4 Throttle cable - a caution Victor Smith (Harvest Gold 1089) describes how his throttle cable stuck open - an experience to be avoided. (Jul 79) On the MGBGTV8 the route for the throttle cable comes up from the pedal, over the offside air cleaner and then turns about 140 degrees on plan to pass through a slide to the carburettor linkage. One day in January, my wife fired up the engine and was caught with a racing engine which she commendably shut off by turning the ignition key back very rapidly so cutting the ignition. Fortunately the engine had been run earlier and was still hot, but what was worrying was that the throttle could have jammed open whilst in traffic and the outcome does not bear thinking of! What caused the problem? Well needless to say I wanted to find out. On examination I found one strand of the multi-strand wire sheathed throttle cable BHT1120 had broken and had started to unwind from the other strands and had eventually unwound to such an extent that it jammed in the throttle slide or adjuster BH1059 leaving the throttle wide open! The lesson for me, and it applies to other modern MGs as well, is first make regular checks of the condition of the throttle cable and secondly lubricate it! It's a straightforward job to remove the cable and pull the inner cable through for lubricating. Thirty minutes spent servicing this part could save a very awkward moment later! Copyright reserved by the V8 Register