From: Mark J. Blair, NF6X (nf6x@nf6x.net)
Date: Thu Jul 14 2005 - 18:00:36 PDT
Kenny Reed wrote:
> I lift my
> foot off the pedal and the engine accelerates. Scary huh?? I freaked a
> little at first but then turned the main switch off and brought the
> truck to a stop my using the eng stop. After a few choice 4 letter
> words I get under the hood to diagnose the problem. while walking
> around the truck i notice the left turn signal bulb burnt out too. It
> took a few mins to remember what i am looking at as far as the injector
> pump goes but finally get it. The pin that holds the pedal rod to the
> injector pump feel out or broke. since the arm was open when the pin
> fell out it acted like a vaccum and ran wide open.
That reminds me of the time my throttle return spring broke on one of my
deuces, right after I turned onto a major road. That was a bit scary! I
managed to pull over and shut down safely. I don't recall whether I
managed to hook my foot under the pedal to pull it up, or just pulled
over and yanked the stop cable. Pulling up the pedal can be an option
sometimes, but wouldn't have helped in a situation like Kenny experienced.
Luckily, I was on the way to visit another MV collector with deuces (in
fact, I was picking up a 1.5-ton trailer and a commo shelter from him,
if I remember correctly). I gave him a call, he grabbed the return
spring off one of his deuces and started heading my way, and on the way
he stopped by a hardware store and bought a suitable replacement spring
for me. It was an easy roadside fix.
Hmm, now that I think of it, that wasn't the first time I lost a
throttlw return spring while under way. That also happened to me back in
college one day while I was driving the school's electric vehicle
project car. The pedal was hooked to a potentiometer instead of a
throttle linkage, but the effect was the same.
So, as long as we're on the subject of runaway deuces, go out and check
those return springs and throttle linkages! The mechanism is simple and
it's easy to check or repair, but a throttle spring that pops off or
breaks can ruin your day. The next time I need to buy a replacement
spring, I think I'll buy an extra and throw it in the glove box.
-- Mark J. Blair, NF6X <nf6x@nf6x.net> Web page: http://www.nf6x.net/ GnuPG public key available from my web page.
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