23 problems related to speed control cable have been reported for the 2003 Ford Taurus. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Ford Taurus based on all problems reported for the 2003 Taurus.
The accelerator cable gets stuck. Which causes the car to rev at 2000 rpms even when the brakes are applied the car is trying to take off when waiting at a red light or in motion.
Tl the contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 70 mph, the throttle control cable became stuck. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The driver placed excessive pressure on the brake pedal, pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, and shut off the engine. The contact assisted the driver with releasing the stuck cable. The vehicle was restarted. The contact called avis Ford inc at 248-355-7500 (29200 telegraph rd, southfield, michigan 48034) and was informed that a recall repair was performed earlier on the vehicle and would not be done again. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.
I was driving and the car revved the engine which made it feel like the car was going to take off. The car did jerk forward. And another time, I was at a stop light and the car revved like it was trying to go, even though the brake was being held down. The gray cap that holds the throttle cable in has broken on one side and the cable is slipping out. Is this a recall part?.
Car accelerated itself after releasing gas pedal on highway. Engine rpm hit about 4000. It was very hard to stop the car by brake. I checked under the hood and found the cruise control cable had problem. A plastic part on the cable was broken and caused the throttle body to stuck. Please see attached picture for reference.
While driving my car began to accelerate and the more I tried to put on my brakes it continues on a busy 4 lane street. I was able to turn at a turn in slamming in on my brakes and throwing my shaft into park. It was still shaking like it wanted to go. I got it towed to my mechanic. The cruise control throttle cable insert split and got caught on the throttle bracket. It could have killed me and hurt a lot of people. I can't sell this car like this. I want Ford to recall and reimburse me for this terrible traumatic incident.
Tl - the contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the accelerator pedal became stuck without warning and there was a sudden increase of engine rpms. The vehicle was merged to the side of the road, where it was turned off and towed to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the throttle cable was defective and needed to be replaced. The contact mentioned that there was a manufacturer service campaign directly related to the failure. However, the vehicle was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 160,000. Pm.
Was driving in traffic when throttle became stuck open. Engine revved high. I put it into neutral, applied the brakes and pulled over. Engine was revving at 4000 rpm's. Open engine hood and noticed the throttle cable mount/harness had broken loose and came out of alignment. I then drove home and tried to call a service station, but it was after 5pm on Saturday and could not find an open service station. Will call Ford on Monday morning.
The car was being driven at 15 miles an hour, slowing down to prepare to turn left. Suddenly the car sped up uncontrollably. The brakes would not slow the car down. The car had to be thrown into park to make it stop. We turned the engine off. Turning the engine back on, the engine started revving up very high on its own. We turned the engine back off and towed the car to the mechanic, and he found that the cruise control malfunctioned. He disconnected the cruise control cable, and the problem went away. . Read more...
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph when the accelerator pedal became jammed, with speeds reaching 85 mph. The driver was able to stop after depressing the brakes. The vehicle was pulled over and later towed to an independent mechanic. After diagnosis they advised her that the cruise control cable started binding and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired with a new cruise control cable. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileage was approximately 116,546. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl- the contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 45 mph, the contact removed his foot from the accelerator pedal but the vehicle continued to accelerate independently. The driver applied excessive force to the brake pedal and shifted into neutral in order to stop the vehicle. The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed a plastic clip on the throttle cable was fractured, which caused the cable to become stuck. There was a concurrent investigation under NHTSA action number: pe12005 (vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 33,000. The VIN was not available. Kmj.
Entered highway on-ramp. As I merged onto highway at approximately 55 mph, I notice that the car was accelerating faster than usual for the amount of throttle I was using. I took my foot off the throttle completely and the car continued to slowly but steadily accelerate. Without placing my foot on the throttle, I continued down the highway to the next exit. As I approached the light at the end of the exit, I began braking. Feeling the engine fight the brakes, I moved the shift level into neutral and brought the car to a stop on the shoulder of the exit. As soon as I placed the shift lever into neutral, engine rpm shot up as if the accelerator was being depressed. Repeatedly pressing and un-pressing the accelerator pedal did not nothing, nor was the pedal stuck on the floor mat. I turned the car off and place the shift lever into park. Starting the car again resulted in the same behavior: engine rpm shot up even though the accelerator pedal was not depressed. I turned the car off and opened the hood. I identified the throttle body and notice that a plastic clip had become dislodged from the point where the throttle cable enters the throttle body. After several minutes of reinserting and wiggling the clip, I was able to get it to stay in its proper place, and thereafter, the throttle behaved normally. I carefully drove to the nearest Ford dealership where they replaced the following part: yfiz*9a825 actuator asy. I have this invoice available if you need it. I have not experience any other issues with the throttle.
Sudden unintended acceleration occurred while driving at 50 mph. After applying brakes, I shifted into neutral, stopped the car and shut off the engine. The car was towed to a Ford dealer for service. The dealer found that the cruise control cable had broken and caused the throttle to stay fully open.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal stuck while driving 30 to 35 mph. There would be an increase in engine rpms up to 4,000 unless the vehicle was shifted into neutral while applying the brakes. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic, who inspected the engine and found that the plastic clip that held the vehicle speed control cable to its bracket was fractured. The mechanic took a piece of wire and wrapped it around the cable and bracket to remedy the failure. The dealer was not notified. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 87,000 and the current mileage 93,000.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle, the rpms would fluctuate rapidly. The vehicle had not accelerated but the contact stated that when the failure occurred, it seemed as if the vehicle was attempting to surge forward. The contact would then firmly apply the brakes as a precaution. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who stated that the failure was most likely caused by a cruise control cable failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 140,000 and the current mileage was 150,000.
Pulled into traffic just before stop light, car continued to accelerate, at stop light put car in to neutral, engine continued to race, turned car off and back on still continued to accelerate, pulled into traffic as I could not pull out of traffic continue to shift to neutral, in and out till could pull over and call tow truck. Breaks were able to control car but engine over heated. Took to local dealership where was told it was a broken/stuck cruise control cable and that engine overheating had cracked radiator cap.
In addition to previous complaint. . Confirmation # 10482482. . . . . . The repair shop I took it to said that it was the cruise control cable that was causing the problem with my engine speeding up like that. I was in the car with my son at the time. Safe to say that me and him were scared out of our wits. I haven't had any problems with my engine speeding up since the repair shop replaced the cable. Nevertheless, I just heard a couple days ago about an investigation into my model/year vehicle again about engines revving up on abc news. I don't know if there is a recall or not. However, on my way from church today, my engine light came on for the very first time this year. I stopped by an autozone to get a free engine check and the results said that it detected a higher than normal engine speed due to a possible engine vacuum leak or failed iac valve. I will take it to Ford dealership this Wednesday to get it checked out officially (if my car will make it) because I have to work Monday and Tuesday. I'm a little anxious, scared, and wondering if my engine will rev up like that again or stall out somewhere :(.
Driving on the interstate at around 65 miles per hour the car started to accelerate on its own. I was unable to brake, so I pulled the car over to the side and put the car in neutral. In neutral the cars rpm shot up to 4000. I turned the car off. Upon examination of the throttle it has been discovered that the cruise control cable clip or adjuster that connects the cable to the throttle is cracked and not longer holds the cable in place. I have been able to manually adjust the cable back into position and drive the car, but it continues to fall out and accelerate on its own. Has happened several times and is very dangerous. I have been unable to locate this "clip" to have the problem fixed.
Vehicle speed control: linkage 2003 Ford Taurus station wagon; 3. 0l dohc a black plastic connector along the throttle cable under the hood became disconnected from a gray plastic piece. The black plastic piece became stuck against the edge of the gray piece, causing the throttle to stay wide open & undesired acceleration & some panic. It appears that this could be repaired by simply inserting 2 screws to secure the 2 plastic pieces together.
On Wednesday, November 25, 2009, I was driving my parents 2003 Ford Taurus sel around town, doing last minute shopping for thanksgiving, when all of a sudden the car took off, as if the gas pedal had gotten stuck. My mother was in the front passenger seat and I told her what was happening. I tried stepping on the gas pedal to see if it had gotten stuck, but that did not help and I was getting very concerned. I kept my foot on the brake and then put the car into a lower gear and then into neutral, all the while, the engine continued racing, and turned off the engine. It took me almost two blocks to get the car stopped. I immediately called the auto club for a tow truck, as there was no way I was going to turn the engine back on. I then called my father and told him what happened and he proceeded to come down to where we were. The tow truck came and the driver was the one who found that the plastic housing that holds the cruise control cable had broken and the cable slipped back and was wedged-up against the side of the broken housing. I took photos of this. The car was taken up to our mechanic. The cruise control has never been used. We contacted the Ford customer service who took all the information and gave us case number 0436723349. They told us to take the car to the dealership to have the part replaced. My parents took the car to the dealer, but they only offered to replace the part; however, we wanted someone to witness it and see what it looked like before the part was taken off and discarded and we would have had no way to prove it even happened. They just wanted my parents to leave the car all day to have it checked out, but my father opted to take it back to our mechanic who would save the part and give it to my father.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, the vehicle accelerated up to 75 mph without warning. The brakes were applied, but the vehicle continued to accelerate. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle onto the shoulder and stop. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer. The dealer inspected the vehicle and found that the cruise control throttle cable was fractured. The dealer replaced the throttle cable. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 94,000 and the current mileage was 112,000. The VIN information was not available.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 45 mph, the contact depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle would not decelerate. The contact placed the vehicle in neutral and applied excessive pressure to the brake pedal in order to stop the vehicle and turned the engine off. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. There was a recall under NHTSA action number: pe12033 (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 50,000.
Cruise control cable become disconnected and get lodged behind throttle linkage.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving 45 mph, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated as the contact turned onto a road. She attempted to stop the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. She was finally able to shut off the engine and the vehicle was towed. The tow truck driver stated that a cable had become stuck, which caused the failure. The failure recurred approximately 3-4 weeks later. The contact performed the procedure the mechanic showed her in regards to the failure and continued driving. The contact's son explained that it was the cruise control cable that was stuck and he proceeded to disconnect the cable. Ford informed her that her VIN was not included in the cruise control recall. The current mileage was 75,300 and failure mileage was 74,000. Updated 04-08-08.