Pedal Wasn’t To The Metal

On my way home from the last car show I felt something weird under the right foot. The gas pedal assembly itself was fine, so there was no issues. The problem was the actual pedal pad was moving around at the end of the assembly. I have driven a car without the pedal itself and just using the assembly arm, it feels weird, but it’s possible. I guessed what it was and I was only a few minutes from home. If it was any longer a journey I would have stopped and took the pedal off completely. This could wait until I got home.

It was pretty evident what the issue was as soon as I looked in the footwell and I was right. The pedal was hanging off which was a little annoying, but a straight forward fix, providing the thread in the assembly wasn’t stripped.

Removing the pedal was a quick wiggle and it was off. The bolt is asymmetrical which has a head at one end and a pin at the other end which locates into the other side of the pedal’s bracket, once screwed through the assembly itself.

The bolt was fine and I did a test screw in which was all good. Now it was just a case of putting it back together again. The bolt can only be inserted from one side of the pedal’s bracket to allow the threaded part of the bolt through.

There is a weird looking spring which hooks into the top of the pedal and over the pedal assembly. This spring keeps the pedal almost upright when not used. Below left shows the position of the spring into the top part of the pedal, the right picture shows where spring should lay.

The spring is to be located under the bolt which in turn is behind the assembly below right. Many people will add the spring to the right hand side of the bracket because it’s easier, but it could just as easily ping back out.

I found a light sprung washer for a test fit and done it up tight. It worked, but the pedal was unable to swivel and was locked in one place.

To avoid the bolt coming unthreaded again, something a little more subtle was required, some thread locker. This wasn’t a heavy application, so just a little drop at the end of the bolt where it fits in the assembly. The sprung washer was left on as well as it had a little bite before it was overtightened.

To assemble this pedal and spring in one in place can be a pain. Trying to get the pedal on the assembly while holding the spring in place and trying to thread the bolt into the assembly should be straight forward but the pesky spring having none of it. For this reason alone, many people don’t bother with the spring at all. You don’t actually need it in all honesty, the pedal will just be not be held in a more upright position.

Without trying to hold spring in place it was a simple case of getting most of the bolt through, then insert the spring before aligning the pin on the bolt with the pedal’s pin hole. Or (my preferred method) you can fit the pedal on with the bolt in place, then insert the spring under the bolt. You just need to twist and turn until it aligns up at the top of the pedal. Below left you can see the offset used.

Due to the position of the bolt’s head you can’t get a socket on it. a 7/16^th short spanner does the job though, see below left. The right picture shows the spring which needs to be located on the right hand side under the assembly and then looped over the top.

The loop back over the top on the right hand side stops the spring pinging off and adds tension to the spring’s location at the top of the pedal, this in turn keeps the whole thing from dislodging. You can just about make out the position of the spring on the right picture below.

Once the pedal is fitted it will be sprung at the top to make it more vertical.

That’s it, pretty simple really. The thread lock I used is able to be undone should I need to, so it’s not a permanent. The trouble is the car won’t be used again this year, guess I will have to wait till next year now for a drive.