[D Man]

The other morning, I went to warm up my car. I get in turn the key and the car starts up really weak and dies out. So, I turn the key again and it statrs up normal but, I decide to give it a little gas to help maintain idle. This is when i noticed the gas padel wouldn't go down or move at all. So after a second I decide to hit it a little harder. And the gas pedal goes down, all the way down and wouldn't come back up. So now my throttle is stuck at WOT, making all sorts of nosie. The engine is reving up and down beacuse of the rev limiter. And I crwal down near the padels and grab the gas padel and, it doesn't want to come back up. So I force it and it comes up but, just sags back down. So the padel is all limp, and the engine is still reving as fast as it can, stuck at WOT still. So, I pop the hood but, theres a probelm with my hood so it take me a couople of seconds to pop the hood. Than I finally get under the hood and grab the throotle cabel and notice it's stuck so I move with my fingers and unstick it. Than the motor is running normal. So I get back in the car and lightly give it a litlle gas and notice it's doing the same thing. So I get back at the throttle cable and fix it. By this time i decide to leave the car running normaly and turn on the heat and direct it all towards the feet area and put it at 90 degress almost full blast. An dabout 10 minuets later I get back in my car and every thing is fine. But for some reason i decided to tack my sisters car into town. I was a little worried about it happening again, maybe while I was driving. So for now on I make sure the car is reallllllly warmed up before I leave.

I assume it was just a frozen throttle cable. The weather was pretty cold that night about 0 degress (central NY weather). I now alot of other people live in colder climiteates and was woundering if this has happened to any of them.

 

[eCarâ„¢]

It sounds like ice in the cable maybe.

I would suggest you turn the key off next time. Not good to have your engine bouncing off the rev limiter while you fumble to unstick a throttle cable. Especially when it's cold.

 

[shoz123]

Sounds like the throttle plate is sticking in the TB.

 

[JCC]

Or a frozen throttle cable. Check for cracks or wear spots in the throttle cable allowing moister into the cable. Also make sure the cover on the engine end is not damaged or missing.

 

[green]

this just happened to me today. started car and warmed up for a couple minutes and then put car in drive and found peddle stuck. did not try and force throttle done. Put car in park opened hood found throttle linkage and plate working freely defenetly frozen cable. After car was warmed up longer cable freed up.

 

[gtx2000]

you all didnt wash the engine in the middle of winter did ya?

 

[green]

no but I flushed the cooling system last week and most likely got water on the cable.

 

[FatTortoise]

That was a good idea not to drive it...

Think about it, it goes WOT, and you are cruising... Then you cant slow down..

and if you hit the brake it could break the tranny because that is like pressing the gas and brake at the same time = Not Good...

Becarefull.. That can be serious...

 

[Patrick Norris]

Shoz are you slipping these days?

There is a TSB for this exact problem and I was expecting to see it attached to your post.

Recall 98V204000: Accelerator Cable Clip Detaches
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 98V204000
Component: FUEL: THROTTLE LINKAGES AND CONTROL
Manufacturer: FORD MOTOR COMPANY

Year: 1999
Make: FORD
Model: TAURUS
Year of Recall: '98
Type of Report: Vehicle
Potential Number of Units Affected: 6000

Summary:

Vehicle Description: Passenger vehicles. A dash insulator retainer clip was not fully assembled to the accelerator cable dash fitting. The clip can disengage from the accelerator cable and fall into the accelerator pedal arm pivot area.

If this condition occurs, the engine may not fully return to idle. Also, the insulator may not stay in the intended location and could interfere with the accelerator cable.

Dealers will inspect these vehicles to ensure proper installation of the accelerator cable clip, and re-install if needed.

Owner notification is expected to begin September 21, 1998. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact Ford at 1-800-392-3673. Also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Auto Safety Hotline at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236).


That is one. I can only find the 99 one right now but I think I read on from other years to do with something in the firewall restricting the cable.

What year is your car anyways?

 

[UnDeR EsTiMaTeD]

My throttle just stuck about 10 minutes ago as I turned down my street and we to make a U-turn. The engine revved up to 5000RPM, but the pedal wasn't stuck. I shut off the car, start it again and all is fine. This is actually quite scary.

 

[qwertz9586]

I saw this movie once and there was this scene where these kids were taking driver's ed and one guy asked the other guy what to do if the gas pedal got stuck. The answer was stomp on the pedal and it should get unstuck.

 

[UnDeR EsTiMaTeD]

Originally posted by Qwertz9586@Jan 10 2004, 06:15 PM
I saw this movie once and there was this scene where these kids were taking driver's ed and one guy asked the other guy what to do if the gas pedal got stuck. The answer was stomp on the pedal and it should get unstuck.

I thought that was if the "pedal" actually stuck. This was like my linkage or something.

 

[Wessy]

Hey mine did that this morning too!!!! I had to play w/ the cable for about 10 min before it worked again.

Since this problem is a TSB and not a recall does that mean we have to pay for the repair???

 

[Twilight]

Note to all: If your pedal should get stuck, turn the car off immediately. You might flood your engine up but you won't smash into anything and get yourself killed. I remember this one story where someone got a gas pedal stuck on a G2 Sable and ended up embedded into the side of a house.

 

[D Man]

I usually let my car warm up for atleast 10-15 min when it's freezing outside but, that day I was in a hurry. For now on I will definitly let it warm up properly and lightly touch the padel to see if it is sticking or not before I give it any gas.

 

[Mcgilles]

I had a problem with my brake switch once, got on the brakes when the cruise was engaged, and the car tried to pull up to speed again. quite scary actually, since I was braking for a slower moving car, I just put it in N killed the engine and got off the road. when that switch went bad, the dealer asked for 600$ to replace parts to fix the problem with the cruise not disengauging. we weren't too happy. I fixed it for $12...replacing the switch is easy.

 

[kms250]

Originally posted by Wessy@Jan 10 2004, 10:16 PM
Since this problem is a TSB and not a recall does that mean we have to pay for the repair???

No charge if vehicle is identified under the TSB (make/year/model/VIN or manufacturer date/etc...)

 

[Gen24]

The throttle on my 94 GL stuck twice last winter on the highway, each occasion the weather was super cold, never had a problem on more temperate winter days or through the rest of the year. After pulling over (REVVVVV!!) and shutting off, the heat from the engine seemed to defrost something, and my pedal sort of made a snap noise up. Be careful if your shutting of the engine while moving due to loss of power steering, made that mistake the 1st time!!! My mechanic lubricated the throttle cable the first time (not sure if that is a good idea, heard it can curb ice but attract dirt), but it happened again.

 

[shoz123]

You should use a dry type lube, WD40, silicone or Teflon.

 

[D Man]

DAMN thing is sticking again!!! This time I left my friends house kinda quickly, didn't let the car warm up. And everything was fine. Drove about 2 miles and turned about 4 corners and on a straight away, I was letting off the gas to slow down, becasue i was entering the town I live in. I was going about 45 and the town speed limit is 35 so I took my foot off the gas and I could hear the rpms not go down, nor did I feel the pedal come back up. So after about a second I decide to put in N and turn off the car. Their was a shopping center that was closed down right as you eneter the town so i figure I could crawl or slide into their. And I made it their w/o p.s. or power brakes. I had to really push on the brakes for the car to some what slow down. After i get into the parking lot I lift the hood and get at the throttle cable. Since I been here before, i left the throttle cable housing cover off (plastic cover held on by 2 bolts). And I could see right away the throttle cable wasn't touching the part it rests on for idal postion. It was pulled open a little. So I pushed it back, so the cabel unsticks. Than i get back in my car and give a little gas and it does it again. After a while, it goes away and I make it almost home and it does it again. So I pull off to the side of the road and unstick the cable and off I go again and finally made it home.

my question is, is it possible to take the cable out of the rubber or plastic cover it's in and just have the cable exposed. Or is their some kinda lubracante I can use for this??