Adjusted My Throttle Bodies

[V10 PWRD]

As a new owner and having only driven my RT/10 a few times I noticed the car was "jerking" at low speeds. I had read some forums on how to correct this and printed a real good one out. I believe Chad directed me to this and I thank you. As a newbie the explanation was very thorough and precise but if you don't know what you're looking for it causes some concern. I started looking for "silver buttons" on the end of the throttle cables of which I couldn't find. I then questioned pulling the cables towards the windshield. To me it should have been the other way around. Lo and behold when I had the car in my shop under bright lights I noticed a couple of silver thumbnail size buttons in the black plastic housing. I pressed 'em and pulled the little umbrellas back towards the windshield and got in the car as instructed and slowly pressed the throttle hearing a series of clicks. I pressed it as hard as I could until the clicking stopped. SUCCESS! I fired it up and took it for a spin. Man what a difference. As previous articles had stated adjusting the throttle bodies eliminated close to 90% of the jerking. I was very pleased to say the least. I'm sure at 15000 miles this had never been done before.
I'm glad I took the time to read and explore before I started something I knew nothing about. What a great source of information VCA offers us.
If any other newbies need any help on this I'll be glad to talk you through it on the phone if you PM me. It makes a great big difference if you've never done it before and you're as aggravated at the jerking as I was.
I do have one question regarding the "umbrellas" on the cables. Are these adjustable since they seem to be able to adjust by turning? I'm afraid to turn anything in case I get something out of sync.

 

[RTED]

I don't believe the "umbrellas" at the end of the cables are adjusting anything. Aslo, you may find that adjusting the driver side cable so that it activates the throttle body just slightly before the passenger side begins to move may rid you of the remaining 10% jerking.

 

[RobZilla]

How about a link to what you read...

 

[Dom426h]

there is so many threads started on this subject, i was reading through all of them a couple weeks ago.

Wish a Mod could just combine them all into one Master Adjusting Throttle Bodies Thread

 

[RobZilla]

I searched as well but his read was not specific enough for me to find exactly what he was talking about. Hopes are I'll find it soon enough.

 

[ViperTony]

I searched as well but his read was not specific enough for me to find exactly what he was talking about. Hopes are I'll find it soon enough.

True, there are many posts on the subject but they either suggest adjusting the TB's to either open at the same or not. There's no defininitive post on the matter. Perhaps the Wizard will chime in and settle this once and for all.

 

[RTED]

I put this together a while back, hope this helps!!

Re: Synchronize throttle bodies

I have a 95 RT as well and have found that I need to synchronize the cables every so often when the car begins to lurch in low gears. This is how I have done it several times with success:

1. On each throttle cable there is a cable release built into the bracket (shiny metal button). While pressing the release button, grab the clear-round "umbrella" housing around the bare cable just ahead of the release button and move it towards the windshield. You will see the throttle cables moving as you do this. Repeat this process to the other throttle cable.

2. Get in the car and make sure your floor mat is not under the gas pedal (very important). I take my shoe off so I can feel the pedal. Slowly start pressing the gas and you will begin to see and hear the cables adjusting (clicking noise). You may have to press VERY hard once you get the pedal to the floor to ensure that you have COMPLETELY depressed the pedal. Don't be afraid to really stand on it hard!

That is about it. The service manual indicates that after synchronizing the cables, one of throttle cables should actually begin to "slightly" move before the other one once the adjustment is made, can't remember which side without researching. The movement is barely noticeable, but it should be there.

This made a world of difference on the driveability of the car in low gears at low speeds.

Good luck!

 

[RTED]

It is the drivers side cable that should start to move "JUST SLIGHTLY" before the passenger side cable when pressing the gas pedal.

 

[RTED]

Here is the corrected instructions including the slight movement on the drivers side throttle cable.

Re: Synchronize throttle bodies

I have a 95 RT as well and have found that I need to synchronize the cables every so often when the car begins to lurch in low gears. This is how I have done it several times with success:

1. On each throttle cable there is a cable release built into the bracket (shiny metal button). While pressing the release button, grab the clear-round "umbrella" housing around the bare cable just ahead of the release button and move it towards the windshield. You will see the throttle cables moving as you do this. Repeat this process to the other throttle cable.

2. Get in the car and make sure your floor mat is not under the gas pedal (very important). I take my shoe off so I can feel the pedal. Slowly start pressing the gas and you will begin to see and hear the cables adjusting (clicking noise). You may have to press VERY hard once you get the pedal to the floor to ensure that you have COMPLETELY depressed the pedal. Don't be afraid to really stand on it hard!

That is about it. The service manual indicates that after synchronizing the cables, the drivers’ side throttle cable should actually begin to "slightly" move before the passenger side cable once the adjustment is made when pressing on the gas pedal. The movement is barely noticeable, but it should be there.

This made a world of difference on the drivability of the car in low gears at low speeds.

Good luck!

 

[V10 PWRD]

One quick question that does not ever seem to get answered. How do you adjust the drivers side cable to make it move slightly before they both move? This might be the key to eliminate total bucking. I don't want to screw anything up. 90% of the bucking, as I said, is gone but someone said this adjustment should make it 100% gone.
Help us Mr. Wizard! Please?
Thanks,
Greg

 

[RobZilla]

RTED thank you very much for the write up. Hopefully the last piece of this puzzle will fall into place and someone will explain how to make that driver's side body open just slightly before the pass side.

 

[RTED]

To adjust the drivers side throttle cable to open slightly before the passenger side:

1. Once the cables are adjusted as noted in my earlier posting, press the cable release button (shiny metal button) on the drivers side cable.
2. While pressing the release button, grab the clear-round "umbrella" housing around the bare cable just ahead of the release button and move it towards the windshield a fraction of an inch.
3. Let go of the release button
4. Have an assistant press the gass pedal slightly while you place one hand on each of the two throttle cables where it cibbects to the throttle body. You should feel and see the drivers side engage slightly before the passenger side.

Happy Driving!

 

[V10 PWRD]

RTED...Thanks. I will do that and again We appreciate your expertise in this matter.
Have a great week!

 

[fastlane8]

To adjust the drivers side throttle cable to open slightly before the passenger side:

1. Once the cables are adjusted as noted in my earlier posting, press the cable release button (shiny metal button) on the drivers side cable.
2. While pressing the release button, grab the clear-round "umbrella" housing around the bare cable just ahead of the release button and move it towards the windshield a fraction of an inch.
3. Let go of the release button

Are you kidding me??? These are self adjusting cables!If you set the driver's side back one notch after doing the initial adjustment,the first time you nail the throttle it will go back to the initial adjustment! The only way would be to use that screw the dodge was selling to put the driver's side cable in a fixed position!The only other option would be to let the pass side cable out a notch after initial adjustment so that the driver's side would move first! WOW! Just WOW!