Speed Control Cable problems of the 2001 Ford Taurus

The throttle cable housing does not stay in it's seat where it is mounted by the throttle body causing over acceleration when using moderate acceleration, very hard braking is necsesary to stop and putting the transmission in neutral causes major over reving of the engine.

Car suddenly accelerating when using cruise control. Cruise control actuator cable adjuster appears to be malfunctioning.

I was entering onto the freeway, and when I accelerated to reach 60mph, the vehicle continued to accelerate without my foot on the pedal, and had to use my brakes continuously to keep from crashing into other cars until I could get it safely pulled over to the emergency lane, and forcing the stop with all I had. The whole car was shaking. Quite scary. Had it towed to the dealership, and the diagnosis was that the cruise cable broke and got caught on the accelerator cable which caused sudden and unintended acceleration. While researching this issue, found others who experienced the same thing. Why there isn't a recall on this, I will never know. If there are numerous complaints of malfunctions resulting in possible crash, don't you think the manufacturer would put the consumer first, investigate it, and make it right? I will never buy another Ford.

My daughter had just left a stoplight and at approximately 35 miles an hour let off the throttle but vehicle continue to accelerate. Pushed as hard as possible on the brake to slow vehicle down and get off the road put in park throttle still high, shut the vehicle off. I investigated and found cruise control cable casing had come out of plastic retainer clip and end of cable housing caught on plastic retaining clip causing throttle to remain open approximately 1/2 inch off idle!.

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While driving 35 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and continued to accelerate when the brake pedal was depressed. The contact had to shift the gear into neutral in order to stop the vehicle. The dealer stated that the cruise control cable was wrapped around the accelerator cable and caused the failure. The cruise control and accelerator cables were replaced. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 140,000.

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph and making a turn, the vehicle unexpectedly increased acceleration. In order to stop the vehicle, the gear lever was shifted into the neutral position and the brake pedal was engaged forcefully. The failure recurred four times after being repaired under a voluntary recall issued by the manufacturer. The remedy consisted of replacing the accelerator pedal cable clip. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The approximate failure mileage was 160,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Car would not stop accelerating. I see that throttle cable is binding and getting hung up in the open position.

While driving under normal conditions at a steady speed, the car began to speed up rapidly, reaching near 55 mph within seconds. The engine stayed around 4,000 rpm and using the brakes only slowed the vehicle, but could not stop it. To avoid a crash, the only option I had was to shift the car into neutral and turn in to a parking lot. Once in neutral, the engine's rpm remained close to 4,000. After turning the ignition off, I inspected under the hood of the car to find that the flimsy plastic piece that holds the cruise control cable in the proper position was broken in several places, leaving the cable free to get caught on what is left of the plastic piece extremely easily. Since that incident, the exact same situation has happened several times. Due to the plastic piece being broken, the cable does not sit inside the plastic piece as intended, which has caused the rpm to stay higher than normal at all times when the car is in gear. While driving, removing my foot from the accelerator pedal to begin decelerating before a stop has no effect, as if the cruise control is engaged at all times. Slowing the vehicle can only be done by using the brakes. This situation came very suddenly with absolutely no prior signs or symptoms of any problem. The rapid, uncontrollable acceleration poses a severe safety threat to driver and anybody around the vehicle. Luckily there was not any traffic when this happened to me, and there was a parking lot nearby to exit the road. If this happened while in moderate to heavy traffic, a crash would be very likely. This issue is unpredictable and has happened to me at highway speeds of 70 mph and at road speeds of 35 mph. I have since decided to park my car and not operate it until I can fix this problem because it is highly unsafe to drive in its current state.

On two separate occasions, the throttle cable (or speed control cable) got stuck and my car accelerated at a high rate of speed. Luckily, both times I was fairly close to home and made it without causing an accident. After the first incident, I found where the cable was getting hung up. I sprayed it with wd-40, but that obviously did not do the trick as it happened again today. I've read where others have had the same issue and, given this extremely dangerous situation, am shocked that the NHTSA hasn't taken action.

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while traveling 30 mph, the accelerator pedal seized and the vehicle erroneously accelerated. The contact was able to stop the vehicle by shifting into neutral. The contact took the vehicle to a mechanic and was told that a mounting piece on the throttle cable fractured and caused the failure. The cruise control was disconnected to correct the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileages were 130,000.

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.

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 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.

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.

I have been a licensed drive for 37 years. After merging my 2001 Ford Taurus onto an interstate highway, the vehicle continued to accelerate after I removed my foot from the gas pedal. I tapped the brakes to see if cruise control was on. It wasn't. I glanced at the gas pedal to see is something was on it. There wasn't. I tapped the gas pedal to see if it was stuck. It stayed depressed. I braked hard and the vehicle slowed to 60mph. I released the brake pedal and the car began accelerating again. To keep from rear-ending the car ahead of me, I downshifted and stood on the brake pedal. I pulled onto the road shoulder, shifted the transmission to neutral and was able to stop the car with brakes smoking. The engine continued to race. I turned off the car and had it towed to a Ford dealer. The service representative told me the plastic bracket that holds the throttle cable in place had broken and the cable had jammed in with the throttle open. The service department replaced the throttle cable assembly(yfiz*9a825 actuator asy). They kept the old part. I feel I was fortunate not to have caused an accident and been injured or killed. My teenagers also drive the vehicle and might not have been able to successfully stop the car as I did.

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 traveling 40 mph, the contact stated that he released his foot from the accelerator pedal yet the vehicle continued to abnormally accelerate. He then shifted the vehicle into neutral however, the engine rpms remained at 4000. The vehicle was not diagnosed and there were no prior warnings of the failure. The contact examined the vehicle and noticed that the acceleration cable had fractured from the throttle body. The vehicle was not repaired. The current and failure mileage was 121,000.

The contact owns a 2001 Ford Taurus. While the contact was driving approximately 35 mph, the accelerator pedal began to stick and the engine rpms increased to 4,000. There was also a burning odor inside of the vehicle. The contact and front seat passenger attempted to release the accelerator pedal manually; however, the pedal would not release causing the vehicle to continue to accelerate. The brakes were engaged repeatedly. When the gear selector was shifted into the neutral position the vehicle came to a stop. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer for inspection. The vehicle had not been diagnosed at the time of the complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000. The dealer replaced the cruise control cable. Updated 09/20/10.

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.

The throttle stuck on a 2001 Ford Taurus while in motion ~45mph and in moderate traffic. Experienced driver used aggressive braking to control and stop vehicle without crashing and then turned ignition off to control engine. The speed control system was not in use. Found plastic tab holding speed control cable to the accelerator cable bracket on throttle body damaged. This allowed outer sheathing of the speed control cable to separate and jam and hold throttle plate open. Removed and replaced speed control cable assembly with part number yf1z-9a825-CA.

Ford Taurus 2001 cruise control poorly designed cruise cable caused the car to continue running at high speed. Cruise control was not engaged at the time of the problem showing up. I turned engine off. It could have been bad if some one else was driving. I have investigated the problem and can easily reproduce it. When depressing the accelerator pedal both the throttle cable and the cruise cable are moving together. But when the plastics on the end of the cruise cable gets old the two parts separate and the cable sleeve is getting stuck on the outside of the holding piece. The accelerator cable then cannot go bake into idle position. If the explanation is not clear I can add photos of the problem. Arie kryzewski.

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.

Engine races to 3500-4500 rpm with foot off of accelerator and usually while on brake, hot or cold, in or out of gear, while driving, stopped, or parked. Has nothing to do with pedal spacing, has occurred often enough to verify that foot was either completely off accelerator or completely on brakes. Occurs randomly and without warning, usually around 40 mph in city style driving. Has been serviced three (3) times, has not been duplicated by Ford service techs, nor has the problem been resolved. Happens both with the speed control cable attached or detached from the throttle body. Pedal is not jamming on floor mat or any other footwell obstructions. Has occurred while stopped at a stoplight, required extreme braking effort to keep vehicle stationary, resolved when accelerator depressed on green light. Has also occurred driving into neighborhood, rode brakes until I got to my driveway where heavy braking was applied and car put in park and ignition quickly turned off. During drive thru neighborhood while engine racing was occuring, numerous attempts were made to resolve problem by putting vehicle in nuetral, but had no effect. Vehicle was reentered after sitting in driveway for approx 30-60 minutes. Brake pedal depressed, ignition turned on, foot remained on brake to put vehicle in reverse, immediatley upon putting vehicle in reverse throttle raced and threw vehicle 1. 5-2 car lengths backwards before contorl was resumed by firmly applying brakes. During this incident, foot was never removed from brake pedal. Car quickly shut off, and scenario was repeated by father, car brought under control agian, and problem resolved by applying accelarator while in neutral. Other incidents have occured while removing foot from accelarator and coasting. Obviously it is not always safe to resolve problem by accelerating, and is an incredibly dangerous problem.