Speed Control Linkage Problems of Ford Taurus - part 1

(sent to Ford) this letter serves to inform you of a serious mechanical defect. I drive a 2007 Ford Taurus sel (1fafp56u47a218076) with approximately 162,500 miles. The car is in good shape and has regular maintenance. We also own a Ford mustang, Ford focus, and Ford f-150. We have been regular Ford customers for years. Today I drove my car on the interstate for a few minutes before something was apparently very wrong. I sped up to merge with traffic and suddenly the car continued accelerating, even with my foot off the gas. I used the brake to slow down a bit, but it would not slow down enough. From there I began having a panic attack. I wasn't sure if I could get out of traffic without hitting someone and off the exit ramp. Without going into all the details, I managed to use the exit lane and somewhat safely stop the car at an abandoned gas station. Upon trying to bring the car to a full stop, I used the parking brake and put the car in park. The engine roared and the rpms skyrocketed to 4,000 before I was able to turn the car off. Had this not been a Monday early afternoon without much traffic on a sunny day, I don't know if this story would have ended as well. I truly feared for my life and those on the road with me. It is clear after the fact that the cruise control linkage came off. (I have never used the cruise control in this car, including today. ) looking at this I cannot imagine how Ford could design something so clearly designed to fail. When the gas is pushed, possibly in excess to enter a busy interstate, the plastic assembly is pushed to the point that it will eventually fail. I demand a full investigation of this so that no one else's life will be endangered as mine was today. I have yet to fully recover this highly emotional event. I would appreciate a copy of your investigative findings.

See all problems of the 2007 Ford Taurus 🔎.

Throttle stuck open while driving down the street at 40 mph. The car did not slow down with the foot off of the gas, slowly increased speed instead. The cruise control linkage became detached and got stuck in the throttle. Had to put the car into neutral to stop the car from accelerating. The car revved other 4000 while idling.

See all problems of the 2004 Ford Taurus 🔎.

Throttle sticks open at 4,000 rpms and will not close unless you spike the accelerator. Assuming the problem is with the design of the throttle body and linkage. Has been acting up for over a year.

See all problems of the 2005 Ford Taurus 🔎.

The contact owns a 2007 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while he approached an intersection and started to decelerate with the brakes applied, the vehicle accelerated to 60 mph. As the vehicle continued to accelerate, the contact was able to turn into an opened area, shift into park and turn the engine off. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic, who performed an inspection and advised that the cruise control linkage had become stuck. The cruise control was disconnected. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 70,000.

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 mph, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own. The accelerator pedal also depressed to the floorboard. The contact depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle would not stop. The vehicle crashed into a communication box, went air bourne, and came to a stop after landing. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for a diagnostic test. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. There was a recall under NHTSA campaign id number: 02v266000 (service brakes, hydraulic:pedals and linkages) that may be related to the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 105,000.

See all problems of the 2002 Ford Taurus 🔎.

While driving at approx 45mph in traffic noticed engine revving higher and rpm indicator speeding above 4000rpm. Placed transmission in neutral and braked heavily. Vehicle slowed but had to tap accelerator pedal a couple of times unstick it and to reduce rpm's. The weather was cold so sprayed linkage with lubricant but problem continues periodically. The problem seems to occur when accelerating and the cruise control is no longer operative. As I am aware of the problem have paid close attention while driving but am concerned when in heavy traffic at highway speeds. I am planning on contacting a Ford dealership to discuss the problem, but would appreciate any information that you have in connection with this problem. [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

At about 50 miles per hour car would start speeding up even with accelerator pedal not being touched. Had to brake hard or to press hard on gas pedal to slow down. Went to raisor Ford dealer in lafayette and had to have a new throttle body replaced with linkages. This was very dangerous until repaired.

I was on vacation driving up the coast of California and I noticed it was becoming increasingly difficult to brake my vehicle and my tachometer would not predictably fall as I let off the gas. It was subtle at first but then became more pronounced so I started shifting the car into neutral to see if it was the engine or something else. After putting it into neutral I noticed the car would not goes less than 2000 rpm on the tachometer. Then it became apparent that the car was accelerating independently of my input through the gas. I pulled into a parking lot and coasted in neutral, parked and shut off the engine. As I have some automotive mechanic experience, I figured something was wrong with the throttle linkage or something was stuck in the throttle plate. On inspection, I noticed the cruise control linkage and slid off. I then went to radioshack and bought some small zip ties and zip tied the linkage in place. It is to this day held in place with zip ties and I haven't had any problems since (108,000 miles currently). I saw that the NHTSA was investigating these vehicles for the same complaints and thought I'd report my incident in hopes of helping others.

Throttle sticks at the top of the pedal. The 'barrel' going from the air cleaner to the carburetor has a butterfly in it, when the butterfly returns, it gets stuck, there appears to be some kind of seal material. To throttle up sometimes means excessive pressure on the throttle, when the butterfly breaks loose, the car will lunge forward.

See all problems of the 2003 Ford Taurus 🔎.

On my 2003 Ford Taurus sel the throttle body sticks causing an unusually high amount of gas pedal pressure to release it and once it releases the high pedal pressure applied causes a rapid, dangerous acceleration of the vehicle. This is the 2nd time this problem has occurred with this vehicle the first repair was done by the Ford dealer on January 15, 2005 and now it is occurring again. This appears to be a common problem with Ford vehicles and there are websites devoted to discussing this. In every occurrence the throttle body must be replaced.

Ford Taurus throttle stuck open. I started the engine and placed the transmission into reverse. Pressing on the accelerator pedal to back out, the pedal wouldnt budge. While applying more and more force, the pedal finally gave in, collapsing to the floor and causing the engine to be stuck at full throttle. Being in reverse, the Taurus took off at full speed out of the carport to the side of a hill. Ramming the car into drive caused me to go forward at full speed. Until I slammed the transmission into park and cut off the engine, did I finally come to a stop about 100 feet down the driveway. The vehicle is now sitting at the phil long dealership in colorado springs, waiting to be analyzed. I called Ford customer relations center and reported the problem. They said they can not do anything. I have made a video depicting this problem. I will be capturing this to a video file should anyone care to download it. Please advise me as to what I should do. Best regards david l. Powell.

See all problems of the 1998 Ford Taurus 🔎.

While traveling at 40 mph, consumer states that an animal jump out into the road. Consumer loss control and vehicle flipped. Consumer feels the brake pedal and gas pedal are too close. Please provide any further information. Ts 02v-266.

See all problems of the 2001 Ford Taurus 🔎.

When coming to a stop on flat surface and no warning vehicle accelerated, resulting in an accident. Dealer notified.

While pulling into a parking space, consumer states applied the brakes and vehicle took off and hit a couple of cars consumer had to locate brake pedal in order to stop. Consumer states there is a recall for the distance between pedals, 02 v 266 000.

Vehicle accelerated suddenly and unexpectedly, resulting in a collision, and causing minor injuries.

See all problems of the 2000 Ford Taurus 🔎.

When pressing on brakes cruise control does not go off. This is caused by restraint wiring breaking off cruise control, cancelling switch.

See all problems of the 1997 Ford Taurus 🔎.

Consumer was applying brakes & vehicle suddenly accelerated. Dealer inspected vehicle & found carbon build up as the cause. Vehicle only has 8,000 miles on it.

Rpms were going up. Took vehicle to dealer, and they could not duplicate problem. When starting car and driving a couple of miles, and putting car in park, car will start racing, and won't stop until shutting car off. When starting it again, it will just take off.

See all problems of the 1999 Ford Taurus 🔎.

Consumers vehicle experienced sudden acceleration, while attempting to park the vehicle with foot on brake resulting in the vehicle hitting a fence, curb, and parked car, consumer suffered sore head, shoulders and back.

While consumer was turning into a day care center vehicle suddenly accelerated into a wall. Consumer's foot was on the brakes at the time of incident.

When braking and stopping or bringing the vehicle to a stop, the vehicle started to accelerate and the engine began to race with my foot on the brake. I had to put the car in park and shut off the engine. My right foot was completely on the brake and not on the accelerator. I'm very interested to hear if anyone else has reported a similar problem.

Vehicle suddenly accelerated while in park. Consumer was able to stop vehicle. But took it straight to dealer after dealer recommended that consumer bring vehicle in, and they would do whatever was necessary. Consumer got there and dealer was very nasty to her. They wouldn't give consumer a rental car, and consumer practically had to beg them to give her a ride home.

At a stop sign driver took foot off the accelerator pedal and vehicle suddenly accelerated. Driver applied the brakes, but engine was still revving. Cause unknown.

Accelleration with no pressure on gas pedal (foot completely off pedal) and no engine braking. The unwanted acceleration occurs mostly at slow speeds such as in heavy stop and go traffic and in parking lots. After accelererating slightly, if I remove my foot from the gas pedal at around 10 mph, the car will frequently continue to accelerate, and then shift into second gear, at which time it lurches forward. It will continue to accelerate to over 20 mph before starting to gradually slow down. This occurs frequently when driving in crowded parking lots and requires constant use of the brakes to compensate. If there is any downgrade, no matter how slight, the car will continue to speed up. This in fact, is evident at any speed. . . . Driving in my neighborhood at 25 mph, the car will accelerate to over 40 mph on a very, slight downgrade. I must use the brakes constantly. Driving on most roads, I notice that I am always catching up to cars in front of me, and having to apply the brakes, while no other cars have brake lights on. The dealer's service manager test drove the car and verified the problem. The mechanic however, stated that this was the way the car was designed and that he could do nothing to correct the problem.

While in stop and go traffic if consumer takes foot off the brake, vehicle will just take off, up to 1700 and 2000 rpm. Consumer says it started out once a day, now it's allthe time.

On three occasions while slowing down to a stop and applying the brake pedal, vehicle would suddenly accelerate and cause engine runaway. Consumer had to shift gear to neutral and wait until other vehicles were clear before shifting gear back to drive. As soon as gear was changed back to drive it caused the vehicle to burn rubber and take off. Vehicle was inspected by dealer and road tested approximately a hundred miles and nothing could be found. Needs NHTSA help or provide additional information on this matter.

Upon starting vehicle and applying the brakes to shift into gear, vehicle suddenly accelerated up to 12 mph, causing consumer to crash into garage doors. Dealer has been contacted.

Intermittently when the brakes are applied vehicle will accelerate. The dealer has not been able to duplicate the problem. The manufacturer has been notified.

Sudden acceleration, causing accident/injuries.

When driving on level ground at 25 mph consumer let up on the accelerator pedal and engine raced, causing sudden and unwanted acceleration, consumer has contacted the dealer.

Consumer was pulling into a parking space, applied brakes, and car started to race and ran into a brick wall. Dealership was notified. Also, two months ago, sudden acceleration occurred again.

Vehicle has experienced four incidents of sudden acceleration, also has problems with cruise control, due to possible (fuel/throttle/linkages) failure. Mjs.

Consumer expirenced sudden acceleration. Dealer has been contacted.

Intermittently when brakes are applied or while applying brakes vehicle will surge forward suddenly and unexpectedly. Dealer has not been able to duplicate or correct problem.

See all problems of the 1996 Ford Taurus 🔎.

While at a stop with foot on brakes vehicle will suddenly jump forward ,lunges about 1 feet ahead, causing safety hazard.