Almost deadly

[vova]

Hay guys, my wife and I own a 1998 Ford Explorer. Last Thursday my wife was coming to my work with my 2 year daughter. As she was coming over an overpass the truck started accelerating by itself. She took her foot off the peddle and hit the brakes as hard as possible and the truck just kept going faster. At this point she was getting on an off ramp dodging cars. She swerved on the dirt shoulder and flew through a red light sideswiping a turn signal. Now she is merging back on an onramp. She slammed it in to 2nd and then 1st, but the truck kept accelerating. Finally in a panic she slammed it into park and the vehicle came to a grinding halt. Fire dept. and cops show up she is freaked out and lucky to be alive.
Have any of you heard anything like this happening before with Fords?
We took the car to the dealership and they said it looked fine. The suggested we replace the throttle body and idler control valve (total $600). There is a recall on a throttle cable sticking but they said it has nothing to do with what she experience.
We called Ford and they basically said there is nothing they will do.
Any suggestions?
Has this happend to anyone else?

 

[Explorer#2]

mu throttle has gotten stuck before but it i was able to stop and have a friend get out and mess around with it and get it unstuck so i didnt have the whole almost dying thing happen to me

 

[410Fortune]

Neautral and shut the the truck off...

 

[Explorer#2]

^^^good point

 

[Mutineer]

Never had that happen to mine, but dernit, I am glad to hear she and your daughter are OK...

Is your engine stock? did you install a cold air intake or anything like that?

Good thing God was watching out on that one.

 

[Rick]

Neautral and shut the the truck off...

Making sure you only turn the key back 1 click so you don't lock the steering.

 

[stretch]

This happened to me in a 15' box van as I was coming off of a highway up to a red light. When I realised I wasn't going to be able to stop I just threw it in neutral and pulled off on the shoulder of the off ramp. After shutting it off and checking everything, we started it back up and everything was fine. Glad to hear your family made out alright.

 

[vova]

Neautral and shut the the truck off...

She was in a panic and didn't think of it. Next time she'll know.
It could of been much worse

 

[vova]

Never had that happen to mine, but dernit, I am glad to hear she and your daughter are OK...

Is your engine stock? did you install a cold air intake or anything like that?

Good thing God was watching out on that one.

Bone stock.

 

[budwich]

I assume that they (dealer) took a look at your transmission as throwing it into park at "highway speed" is likely to cause a "problem" with the parking pawl / parking gear which is used to "lock" the output shaft and "stop" your vehicle.... maybe... .... :-(

 

[vova]

I assume that they (dealer) took a look at your transmission as throwing it into park at "highway speed" is likely to cause a "problem" with the parking pawl / parking gear which is used to "lock" the output shaft and "stop" your vehicle.... maybe... .... :-(

No they did not. How do you check that? Put it in park and see if she rolls down the hill?

 

[budwich]

don't know but that sounds reasonable.... my concern would be the pawl / gear has a fracture and might hold for a while and then break at some point in the future..... just like in the "funniest videos" where you see a parked car "suddenly" rolling away. I don't know if it easy to check without major effort (ie. dropping the trans).... maybe the next time you get your filter / trans oil changed, they might be able to check. Of course, there could be a concern that some of the gear might have been damaged and those parts are now "floating" around in your tranny. I don't want you to get to "excited" as I probably don't know much about this.... but I have seen posts in the past where people didn't get a good "result" from throwing a moving vehicle in park and / or reverse. Maybe someone else will provide some additional thoughts.

PS I see in the parts explosion of the trans that the gear is a "real gear"... that means the pawl could engage teeth that aren't damaged and you would think that everything is OK. The next time depending on where the gear lines up, your pawl may engage a "missing tooth" and slip.... probably not further than the next available tooth which is fine but now you would know that you have a missing tooth running around in your tranny which may or may not be any good for it.

PPS. Maybe the gear / pawl is isolated enough from the main transmission (seals / washers) that there won't be a problem (other than the rolling from park if you have missing teeth).... it appears to be near the back "half" of the tranny.

 

[peterbrown77]

Not to doubt your problem, but there's not an engine built that can overcome the resistance of your brakes. Go try it; get rolling and then floor the gas and stomp on the brakes.

 

[Brandons]

Not to doubt your problem, but there's not an engine built that can overcome the resistance of your brakes. Go try it; get rolling and then floor the gas and stomp on the brakes.

... and watch your transmission explode

 

[Explorer#2]

http://stak4x4.com/video

watch the one on the top right, and yeah its through a monster box but still its a little heep engine

 

[budwich]

Maybe at "near stop" or slow but after coming off a highway drive where brake fade caused by hot pads (just from rolling / use) and an "engine runaway", I bet the thing would keep going pretty far. My ex had a surging problem when it is warm out after initial start up... when coming to a stop sign just down the block, the thing wants to go the 2500-3000 rpm and I had to stump down with full force on the brake and with the help that the engine eventually want to go back to normal idle, it would come to a stop. But if it was "wandering" up towards "redline", I would say I would be in significant trouble and I now watch the rpm regularly as I come to a stop and am ready to slip into neutral and hope that the engine doesn't "run away". The condition has improved with the replacement of the TPS but I suspect its a "combination condition" and that the MAF is also got a problem. I recently cleaned that ... it may have helped a bit but I am still on the "look out". My wife doesn't want to drive the vehicle til she knows for sure that it is fixed.

Of course, this problem sounds familar to the problem back a way that cause vehicles (don't recall which) to have the "safety system" of "brakes applied" to put a vehicle in reverse because of the many incidents where people had their vehicle take off and they swore they were hitting the brake and it didn't help.

 

[5.0L96Exp]

My size 13's have a tendency to press the brake and gas pedal at the same time. The first time I did this I nearly rear-ended someone.. Yes the truck was slowing down but the harder I pushed the brake the more the engine roared. I have to make a conscious effort to pick my big ass foot up of the floor and move it 6 inches to the left to ensure I hit nothing but the brakes. I think part of the problem is the fact that the gas pedal is an inch or so lower then the brake pedal. You begin to slow down like normal and the last car length before you stop, when you push the brake pedal just a fraction more, you get on the gas, freak out, slam the brake to the floor only to get more gas.

 

[peterbrown77]

I'm not saying that your stopping distance won't lengthen, but certainly your car will not be able to accelerate when the brakes are fully applied. The engine may roar, the transmission or clutch may smoke, your stopping distance will increase - but your car won't accelerate. It just can't.

This was the old Audi 5000 bugaboo - perpetuated by a highly irresponsible piece on "60 Minutes", which was actually pedal misapplication. Same problem - the car appeared to accelerate out of control while the driver had his foot firmly on the brakes (or swore he did). After the incident, nothing could be found wrong with the either engine or brakes.

You have to consider that your brakes (well-maintained of course) are capable of disippating THOUSANDS of horsepower. Your engine at full tilt can get your Explorer up to 60 mph in, what, 10 seconds? Yet your brakes can bring you to a full stop in less than 1/3 of that time, and actually even less if the tires were up to the task (no skidding). Do the math.

 

[gijoecam]

Making sure you only turn the key back 1 click so you don't lock the steering.

You can't unless it's in park.

Indeed, not to be a doubting-Debbie, but I doubt there's anything mechanically wrong with the Explorer. The Audis and then the Grand Cherokees a couple of years later, made the systems pretty bullet-proof. It Is possible to stab both pedals at the same time without realizing it.

Also, WRT the brakes being able to stop an accelerating vehicle, I;ve tried it before just to see what would happen. Keep in mind that with the engine at wide-open throttle, you lose your vacuum assist (or the majority of it) due to a lack of vacuum in the manifold. It is possible to keep going while pushing the brakes as hard as you can.

Additionally, when she threw it into park, it should have revved right up to the red-line and held there until she turned the key off if it was a throttle problem. It would have also stayed there after re-starting it if it was a TB or throttle cable issue. I've seen floor mats work their way loose and wedge against the gas pedal as well. I had a car wash that didn't re-hook the floor mat on my dad's Lightning. Punched it to squirt around someone to get onto the on-ramp, and the pedal stayed on the floor. Turned out that when I punched-it, the mat shifted over the bottom edge of the pedal.

Finally, as was mentioned above, should that ever happen, the first reaction shouldn't be to stab the brakes, wiggle the gas pedal, tap the gas pedal, or throw it into park. Pop the trans into neutral and use the brakes to coast to a controlled stop. Let the engine scream if it wants to, or if it's safe to do so, you can switch off the engine, keeping in mind you may only get one good push of the brake pedal since you've lost your vacuum source. I always recommend you just let the engine scream as you're not going to hurt it for the 10 or 12 seconds it may take to safely stop the vehicle.

-Joe

 

[jp450]

I've seen floor mats work their way loose and wedge against the gas pedal as well.

Do you have after market floor mats without the hole for the hook?

It would happen all the time with my 93 ranger...