How To Replace The Accelerator Pedal On An Air-Cooled Porsche 911

Older Porsches, specifically the air-cooled models before 1989, have a plastic accelerator pedal that tends to fail in a surprising (and frightening) way. By replacing your old accelerator pedal preemptively, you can prevent these issues from ruining your next spirited drive. 

Your air-cooled Porsche 911 has a floor mounted pedal cluster assembly with a separately mounted plastic accelerator pedal. The accelerator pedal is attached to the accelerator cable via a pushrod with a ball socket on the back of the pedal. It's bolted to the floor via a hinged base that is an integral part of the pedal. The factory pedal is very durable, but if the ball socket or hinge cracks and fails, the accelerator will flop around and not actuate the throttle cable. Taking a few minutes to replace it is cheap insurance against being stranded or possibly worse.

Model Years Applicable:

All Porsche 911 cars up to 1989.

Tools Needed To Complete This Repair:

• Ratchet Set
• Socket Set
• Long-Life Grease
• Paper Towels

Parts Needed:

• Early accelerator pedal P/N 90142301001 (1975 and earlier)
• Late accelerator pedal P/N 91142311103 (1976 and later)

Step 1: Remove Pedal and Floorboard

Remove the driver side floor mat. You will see a floorboard surrounding the three pedals and covering the pedal assembly. The floorboard shown here is an aftermarket one, but the OE plywood version is the same shape.

Behind the plastic throttle pedal is a rod with a ball-socket. Hold the rod steady with one hand and pull the pedal towards the back of the car to pull the ball out of the pedal socket with the other hand. Remove the two bolts holding the pedal to the floor. The pedal is now free.

Remove the floorboard around the pedals. There's a single nut at the bottom that's holding it in.

The whole pedal cluster will now be exposed.

Step 2: Inspect Pedal and Pushrod

Turn the pedal around and inspect the ball-socket on the backside. Also, inspect the hinge near the bolt holes. If there are any cracks on the ball socket perimeter or the hinge, the pedal must be replaced.

Clean the floor around the pedal assembly as there usually is debris that gets caught in here under the floorboard. While you are in there, this is a good time to inspect for any additional problems.

If you find any broken pieces of pedal assembly bushings or if there is excessive play in your clutch and brake pedals, that is a clear sign that you should rebuild your pedal cluster in the near future.

If you find the floor around the pedal assembly wet with brake fluid, plan to replace your master cylinder as soon as possible as this is a potential safety concern.

Step 3: Reinstall Floorboard and Pedal

The steps of reassembly are just as easy as disassembly. You can now reinstall the floorboard and secure it in place with the old nut.

Bolt the new accelerator pedal to the floor finger tight. Smear a bit of grease on the ball and firmly press it into the socket until it snaps in place. It may take considerable force on a new pedal, but it can be done by hand.

Check that all the pedals operate correctly through their travel and that they do not bind or stick. The accelerator pedal installation is now complete and should serve you well for many years as the original did. 

If you'd like to read more of my air-cooled Porsche DIYs, you can find them all right here. And if you're someone who prefers to watch rather than read, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel for DIY videos too. If you have any questions or concerns, leave them in the comments below. 

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Written by :

Jose Martinez

Having explored the fields of aerospace, power generation, automotive aftermarket, and concept car engineering, I'm now a development engineer for Mazda North America. In my spare time, you can find me wrenching on anything, but mainly cars of the air-cooled variety. @joe_engineer