w123 kickdown switch - throttle pedal not even close

[CharlesJones]

Hi All,

The throttle pedal on my 1982 w123 230E doesn't even come close to the kickdown switch - there is a good half inch or so gap with the pedal fully pressed. I have taken a look at the throttle linkages on the engine side, and as far as I can tell they all look okay, with no excessive slop or play which I can see. I can't find any pedal travel adjustment on the pedal side either.

What I am wondering is if I have a piece missing between kickdown switch and pedal. The switch itself looks somewhat naked, and there is such a distance between it and the pedal that I'd be surprised if that gap could be made up by throttle linkage adjustment.

I have attached a picture of what my kickdown switch looks like - the first picture is with the carpet down, and the next with the carpet pulled out of the way. The carpet isn't obstructing the pedal, by the way.

If you have a car of a similar year please could you take a quick glace under your throttle pedal and let me know if your kickdown switch looks the same as mine, or does it have some sort of attachment slipped over it?

Also, if you know of a way to adjust the travel of the throttle pedal please can you let me know?

Many thanks for your help,
Charles.

 

[television]

Only 170 the switch shown, I wonder if the throttle cable is incorrectly set so the the pedal cannot go down any further

 

[CharlesJones]

Thanks Malcolm. I had a look at the linkage but I didn't have an assistant to press the pedal for me. If I get someone to press the pedal for me it might highlight something I didn't see.

Do you know what item 146 is in your diagram? That's not something which fits over the switch is it? It doesn't look like it on the diagram, but I was just wondering if you have the labels which go with the numbers to be sure.

I will take another look at the car shortly.

 

[television]

146 is the pedal stop,, the top of the switch looks as though its made to fit the throttle arm OK

 

[discoking]

My pedal goes all the way to switch which looks identical to yours.

 

[CharlesJones]

Thanks for the pics discoking - yes, that looks exactly like mine, so that firmly answers that question. Thanks very much.

I've just been out to look at the car now, and have taken the cover off under the dash so I could get a look at the pedal assembly. I can't see anything to adjust the pedal with there, but if I unhook the return spring and the cable which connects to the pedal lever, then the pedal indeed travels all the way to activate the switch. I think Malcolm is right - there must be something in the linkage assembly on the engine side which I need to adjust to get more travel in the pedal.

Looking at the throttle lever on the throttle body it looks like it doesn't fully open if I move the linkage which comes from the pedal by hand. What I need is an assistant to push the pedal while I try this, so I will get someone to do this for me over the weekend.

Also, it sounds like I can here a micro-switch open when I move the linkage by hand. I will need to get the air filter housing off so I can see what's what, but do you know if there is an micro-switch near on the throttle body which controls idle? I would have thought that would be too sophisticated for a car of this year, although it does as though I can hear a switch clicking at the first bit of travel when I move the throttle linkage by hand.

Thanks again for all your help and comments.

However when I push the lever

 

[television]

The switch is for the thrust cut off 56 you can I think alter the length of the cable throw by adjusting the outer casing

 

[CharlesJones]

Thanks Malcolm. I will pull the air-filter housing and have a good fiddle with it this weekend. I was worried about that switch because I want to adjust the pedal travel without affecting operation of that switch, but I will just make sure I can still hear it click.

It will be great to have kickdown - at the moment its frustrating when I try to get up steep hills and the car is struggling at 2K rpm! Even without kickdown though, the car isn't as bad as I expected (and there are some pretty steep hills around here!) - pretty torquey really.

I will report back after I've taken a look at it this weekend.

 

[television]

Sorry I have nothing more to offer if you could put your car along side another it could be so simple to work out

 

[Bolide]

Wrong cable fitted would be my first guess. Bent pedal or misadjustment are probably as likely, though

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[television]

True,,, there were problems with sticky cables as on the early 124 cars, and many replaced them