I've noticed an annoying height difference on my pedals (2000 S-type 3.0 v6 petrol automatic). The brake pedal is really high in comparison to the accelerator. I have to lift my entire leg up to operate it. Is there a way to adjust it?
It is spoiling what is otherwise a lovely driving experience.

 

hi
think you can move the accelerator pedal a bit
mine are at the same height
also on mine you can adjust the height of the pedal with the joystick on the steering column, not all models have this
cheers
Joe

 

Check and see if your car has the optional adjustable pedal assembly; mine does. The markings on the rotary switch on the left side of the steering column should give you a clue...

 

Something may be wrong with either pedal because i do not believe the pedal adjust will adjust individually. They are on the same adjustment apparatus. At least in my 06 they are. How far is the height difference

 

I don't know. I haven't measured it. I will check tomorrow. It's enough to make it necessary to lift my leg instead of move my foot. My ankle runs out of travel. I don't think I have electric adjustable pedals. I will check.

I looked at the parts diagram and it doesn't show much. Perhaps I will have to cut the pedal and weld it back on in a different position. Sometimes it is annoying having small feet and dumpy legs. It was fine when I had an Alfa Romeo. Very convenient for closely spaced pedals.

But Fords don't make good pedal arrangements for some reason. Why make a great car and ruin it by putting the pedals in weird positions? Every Ford I have ever driven has a clutch that bites so high your knee practically touches your earlobe, and they are all spaced too far apart to heel and toe smoothly.

 

If you have a throttle cable that may be out of whack and need checked or adjusted. May be a procedure in the stickies. If not search and i am sure you will find it

 

These cars have a throttle cable? I thought it was fly-by-wire. I will investigate.

 

They are.

 

I checked. It is fly by wire. There is no adjustment possible to either pedal that I can see.
The best way is for me to cut the metal and weld it in a more comfortable position. It looks fairly easy to remove. At a guess, it needs moving down by about an inch and a half. Maybe I'll get round to doing it sometime this week if I'm not swamped with work.

 

Devil's advocate here. Changing the geometry of the brake pedal is one of those things that won't sound good in court as the defendant. It won't go over well as you try explaining how it wasn't your fault you plowed into that bus full of nuns and orphans.

Consider this scenario: The braking system suffers some kind of partial failure. The kindly Jaguar engineers had anticipated such an event and provided enough reserve travel in the pedal linkage to make an emergency stop. Meanwhile, you've taken away that reserve. I don't think it's a good idea. You may not think so now but it's one of those things that may come back to haunt you as you're careening down a crowded sidewalk, wishing you could concentrate on the immediate situation at hand.

What if you were to add a spacer to the front of the gas pedal instead? Make it look nice with a rubber pad, etc. Move the seat and steering wheel aft a little to compensate. You'd have a nice heel/toe pedal arrangement.

 

I take your point. And appreciate your valid safety concerns. I did think of both of those things.

1. There is a huge amount of reserve travel.
2. Changing the position of the throttle by adding a block would work but for one thing... I couldn't reach the steering wheel if I move my seat further back, even with it fully wound out. I tried.

Honestly, there is an enormous amount of space beneath the pedal when fully depressed. Plenty for me to subtract an inch from and still have loads left. I don't see it being a problem if I do it carefully and sensibly.

Lots of cars have far less beneath the pedal than this. Ever driven an old Mini for example? Not that I am going to reduce it as much as that. If I cut and weld in the right place I should be able to move the pedal further down without seriously encroaching on the distance of travel anyway. Don't worry, I will be careful to make sure that the pedal doesn't get too close to the carpet and has plenty of room in reserve.

I did think of one other possible option. Compare it to a manual S-type, swipe a pedal box from one of those and throw the left pedal away. I am guessing this is so high to avoid the wide foot from hitting both pedals at the same time. On a manual this is not so much of a problem. I assume the brake would be in the 'normal' position on a manual. Does anyone on here have a manual S-type to ask?

 

So I did the job today. Cut, repositioned and welded the brake pedal arm, putting an extra bit of metal in to ensure plenty of strength. I moved the arm back by 24mm.
Would I recommend this modification?
No. The welding was not too difficult, but getting the arm off and on again is not easy.

First off, you need to remove your shoulders. They just get in the way.

Second, shrink your head to about 30% of its usual size with your Acme shrink-ray gun. Otherwise that gets in the way and you won't be able to see what you are working on.

Third, you will need to replace your elbows with 360 degree swivel joints. If you happen to have a set with flexible rubber mounts, use those. They will make your job much easier.

Fourth, if you wear glasses, remove them. If you can't see without them, you'd better call on a double-jointed, growth-stunted 12yr old to substitute for you.

And of course, keep your mobile phone within reach at all times. Once you have completed the job, or possibly before, you will need to use it for calling your chiropractor or the Fire Brigade.

The completed brake pedal is now at a more sensible distance from the accelerator pedal and still has lots of space between it and the Axminster. It would have been possible to take a little more off and have the pedal lower still. But I thought it was best not to get too carried away, for safety reasons, and I didn't want to take it off again to redo the job.

 

One last thing I should mention. But perhaps you already know.. Remove the brake switches before attempting to remove the pedal. Yes, guess how I found that out?
Took me a while to work out why my brake lights were on after reassembly. It must confess I wouldn't have guessed that the switch had a ratchet mechanism without this forum. Thanks for the stickies!