Can someone explain how the return spring on the throttle pedal of a xj6 s3 1982 is set up. I have play in the throttle pedal when moving from no throttle. Having a look at the pedal the spring seems to be doing nothing.
Should the 2 tabs either side of the spring be bent outwards (see photo) ?
What holds the spring in position ?
Zenit,
I have owned several Series III XJ6s and one XJ12 and none of the accelerator pedals looked like the one in your picture. Maybe it was just the angle that you took the picture from? Or maybe someone modified your car?
Attached is a picture of the accelerator pedal in my 1984 XJ6 Vanden Plas. Does your accelerator pedal look like this?
Paul
Hi Paul,
Yes it is the same as your photo. In my photo I removed the 2 nuts at the bottom of the pedal so I could see the setup at the back of the pedal. Can you take a photo of the back of the pedal so I can see how the spring and metal rod are attached?
Zenit,
I was wrong. I dug out one of the acceletator pedal assemblies that I removed from one of my XJ6 parts cars, flipped it over, and it looked exactly like your picture. I guess I am just not used to seeing the acceletator pedal from this unusual angle. 
I took the two attached pictures of my spare accelerator pedal assembly The first one is pretty much from the same angle as your picture and the second showing a close up of the spring.
It looks like to me that the bracket is held into place by the two screws and that the tabs on the side of the bracket hold the spring into place. It does look like your tabs are bent more than the ones on mine.
I hope this helps. But I don’t know how it would explain your problem.
Paul
Thanks Paul. So is the spring on your spare unit held tight by those side tabs? Mine is loose and can easily move, it doesn’t stay in contact with shaft. Maybe I will adjust those tabs and see what happens. Thanks again for digging out the spare and taking photos.
Zenit,
Here are two more pictures of one of my spare accelerator pedal assemblies showing how that bracket holds the spring in place and what this bracket and spring look like when disassembled. Hopefully this helps you with your issue.
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Just for the record, Zenit…
The throttle pedal return springs plays no part in the return of the throttle butterfly - which has it’s own return springs.
While the pedal return should work properly; a slight slack in the throttle wire at the throttle pedestal is necessary to ensure that the throttle butterfly returns to abut the idle stop screw with the pedal released. The stop screw controls the throttle gap for the butterfly - set to 0,002"…
As a ‘loose’ pedal may interfere with throttle butterfly control; the setting of the throttle gap should be verified after the pedal return has been rectified…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe (UK/NZ)
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Thanks Frank, will check the butterfly throttle gap. Yes, there was too much play in the pedal. Closed the tabs a little and that sorted it out without removing all the play. Then noticed that the rubber grommet the cable runs through into the engine bay was broken, causing unwanted cable movement . Fixed the grommet and attached the missing metal bracket (for the cable to run through) that bolts onto the brake booster. Throttle cable working really well now.
