastic parts on the ends being wrong, not pulling the cable through the sheath far enough.

The Pioneer cable lists the length for the van is 44" while the truck one is 42.2". I wonder if the truck one would fit better? Just a thought. I'm far from an expert on the subject. I've been fortunate that I haven't had to do accelerator cables. *knocks on wood*

 

[Cubey]

Oh, I noticed this on O'Reilly for the Pioneer van cable:

Ford 1983-91 4.9l, 6.9l, 7.5l

So hmm.... you might hunt for certain 1987-1991 junkyard vans with a 4.9 L6 or 7.5 V8 for a cable that will fit, if that is accurate. The compatibility list further down also includes the 1990-91 5.0 V8.

Go here and scroll down to the Compatibility tab near the bottom for the full list:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...ord/e-350-econoline?q=Accelerator+Cable&pos=0

 

[Max Mini]

Oh, I noticed this on O'Reilly for the Pioneer van cable:

Ford 1983-91 4.9l, 6.9l, 7.5l

So hmm.... you might hunt for certain 1987-1991 junkyard vans with a 4.9 L6 or 7.5 V8 for a cable that will fit, if that is accurate. The compatibility list further down also including the 1990-91 5.0 V8.

Go here and scroll down to the Compatibility tab near the bottom for the full list:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...ord/e-350-econoline?q=Accelerator+Cable&pos=0

If you go to the full compatibility list, the 1991 7.3 is on there. Oh wait, I just figured out that you're saying if it's from one of those others it would probably work for mine too! OK, good point.

It would help if I could get a definite on the actual OEM part number -I have seen 3 different ones, and then when I go to buy them it pops up as incompatible.

 

[Cubey]

If you go to the full compatibility list, the 1991 7.3 is on there.

Yeah, but diesel vans are much harder to find than gas. My thought is, if looking for a good used OEM cable, it's going to be easier to find a gas van than a diesel to pull it from.