Speed Control Cable problems of the 2002 Ford Taurus

On 14 oct 2017, the subject vehicle had just been serviced. On the drive home, the throttle cable became stuck causing the car to not stop accelerating. The driver was able to exit the highway and stopped the car by crashing into a dumpster/fence at a service station.

While accelerating onto an interstate(210frwy in la), the vehicle began accelerating on it's own up to 4000 rpm's. The car reached up to 80 mph without touching the pedal. I had to use the neutral setting on transmission to slow down and eventually exit the busy highway. After checking under the hood I noticed the cruise control cable out of it's plastic retainer and stuck along the broken plastic clip that holds it. This car belongs to my 78 yr old father inlaw and I am glad this happened to me and not him or the outcome could have been fatal. Ford should have a recall on this design flaw in my opinion. At the very least they should have a simple fix like a metal cable retainer.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. While driving 10-20 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently. The contact was able to place the vehicle in neutral to slow it down. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that a plastic tab linked to the vehicle speed control cable fractured and seized in the open position. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, but was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 87,667.

Was stopped at a stop light and went to accelerate and the car started to accelerate by itself up to 4000 rpm's and I was unable to get it to stop. Had to keep two feet on the brakes until I could get it to a stopping place. When I had to stop I would have to put the car in neutral an the engine was still revving up and the brakes started to smoke. Had the car towed to a mechanic and he said it was the cruise control cable that had came loose. It was a very scary situation and thankfully no one was hurt and I managed to get the car to a place where I could stop and turn it off. The brakes were smoking and the rear brakes are totally burnt up. I am just glad that my wife or daughter were not driving when this occurred because I don't think they would have know what to do in that type of situation and there could have been a much worse outcome. We have been the sole owners of this vehicle.

Coming up to a yield on red right turn only lane at a stop light with a car in front of me, the car suddenly started to accelerate. I narrowly avoided hitting the car in front of me by slamming on my brake. The car was still traveling at about 5-10mph with the pedal brake fully engaged. I navigated to a safe location, put the car in neutral, and turned the ignition off, then put the car in park. I popped the engine hood and saw that the gray clip, holding in cruise control cable assembly, broke at a thin point in the plastic. This allowed the cable assembly to fall out and pull the throttle. I seated it back into the broken clip with electrical tape to get it to a place I could work on it. I plan on replacing the clip or the entire assembly; whatever is easier.

The cruise control cable broke at the throttle body bracket causing the engine to rev up to and stay at 4000 rpm. I had to put the car in neutral and shut it off.

Many 2002-2006 Taurus vehicles are having this problem. Broken plastic housing for cruise control cable where it joins throttle body. Cruise control cable hangs up in crack of broken housing. Vehicle accelerates with foot off accelerator to 60 mph or more. Excessive braking to prevent running over something. Brakes fade and braking becomes more difficult. My wife avoided a wreck but she was extremely lucky. Even at this age of the car, there needs to be a warning sent out to all owners or better yet, a recall if the vehicle still qualifies for one. My repair wasn't extremely expensive - only about $80. But the danger is the concern. My wife is a lucky lady.

I had the experience described exactly in your current investigation pe 12-033. Throttle was stuck open which caused engine to remain between 3000-4000 rpms even while decelerating or stopped. Physical inspection revealed fractured speed control cable collar. I would like to know if Ford as agreed to recall vehicles or fix this problem.

Was coming off us 501 in conway SC and heard a load pop sound put brakes on and car keep on going it would not stop the brakes would not stop the car it keep racing up. Had no were to go but the back end of a GMC truck. Car was towed to conway Ford. On 6/10/2013 talk to service and they said they tried to drive the car on the lot and it did it to them. . The diag. Was cruise control broke plus the actuator asy. On this year cruise control cable and acceloater cable are connected to throttle body on the same linkage. When cruise cable broke it caused the throttle body linkage to not return to idle position. Cruise control was not on when this happened.

When attempting to slow and exit I-77n in charlotte, nc last Sunday, the throttle remained open. I pulled off to the side of the road and shut the car off in gear. After calling for assistance, I noticed that the collar for the speed control was fractured and the cable was getting stuck on the broken collar. Obviously this was causing the accelerator to remain open. We brought the car to the local Ford dealer who replaced the cruise control cable. Scary experience for sure. In summary, the repair price was $235 (not including recovery from the highway).

While driving with the cruise control off. Normal acceleration up to highway speeds, upon releasing the gas pedal the throttle stuck open and the car would not decelerate without heavy braking. Pulled off the road and shut off engine. Discovered that the cruise control cable had pushed itself back out of a locking ferrule that is supposed to hold it in place with plastic tabs, and lodged sideways so the throttle was being held open. Put the cable back in place and it appeared to be properly seated but the same thing happened twice more before I could get the vehicle home. The plastic tabs have become brittle and broken and no longer properly hold the cruise control cable ferrule tightly in its socket. I see now from internet research that I could have completely disconnected the cable to completely alleviate the problem. But in the dark & cold and being unfamiliar with the mechanics of this particular vehicle I didn't have that knowledge at the time. Upon a bit of internet research I see this is a fairly common failure mode for this particular part on 2001-2006 Ford Taurus' and other Fords that use a similar mechanical cruise control method. I can't believe that there has not been a recall on this issue. . . This is a major safety issue and could easily cause a crash and fatalities. It was a pretty unnerving experience and I'm familiar with cars and have been driving over 35 years. . . I'd hate to have this happen to an inexperienced driver.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 80 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact merged to the shoulder and attempted to restart the vehicle but to no avail. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic advised that the throttle and cruise control cables needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 199,000 and the current mileage was 202,000.

While driving the throttle stuck in place and would not decelerate. Upon investigation the clip that holds the cruise control cable was broken, allowing the cable to slip out of place and jam the throttle cable in an accelerated position.

I pushed the accelerator into passing gear to go around a vehicle in the passing zone on a hill. When I released the accelerator the car continued to accelerate and on topping the hill we were traveling over 70 mph. I tapped the accelerator but acceleration continued. Coming down the hill I shifted into neutral and the engine accelerated to over 6000 rpm. I stopped on level ground and shut the engine off. On restart, the engine immediately revved to over 6000 rpm and a transaxle warning icon appeared. By alternately shifting in and out of gear I jerked to an auto body shop. The mechanics knew the problem immediately; broken plastic tabs had allowed the cruise control cable sheath to slip out of the throttle connector. The cable sheath was jammed against the edge of the connector, holding the throttle open. When the sheath was reinserted into the connector, rpm returned to normal. The mechanics wired the cable to the connector so we could continue our trip. Function is normal 3k miles later. The dealer indicated no recalls or TSB's related to the problem and wants $34. For a new cable.

Started the engine this morning and the engine raced to over 4000 rpm, having never touched the accelerator pedal today. Shut it down and started it again - same thing. Never seen anything like this before on this car. I looked under the hood and a beige colored plastic guide for the cruise control cable had a chip out of the side of the guide entry point such that the cruise control cable and sheath were caught out of alignment in the slot of the chip in the guide. I pulled out, straightened and reset the cable, sheath and guide and, again started the engine. Perfect idle. This is very dangerous if it were to happen while driving! I won't drive this car until I know it's resolved. Do you need pictures? I don't see any recall for this here. . .

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while traveling 30 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated and the engine rpms were stuck at 4,000. The contact was able to stop the vehicle by turning the ignition off. The contact restarted the engine, and the failure continued. The contact took the vehicle to a mechanic and the mechanic disconnected the throttle cable from the cruise control module. The failure and current mileages were 125,000. Updated 04/19/lj the consumer stated the cruise control was not activated at the time of the occurrence. The plastic sheath around the cable split and became hooked to the bracket, which forced the cruise throttle stay open. Updated 04/30/12.

I have a 2002 Ford Taurus sedan, and while driving about a month ago I pushed gas pedal to accelerate, the throttles became stuck causing the cars engine to speed up to 80 mph in a 30 mph speed zone. I had to apply as much pressure to the breaks as I could to control the car, and finally I was able to pull into a gas station, with the engine still racing, put the car into park and turn off the car. I was so afraid I just set in the car for about 10 minutes to collect my thoughts. I open the hood to see if anything had broken or came apart but could not find any unusual. I turn the car back on, the engine was still racing, I looked for the accelerator cable and found it. However, I notice that the small plastic o-ring on the cable used as a stop was caught on the corner of the air intake housing. I pulled back on the cable releasing it. When I let go of the cable it went back to its normal position, the engine stopped racing and slowed to a normal idle. I crept back home were the car set for two weeks before I had the nerves to drive it again. It happen again on 3/14/12 when I pushed the accelerator pedal to pass a truck on I-70w in columbus, OH.

Was riding down the road at 45mph and went to slow the car down at a stop light and the throttle failed to disengage was able to bring the vehicle to a stop using brakes and shifted to neutral to turn the vehicle off. Opened up the hood and found a sleeve was stuck to the housing body causing the throttle cable to not disengage properly. We reseated the sleeve and taped up the joint in order to get the vehicle home. We noticed an investigation about this problem and other incidents similar to ours so we thought we may need to report this as well.

This is my second complaint for a second related incident. After taking my car to the dealer to check my Ford Taurus for sudden acceleration 5 weeks earlier, the following occurred. My seventeen year old son called me from the parking lot of his high school clearly panicked that upon placing the car in gear, the gas pedal was sucked to the floor of his Ford Taurus and accelerated wildly out of control. This was the third time that this had occurred but this one was a near miss with a number of other vehicles. Sure enough, the gas pedal was stuck to the floor and there was no way to free it up. We had the car towed to varsity Ford in ann arbor, mi (invoice # [xxx]). The following language is taken from the service order; "customer states gas pedal stuck wide open, had to be towed in, check and advise. Found throttle cable binding and holding the accelerator lever down. Ordered the part and replaced the cable. Note the old cable had water in it and froze (this was the service guy's speculation), that's why it was intermittent. Recommended not power washing the cable end (we had never power washed the car and we are the original owners). " I have retained the replaced parts for your or any other entity's inspection. Total cost of this repair: $125. 25; total cost of the previous evaluation 5 weeks earlier: $164. 01; the cost of peace of mind that your car is not going to accelerate out of control: priceless. 1. How do I get my money back? 2. How do I know that they corrected the issue? the discussions I am reading are indicating a cruise control issue. Varsity Ford replaced an accelerator cable.

My seventeen year old son had told me previously that the gas pedal had been sucked down to the floor and the car accelerated wildly. At first, I dismissed it as the floor mat getting tangled in the gas pedal. But then I experienced it myself and it was a wild and crazy experience to get the car under control without any advance notice that it was going to take off from a dead stop after putting the car in gear. I took the car to varsity Ford in ann arbor, mi (invoice # [xxx]) and here is the service write up language; "customer states gas pedal will stick to the floor intermittently, check and advise. Checked the eecv system and road test inspected the throttle and cable and found absolutely no problem that would cause this concern, however, recommended some pm tune-up work. Replaced air filter as maintenance. This was the first incident. I will fill out another complaint form for the second incident. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I had noticed that my accelerator would get stuck just lightly pushing on the pedal once the car warmed up it would not happen but it had happened all winter long. Whenever you would start it up and start to drive the accelerator would get stuck full throttle and you would have to put it into neutral and shut the car off, open the hood and pull back on the cable that controls the throttle. I called Ford and notified them of it in case of a possible recall and they said they have never heard of this problem and that it is just a common failure then prompted me to bring it in for service at a tune of $350. 00. I of course did not because to me that is a manufacturer defect that should never have happened. I have owned many cars, mostly foreign and have never had any such problems. But this car is plagued with issues. Faulty accelerators, faulty brakes and rotors warping frequently for no reason, sensors failing, oil pressure problems, oil smell inside the cabin at sitting idle, camshaft synchronizer failure. Ford needs to be called on this because it is a major safety concern. I live on a disability income, cannot afford to buy a new car yet for the amount of repairs I've had to complete on this car I could have bought near new. Please do something about the accelerator problems and possibly look into the other problems associated with this particular Taurus. Ford sold a shady product and is not supporting it and making the consumer pay for their manufacturing defects.

Leaving the dealer--beach Ford---throttle hung wide open and could not stop the car. Went back to dealer and tech. Said " cruise control cable came loose and hung throttle open" tech--glued together and I drive this way now. Said he would put his wife in the car because it is safe now.

On my vehicle, a 2002 Ford Taurus ses sedan with a dohc duratec engine, there are plastic components that secure the cruise control cable to the throttle body. Over time these components wear out and break and become lodged in such a way as to hold the throttle open. This can have catastrophic and life threatening consequences. This happened to me this evening. If I had not quickly shifted the vehicle’s transmission into neutral I would have rammed the vehicle in front of me. Fortunately I know enough about cars that I was able to fix the problem with electrical ties and make my vehicle safe to drive. Ford motors has a duty to the public to immediately recall all vehicles with these plastic components and fix the problem.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 2 mph and pulling into a parking spot the vehicle accelerated independently and crashed into the concrete parking chock. The vehicle continued rolling and crash into another parked vehicle. The failure recurred a second time while driving 10 mph up a steep incline. The contact shifted into the neutral position and merged to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. The speed control cables were adjusted for a quick but not permanent fix. The dealer was notified but offered no assistance. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 77,000 and the current mileage was 78,000.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph with the cruise control activated, the vehicle accelerated abnormally. The accelerator pedal had become stuck to the floorboard and the contact had to repeatedly pump the accelerator pedal. The vehicle accelerated to 90 mph as the contact continued to abruptly apply the brakes. The vehicle was then shifted into neutral to disengage the vehicle speed control. Upon inspection, the contact discovered that the vehicle speed control actuator cable was fractured. He then taped the cables together and was able to drive to the dealer where he purchased a new cable and installed it himself. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a claim was filed. The manufacturer offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 180,000 and the current mileage was 207,625.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 65 mph, the speed increased abnormally as the vehicle accelerated. The contact engaged the brake pedal repeatedly yet, the vehicle continued to accelerate. The speed rate eventually reduced which allowed the vehicle to be maneuvered to the side of the road. The gear was then shifted into neutral and the engine began to roar loudly with a drastic increase in engine rpms. The contact was able to come to a complete stop and then inspected the engine area where he detected that the cruise control cable was partially frayed and stuck to the accelerator linkage. The contact disconnected the cruise control to prevent the acceleration failure from recurring. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

First incident of throttle cable becoming stuck and causing acceleration took place while merging onto I-25 from university blvd in denver, CO. Accelerated to highway speed (60 mph), however, once the accelerator pedal was no longer depressed, the vehicle continued to accelerate up to approximately 70 mph. Exited interstate at colorado blvd and had to apply heavy pressure to brake pedal as the vehicle continued to try to accelerate. Rpm's were about 5,000 while stopped, and once brake pedal was released the vehicle once again accelerated without he accelerator being depressed. Rpm's once again climbed when vehicle was put in park. Upon turning the vehicle off and inspecting the engine, it was discovered the throttle cable housing was broken and the throttle cable had come loose. Temporary repairs were made using a hose clamp, however, the acceleration has occurred numerous times (at least once every few months) since the first incident. The cable housing has degraded further, prompting fixes to be made to the throttle cable whenever an incident occurs.

Consumer stated: when he entered the vehicle, and prepared to start the car, the accelerator cable disconnected from the pedal and it went to the floor.