1999 Ultra - Sticky Accelerator

My 1999 (170,000 miles) Buick Park Avenue Ultra accelerator sticks whenever the car sits for a few hours, but even if I break it loose or have been driving for while, it sticks again whenever I start the car. Once I break it loose after starting the car, it doesn't stick anymore until I restart again. It has been doing this for at least seven months now, maybe more. Luckily, it sticks in the open position and not somewhere else, but it is still a pain in that it requires me to break it loose while the engine is running. I have tried WD40 in the cable and on other moving parts, and I have looked for anything they could stick on, but I was unable to spot anything. I have since noticed that if I let the car run long enough before leaving (for instance, if I let it warm up while I scrape the windows in the winter), the accelerator won't stick when I do get in and drive. This makes it seem like it could be some sort of electrical thing, but that seems unlikely. It certainly wasn't doing this a year (26,000 miles) ago. Any thoughts.

Have you removed the and cleaned idle air control (IAC)? How about the throttle body, it could be carbon build up behind the throttle blade. It will need to be removed & cleaned with carb cleaner & a brass brush.

My 1995 park avenue (153,000 km ) is doing exactly what Dustin wrote in his post. It's been doing it for about a couple of months(started roughly in janurary). Mine won't stick if i just shut off the car for a quick stop, It has to sit for about at least 4 hours for it to happen. I've been having another problem (not sure if it's related to this).

When I start it up for the first time on a cold morning it used to rev at about 1500rpm and then eventually to a normal idle once it warmed up. Now it still starts at 1500rpm on a cold morning, but stays at higher revs even once it's warmed up. If I hit the accelerator at this time it revs up normally and comes down almost to a normal idle but then quickly revs back up and I also hear a clicking sound coming from under the hood drivers side as I'm hitting the accelerator. The only way i can make it stop is by shutting the car off when it's warmed up and starting it up again.

I'm not sure if the 2nd problem is related to the sticky accelerator but they started about the same time so thats why I was thinking that. Any thoughts would be appreciated.....:cool:

Thanks!!

In addition to the items mentioned above, you may have a problem with the coolant temp sensor. When cold, the PCM commands fuel enrichment, similar to the way a choke worked on the old carburetor engines. Best way to check this is with a scanner & monitor engine temp while the engine is warming up.

I have the exact same problem mine started last week. If it sits for a couple of hours it feels as if the pedal is binding when u first press on it. I kinda figured the throttle body had somethin to do with. Hopefully this may improve some other things. Glad I'm not the only one with this problem.

Do like HotZ28 said, clean the throttle body. You probably have a ton of carbon buildup on the throttle body and that stuff stays pretty gummy when it gets built up. Clean the throttle body and see how that does.

Have you removed the and cleaned idle air control (IAC)? How about the throttle body, it could be carbon build up behind the throttle blade. It will need to be removed & cleaned with carb cleaner & a brass brush.

Does removing the throttle body require a new gasket between it and the UIM? Can the original be reused?

It's not worth the risk reusing the old gasket, you can get a new Fel-Pro gasket part # 61024 for about 5-bucks. BTW, be sure to remove all sensors from the TB when cleaning with carb cleaner.