The International Tin Whisker Symposium

[PilotAlan]

The International Tin Whisker Symposium

I just have to say that's the coolest name evah!
I would love to have that one on my resume.....

 

[Ghery]

Not entirely. There are various ways to minimize or eliminate the problem.... it's just that it costs more money.

Like go back to lead-tin solder. OMG! We're putting lead in the ground, Martha! Oh, yeah, that's where we got it in the first place. Nevermind.

As for the throttle return spring breaking, I would think the cable and the friction within it would mean that the throttle stays open at the last setting you put it at with your foot. A broken throttle spring won't snap the throttle wide open all of a sudden, it will just keep the throttle from closing when you relieve pressure on the pedal.

My foot was pushing on the pedal as I was accelerating when the spring broke. So it went to the floor, if it wasn't already there. It was, after all, a 1963 Rambler station wagon with an I-6 engine and three on the tree w/ overdrive, not exactly a screaming machine. But, even as an inexperienced high school aged driver it didn't take too many milliseconds to figure out what to do.

 

[Dan Thomas]

I don't know why they use this technology in the first place. Why can't they use a freaking cable? There are only two failures associated with the cable, either it sticks and the throttle stays constant, or it breaks and the throttle spring closes the throttle automatically. Neither of those involve the throttle going WFO all of a sudden.

Those cables have been known to fray inside the sheath and stick, too. And in some vehicles they were just plain sticky and wouldn't give accurate control. In my 1978 Dodge pickup (the worst vehicle I ever owned, btw) the cable was like that and gave jerky throttle movement. I took it out and replaced it with a ten-cent piece of 1/16" welding rod, right from the throttle pedal lever to the carb, and it worked fine for several years until all the other flaws in that truck finally drove me to the Ford dealer.

Dan