First wreck ever tonight

Alright so what was supposed to be a good night turned into a nightmare. I went to pick up a girl to go to a movie and all was going well untill I went to make a left turn. I stopped looked both ways and started to excelerate while turning, the gass pedal falls to the floor without my trying and the EX starts going out of control. I hit the brake which resulted in them locking up and I slid off the road and right into a telephone pole. I put it in reverse and 4X4 but I'm not goin' anywhere. A few neighbors came out including the owner of the yard which I'm now stuck in.One guy had me put it in Low range so I did. They helped me get out and the land owner was very nice about it all they just wanted to make sure we were alright and we were since we just went off the road doing maybe 15 at the most. At this point I get out and look at the damage.....hit the pole right in the middle of the grill so the hood buckled the bumper got dented pretty good and the grill is plastic so it's busted pretty good. Now mind you the EX still belongs to my father so I'm freakin' out like most ppl do when they wreck someone elses car. So my lady friend has me go back to her aunt and uncle's where she lives and I calm down and give my dad a call. The main problem is that the 4X4 is now stuck as well as Low Range so I had a 15 mile drive home going 25mph. I'll post some pics tomorrow. But for now I'd like to know why my 4X4 and Low Range are stuck.

 

[TedJ]

But what happened to your throttle to cause the problem in the first place? Floormat stuck on it?

 

[jordan1948]

I'm not quite sure because I only pressed on the gass enough to make the turn and the pedal kind of "fell" to the floor so i'm thinking something on the TB got stuck open or something like that. A friend of mine's did this before but it was a spring that popped off and mine was fine after I hit the brakes so I'm not exactly sure what happened.

 

[TedJ]

Weird.... I'd make sure to check it out, check the spring on the throttle. (take that plastic cover off on the side of the intake to see it) Play with the throttle with the engine off and see if you can make it stick.

Wouldn't want that to happen again...

My dad has a '78 Pontiac, and it would randomly decide to get the throttle stuck, nobody could find an issue with it, replaced throttle return spring etc... Mechanic #2 after giving up for the 2nd time was driving the car back to my dad and the throttle got stuck, he finally realized it was the FLOOR MAT getting jammed in the pedal.

 

[2000LXS]

I think you have to be in neutral and hold the break to get it out of 4 lo.
Hope that helps

 

[jordan1948]

Holly crap 2000lxs I just went out and it worke. Thank you thank you thank you lol

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

yikes that got to suck

 

[cybergasm]

I'm not quite sure because I only pressed on the gass enough to make the turn and the pedal kind of "fell" to the floor so i'm thinking something on the TB got stuck open or something like that. A friend of mine's did this before but it was a spring that popped off and mine was fine after I hit the brakes so I'm not exactly sure what happened.

Almost sounds like the Cruise Control was activated or activated it self some how.

 

[ALARMIST]

If I'm not mistaken, Ford had some recalls-and or law suits- related to sudden acceleration like you described. As I remember it occurred on some Crown Victorias and might have been an undesired cruise control engagement.

Dry pavement will cause torque wind up of the front and rear driveshafts, making disengagement difficult, as the other post described- neutral and brake are probably needed to come out of low range. If you move the truck
back and fourth a few times, it will usually find a spot free enough to disengage.

Now the really important question, Was she impressed? and do you get another date?

 

[jordan1948]

Yeah I was able to get it out of 4X4 and Low Range it's just that I've never needed low range before so I didn't know how to disengage it properly.

Now the really important question, Was she impressed? and do you get another date?

lol yeah she said when the body damage is fixed and it's NOT raining we can go out again lmao

 

[jordan1948]

Here's a few pics, like I said it's all body damage. The frame didn't bend at all and I'm really concerned about the bumper because the plastic piece on the outside didn't break it just flexed and kinda popped off so if I can staighten it out for the most part I can live with it for a while. Radiator is fine and all, like I said I drove it 15 miles afterwards.

 

[DeRocha]

Sorry to hear/see the pics.. As you already said the worst part was wrecking someone else's ride (your dad's). Fortunately no one was severely hurt and the damage is minor and all cosmetic. You can chalk this up to a learning experience and be glad you did it in your dad's '94 explorer vs your dads Brand new GT500 just delivered from the dealership.. like this kid did...

 

[jordan1948]

Yeah if that was the case I'd be grounded 'til I was 21 lol.
Found one more slight prob today, I was able to drive it work just fine but when I locked it and walked away the alarm went off. I turned around unlocked it with the key, checked all the doors and tried again with the same results. So I'm thinking that there's a sensor in the hood that's making it go off since the hood doesn't latch all the way just the safety latch. Is there a fuse or a wire I can disconnect (besides the positive battery cable) so I can lock it witout the alarm going off?

 

[DeRocha]

...Found one more slight prob today, I was able to drive it work just fine but when I locked it and walked away the alarm went off. I turned around unlocked it with the key, checked all the doors and tried again with the same results. So I'm thinking that there's a sensor in the hood that's making it go off since the hood doesn't latch all the way just the safety latch. Is there a fuse or a wire I can disconnect (besides the positive battery cable) so I can lock it witout the alarm going off?

Is it a factory or aftermarket alarm? You should be able to easily find the hood pin switch (looks just like a door pin) that triggers the alarm.

 

[jordan1948]

It's factory, I was going to look for the switch I just wanted to be sure I knew what I was looking for.

 

[2000LXS]

Holly crap 2000lxs I just went out and it worke. Thank you thank you thank you lol

So glad to hear the guys on here are great and smart and helped me alot now I can start to give back some, so it makes me feel great.

p.s. If you really like this site become elite to help keep it going.

 

[jordan1948]

Alright new problem, truck won't. If it sits for a while it will start for a few seconds and dies so I'm thinking it has something to do with the fuel but all the lines are alright. Any ideas wat could be wrong? Also I took off the intake tube and had someone puch on the gass pedal to check the TB, there's a lot of gunk built up in it.

 

[DeRocha]

Is the fuel pump coming on (do you hear it when you turn the key to run)? If its not then you may have tripped the fuel pump inertia switch. This acts like a circuit breaker to kill power to the fuel pump in the case of an accident. Its located behind the carpet under the glove box.

 

[jordan1948]

Alright well that switch was indeed the problem but it wasn't tripped the problem was that the plastic clip that holds the wires in was broken and the connector would go in and out. So for now it's jimmy'rigged with tape but I plan on going to the salvage ard tomorrow and finding some parts.

 

[DeRocha]

Alright well that switch was indeed the problem but it wasn't tripped the problem was that the plastic clip that holds the wires in was broken and the connector would go in and out. So for now it's jimmy'rigged with tape but I plan on going to the salvage ard tomorrow and finding some parts.

Glad to hear you found the problem and that its a inexpensive fix..