This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
As I was driving along, the gas pedal started to stick I applied the brake and the vehicle slowed down. There was no damage, but scared that one of these days it won't slow down...updated 12/11/12
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while trying to park his vehicle, the vehicle would accelerate independently. The contact had to press the brake pedal hard in order to get the vehicle to stop. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 300. Updated 12/21/12 the consumer stated the unexpected engine acceleration would occur while parking, standing still, idiling in a parking lot, or first accelerating. Updated 1/9/2013
I was driving my 2001 Ford Taurus onto a freeway and got up to 45 mph and the car continued to accelerate after I lifted my foot off the gas. I attempted to press on the brake as hard as I could and the car was still accelerating. Pressing the brake would not make the car stop. I was not using cruise control. I pulled off to the side of the freeway and put the car in park, the car was still revving up, so I turned the car off. I waited a couple of minutes and started the car again and continued driving and the car exhibited the same conditions as before. I was able to exit the freeway and was about to get to an intersection that had a stop sign. I realized that even after pressing down on the brakes as hard as I could, the car was not going to stop so I proceeded to pull over to the side again and quickly put the car in park and turn the car off. I left the car there and walked to the nearest gas station and towed the car home. I did not feel safe driving anymore and it is a miracle that I did not cause an accident.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 1 mph and entering a parking space, the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into a pole. The contact sustained injuries to the chest and the front passenger sustained injuries to the wrist and knee. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was not filed of the incident. The failure and current mileage was 37,000.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 45 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact depressed the brake pedal but the brakes would not respond. The contact was able to come to a stop and the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic stated that the cruise control cable pushed the throttle, causing the failure. As a remedy, the mechanic disconnected the cruise control cable. There was a concurrent investigation under NHTSA action number: PE12033 (vehicle speed control:cruise control vehicle speed control:cables vehicle speed control:cruise control vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 113,000.
- West Bloomfield, MI, USA
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The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while reversing from a driveway, she applied the brakes and the brakes failed to respond. The vehicle instead accelerated while the contact had the brake pedal depressed. The speed increased to about 50 mph. The contact applied the emergency brake lever and the vehicle did not stop. The contact turned off vehicle in order to stop. The vehicle was no taken to dealer or repair shop for inspection. The manufacturer was notified, however no further assistance was provided. The failure and current mileages were 107,000.
I had just punched the gas pedal and then went to hit the brakes a few seconds later, but the car wasn't really slowing. Looked down and noticed the rpms were at 4000 so I moved the transmission to neutral and the car started slowing more. The car kept revving at 4K rpms though so I turned off the engine. I hadn't come to a complete stop yet so the last few feet were harder to stop, but luckily there wasn't any traffic in front of me and I wasn't in any danger of hitting anyone/anything. I tried starting the car up again and it went right up to 4000K rpms, I shut it off and then tried to hit the gas pedal thinking that maybe it was stuck or there was something under it or something, but that wasn't it so I shut the car off again. Then I popped the hood and noticed that one of the cables that went to the throttle had slid out of a grey boot and was jammed against the side of that boot holding the throttle open. I moved it back so that it popped into the center. Started it up again and it was fine. Closer examination later showed that the grey connector that holds the cable in the center had little bits broken off. If those bits there, it would prevent the cable from sliding out. As this was on a weekend, as a temporary fix, I used a zip tie and some duct tape to hold it in before I got a new cruise control cable. This was the first time this had happened to me.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 45 mph, the vehicle abnormally increased acceleration and failed to slow down until after applying the brake pedal several times. The failure occurred seven times. The malfunction would occur whenever the cruise control was activated or deactivated. The vehicle had not been diagnosed. The contact planned to notify the manufacturer of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated abnormally and without command. The contact attempted to apply the brakes but to no avail. The contact was able to slow the speed of the vehicle and coasted to a stop. The vehicle was towed to a dealer for diagnosis. The dealer stated that the cruise control cable needed replacing. The vehicle was serviced however, the failure continued. The manufacturer was contacted. The failure and current mileage was 92,965.
I was merging onto the freeway and I accelerated up to the speed of traffic which was 65 mph. I let up off of the gas pedal and the car kept accelerating. It felt like the cruise control was on but the cruise control was not on or set. Even when pressing on the brakes the car was not decelerating and the car kept going faster and faster to over 80mph. I kept tapping the brakes and even tried tapping the gas pedal. Nothing under the pedals was stuck but the engine was accelerating like I was flooring the gas pedal. Then after about a few miles I was able to regain control of my car by pressing on the brakes really hard.
This vehicle has a long history of speeding up on its own. I took it to the Ford dealership when it began in late 2007, but they could not find the problem. I also have record of its history involving this issue with my personal mechanic. No mechanic has ever found a solution to this problem, and I continue to drive this car. I recorded circumstances surrounding each incident, down to the temperature outside and weather conditions to find a common cause. Each case was unique and no cause was found. Often, I would recognize the issue when trying to stop for a red light or stop sign and found myself fighting the car to stop. The brakes continued to work during these episodes, however I could not come to a complete stop unless I put the car into neutral. During one instance, the car reached 70 mph before there was a popping noise, and it slowed. Most commonly, the car would speed up to about 45 mph before I put it into neutral and turned it off, oftentimes in front of intersections. The cruise control has been disabled, the throttle body cleaned, and electrical system checked. None of these were determined to be the cause.
The contact owns 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 10 mph, the accelerator pedal became stuck to the floorboard abnormally. The contact was able to dislodge the accelerator pedal to no avail. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics or repairs. There was an investigation for the 2005 Ford Taurus under NHTSA action number: PE12005 (vehicle speed control:cables) that could possibly have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 93,327.
I have read the news this week about the preliminary investigation into 2005-06 Taurus speed control problems and it is exactly the same as a very scary problem I experienced last year with my 2001 Taurus. A Ford dealer replaced a cable for the speed control on the car's cruise control system. I still have a copy of my Ford invoice and I kept the broken cable that was replaced on my car. I was driving my car down a boulevard when the engine began to race even though I was not accelerating. I had to press hard on my brakes to stop for a red light, and put the car in neutral, but the engine continue to race at about 4,000 rpms. I turned the engine off, then turned it on again, hoping I could move out of the lanes of traffic. However, the engine continue to speed so I turned the engine off again and sat in my car until a good samaritan pushed me out of traffic. Aaa towed the car to worthington Ford in long beach, ca. Both the good samaritan and the aaa tow truck driver turned the engine on with the hood open and said the throttle was stuck. The aaa driver showed me a cable with a fitting that was loose, and when he pushed the fitting in, the engine slowed down. The Ford dealer said the problem was not the throttle but the cruise control system. They offered to disable the cruise control, but I had them fix it. The Ford invoice states: "customer states vehicle has a sticking throttle/cable. Something broken causing rpms to go over 4K and adv. Removed cylinder and added new speed control cable." The new part is listed as yf1Z-0A825-ca, with description "actuato 540397." The cost was $307.82.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle abnormally accelerated up to 50 mph. The contact applied the brakes and the vehicle came to a stop. The engine was turned off and the cruise control was disconnected. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who recommended that the cruise control remain disconnected. The manufacturer had not been notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while attempting to park, the vehicle lunged forward and crashed into a coffee shop. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure, but was unable to determine the cause. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 62,476...updated 04/16/12 the consumer stated on December 24, 2011, while driving 35-40 mph, the vehicle began to accelerate on its own and the engine began racing. When the consumer arrived to his destination, the engine was still revving loudly. The consumer placed the vehicle in park. However, the engine continued to rev. He pressed hard on the accelerator and the engine stopped revving. Updated 05/30/12
The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated. The contact then applied the brakes with extreme pressure, but the vehicle would not decelerate. The contact shut the vehicle off and coasted to a stop on the shoulder. The vehicle could not be restarted due to the high rpms. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop, where they diagnosed the failure and stated that the cruise control cable was frayed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 95,000 and the current mileage was 105,000. The VIN was unavailable...updated 04/26/12 updated 04/30/12
I have been experiencing the effects described in recent new article (link below) of a sticky throttle and unexpected acceleration while at a stop. Also the cruise control doesn't always release. Please advise how an individual consumer can have these serious issues repaired at Ford's expense now to prevent an accident or worse! when will your Agency announce a formal recall of these issues. Here's the link I saw from a local seattle, wa news release: www.komonews.com/news/consumer/feds-probe-sticky-throttles-in-19M-Ford-sedans-142392835.html.
The gas peddle on my 2001 Taurus has been sticking for about the past three years. I have taken it to auto repair shops and always ask for it to be looked at when other repairs are needed. However, no one seems to know what to do about the sticking. I am afraid that it will stay in a stuck position while driving so I am extremely cautious. Lately it seems to have gotten worse especially in the colder weather. I realize the car is over 10 years old, but this is a real hazard.
Car suddenly accelerated without touching the gas pedal. The engine revved up very high and it was very difficult to stop. Car was shaking violently and had to shift to neutral and use emergency brkae. Determined cruise control cable had popped out. Happened several times until we cut the cable. Extremely dangerous.
My parents were getting off of the highway and the vehicle would not stop. My dad was standing on the brake pedal with all of his strength but the car kept moving through a red light and into oncoming traffic where they were hit by several vehicles. My father had multiple serious injuries and died on August 10th of 2007 as a result of those injuries.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Nocona, TX, USA