124 stiff throttle

[jeremy156]

Had a go at lubricating my throttle cable a while ago (dry ptfe) and noticed an improvement to my heavy throttle, but still heavy. Considered replacing the throttle cable.

This evening, driving up a long steep hill, I hit “resume” on the cruise control which was set at “70”-ish from a speed of around 30-40. As she pulled herself up the hill I could feel the throttle body being held open by the servo - and the throttle pedal therefore had free movement. Glad to say it was very free and smooth, so I won’t bother replacing the cable - instead I guess I should focus on the ball joints and pivots of the throttle assembly on the M104.

Thought I’d share my brainwave as a diagnostic trick for others with a stiff throttle and cruise control that actuated via a servo in the throttle body itself.

 

[DREAMER NO2]

The W124 have been known for the need of heavy foot operation .

 

[d215yq]

Do you drive another car regularly? The long pedal travel and relative stiffness of controls make the w124s feel substantial to drive and progressive/easy to control... On occasions i hire a new car and first few minutes back in the w124 think the brake, power steering, accelerator has failed etc as all need more movement and have more resistance than other cars.

Part of why i like driving them

 

[jeremy156]

Oh absolutely, it’s a lovely contrast to the C209 with its light throttle - and I do like the “organic” feel

It’s just that a couple of other 124 drivers commented mine is heavy - and in reading so much about lubricating and re-routing the cable, I thought it was interesting to note that the cable is not the issue in my case. I’ll tackle cleaning and lubrication and see whether it gets to “normal 124” heaviness