240 Throttle pulley (spool) springs

[Maximum Turtles]

1992 240 with B230F and AW70, no cruise control.

My throttle spool has had quite a bit of play in it since I got the car, so I took everything apart to clean/ lubricate/shim the pulley. On the inside of the pulley there are some springs, keyed to the bracket and the pulley, seen here, parts 5 through 8.

When I went to reinstall these springs, the inside spring keeps popping loose, making the throttle reset to the wrong position entirely. When I don't install these springs at all, however, the throttle appears to function perfectly (but with slightly less effort), as the throttle body has its own spring to reset its position.

My questions:
1. What purpose do these springs serve (are they important)?
2. Does anyone have any experience with these and how to get them together? I cant get the inner spring to stay in place while I'm installing.

 

[Maximum Turtles]

Update: I just drove across town and back, throttle was fine, totally under control. The only difference is that the pedal is slightly lighter and is much smoother. I drive with a vacuum gauge which doesn't skip like it used to with very slight throttle adjustment. Unless there is a compelling reason to use this spring (please tell me if you know or can think of one), I think I'll be leaving it like this.

 

[cleanflametrap]

Update: I just drove across town and back, throttle was fine, totally under control. The only difference is that the pedal is slightly lighter and is much smoother. I drive with a vacuum gauge which doesn't skip like it used to with very slight throttle adjustment. Unless there is a compelling reason to use this spring (please tell me if you know or can think of one), I think I'll be leaving it like this.

You know, I don't have the specific experience on all of the 240 years' various throttle spool configurations to answer your question conclusively, but in general terms I recall a part of throttle return spring design is providing redundancy for when the first one breaks. Toyota comes to mind.

I need to take a closer look at this next time under the hood.

 

[Khrrck]

I recall a part of throttle return spring design is providing redundancy for when the first one breaks.

That sounds like a compelling reason to me, but I'm a wuss.

 

[Maximum Turtles]

That sounds pretty reasonable. I'm comfortable running it now, but I still want to replace it. I have the original spring, I'm just trying to figure out how the outside spring retainer plate (part #5) is oriented relative to the inside plate (part # 8). The springs will fit in nearly any orientation with some cursing, but pop out and/or return the pulley to an incorrect position every time I try to install it back on the vehicle.

I'll probably just make my way down to pick and pull next opportunity I get (ha.) and find myself a new spring set that hasn't been taken apart.