Accelerator Pedal problems of the 1996 Ford Explorer

The contact owns a 1996 Ford Explorer. On may 14, 2007, the vehicle's accelerator pedal detached without warning and the vehicle was towed off the road. The contact was driving 50 mph at the time of failure. She stated that the vehicle hood release also failed and the tow driver could not open the hood. The VIN, purchase date, and engine size were unknown. The current and failure mileages were 163,000.

Driving on the garden state parkway with husband, myself and 21 month baby in car, passing vehicle, when put foot on brake slowed down then when let off brake, car accelerated to a high speed, applied brake 2 more times, both times, slowed down but when took foot off brake the vehicle accelerated to high speeds without ever touching the gas pedal, resulted in a spin-out on the garden state parkway stopping short of crashing into another vehichle. Thank god no one was hurt. Called Ford consumer relations, was told to take to a dealer for diagnostic test. Took car the next day to a Ford dealer in cape may court house new jersey, said nothing was wrong with car.

When going down the road the accelerator fell off the firewall of the vehicle. When having it repaired by the dealership they had made a comment saying they had seen that before. They drilled bolted the firewall and attached it with bolts instead of spot welding it.

On Wednesday December 29th, 2004, at approximately 3:30pm I was traveling south on rt. 9w in my 1996 Ford Explorer XLT. The weather was clear, approximately 35-40f, and the roads were clear of snow and ice. I passed a car going 35mph in a 55 mph area, and my Explorer stuck going at 3000r pms and accelerating. I tried to brake but my Explorer would not decelerate. I put on my hazards, put both of my feet on the brake pedals pushing as hard as I could and still could not control the vehicle. I ended up trying to pull into an empty parking lot, it still would not slow down so I turned the ignition off and ended up going through the parking lot and crashing down a 10 feet. Embankment. Both air bags deployed, vehicle was totaled. Transported to hospital by ambulance for observation and released.

Traveling home on highway 509 around 3:00 pm in my 1996 Ford Explorer, conditions were clear and dry, passed a car going 40 mph in a 55mph zone, upon passing the accelerator went straight to the floor and stuck there. Tried to place my foot under the pedal to lift up, could'nt. SUV steadilygaining speed,las time I glanced down I was going approx. 95mph, tried to apply brakes to slow down enough so I could get on the shoulder of the road safley,SUV went off the road did a flip in mid air rolled hitting on the passenger side and came to rest on drivers side. Air bags did not deploy, engine was still running wide open, managed to somehow reach the ignition key to turn engine off, it took fire rescue 35 minuters to cut me out of the SUV,I was taken to the hospital with minor injuries,as of 12/10/04 I am still going through therapy with my neck and shoulders, SUV was a total loss. Had to purchase a new automobile.

The bracket holding the foot accelerator pedal on my 1996 Ford Explorer broke off while driving the vehile. As a result of this failure I lost complete control of the ability to add fuel to the engine and accelerate or hold speed. The bracket appeared to have been welded to the firewall as part of the manufacturing process. All 3 welds broke. At the time I was not doing anything out of the ordinary and had not put any abnormal strain or pressure on the foot feed pedal or the bracket. There is no appearance of corrosion so I suspect the welds failed farily recently. If this failure had occured as I was pulling into or accross traffic a serious accident could have resulted.

While driving 55 mph the gas pedal fell off.

While driving throttle pedal will stick and vehicle will accelerate. Could have caused an accident. Cause unknown. Dealer notified.

While accelerating on interstate 17 to pass a truck, the entire gas pedal assembly separated from the firewall of vehicle, causing a sudden loss of power and a near-collision.

Sticking throttle body, causes gas pedal to stick after park. Identical to Ford recall of sohc engine, however Ford recall does not cover this engine (4. 0l push rod v6). Sticking pedal cured by replacing defective throttle body. Ford will not recall throttle body for this engine. Sticking pedal caused "sudden acceleration" from stop, resulting in close call backing into shopping center store front. Ford should recall this defective throttle body, all services have been performed since new at Ford dealer. Throttle body was cleaned by dealer in December 2000.

Gas pedal pivot frame became detached from floorboard/firewall while driving at 55 mph. Pedal was held with 3 flimsy spot welds. Repaired by dealer by bolting through bracket and truck body. Contacted Ford, and they refused to do anything. I noted a couple of instances of same problem in your database. Very fortunate that this did not happen on the beltway, where results would have been disastrous, if not deadly.

Was traveling 55mph using a stick shift. Accelerator pedal throttle body had stuck. Had shifted into neutral & the engine would be revving. Took to dealer & had the throttle replaced at twice, so far.

Accelerator pedal failed due to a faulty weld. Dealer/ manufacturer notified and refused to repair unless cost goes to consumer. Can NHTSA provide additional information or help in this matter.

Consumer was driving when gas pedal broke off firewall. Dealer notified, and informed consumer that repairs would be made at consumer expense.

Sudden acceleration while pulling at approximately 10 mph. Accelerator pedal went down to the floor and would not return, causing vehicle to lose control and run off to the side of the road before stopping. No injuries to report.

Accelerator pedal broke off.

The gas pedal is too close to the brake pedal, causing the driver to apply both by mistake. Dealer replaced gas pedal assembly, and problem still exists.

Vehicle's accelerator pedal spot welds are defective and the pedal was hanging off one weld.

Gas pedal sticks.

After taking foot off the accelerator pedal vehicle continues to accelerate. Dealer can not identify the problem. Please give any further details.