Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)
  • Any honda experts on here (older ones) pre 2005
  • monkey_boy
    Free Member

    got a 2004 (65k on the clock)HRV, had it for 3 months and touch wood its been bombproof.

    the throttle response is playing on my mind all the time, i know it’s old school tech as in mechanical throttle cable not fancy computer actuated type like the wifes fiesta.(excuse my car ignorance)

    the accelerator pedal feels stiff/heavy as hell and at junctions when pulling off you either have to give it a load of revs as it doesnt seem progressive, its sticky at the first push then lets rip (again excuse my terminology

    theres loads on the web about ‘sticky throttles’ and ive done the following-

    1 – Tightened the cable slack, there was about 6-7mm and this gave a btter response

    2 – lubed the cable with proper graphite based spray

    3 – cleaned the throttle body spring as was covered in sh*te

    4 – taken the air pipe off the throttle body and sprayed and cleaned the throttle plate with throttle cleaner. it looked clean.

    just took it for a test drive and the initial stickyness seems to have gone but the pedal still seems ‘heavy’.

    when i get into the wifes car (56 reg fiesta) i end of revving the holy sh*Te out of it as you could push the pedal down with a feather as its so light.

    anything else i can try or is it just me being a tw*t and to MTFU?

    cheers

    garage-dweller
    Full Member

    It sounds to me like it could be a kinked or crushed cable or the linkage it presumably attaches too.

    No expert on this but ime throttle cables are rarely stiff. Cable clutches are a different thing altogether.

    Better minds than mine may have other ideas that dont involve new cables.

    gusamc
    Free Member

    can you isolate the issue ?
    ie get both ends of cable free and pull to see if the cable is sticky.
    and get a seperate bit of wire etc to see if pedal movement is

    had a sticky motorbike clutch when cable inner (I guess) got frayed at a bend, new cable and bingo – sorted,

    lasty
    Free Member

    possible routing problem as well as sticky/stiff cables or linkages ??
    Also worth checking the pedal is moving freely 😉

    monkey_boy
    Free Member

    Cheers,

    when i lubed the cable i took it off from the throttle end and sprayed a load of lube down it and hooked it up vertical to let gravity do its job.

    after 20 mins i pulled and pushed the cable and it was smooth as hell. (new cable direct from Honda is £43.00 only place i could find one)

    am i correct in saying the throttle cable is basically the same a bike cable?

    ive checked everything from the pedal to the throttle body and it all ‘seems fine’ but surely it shoudlnt feel this heavy.

    there are a few HRV’s around my area but i dont want to flag one down and ask ‘can i have a go in yours’ as i’ll probbaly get arrested. 😆

    JAG
    Full Member

    Like qusamc said.

    o Dismantle the system i.e. remove the throttle cable.
    o Check each element of the system (pedal movement, cable movement and throttle plate rotation) for stiff/sticky operation
    o Fix anything that’s sticking
    o Re-fit the cable and enjoy the new smooth acceleration

    qu1nt
    Free Member

    My wife has a 2004 civic & had the same problem.
    It was a build up in the throttle body where the butterfly closes.
    Curing it was as simple as removing the air intake pipe (from air filter) opening the throttle butterfly manually & spraying in some carb cleaner & wiping out the body. Problem was solved & throttle now smooth as silk.

    Hope this helps 🙂

    monkey_boy
    Free Member

    cheers all,

    yeah i need to get the cable totally out (both ends), i didnt have the balls to take it off from the pedal end incase i snapped something or couldnt get it back on! seems fidldly job as the cable comes through bulkhead through a palstic clip through hole in pedal then seems to clip into a little barrel thing.

    plumslikerocks
    Free Member

    From limited experience – Civics I’ve driven from late 90s had a very light and responsive accelerator. Also our current 53 reg Jazz is light and as responsive as can be expected given what it is. Engine tech very similar between models.

    I’d say yours needs a bit of attention. No wanting to put the frighteners on you but its best not ignored as you don’t want it to stick open, do you?

    monkey_boy
    Free Member

    My wife has a 2004 civic & had the same problem.
    It was a build up in the throttle body where the butterfly closes.
    Curing it was as simple as removing the air intake pipe (from air filter) opening the throttle butterfly manually & spraying in some carb cleaner & wiping out the body. Problem was solved & throttle now smooth as silk.

    cheers, i take it when you say smooth as silk it was light pedal compared to heavy as it was before. as i said i did give the throttle plate a blast earlier and it seemed to fix the sticking at the start of the pedal stroke but it still feels ‘heavy’ in general.

    think it could be garage time.

    qu1nt
    Free Member

    i take it when you say smooth as silk it was light pedal compared to heavy as it was before

    Yes, it was never really heavy once past the first sticking point, which made it feel like driving with a on & off switch for a throttle ..

    Sadly, you’re probably best searching out a Honda specialist locally

    plumslikerocks
    Free Member

    whereabouts are you MonkeyBoy?

    monkey_boy
    Free Member

    based in south wales near Newport.

    my brothers mate is a mechanic think i’ll drop in to him one night.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    My ’03 Civic has a pretty light and smooth throttle and I don’t remember anything odd about the loan HSV I had for a weekend in ’05 whilst awaiting the admin being done when I bought the Civic ex-demo. I remember my old 306XSi having a very heavy throttle, not fun on motorway slogs…

    MaryHinge
    Free Member

    Mine’s a 2004 H-RV with 160k+ on it.

    No issues here.

    If you have checked and lubed the cable the next thing is to disconnect it at the throttle end, leave it connected at the pedal end, and then try the pedal to see if it’s still stiff. That will identify which end you need to be looking at.

    I’d reckon on it being the throttle/carb end and you probably need a bit of carb cleaner to give it a good flush through.

    plumslikerocks
    Free Member

    OK – I know a good Honda Indy in W Yorks but thats out of the way for you. To be honest accelerator cable / throttle linkage isn’t a specialist job anyway. your bro or a decent backstreet garage should see you right.

    monkey_boy
    Free Member

    If you have checked and lubed the cable the next thing is to disconnect it at the throttle end, leave it connected at the pedal end, and then try the pedal to see if it’s still stiff. That will identify which end you need to be looking at.

    i didnt think of that! think i’ll take the cable off again ‘thottle end’ and try the pedal.

    i say i cleaned the throttle plate but i did it halved arsed and didnt really get the pipes out of the way as I didnt have time.

    monkey_boy
    Free Member

    another stupid question, can you ‘over tighten’ a throttle cable or would it be obvious as your idle revs would be way too high? (it’s late) 😉

    MaryHinge
    Free Member

    By “over tighten” I assume you mean “take out too much of the slack” so that the throttle is held open slightly.

    Yes, you probably could manage to do that, but you really don’t want to 🙂

    Leave a small amount of slack to ensure that it shuts off fully.

    plumslikerocks
    Free Member

    OP – will you post back here once you’ve got it sorted? Interested to know what the outcome is….

    monkey_boy
    Free Member

    well i finally took the throttle cable off from the throttle body end, then pushed the pedal, it was smooth as hell (obviously)

    i then moved the throttle spring by hand still with the cable off and it feels a very tight spring, almost too tight and feels the same force and feel as when the cable is attached and pedal is pushed.

    i cleaned the spring, re-lubed cable ‘again’ still feels the same.

    think the only options left..

    1 – take it to a garage, but to be fair what are they going to say/do?

    2 – take the throttle body off and give it a good soak and clean but i cant see that working and its major hassle as i’ll need a new gasket and as they dont sell the HRV anymore i guess new ones will be like rocking horse poo.

    i’ll post up if its fixed!

    cheers again

    plumslikerocks
    Free Member

    don’t worry too much about spares costs. Honda engine families go on for years and share many parts between models.

    see?!

    Parts WILL NOT be an issue!

    If you’ve run out of ideas, get it to a trusted / recommended garage. They’ll have it fixed in no time…

    plumslikerocks
    Free Member

    any news?

Viewing 23 posts - 1 through 23 (of 23 total)

The topic ‘Any honda experts on here (older ones) pre 2005’ is closed to new replies.