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Howdy All. First time post. Hope someone can help. I recently acquired a 1988 XJS that was in relatively pristine, everything working condition...until recently when two things popped up.
One is the accelerator pedal not depressing. Drove the car last time and all was good. Got in this time, started it up, no problem. Tried pressing on accelerator and nothing. Pedal does not depress. Feels locked.
As I said, prior to this everything was fine. No issues. No indications that something wasn’t working right. No warning lights.
Car runs. Car shifts. Car torques itself forward and reverse. Accelerator pedal does not depress at all. Fully locked
Hi VadimP, welcome to the forum.
It would be helpful to add details about your car to your signature so we all know what you're dealing with, ie. which engine, coupe/convertible etc. I'll assume you have the V12.
The accelerator pedal operation couldn't be much simpler. Just a cable going from the accelerator pedal to the throttle pedestal on the top of the engine. First I would pop the hood and try operating the throttle manually by rotating the throttle capstan by hand. It has 2 linkages attached that go to either side of the engine. If you can't rotate the throttle freely here, pop off the linkages and see which side jammed and diagnose.
If this mechanism moves smoothly then it is time to get under the dash and see what is blocking or jamming the pedal. All in all shouldn't be that difficult to figure out.
Hi VadimP, welcome to the forum.
It would be helpful to add details about your car to your signature so we all know what you're dealing with, ie. which engine, coupe/convertible etc. I'll assume you have the V12.
The accelerator pedal operation couldn't be much simpler. Just a cable going from the accelerator pedal to the throttle pedestal on the top of the engine. First I would pop the hood and try operating the throttle manually by rotating the throttle capstan by hand. It has 2 linkages attached that go to either side of the engine. If you can't rotate the throttle freely here, pop off the linkages and see which side jammed and diagnose.
If this mechanism moves smoothly then it is time to get under the dash and see what is blocking or jamming the pedal. All in all shouldn't be that difficult to figure out.
Hi EcbJag. Thanks for the reply and the suggestions.
The car car is a coupe V12.
I did the manual throttle operation and that works fine. Your second suggestion, the getting under the dash, makes me a bit nervous. I have very few tools and no manuals and, truth be told, am not very mechanical when it comes to something as seemingly complicated as the xjs.
Any chance you you could walk me through the “getting under the dash” part
It would just be a visual inspection to begin with.
Thanks Segfault. As I said, unfortunately I’m not very mechanic and don’t have much documentation. Searching for manuals online now.
What am am I looking for? Do I have to remove dash (sounds like a disaster in the making) or more of a “get down into the pedal area and have a feel around?
Yeah ... there are two kinds of people. One kind breaks things and the other kind fixes them. You didn't take a flashlight and you didn't peek under dash. No insult intended, but maybe you should call a friend. It probably is some simple mechanical issue, yanking the pedal and having a creative look at it may be enough to diagnose the problem.
Yeah ... there are two kinds of people. One kind breaks things and the other kind fixes them. You didn't take a flashlight and you didn't peek under dash. No insult intended, but maybe you should call a friend. It probably is some simple mechanical issue, yanking the pedal and having a creative look at it may be enough to diagnose the problem.
No offense taken 😉
And as in many things in life, much can be resolved with a good yank 😉😂
Good point Orangeblossom, I hadn't considered the latter scenario.
No removal of the dash is necessary. Stick your head under there and you will see the whole accelerator pedal assembly and can follow the cable where it goes into the bulkhead, and thus, into the engine bay. Should be easy to see if anything is going on.
What am am I looking for? Do I have to remove dash (sounds like a disaster in the making) or more of a “get down into the pedal area and have a feel around?
Thanks
I am not skilled mechanically at all, either. But you won't have to remove the dash. If you can't see anything amiss in the floor well where the pedal goes, you can remove the knee pad thing very easily (yes, easily even by my unco standards) and get a better look (though it shouldn't be required to see around the pedal, it might make access easier).
Mind you, it's very simple. A pedal, a return spring, and a wire cable connected to the pedal that pulls the throttle capstan around. It may be that the wire's come out or the spring's come out somehow, either of which should be very easy to spot. Under the dash (RHD) with under-dash pad removed and accelerator labelled.
Wait, ignore those labels. I've checked, and the LHD version is quite different. You don't say where you're from, but there's quite a few Yanks here, so here's the LHD version. Shouldn't be too hard to access without removing anything - the photo above is mainly to show you what lurks up under there.
Accelerator pedal not working
