I recently had my throttle cable seize up on me while going down the road, lots of fun, let me tell you..

I was wondering if the single-digit temperatures outside had anything to do with it? I'm sure the 258,xxx miles on the truck had caused it to wear as well.

I never looked into it so I just didn't know, but, I do not have one of those plastic covers that goes over it and shields it. I didn't even know it was supposed to have one until I broke out the book when the trouble first started and looked.

I wonder if that cover would have helped prevent my problem? Anybody got a theory on this?
I suppose it's possible that it would help keep that area warm by holding in some heat from the engine..?

I just replaced the throttle cable with a new one from the dealer ($50). They can get the plastic cover for $21, and I'm just debating if it would be worth it or not

Thanks
Matt

 

Could you have too much moisture in the cab? When the truck is not in use it would freeze in the carpets but put some heat on the carpet and the moisture could refreeze on the cable. I had a Ford that did that all one winter and I only used it 4 days out of 8. The 4 days it was not used it was plugged in at the airport with a small heater in the cab, that was enough to melt the frozen moisture then it would refreeze on the throttle cable. Every time I came to use it the throttle cable was frozen, I must have lubed it I don't know how many times to no avail.

 

I dont have carpet, I have the rubber floor. Thanks for the idea though, thats a good experience to share,, never would have thought of that!

I dont think I explained what I was thinking correctly.. The cable didn't freeze up as if from literally being frozen in place and broken. It became very stiff and hard to move, so much so that the throttle would not spring back after you let your foot off of the pedal.
After I removed the cable, and it sat inside for awhile, it still did the same thing. Like maybe it was a little bit frayed inside it somewhere and in a bind, or maybe about to break completely

This did happen on a very cold night (single digits) but it was after I had the truck plugged in all day, let it idle for about 10 minutes, then drove about 5 miles at 60 mph before it gave me trouble..

It was probably just old and worn out from the 258,xxx miles I have on my truck, but I suppose it's possible that having that plastic shield over the end of it on the motor might help keep moisture, dirt, etc.. from entering that end of the cable.

Maybe I'll get lucky at the salvage yard in the spring and find one cheap.

Thanks for the reply

Matt

 

The cover may have helped, but it wouldn't have prevented it long term, probably. My guess is that, like most 1998½-2002 ISB's I see in Dodge trucks, the rubber boot seal came loose from the cable housing and was simply floating back and forth on the core. Without that rubber seal intact all you have to do is drive in rain - a little water gets thru the CAC and radiator, gets on the cable core and runs inside the housing. A little while later the rust process starts inside the cable housing.

Or snow may have blown in there and melted, the water droplets ran down the core and froze. All it takes is a few drops of water in cold weather.

What I do with those throttle cables when I'm servicing a truck and notice one with a loose boot seal is to pry the cable end off the APPS (careful so you don't break it), remove the cable retainer from the APPS bracket, hold it up in the air and squirt some WD-40 inside the cable housing and let it run down inside. Then take a small o-ring and cut it, place it in the groove on the cable housing, then push the rubber boot seal over it to seal it. Lubricate the core where it slides in and out of the boot with some silicone-based lubricant and put everything back together.

Every one I've ever seen sieze up is because of water that got inside the cable housing and either rusted it or froze it in cold weather.
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Chris Olson