stiff gas pedal....

[lucki17]

so i just bought a 78 k10 today and i love it! but there is one problem that im not really sure how to fix, the gas pedal seems really hard, it doest have alot of travel and is hard to push, very touchy. does anyone know what could be causing this? is this a normal problem? it has a manual trans if that matters at all...

[Irish_Alley]

move the throttle on the carb with the cable attached and then remove the cable off the ball and see what it does then. also check your spring on the carb it might be to tight

[lucki17]

hmm... thanks! sounds easy enough, ill check it out when i get home. cant wait to get started on building it up, haha.

[VileZambonie]

Make sure the carburetor return spring is correct. Spray the throttle shaft with some penetrating oil too.

[lucki17]

okay well i finally got around to looking at acclerator spring on my carb and it looks fine, alittle streched if anything i only saw one spring though, thats normal right? and am i supposed to have some springs on my gas pedal arm itself? cause i have none, at all. sorry if these questions sound dumb but this is my first older car and truck in general. i used to like the go fast imports, lol. so know pretty much nothing about carbs or worn out parts like this, just kinda learning as i go... 

[jaredts]

Do you know if it is a stock carb. or is it an Edelbrock, Holley, etc.?  If the carb is aftermarket someone may have stretched the stock spring to make it work.  I guess someone also could have snagged a different spring that's too short or too stiff.  You just never know what people have done to your ride when you're not the original owner.  If you move the throttle at the carb. by hand does it seem stiff?

[lucki17]

its an edelbrock, and the spring actually almost seems like its too long (i dont think it is though) its not really tight at all, not hard to move at carb either. its kinda hard to explain but it feels like my pedal is almost on the floor all the time, it doesnt have alot of travel ether, just makes it kinda hard to shift from a stop. i cant really put light pressre on it and have any respose.and if i press it maybe an inch it revs way high, it feels like the problem is in the pedal assembly but i am not sure how its supposed to be to know whats wrong with it. it doesnt have any springiness if that makes any sence...

[jaredts]

When you hook up an aftermarket carb. there are a lot of variables to hooking up the return spring and linkages.  That could be a source of problems, but you say there is not much pedal travel.  You might want to have an assistant push on the pedal while you watch the travel of the linkage on the carb.  The pedal should hit the floor just as the carb throttle has opened all the way.  Remove the cable from the carb and work the pedal up and down with your hand.  If it doesn't move super easy than you're right and there's something up with the pedal or cable.  Can't say that I've had your problem before, maybe someone else here has.

[lucki17]

ok i know it has been awhile but i fixed my problem and thought i would share for anyone with the same problem... i was on my way to work and went to pump my truck before starting it and i heard a snap and my pedal dropped to the floor, turns out my accelerator cable snapped right at the pedal, i swiched it out and now i have great throttle response, a million times better!

[Grim 82]

Glad you got it figured out, and that it didn't leave you stranded somewhere or worse, have it happen on the road.

[TexasRed]

I was gonna say sometimes it can be the accelerator pump linkage on those edelbrocks too that'll do it. You can easily snap one into pieces if that's not hooked up right.