general problems of the 2004 Ford Taurus

The problem is the cruise control cable can come a loose from the throttle body when the accelerator is pressed. When the driver releases the accelerator, if the cruise control cable has come loose, the fitting at the end of it can get jammed in the cam that rotates the throttle plate, and it won allow the throttle to close, causing the engine rpm to stay high. This can happen randomly. It may happen while driving, and it can be duplicated when the car is in park. Several other people have had this concern. I "googled" throttle sticking on 04 Taurus, and came back with several hits, including some shadetree fixes. I feel this should be a recall as it can lead to a crash if the brakes arent powerful enough to overcome the engine's power output or the driver doesnt think to turn the ignition off (or they turn the key too far and lock the steering too) and/or engine/transmission damage.

I am filing dual complaints pertaining to this issue, first with the national highway transportation safety authority and a second consumer complaint with mr. Patrick morrisey, attorney general west virginia. The attorney general has a consumer protection division to help residents in the event of a safety concern and a consumer complaint that brings a concern to the safety of others, as well as the safety of the public and the consumer. Under "speed control" as checked off, this includes systems and devices intended to control (accelerate) the speed of the vehicle to the driver's intent such as the accelerator pedal, throttle control cables, linkages, actuators, electronic control units and software, cruise control system actuators and deactivating systems, and other components and systems that may interfere with the speed control system (e. G. , floor mats). My 2004 Taurus has nearly 90,000 miles. It has been running well. On multiple incidents in 2017 my Taurus would without any warning or indications suddenly begin to accelerate on its own. I describe it to others as having to throttle stick. I was freaking out, because cars behind me did not understand what was happening and I was afraid they would easily become collateral damage. I put the car into nuetral and the engine on its own volition revved up to over 4000 rpm. A person on the side walk thought I was about to strike them as they jump out of the way. I learned 150 faulty speed control problem complaints, 6 injuries, and 1 death. This problem is a very common problem the NHTSA has known since 2004, people have been injured as a result and even death reported but strangely no safety recall has been issued about this terrible and tragic problem, which is another reason I am filing the dual complaint in the hopes that attorney general morrisey. He is responsible for public safety from such issue.

The whole entire wires under the dashboard caught on fire and almost blew me my kids up in dallas texas, had it total and the mechanic stated that the whole computer system blew the wires out and that it was a manufacturing problem.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. While depressing the accelerator pedal, the pedal became stuck to the floorboard. The vehicle continued to accelerate when the brake pedal was depressed. In addition, the vehicle was idling while in park. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the cause of the failure was undetermined. The technician repaired the fuel injection, cabin air filter, idle control valve, and the butterfly valve. The failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 134,272.

Vehicle throttle got stuck, daughter was drive had to put car in neutral to kick throttle down, found out that cruise control cable is coming off throttle body and jamming, been happening multiple times for last year.

This has happened over the past two days. The first time was at a freeway speed of 65 mph and the second time happened on a side street at a speed of 40 mph. As I released the gas peddle the car maintained the speed or accelerated on it's own.

Drove car about 4 miles. No problems. When parked it was smoking real bad under hood then caught on fire. Fireman said it was electrical. It gave no warning. As I looked on this website I have seen that I am not the only person that has had this happen. My car is totaled and I am without a vehicle. Now what will Ford do about that? I could have been killed. Thank god I wasn't.

Coming down poway road in poway, CA it was very difficult to stop and it seemed the engine was revving. I pulled over to a safe turnout and it was difficult to stop completely as the brakes were spongy. When I put the transmission in park, the engine speed was over 2500 rpm. I turned the engine off and could smell the brakes. Suspecting a stuck throttle, I removed the protective cover and the accelerator was being held open by the cruise control cable which had become disconnected at the throttle linkage area. I removed the assembly and pushed it aside so we could continue driving. I consider this a very dangerous situation as we were driving down a grade and I was trying to apply the brakes at the same time the engine was pushing us faster. Since it was Saturday I drive to the dealer. I knew there had been a similar recall I checked to see if our vehicle was included and it was not but the service advisor was very familiar with the recall which which Ford had done as "customer satisfaction program 13b04" which he provided me a copy of. I have seen this in my son's 2002 Ford Taurus also. The clip that holds the cruise control cable to the throttle linkage disconnects and because of the stiffness, actually prevents the accelerator linkage from returning to idle. Although it has not failed, I can see the same linkage on my 2003 Mercury sable which of course is a repackaged Taurus. This clip is a very poor design in that it does not do a good job of holding onto the accelerator pin. From observation I know that it was used in at least 3 model years and perhaps more. This should have been more than a courtesy fix as unintended acceleration can be very dangerous as the last few years have shown. It should be expanded to include any vehicle that used this design. It's not a question of if it will fail but as our experience today shows, when.

My 2004 Ford Taurus accelerated on its own quite a few times. After goggling the problem I saw that there had been a recall. I called Ford & was told my car wasn't included in the recall. They also told me to get it fixed because it could be dangerous. I know that because I was almost in a few accidents because of the sudden acceleration. I'd have to pull over, if not at a red light or stop sign, put the car in park & hit the accelerator a few times. I actually had to turn the car off & back on once to get the rpms down. I had the cruise control cable totally removed. The cruise hadn't worked in yrs. My mom owned the car before I did. I'd like to know why my Taurus wasn't in the recall.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 25 mph, the vehicle accelerated independently. When the brake pedal was depressed, the throttle would continue to rev intermittently. The failure occurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the mechanic stated that the control cables detached from the throttle body and subsequently interfered with the throttle fully closing to the idle position. The vehicle was not repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 68,000.

I was driving and coming to a complete stop, when the car began to accelerate itself. I braked, that didn't help much. It stopped the car, but did not stop the engine from abnormally reving itself up. I pushed the gas and it was okay, but still at a higher rpm than normal. Again, 5 mins later, while sitting in traffic it reved up again. It was at about 2500 rpm, coming from a dead stop. I freaked out and tried to put the car in park thinking that would help. When I put it in park, it reved itself to about 4000rpm. I turned it off. I turned it back on a short while later and drove to a parking lot and kept it parked.

I was trying to stop for a red light. The engine rpm suddenly increased and when I pressed the brake the rpm kept increasing. I shifted from drive to park and the rpm still kept increasing. I finally pumped the gas pedal while in park and the rpm went down. This happened again about 20 minutes later when I accelerated after being stopped at a light.

The plastic bracket that attaches the cruise control cable assembly to the throttle is defective it slips off the throttle and gets caught causing the throttle to stay open. . This has caused my car to continue accelerating with my foot on the gas pedal to speeds in excess of 50 mph. . . Braking is difficult because the car is continuing to accelerate. . This is causing stress on my braking system. . . I had a brother who was nearly killed in an accident because of a similar issue on a different vehicle . . The Ford reps I have talked to are aware of the issue yet Ford refuses to issue a safety recall. . Are the waiting to be the next "gm" in the news. . Waiting until people are killed instead of being proactive. . .

While traveling on the highway, auto speed increased to 70 miles per hour with foot removed from the gas pedal. Application of brakes slowed the auto but the brakes were working against the engine. Auto returned to 70 miles per hour without applying gas, when the brakes were release. Pulled off the highway. Shifted into neutral and engine revved up to 4,000 rpm. Applied brakes to a stop. Turned off the auto. Checked that the floor mat was not restricting the gas pedal. Opened the auto hood operated throttle by hand and the throttle seemed to release. Continued to destination without problems. Checked throttle at destination and noted that the cruise control cable was disconnected.

I was driving and had turned into a store parking lot. I made a turn down a row to park and as I ran over a grate, going no more than 25 mph, the car began to accelerate. The rpm's went up to about 40 mph. I could feel it. My foot was not on the gas. My daughter and I were horrified. I pulled into a parking spot as far away from the other vehicles as possible. The car was roaring so hard. I called my mechanic because I had just had the vehicle inspected. The mechanic told me to quickly pat down on the gas (then release) while the car was safely in park. I did it and it and it stopped it. I could feel it immediately stop the acceleration.

We were driving into aurora, IL on hwy 88. Suddenly, the engine began speeding and we had to apply the brakes and ride the brakes to keep the speed at 45. We were in a work zone, there was a lot of traffic, and the car was hard to control. We pulled into an oasis/rest area where we turned off the car and restarted it. We would push down the accelerator and the revving would drop off some, but it continued to be a problem. When we returned home, we took the car to our mechanic, who did fuel injector cleaning and flushed the transmission; he also found that the accelerator line had disconnected the cruise control. We thought the problem was fixed. Today, it happened again. We googled it and discovered the NHTSA's investigation of sudden, unexplained acceleration in the Ford Taurus model. My wife is now afraid to drive this care or have me drive it. Please advise.

While driving the accelerator was racing so high,I turn off the engine then I start the engine it still racing . When I put in reverse then drive it stops racing it really scares me.

The car will try to accelerate when coming to a stop as well as when you foot is off the accelerator. In the instances that this has happened my wife or I has shifted the car to neutral at a stop and the engine will rev to 3,000 rpms and stay there. Please note when this happens the car will try to move forward and accelerate in drive even when your foot is on the brake.

Starting approximately a month ago my throttle started getting stuck on my car. I was driving down the highway and when I took my foot off of the gas peddle, the speed slowed down some, but then it acted as though the cruise control was on and the throttle was stuck. I was pressing the brake but the throttle was still engaged. Even when I was at a complete stop, the throttle was still engaged and the engine racing. Several times I had to put the car in neutral and/or stomp on the gas pedal several times to get the throttle to release. This doesn't happen all the time but is an intermittent problem.

While driving my car, without any warnings, seemed to have lost gears. My car would idle but would not go forward or backwards. I am told, from my mechanic, it is my transmission. I have always taken care of my car. This happened without any warning. Fortunately I was not on the highway! very scary!.

The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that would lose power while driving at any speed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the dealer performed a diagnostic that located the failure at the catalytic converter. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and the current mileage was 87,000.

I read this story u. S. Investigates Ford Tauruses for stuck throttles by peter valdes-dapena @peterdrives March 12, 2012: 1:19 pm et and when it happened to me did not think much about it but after reading this I am now concerned. I just pulled out from a gas station accelerated to about 30mph when I notice it was still accelerating without my foot on the accelerator pedal. As it was still gaining speed I became nervous and put it into neutral it did rev up to a hi tach speed (5000) or better. I kicked the accelerator pedal quick and hard to see if that would knock it down before I would have turned it off but it did work. I latter stopped opened the hood looked for anything obvious around the area where accelerator & speed control cable come to and found the speed control cable not connected to the ball. Reattached it but seemed loose plastic seemed to be worn some. But has fallen off again. Checked the speed control cable where it goes into the control box seemed to be loose and no binding. In all the years I have had this car have had this problem one time. . . . Oh and by the way just before I kicked the accelerator I did try to turn on/off the speed control thinking that somehow it had engaged but had no effect.

Everytime the vehicle is driven the vehicle accelerates on its own even while applying the brake. While moving or stopped, I have to shift into neutral, the rpms rev up and I have to tap the gas pedal for the rpms to drop back down. Then, I have to shift back into drive. The only solution I have been given is to replace the idol air control valve (iac) and that didn't make a difference. I don't have a problem shifting into neutral while driving, because I am an experienced driver, but my 17 yr son drives the car as well and I worry about his safety.

Gas pedal sticks and car accelerates. Cruise control stopped working.

I have a 2004 Ford Taurus and around 2006 the throttle sometimes accelerates and sticks on its own. The cruise control also stopped working around this time. When I was driving I would notice the rpm's going up and not coming down, so I would have to put the car in neutral and rev the engine. This is happening more frequently. I have asked multiple mechanics to help with this problem but no one has had a clue about this or how to fix it, including classic Ford in mentor, ohio.