Speed Control Cable Problems of Ford Taurus - part 1

The throttle sticks open and the engine revs high making it hard to slow down and stop. The cruise control cable is holding the throttle open because of a faulty attachment to the throttle control. This is a known and wide problem. People are bandaging the problem with back yard fixes that can cause accidents. Not first time.

See all problems of the 2006 Ford Taurus 🔎.

2 times since sept. 2018 the cable under hood to accelerator came off while I was driving making it very difficult to stop. The first time I was driving on a state highway at 60 mph. The most recent I was driving in a subdivision at 10 mph. The rpm's increased drastically. I feel this is a major safety issue with this issue and Ford needs to fix it. I got this from my elderly mother and I am just thankful it did not happen while she was driving.

See all problems of the 2005 Ford 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.

See all problems of the 2003 Ford Taurus 🔎.

I was leaving the grocery store and driving down a local road when I realized that I was accelerating without having my foot on the gas pedal. This had happened twice before in the previous few weeks but far less severe. This time I had to keep my foot heavy on the brakes to maintain control. Fortunately I was near home and managed to get my car home without incident, although I saw that I had suddenly developed a flat on my front left tire. This had been a problem the previous year and when I took it into the shop I was told the cruise control cable was causing the problem. I had the car taken in (may 20, 2019) after the two minor incidents the previous week but the repair shop couldn't find the problem so I took the car back promising to come back if it acted up again.

Seems as if the car accelerator get stuck. Car slowly begins to increase in speed. When foot is taken off of the pedal car continues to increase in speed, even when applying the brake. I take a look under the hood and from what I can see there is a plastic piece connected to the accelerator cable the becomes detached from the actual accelerator bracket so to speak. Idk what actual terminology is. It is very hard to and get the accelerator out of the stuck position. Only way I have had success with getting the accelerator out of the stuck position is to very rapidly press pedal to floor and release. Only then it releases from the stuck position.

When vehicle gets between 40-45 mph, will not gear up properly and will not run correctly. Only does this intermittently, and you have to stop the car, unhook battery cable, give it a minute, hook it back up and it will run fine until the next time it does it- which could be days, weeks, even months.

See all problems of the 2008 Ford Taurus 🔎.

First time (oct 2018): while driving on freeway car kept accelerating without my foot on accelerator. I had to brake to slow within acceptable speed. Within 10 minutes the problem stopped occurring. I took it to mechanic & he could not find any problem or replicat the problem. 2nd time (oct 12, 2018, 4 days after being st mechanic) & 400 miles away from home-- I was driving on surface street in the city, acceleration happened again without any use of accelerator. I had to brake & get to side of street, put in park & turn off engine. Waited 10 minutes & tried again. Problem remedied. We looked on internet & found "unintended acceleration" problem with same make & year due to cruise control cable coming off the throttle control & getting in the way of throttle trying to close. Took it to mechanic, told them to look for this problem with cruise & throttle, & they said they would check. They said they could not replicate the ui but ascribed it to something else & charged me over $400, so I could drive back 400 miles to home safely. 3rd time- within 7 days, same acceleration happened after just leaving home, driving in city. Happened right way, throttled really high rpm's & so I shifted to neutral to stop. Tried it again over next 24 hours & problem continued. Tried it 2 days later when taking it to mechanic & it had resolved so I could drive it there. Told Ford mechanic about the internet explanation. Indeed, that is what they found: the cruise control cable was off the throttle control. Was pinching against the throttle, causing it to stay open. They tri ed to get the part, but were unable. So they used a cable tie to secure it in place. That has been almost a month ago, & I have not had the unintended acceleration occur since.

While driving his low mile 2005 Ford Taurus both on the highway and on city streets, my son has experienced several incidents of unintended acceleration or stuck throttle while letting off the gas pedal in order to slow down or brake. Additionally, the cruise control does not work. Driving on the very busy highways of northern California with its prevalent stop and go driving make this condition extremely dangerous. An internet search of this issue shows this is not an isolated incident. As I have been a mechanic since 1973, I decided to take a look at the throttle cable / cruise control cable to see if these two issues were related. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the cruise control cable was decoupled from its post mount (see pictures). I have surmised that the decoupled cable could block the throttle cable roll back to the idle stop, and if the cruise control was initiated, the loose cable could drive forward and articulate the throttle forward to the wide open throttle position as it searches to control the drive speed. As both the throttle actuator and the cruise control cable interface are made of plastic, one or both have worn past the point where the cruise control cable will stay securely coupled to its mounting post. Why aren't both of these parts steel? well, plastic is cheap and easy to make. But profit over safety is unacceptable. Nhtsa, please address this. This is a safety issue that can or will wreck the car, which could injure or kill someone.

I was driving on a 2-lane highway with a relatively steep downhill grade. I noticed that the car was accelerating even though I was not pressing the accelerator. I thought at first that it was just acceleration due to gravity, but I quickly realized that the throttle must be open since I was quickly accelerating to speeds above 65mph, and the brakes were not as effective as they would have been if the acceleration were due only to the hill. I saw a place up ahead to pull over, but I had to press the brake pedal very hard in order to slow down and stop. I put the car in park very quickly and turned it off since the engine was racing. There was a great deal of smoke coming from my front brakes, which was very disconcerting. I looked under the hood and found that the cruise control cable had come unfastened and had caused the throttle to stick open. This seems very dangerous and I feel fortunate that this did not cause an accident.

My 2004 Ford Taurus suddenly started to accelerate on its own with foot off the gas pedal. Driving in city street at 30 mph, the car all by itself suddenly started to accelerate (with my foot off the gas pedal) at speeds in excess of 75 mph. After braking and parking car, I turned car off and noticed that one of the accelerator / throttle cables in engine compartment was completely disconnected . Apparently it is a a black plastic clip that was wearing out and slipping off the throttle linkage. The cable then can get stuck or tangled causing stuck acceleration. I called Ford on June 7, 2018 and they said they did not hear of this problem and that there was not any recalls attached to my VIN. Case # cas-14980128. I mentioned to them that I researched the problem and that they have recalled over 400,000 Ford Taurus and sable models with this same issue. Since my car did not come up as being recalled, they are not going to fix this dangerous problem. Apparently, other Ford models have the same issues with poorly designed throttle cables.

See all problems of the 2004 Ford Taurus 🔎.

My accelerator is sticking, it happened today and 2 more times in the past 2 weeks while driving in the highway and side roads, I was not using the cruise control. The accelerator stuck at high rpm and it will not slow down, I had to apply the breaks very hard to stop, it was a scary situation, this is obviously a safety concern. I hit the gas pedal several times to make it go down but it did not respond, I had to stop in the side of the road the first time an hit the are in the motor where the accelerator cable is and actuated it manually after turning the car off. But it has happened twice since then. This is not normal and could result in a bad accident or even death. When putting the car in park or neutral the rpm stayed around 4000. Something has to be done, I found that other complaints have been submitted for the same reason.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle spontaneously accelerated without warning. The contact applied the brakes and pulled the vehicle over in a parking lot. The contact also stated that the same failure occurred two other times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (glockner Ford in south point, ohio, 740-894-3673) where it was diagnosed that the throttle cable failed. The vehicle was repaired twice, but the failure persisted. The same dealer informed the contact that the part that failed was no longer under warranty. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000.

While driving down a street or on the highway it feels like the cruise control takes over, disconnected the cable and it still does it, put the shifter in neutral and it revs to 4000 until you stomp on the throttle.

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.

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.

The contact owns a 2005 Ford Taurus. While driving 25 mph, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated as the rpms increased. The contact was able to move out of traffic, stop the vehicle, and shift into park; however, the rpms were still high. The contact turned off the engine and restarted the vehicle, but the rpms remained high. The contact repeated the steps three times before driving the vehicle while slightly depressing the brake pedal. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a cruise control cable failure that was causing the throttle to stay open and inadvertently accelerating the vehicle. The contact stated that the repairs were unknown, but the independent mechanic informed her that he placed an unknown substance on the cable to keep it in place. The contact was concerned that the failure would recur. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was approximately 168,000.

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 accelerator is sticking causing the car to rev high (4000) rpm's when not stepping on the gas pedal causing an unsafe condition. This accelerator stick can be corrected temporarily by stabbing at the gas petal quickly. My mechanic said the cruse control cable was disconnected and reconnected it but the issue occurred the next day. This issue happened to my daughter sever times and then to me when I was driving. I was approaching a red light at about 35 mph let off the gas completely to coast, and the car continued to accelerate and pick up speed. This issue is not related to the car being warmed up or running cold.

2/15/17- while coasting up-hill with foot not on the gas, car accelerated to over 4,000 rpm all by itself, braking was extremely difficult. I parked, turned car off, turned it back on and even while parked it revved back up to over 4,000 rpm. Took it to firestone on 2/16/17- they replaced the iac (idle air control) valve. 3/3/17- while idling at red light with foot not on the gas, car accelerated/ revved up to over 4,000 rpm all by itself. Had to press on brake very hard and turn car off. Turned it back on and it was no longer accelerating. 3/4/14 took it to a different firestone. They adjusted cruise control cable. 9/3/17- while idling on a bridge with foot not on the gas, car accelerated/ revved up to over 3,000 rpm all by itself. Braking was extremely difficult and had to turn car off in the middle of traffic. Turned it back on and it was no longer accelerating by itself. 9/4/17 took it to firestone. They ordered a new iac valve and replaced it on 9/7/17. 10/14/17- while idling in traffic with foot very light on brake, car accelerated/ revved up to over 4,000 rpm all by itself. Had to quickly turn car off in the middle of traffic to stop it. Turned car back on and it was no longer accelerating on its own.

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.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Taurus 🔎.

The contact owns a 2007 Ford Taurus. While driving approximately 35 mph, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated at rapid speed. While the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle continued to accelerate rapidly. The contact had to place the gear shifter in neutral to stop the vehicle from accelerating. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but it could not be diagnosed. The vehicle was then taken to encinitas Ford at (888) 700-8208 located at 1424 encinitas blvd, encinitas, CA 92024, but no diagnostic failure codes were found and the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was then taken to another independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the cruise control was disconnected and the cable clip needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to take the vehicle to a dealer. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

See all problems of the 2007 Ford Taurus 🔎.

2004 Ford Taurus accelerating by itself to 4000 rpm. . . Throttle is sticking. . . Looking under hood. . . Throttle appears to be getting stuck on cruise control cable end that keeps falling off of throttle arm.

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.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Taurus 🔎.

While attempting to stop, car continued to act as if the accelerator pedal was pressed, maintaining about 3000 rpm. Was able to stop using brakes, but would not go to idle. Tapping the accelerator resolved the issue. Happened again a few minutes later. Looks like plastic clip that attaches the speed control cable sheath to the throttle body bracket has broken, and the sheath catches on the bracket holding the throttle open.

Accelerator sticks. Car failed to DE-accelerate several times. Once, coming to stop sign and engine kept racing. Occasionally going down highway and wanted to slow down, but accelerator was stuck. Can barely stop the car with brakes. Reason: the reason is well documented. The cruise control cable becomes disconnected and traps the accelerator cable (throttle) so it can't move. Nhtsa has investigated this and negligently failed the public. There is a very good youtube. Com video showing the problem exactly! my car is the exact problem, and all anyone has to do is google "2006 Ford Taurus accelerator sticks� to see how frequently it happens. I have wired the cables together myself, but this is not a permanent solution. It does show that Ford could easily resolve this. And, yes, in a USA today article from 2013 I see there have been injuries, and maybe deaths from this. Note: mine is not related to any electronic throttle, or electrical issue. It is purely mechanical - part defect. I can send pictures of cables, but you can just watch this youtube video: https://www. Youtube. Com/watch?v=z1u1fgabdw4 I will be making a congressional inquiry, complete with extensive documented references to this problem. I believe it is gross negligence that the NHTSA has known about this and done nothing. Ford has known, and issued a technical service bulletin (TSB) recommending throttle body replacement - at customer expense. Obviously you are both waiting for enough deaths or older cars going out of service before doing anything. I guess I need to get 60 minutes and USA today to look into this, again. . Read more...

This is crap, the same cable is used on the 2000-2003 Taurus as my 2004 has, numerous people have nearly wrecked, including myself because the throttle sticks open propelling you at excessive speeds. I was Smart enough to shut the key off to keep from rear ending someone, numerous times before I found the issue. The cruise control cable is the same junk design on previous models, and the internet is filled with thousands of Taurus owners like me in the 2004 and up model years nearly crashing, yet Ford has done nothing. Someone need to get killed before you all make them do something about this hung throttle issue???.

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?.

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.

The vehicle accelerates on its on up to 4k plus rpms and drives itself with increasing speed. This is our 18 year olds car. I can't believe this is a known issue by the NHTSA and Ford and no recalls have been issued. How many deaths does there have to be before some one issues a recall for the accelerator cable/cruise control system. Ford had the same issue with there 90 models Taurus and a recall wasn't issued til 2008. Wow is all I can say. Ford should be held responsible for their known issues that they continue to have repeated issues with. The cruise control doesn't work and the car continues to accelerate without the gas pedal being touched. An the rpms shoot up, almost rearending other cars. This has been an ongoing issue but I thought my daughter was over exaggerating till we took the car out.

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.

Accelerator would stick at a high rpm when stationary as well as in motion. This would occur erratically. The idol control valve was replaced twice before the mechanic noticed the cruise control cable was not connected. The cable was removed and not replaced. The idle control valve was replaced a third time with a motorcraft part.

On the afternoon of Sunday, July 24th, 2016, our 2006 Ford Taurus began accelerating out of control on its own accord while driving down the street in worcester, massachusetts. We tried to brake the car, but were not able to compete against the rapid acceleration. We ended up putting it in neutral, and then in park, and bring it to a stop (albeit in the middle of a busy street) where it was still reaching upwards of 4,500 rpms. Very disconcerting. As we could not drive any further like this, we shut it off, got out, and called aaa for a tow, which arrived almost two hours later after we sat in the hot afternoon sun and were diverting traffic around our disabled vehicle. Being that we were traveling with two other guests and the tow truck could only accommodate 2 people max for the trip back to rhode island (over 40 miles away), the driver tried to diagnose and fix the problem on the spot. He looked under the hood and showed us that the cruise control cable had become unclipped and fallen off. He then lubed it up, reattached it, and had us do a couple of tests to see if it was working properly. Thankfully it was, and we slowly and cautiously were able to drive home. After doing some research, we became aware that this was and is a known issue with our year, make, and model of car, and that an investigation had been opened into it. We are also aware that, at that time, Ford had launched a "customer satisfaction campaign" to fix or replace defective cruise control cables. While we were able to drive the car home that day, we are not thrilled about the possibility of this issue happening again and would like to have this issue fixed by Ford. I have spoken to three separate people at Ford at this point, and all have refused to have this problem taken care of by Ford for us.

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

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.