The only thing I didn't like about my T6.1 was the annoying 'kickdown' resistance in the accelerator pedal. There's no good reason to have it fitted on a vehicle with a manual gearbox, so I thought I'd work out what causes the resistance and get rid of it. I didn't want to risk breaking my accelerator quadrant and being stuck without my van, so I bought a 2nd-hand one form eBay so I could do my research and it worked out perfect - I figured it out really quickly. I've done it now, and the van drives so much better; it's got to be one of the best modifications ever....and [if I hadn't bought a spare to practice on] it was free!
Here's how I did it:
Remove the trim under the dash to access to the accelerator Pedal (just pop down the clip to release it (inc the section that wraps around the steering column):
You should now see the accelerator quadrant, with the pedal linkage attached. Using a flat screwdriver, pop the upper ball-joint off to disconnect the linkage:
Now that's out the way, you will be able to access the 3 M10 mounting nuts on the quadrant and the electrical connector - remove them all and the quadrant will slide out off the studs:
This is what you'll be left with:
Now head off to your workbench with the quadrant and secure it so you can split it apart. You can see the 5 Philips screws that hold the electrical contacts cover on and the 8 clips that hold the middle section to the main body:
Remove the 5 screws.
Here's what you'll find inside. This is the wiper arm with the brushes that slide across the carbon contacts as the pedal is moved - don't get them dirty. The arm is well secured onto the square-drive shaft that goes through into the main body of the quadrant - rather than try to pull it off now, wait until the mid-section comes off and it'll draw it up off the shaft with it.
Next up, carefully prise off the 8 clips that hold the mid-section to the main body of the quadrant. I used a right-angled scriber to get it behind the clips; just taking your time, work around the clips to carefully pop them onto the shoulder of the lock until they're eventually all unlocked (it may be a case of going round them all a couple of times to get them all off together). Once they're all released, slowly raise the mid-section off the main body, keeping it level. As it comes up, it'll slide the wiper arm off the shaft and release it all together:
Once it's off, this is what you'll be left with in the main body of the quadrant:
At this angle, you can see the spigot and the 'resistance' block that it enters. Pushing in as you press the accelerator, the spigot forces its way through the spring in the block, which is the force we feel - this is the bit we need to get rid of.
It seems like our friends at VW knew it was going to annoy a lot of people and they made it easy for us to remove. The resistance block is installed by slotting into 2 guides and it literally just slides out. No tools or force required, just pick it out with your fingers:
Now it's out, you can see why it needs such a force to overcome when you press the accelerator - the angle on the spigot is about 60 degrees; with very little taper on it, it's always going to need a fair bit of force to push through the springs in the block. In this photo, you can also see the slots the block slips in to:
Lastly, here's the block itself:
Putting the quadrant back together is just the same in reverse. It took me less than 6 minutes to get it apart and back together. If you add 10 mins for removal from the van and another 10 to refit, that's a mod that'll take you less that 30 mins. It's honestly one of the simplest and best mods you can do; having taken the van for a drive, I can honestly say it's a game changer and makes it drive so much better. Even though it cost me the price of a spare part to experiment on, it's the best £30 I've spent.
If anybody wants to try it out and has any questions, feel free to ask...
Here's how I did it:
Remove the trim under the dash to access to the accelerator Pedal (just pop down the clip to release it (inc the section that wraps around the steering column):
You should now see the accelerator quadrant, with the pedal linkage attached. Using a flat screwdriver, pop the upper ball-joint off to disconnect the linkage:
Now that's out the way, you will be able to access the 3 M10 mounting nuts on the quadrant and the electrical connector - remove them all and the quadrant will slide out off the studs:
This is what you'll be left with:
Now head off to your workbench with the quadrant and secure it so you can split it apart. You can see the 5 Philips screws that hold the electrical contacts cover on and the 8 clips that hold the middle section to the main body:
Remove the 5 screws.
Here's what you'll find inside. This is the wiper arm with the brushes that slide across the carbon contacts as the pedal is moved - don't get them dirty. The arm is well secured onto the square-drive shaft that goes through into the main body of the quadrant - rather than try to pull it off now, wait until the mid-section comes off and it'll draw it up off the shaft with it.
Next up, carefully prise off the 8 clips that hold the mid-section to the main body of the quadrant. I used a right-angled scriber to get it behind the clips; just taking your time, work around the clips to carefully pop them onto the shoulder of the lock until they're eventually all unlocked (it may be a case of going round them all a couple of times to get them all off together). Once they're all released, slowly raise the mid-section off the main body, keeping it level. As it comes up, it'll slide the wiper arm off the shaft and release it all together:
Once it's off, this is what you'll be left with in the main body of the quadrant:
At this angle, you can see the spigot and the 'resistance' block that it enters. Pushing in as you press the accelerator, the spigot forces its way through the spring in the block, which is the force we feel - this is the bit we need to get rid of.
It seems like our friends at VW knew it was going to annoy a lot of people and they made it easy for us to remove. The resistance block is installed by slotting into 2 guides and it literally just slides out. No tools or force required, just pick it out with your fingers:
Now it's out, you can see why it needs such a force to overcome when you press the accelerator - the angle on the spigot is about 60 degrees; with very little taper on it, it's always going to need a fair bit of force to push through the springs in the block. In this photo, you can also see the slots the block slips in to:
Lastly, here's the block itself:
Putting the quadrant back together is just the same in reverse. It took me less than 6 minutes to get it apart and back together. If you add 10 mins for removal from the van and another 10 to refit, that's a mod that'll take you less that 30 mins. It's honestly one of the simplest and best mods you can do; having taken the van for a drive, I can honestly say it's a game changer and makes it drive so much better. Even though it cost me the price of a spare part to experiment on, it's the best £30 I've spent.
If anybody wants to try it out and has any questions, feel free to ask...
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