Throttle balance tech

Ok as the question was asked I thought it may be of use to show how to check and if required reset the balance on your throttle butterflys.

When we do ConZult checks and set up this is by far the most common issue we see, in fact at JAE 2009 we logged that of all the zeds we checked more than 70% required this adjusting, in part I think it is due the adjuster been mistaken for the base idle adjust which of course is at the rear of the engine but unfortunately wrongly adjusting the throttles will raise the idle tickover so you can see how the mistake can be made.

So to start off you will need a small screw driver and a pair of pliars or similar, the engine can be cold or warm, no need to run the engine.

There are three points to deal with and with only one set of eyes you need to keep to the proceedure to get it right.

Familiarise yourself with the layout of the throttles first, there are two of course both have throttle stops where the throttle mechanism should sit on when the throttle is closed, when opened both should move at the same time if one moves before the other then adjustment is required, and the adjuster is on the passenger side throttle bar.

With your left hand firmly pinching the left hand throttle and stop .....

With your right hand move the throttle cable, not huge movement more of a slight bounce of the assembley..........

Whilst your left hand and right hand are busy (oh er missus!) look to the right hand throttle stop, if all is ok the throttle will still be sitting on the stop.....

If however it is opening and closing whilst the other throttle remains held closed by your left hand you need to adjust the setting.....

Here we can see the right hand throttle adjuster, loosen the 8 mm nut and then with a screw driver or by hand (usually easy) back off the adjuster screw (anti-clock wise) a full turn or so this will make the problem worse but its the way to do it, now slowly turn it back in feeling for it to just kiss the stop, refer back to the original test method ( both hands and eyes) and if ok lock off the stop nut if it need a bit more ( either way then adjust as required) once done nip up the nut and your finished.

The issues that can be caused any bad settings are many and to name a few... reduced smothness of performance especially at low in town speeds, mpg, hestitance at take off etc. reduced top end performance....

Definately well worth checking, free and easy and can make a world of difference to both turbo and non turbo, one final point though, if the tps was set at its extreme previously along with the incorrect throttle setting it can mean the tps will need to be re-positioned also.

Jeff TT