Sticky Throttle - MY03 XS Forester

[Subyroo]

I had a faulty Neutral Switch replaced at the 100,000km Service back in April but ever since then the throttle randomly sticks at 1500rpm instead of dropping back to idles speed when pulling up at lights - stop signs or pulling into the driveway.

Flicking the throttle doesn't make any difference, sometimes it will hang for near on a minute before it comes back to idle speed. I've had it back to the Service Agents at Brendale since the Service and they have gone over the vehicle and can't find anything wrong but the throttle continues to stick and it's becoming more frequent.

Last Monday night I nearly ran up the rse of a Toyota Ute in the long weekend traffic down near Bribie Island turn off as we were crawling along in 1st gear and picked up enough for 2nd gear and then back to first and when I let the clutch out the Forester lunged forward (throttle stuck at 1500rpm) I missed the ute by inches.

Does anybody have any experience or know of any possible reasons wnhy the throttle would be sticking since having the Neutral switch replaced?

Could the new switch be faulty somehow?

[Matatak]

could just be a build up of crap in the throttle body that makes it stick partially open and not closing up as far as it should..
just take the intake pipe off then spray some carby cleaner around and give it a good wipe out with a rag making sure to hold the butterfly open and get right down the back and all over the butterflys edges.

not hard to do only like 10 mins max
and i wouldnt say that having the nuetral switch replaced is what brought this on could be a coincidence

[Subyroo]

could just be a build up of crap in the throttle body that makes it stick partially open and not closing up as far as it should..
just take the intake pipe off then spray some carby cleaner around and give it a good wipe out with a rag making sure to hold the butterfly open and get right down the back and all over the butterflys edges.

not hard to do only like 10 mins max
and i wouldnt say that having the nuetral switch replaced is what brought this on could be a coincidence

That was all done at the last visit back to the Service Agents who by the way are good at their job (except for this problem ), the ECU was reset again at the same time, there is something that has been overlooked somewhere but I just can't my finger on it if you know what I mean.

[Outback bloke]

Pete, it sounds to me like there is a temperatue sender problem. Not the temperature guage sender but the temp sender unit which is for the computer. Sounds very much like the "choke" is stuck on. The throttle is most likley returning to zero but the ecu will be sensing that the car is cold and is adjusting mixture/timing to compensate.

Not talking from experience just thinking out loud. Worth looking at though.

[Matatak]

a fraying throttle cable maybe getting a little bit stuck? seems unlikely but.
the ECU holding the revs to high for some stupid reason
cant really think of anythign atm

[Subyroo]

Pete, it sounds to me like there is a temperatue sender problem. Not the temperature guage sender but the temp sender unit which is for the computer. Sounds very much like the "choke" is stuck on. The throttle is most likley returning to zero but the ecu will be sensing that the car is cold and is adjusting mixture/timing to compensate.

Not talking from experience just thinking out loud. Worth looking at though.

I'll run it by Andrew (Boxer Service) and see what he says about that idea Brett.
The odd part is that it is isn't constant it is haphazard in the times that it sticks but is becoming more often lately.
I've thought about videoing the Rev Counter to show Andrew what it does and maybe help him narrow down the problem but your suggestion is the best to date.