engine revving on its own

hi got a 98 1.8 petrol which has now started revving up on its own when sat in traffic it revs to about 3k but a blip on throttle and its ok
ive checked cable and linkages it will sit at tick over and then just rev up any ideas what it could be?

Had a similar problem on my K series Rover last week. Revs just went up and set idle over 2000 rpm, blip throttle and they came down until it felt like doing it again.
Took connector off throttle sensor (throttle pedal in Freebie) and plugged it on and off a few times, this cleaned the contacts and it has not done it since.
Dodgy contact sends wrong (high) resistance to ecu, ecu thinks you are accelerating and increases engine revs for you.
Give it a try - cheap fix.

It sounds like it might be a sticking throttle position sensor - not sure about the LR but expect its the same a MGR cars in that it can be reset quite easily - worth a try at least before moving onto something more tricky or expensive.

Whilst the ignition is set on position 2 - fully press the accelerator 6 times quickly, switch the ignition fully off for 30 seconds and then try re-starting.

thanks for replys will give them a go 1 at a time and report back

Hi. Got the same problem on a 1.8 16v x reg and I've just checked the connections and tried to reset it but still stays up any suggestion?