Throttle Sticking

[Jerry Sanders]

I have a 91 Explorer with 146,000 mi. The throttle has been
sticking wide open when I mash the gas petal to the floor. It doesn't do this every time, but when it does it's pretty
unsettling. I have to immmediatly push in the clutch and cut off the ignition switch. It seems to "reset" itself and is alright after that. I'm worried that it may not cut off and then blow up the engine.
I have replaced the throttle position sensor, but that didn't work.
Any suggestions would appreciated.

Jerry

 

[Dennis Myers]

You may find this weird but check to see if your floor mat is catching on the pedal when you stamp on it. Mine was and it gets kinda scary when your throttle sicks wide open.

 

[95ExplorerLtd]

Same thing happened to us. It did it several times on my mom and when it happened, she of course freaked. So we took it into Ford and got the throttle cables replaced, and they said they were worn to just a certain spot on the cables, around the 50-60 area, because it would catch when we would pass somebody. Well they were fixed for a while but then it started doing it again, so dad took it for a drive and purposely made it stick and looked down and it was caught in the floormat. He would either kick it till it popped back or wedge his foot under it and jerk it back. Now we just make sure the mat is in the right place and we havent had any problems for a long time.

 

[wrighttl]

Had the same problem and it was the floor mat.
Threw out the floor mat, no more problem!!!

 

[mtuck]

Had the same problem with mine. What I did was cut a small hole in the back right corner (closest to the seat and center console) and then secured the mat to the floor using the seat rail bolt. Hope this helps.

 

[CHH777]

Floor Mat Cruise Control...

I had the same problem. I checked EVERYTHING and was baffled. Boy did I feel stupid when I found out what it was...

 

[Anime]

ya

Its even worse with the Husky Liners or any "catch-all" plastic floor mat. I was always just baffled at why Ford had that dumb cut-out for the gas pedal...mystery solved.

Its a good safety tip for everyone to either get Explorer-specific mats with that gas pedal cut out, or cut out your aftermarket mats so theres ALOT of clearance around the pedal..especially the bottom.

Its not so bad when you just get stuck going 55 on the interstate, but it sure isnt fun when youre in traffic and holding the brake as hard as you can and you still cant stop....