Easy "Flexing" Gas Pedal Fix

[Badge767]

Hey everybody...I just now joined the forum just to pass along a decent, easy fix for the "flexing" gas pedal in the 2014-2018 Sierras and Silverados.

 

I stumbled across this board researching this issue that I discovered on my new (to me) 2017 Silverado Z71 5.3 that I just bought about 4 weeks ago with 788 miles (yeah, seven hundred eighty-eight!) on her.

 

Upon starting from a stopped position (such as coming off a stop bar at a traffic signal), I was a bit bothered by what I can only describe as a "hesitation" of movement of the truck, where pressure on my right foot on the accelerator that wasn't immediately (and proportionally) resulting in matching acceleration of the vehicle.

 

This is the same issue described in other posts on this board that has been remedied with (among other things) by placing cut pieces of paint stirring sticks behind the plastic "anchor plate" that is affixed to the firewall, and where the accelerator sensor is bolted on to.

 

I had plenty of flex in mine, on the order of probably 1/2" to 5/8" at least where the mounting plate would flex and finally "bottom out" against the firewall before the accelerator would begin to respond to input.

 

The fix I came up with was a pretty simple one, and I wanted to pass it along:

 

On the black plastic mounting plate (Those of you who have researched this issue probably already are familiar with this piece I'm referring to), near the bottom where the gas pedal mounting bracket is affixed, there is an unused hole to the lower left of the pedal bracket.

 

I used a 1/4" x 20 bolt (about 1.75" in length) with a nut and washer pre-threaded onto the bolt, and slipped another 1/4" nut on the backside of the black plastic mounting bracket (using 90 degree needle nose pliers to hold nut in place while finger-tightening bolt...this was the most tricky part). This required trimming just a little bit of the floorboard insulation (see photo below) to make it easier inserting the nut behind the plastic piece.

 

Then I simply tightened the bolt into the nut on the back side, which results in approximately 1/2" or so of the bolt protruding through the backside of the black plastic plate and bottoming out on the firewall. The result is MUCH less flex in the lower portion of that plastic mounting plate when pushing on the accelerator.

 

I really was skeptical of how much difference this would make, but WOW...after driving it, the difference is NIGHT and DAY! That "dead zone" where I was having to push unnaturally hard on the accelerator pedal before seeing any response from the engine is GONE!  Now I can lightly push on the pedal and the response is IMMEDIATE and smooth!

 

Attached is a picture showing the finished product (sort of helps what I've tried to describe above). I should have taken a few more pics during the procedure, but I was sort of on a roll and didn't think about taking any until I was finished.

 

Hopefully this fix comes in handy for others of you having this same issue related to the "spongy" accelerator mounting plate.

 

Kind of disheartening to have to fix my ~$36K truck with a $0.50 nut and bolt, but at least it fixed my issue!

 

[14 gmcl83]

That’s look good I need to do it to my 14 gmc 5.3 do you have any more pictures?

[EaglesZ71]

Awesome job.

Will PM you

John

[Styles_888]

Nice work and welcome to the forum

[sk]

Nice work but check the Search function too.  Lots more info in these existing threads:

 

 

 

[Badge767]

Hey SK...I did see many of the other posts (before I even registered on the site), some great information around here.

 

I didn't see any fixes similar to what I had engineered (although some were quite creative), and I wasn't sure which of those other threads to choose to reply to with my "new" fix, thus the fresh topic.

 

Hopefully the mods don't mind too much if this counts as a "duplicate" topic.

 

Just wanted to pass on what I hope to be useful information onto the masses in the most effective way.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Badge767

[SS502]

4 minutes ago, Badge767 said:

Hey SK...I did see many of the other posts (before I even registered on the site), some great information around here.

 

I didn't see any fixes similar to what I had engineered (although some were quite creative), and I wasn't sure which of those other threads to choose to reply to with my "new" fix, thus the fresh topic.

 

Hopefully the mods don't mind too much if this counts as a "duplicate" topic.

 

Just wanted to pass what I hope to be useful information onto the masses in the most effective way.

...and some of us thank you very much ?

[JimCost2014]

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 2:43 PM, Badge767 said:

Hey everybody...I just now joined the forum just to pass along a decent, easy fix for the "flexing" gas pedal in the 2014-2018 Sierras and Silverados.

 

I stumbled across this board researching this issue that I discovered on my new (to me) 2017 Silverado Z71 5.3 that I just bought about 4 weeks ago with 788 miles (yeah, seven hundred eighty-eight!) on her.

 

Upon starting from a stopped position (such as coming off a stop bar at a traffic signal), I was a bit bothered by what I can only describe as a "hesitation" of movement of the truck, where pressure on my right foot on the accelerator that wasn't immediately (and proportionally) resulting in matching acceleration of the vehicle.

 

This is the same issue described in other posts on this board that has been remedied with (among other things) by placing cut pieces of paint stirring sticks behind the plastic "anchor plate" that is affixed to the firewall, and where the accelerator sensor is bolted on to.

 

I had plenty of flex in mine, on the order of probably 1/2" to 5/8" at least where the mounting plate would flex and finally "bottom out" against the firewall before the accelerator would begin to respond to input.

 

The fix I came up with was a pretty simple one, and I wanted to pass it along:

 

On the black plastic mounting plate (Those of you who have researched this issue probably already are familiar with this piece I'm referring to), near the bottom where the gas pedal mounting bracket is affixed, there is an unused hole to the lower left of the pedal bracket.

 

I used a 1/4" x 20 bolt (about 1.75" in length) with a nut and washer pre-threaded onto the bolt, and slipped another 1/4" nut on the backside of the black plastic mounting bracket (using 90 degree needle nose pliers to hold nut in place while finger-tightening bolt...this was the most tricky part). This required trimming just a little bit of the floorboard insulation (see photo below) to make it easier inserting the nut behind the plastic piece.

 

Then I simply tightened the bolt into the nut on the back side, which results in approximately 1/2" or so of the bolt protruding through the backside of the black plastic plate and bottoming out on the firewall. The result is MUCH less flex in the lower portion of that plastic mounting plate when pushing on the accelerator.

 

I really was skeptical of how much difference this would make, but WOW...after driving it, the difference is NIGHT and DAY! That "dead zone" where I was having to push unnaturally hard on the accelerator pedal before seeing any response from the engine is GONE!  Now I can lightly push on the pedal and the response is IMMEDIATE and smooth!

 

Attached is a picture showing the finished product (sort of helps what I've tried to describe above). I should have taken a few more pics during the procedure, but I was sort of on a roll and didn't think about taking any until I was finished.

 

Hopefully this fix comes in handy for others of you having this same issue related to the "spongy" accelerator mounting plate.

 

Kind of disheartening to have to fix my ~$36K truck with a $0.50 nut and bolt, but at least it fixed my issue!

 

Welcome, congratulations, and thanks for taking the time to shed some new light on an old problem!

[sk]

19 hours ago, Badge767 said:

Hey SK...I did see many of the other posts (before I even registered on the site), some great information around here.

 

I didn't see any fixes similar to what I had engineered (although some were quite creative), and I wasn't sure which of those other threads to choose to reply to with my "new" fix, thus the fresh topic.

 

Hopefully the mods don't mind too much if this counts as a "duplicate" topic.

 

Just wanted to pass on what I hope to be useful information onto the masses in the most effective way.

Yeah I didn't mean your solution wasn't useful -- thanks for another approach!  I just wanted to share the other threads for other possible fixes too (especially for those who have the "old" accelerator pedal part number).

[Badge767]

4 hours ago, sk said:

Yeah I didn't mean your solution wasn't useful -- thanks for another approach!  I just wanted to share the other threads for other possible fixes too (especially for those who have the "old" accelerator pedal part number).

It's all good!

 

That's the great things about these kinds of forums...for the most part, the folks that put forth the effort to document and post their experiences for the benefit of others can come up with some great ideas and tips!

 

 

[Jgreenie99]

I can confirm this new method worked for me! I took my 2017 GMC Yukon to the dealer with the same issue. Said they compared it to the 2019 model and that does the same thing, and that there was nothing they could do for me. 
 

I almost gave up trying to get the but behind the pedal mount. After losing 3 nuts somewhere under the insulation (lol) I finally got it on. And I can confirm this is a easy fix so far. 
 

before I had shoved 2 Allen wrenches behind the pedal mount and used electric tape to hold them there, which worked good too. This way is a lot better lol! 
 

Thank You! 

[BigBlueLB756]

Another great thing about this mod is that you don't have to worry about a Formosa termite infestation like you do with the "paint stick" mod!

[Bob Kodiak]

Will try this same problem push on pedal and nothing 2015 Sierra 5.3 base model.Had at GM (Preston)and they did not fix.Wii update when I have tried this method thanks.Like u said $40K truck and a 50 cent fix.

[Miguel Olea]

On 1/27/2019 at 2:43 PM, Badge767 said:

Hey everybody...I just now joined the forum just to pass along a decent, easy fix for the "flexing" gas pedal in the 2014-2018 Sierras and Silverados.

 

I stumbled across this board researching this issue that I discovered on my new (to me) 2017 Silverado Z71 5.3 that I just bought about 4 weeks ago with 788 miles (yeah, seven hundred eighty-eight!) on her.

 

Upon starting from a stopped position (such as coming off a stop bar at a traffic signal), I was a bit bothered by what I can only describe as a "hesitation" of movement of the truck, where pressure on my right foot on the accelerator that wasn't immediately (and proportionally) resulting in matching acceleration of the vehicle.

 

This is the same issue described in other posts on this board that has been remedied with (among other things) by placing cut pieces of paint stirring sticks behind the plastic "anchor plate" that is affixed to the firewall, and where the accelerator sensor is bolted on to.

 

I had plenty of flex in mine, on the order of probably 1/2" to 5/8" at least where the mounting plate would flex and finally "bottom out" against the firewall before the accelerator would begin to respond to input.

 

The fix I came up with was a pretty simple one, and I wanted to pass it along:

 

On the black plastic mounting plate (Those of you who have researched this issue probably already are familiar with this piece I'm referring to), near the bottom where the gas pedal mounting bracket is affixed, there is an unused hole to the lower left of the pedal bracket.

 

I used a 1/4" x 20 bolt (about 1.75" in length) with a nut and washer pre-threaded onto the bolt, and slipped another 1/4" nut on the backside of the black plastic mounting bracket (using 90 degree needle nose pliers to hold nut in place while finger-tightening bolt...this was the most tricky part). This required trimming just a little bit of the floorboard insulation (see photo below) to make it easier inserting the nut behind the plastic piece.

 

Then I simply tightened the bolt into the nut on the back side, which results in approximately 1/2" or so of the bolt protruding through the backside of the black plastic plate and bottoming out on the firewall. The result is MUCH less flex in the lower portion of that plastic mounting plate when pushing on the accelerator.

 

I really was skeptical of how much difference this would make, but WOW...after driving it, the difference is NIGHT and DAY! That "dead zone" where I was having to push unnaturally hard on the accelerator pedal before seeing any response from the engine is GONE!  Now I can lightly push on the pedal and the response is IMMEDIATE and smooth!

 

Attached is a picture showing the finished product (sort of helps what I've tried to describe above). I should have taken a few more pics during the procedure, but I was sort of on a roll and didn't think about taking any until I was finished.

 

Hopefully this fix comes in handy for others of you having this same issue related to the "spongy" accelerator mounting plate.

 

Kind of disheartening to have to fix my ~$36K truck with a $0.50 nut and bolt, but at least it fixed my issue!

 

I did the same.  I'd say it took care of about 95% of the flex.  Does yours still flex a little?  Like more on the opposite side of the screw?