Reuben

After 18+ years of faithful service, my throttle cable finally snapped yesterday. With a new cable winging its way ($87 + shipping from Sunset Porsche v. $168 + shipping from the dealership), I wondered whether anyone has any good advice and photos as regards installation. Mine is a '95 (non-Varioram), which I gather makes access a bit easier, especially as I do not have any way or intention of dropping the engine, if it is possible to avoid doing so.

Many thanks in advance,
Reuben

P.S. Liberal supply of suitable beverages offered to anyone near Princeton (NJ), who wants to join in the fun next weekend!

IXLR8

I have some pics on my HD that cover the engine compartment area. The following pics are off my photo hosting site.

Its that black cable in this photo next to the oval circled coupling. Out of the pic, but to the left, at the point where it enters the tunnel, the cable enters a tube that is part of the chassis that ends at the pedal assembly.




You can see where the cable enters that tube that is attached to the chassis in this pic. Its just right of the shifter coupling.




Its that black cable in this photo next to the oval circled coupling. A grey plastic clip hold it to a metal bracket.




It then feeds through the engine tin to the engine compartment. To the right of the pic and out of view.




To remove the cable, you will need to remove the fitting and associated lock nut off the throttle cable end at the gas pedal. Its in the bottom right of the photo.

k722070

everything is easy from the engine tin forward, so from that point,
remember or mark the correct hole in the engine tin for the throttle cable(there are 2 holes) when you remove it.
the hardest part is getting the new rubber part of the cable into the grommet on the throttle assembly, I used dow 111 and force.
to get my arm back there I removed the heater blower and the xmas tree and lowered the engine as much as possible. maybe you get to remove half the intake with a 95, in that case you're set.
there are some pics of the throttle assembly on here someplace, just keep searching. with the varioram I wasn't able to see anything, even a mirror didn't help. just shove your arm back there and go by feel.

Reuben

Thank you both so much for your very helpful replies, especially your superb photos, Alex, will be of great use as I lie on my back figuring out how to snake the cable from throttle body to pedal.

Much appreciated, truly.

Reuben

earossi

I am in the same boat as the OP. I can confirm that getting that grommet to seat in the bracket is a PITA. I did not have enough leverage and/or strength to do the grommet install with the bracket attached to the engine. So, I removed the bracket and pulled the throttle cable out of the engine tin to just "play" with what it takes to install the grommet.

It takes quite a bit of force since the old grommet (17 years old) is rather hard. But, with force, I was able to pop it into the bracket. It would have been nice if I could have fed the bracket with cable attached through the tin…….but, not possible. The hole in the tin is about 1-2 mm to small.

My next move is to soak the grommet in silicone grease to hopefully soften it up enough to reduce the force needed to pop it into the bracket with the bracket installed on the engine.

One question: There are two holes in the engine tin of equal size through which the throttle cable can feed. There is one that is almost directly above the clutch slave cylinder and then one about 2 inches to the right of that hole. Logic would say that the hole above the slave cylinder is for the throttle cable since it lines up almost perfectly with the cable bracket. But, I have been wrong before trying to use logic with German machinery! Can someone confirm which of the two holes is the correct one?

Reuben

Ernie,

If you search the archives, I believe you will find posting by NP993 that I found very helpful.

Good luck,
Reuben

earossi

Reuben,

Thanks so much for the heads up! NP993 is Mike Damen, a prolific poster on Rennlist. I finally found his posting on throttle cables. The key tidbit was that Mike identified the two holes through the engine tin that are sized for the throttle cable.

My original assumption was correct, in that the hole that is located about at the centerline for the car is the correct hole for the throttle cable for a manual transmission car. There is another hole, same sized, but about 1-2 inches outboard of that hole, that Mike explains is for automatic transmission cars.

Now I still need to soak the cable grommet in silicone grease in hopes of softening up the rubber to make it easier to install the cable through its bracket on the engine.

NC TRACKRAT

Would be interested in learning from Reuben, Ernie and anyone else who's had this happen at what mileage their cables broke.

bcameron59

Try liberal dousing with rubbing alcohol instead of silicone grease - more slippery, but after it dries no worries with grommet slipping off its seat in housing.

bcameron59

here's a pic of the cable with varioram on the bench - your 95 hopefully is similar.. Bracket and grommet at bottom of pic.

jhg41977

Mine just broke on lap two of a de event. Grrrr. I'll call sunset in the am. It sounds like the cable is two piece, is this correct? Also possible to do with the engine in (1996) but lowered?
Thanks
Jim

Reuben

Jim,

One piece, and you certainly do not have to lower the engine. If you read the previous posts, and study the photos, you should not have too hard a time doing this job. Good luck, and feel free to send me a message should you get stuck.

Reuben

jhg41977

Did you need to remove the crossmember under the engine and transmission? Was the engine lowered but still on the bolts? I've had the engine out and I am reasonably familiar with the brackets because of that. I should have just replaced the cable. It looked perfectly fine though.

KNS

Wanted to bump this up. My throttle cable is sticking. Pedal has a "rachety" feel and my RPMs will sometimes accelarate without any input even after I've taken my foot off the pedal. I'm 60 miles from home, if it breaks will the RPMs race to redline?

I can hear a "scratchy" noise when I put my ear down near the tunnel by the drivers seat and work the pedal fore and aft. Everything seems to be pointing to the throttle cable.

jhg41977

It should only stick where you had it. So if you are at half throttle and it sticks, it will remain there. Mine stuck while on track, thankfully only at partial throttle. I was able to lump into the pits by using the clutch to control speed.

If you have an accident and it becomes known that you were aware of a cable, you are screwed.