Why would my throttle be sticking?

So in typical fashion, I fix one thing, another thing decides to go wrong.

I went to pick my wife up the other night and when I got off the highway I noticed I wasn't slowing down. At first I thought I had turned on the cruise, but I hadn't. So I blipped the throttle and then the truck slowed down. It was weird, that hasn't happened before.

Last night I'm driving home from the store and I let off the gas as I'm coming into town and it stays right where my foot had been. I wasn't in any immediate danger, so I stuck my foot under the pedal and it didn't do anything, so I blipped the throttle again (since it worked the last time) and this time it stuck to where I had blipped it, so the truck downshifted and took off.

Now it's time to panic.

So I'm ready to shut it down and I decide I'll blip it once more, then it goes back to the original stuck position, so I pull over and put it in Park. The engine revs to about 4k, so I blip the throttle one more time and it stops sticking and goes back to normal.

Drove it around for about 45 minutes this morning up and down the interstate. Nothing.

So what am I looking for? Sticky throttle body, bad throttle cable?

I'd certainly lube those, clean the throttle body and ensure that nothing is binding. Stuck throttles can be exciting when they happen at the wrong time

Time to clean and lubricate the throttle body and cable. Sometimes they need it.

If you've a newer vehicle with tbw, don't know what to tell you.

Is this in the Cherokee? My '93 XJ had a super dirty TB and IAC when I bought it. The throttle would do all sorts of weird stuff. I cleaned the E36 M3 out of the TB and IAC. Mine didn't have cruise control so it was just one cable going to the TB. Check that as well.

EDIT:

Also check the TPS as it has a tendency to get gummed up.

and look for mechanical interferences, such as any hose clamp or wiring connector or anything else that could be catching the linkage or cable end. i had that happen on my TPI 383 SBC '66 cutlass, had to change my shorts for sure.

Try to remember where the "Neutral" position is on the shifter. Practice finding the ignition key. Figure out where "Off" is.

Growing up in cold snowy Canada driving stuff with carbs and open air filters gets a guy a lot of practice with stuck throttles. I once drove 60 miles home with the Q-jet in my 66 Olds stuck wide open. Other than a few pretty good bangs out the tailpipe turning the key back on, no harm done.

Pedal return spring.

Caburetor Ice.

In reply to iceracer:

ICE ICE BABY.

Mine was sticking open at about 5% throttle at idle. Figured out it was hanging up on the inside sheathing of of he throttle cable. Took it off and sprayed some PTFE lube down it and let it dry for half an hour. No problems after that.

If yours is throttle by wire then I'd check and clean all the moving parts to start.

It's my '03 Durango. It's a true cable, no TBW. Well I'll look at taking it apart tomorrow and get some stuff lubed up.

Goddamn squirrels!

I popped the hood to take a look at the throttle body and there's a berkeleying nut that's rolling up and down between the fuel rail and the intake keg. All the lines for the throttle meet right above the middle of the rail. The nut was only about an inch from it all. It's just big enough to get wedged under the mechanism.

That explains all of it.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Goddamn squirrels! I popped the hood to take a look at the throttle body and there's a berkeleying nut that's rolling up and down between the fuel rail and the intake keg. All the lines for the throttle meet right above the middle of the rail. The nut was only about an inch from it all. It's just big enough to get wedged under the mechanism. That explains all of it.

Well if you ever needed inspiration for a fun vehicle or racing team name, you got one now.

I had a bad motor mount that allowed the cable to get pinched and make it stick before.