Stiff throttle cable cause/remedy ?

My green throttle cable from Vans has been smooth for over 200 hours. Suddenly, it is noticeably more stiff and resistant to motion. Do these things were out, need lubrication ? Suggestions appreciated.

High heat has a tendency to damage the liner if located near exhaust pipes. Most are fixed by replacing the cable with a new one and wrapping it with some fire-sleeve as an insulation and then foil tape for heat reflection.

On the other hand - I thought the same recently on a mixture cable. I did not have a replacement cable ready, but pushed it forward fully, sprayed a lubricant on the extended shaft and worked the cable in and out several times. Repeated the process several times and the cable feels like new one.

It it hard to move in the air?

Search the forum and you'll get lots of different opinions on what it could be and ways yo fix it. I know because I read them all about 4 months ago however my takeaway was that when on the ground when everything is siting around cold the cable was hard to move. Once I had the engine running or when I was flying it got as smooth as normal. Can't explain why just that I decided I didn't need a new one.

Problem solved

Thanks for the replies gentlemen. The typical Vans/ACS throttle quadrant was noisy in the hanger. Upon close inspection, the bottom pivot had some particulate (aluminum). I lubed everything , pivots and phenolc slides and shaft entry into the cable with boeshield bicycle chain lube (no dirt attraction). Smooth as glass now �� My takeaway is the lever should have bronze or other bushing in the pivot if I ever take it apart.

McFarlane custom cables!

I just changed my throttle cable last year, and now my mixture cable is showing the characteristic signs.

You can lube them and get a little bit of life extension, but eventually, it will get very stiff. Scary to not be able to move your throttle in flight.

They are absolutely **** to change in the RV-8. So I just bought a pair of McFarlane custom cables, one for the throttle and one for the mixture. I will put those in, and hopefully never have to do it again. They are expensive, (3X Vans cable price) but they will last for the life of the airframe.

I've had to replace my prop control cable three times (RV8, IO360, prop governor on front left of engine). Called Engineered Components (they make the Van's green cables) and ordered a high-temp replacement called "Blue Max." As said before, changing cables in the RV8 is a real PIA so I hope this solves the problem.