Speed Control Cable problems of the 2004 Toyota Camry

Another Toyota accelerator problem I was a great believer in Toyota’s reliability reputation until 6/3/2011 when my wife called from the side of a road to say that the gas pedal didn’t work. Luckily, before she had pulled out into the traffic lane the oncoming car had already stopped to turn into the road she was leaving; otherwise she would have been t-boned. Shop diagnostics indicated failure of the accelerator pedal position sensor (apps). The car is a 2004 v-6 Camry with 140,000 miles on it. When contacted about the problem, Toyota headquarters in California denied culpability. The apps is an electronic gadget which replaces the old cable/pulley gas pedal linkage between the gas pedal and the fuel injectors or carburetor(s). Its purpose is to improve emissions control. There is no diagnostic procedure to test its remaining life. The old cable/pulley system could be checked visually and by touch and be replaced rather cheaply if need be. Apps failure results in the engine immediately reverting to idle speed. If it fails in heavy traffic at high speed, there will be an instantaneous loss of speed and power. The person behind you will have no warning and you will probably be rear-ended. If it fails during acceleration to cross traffic or merge into traffic you will probably be hit from the side. Clearly the apps trades off vehicle safety for improved emissions control. If the old cable/pulley were still in place as a fail-safe measure, then apps failure would not present a safety hazard. However, it would still cost you about $600 to replace. When hydraulic brakes were introduced the cable/pulley system for the emergency brake was wisely retained as a fail-safe measure. Duh.

My 2004 Toyota Camry le had rapidly accelerated on its own shortly after placing gear selector in park. I was slowly backing up my Camry le on an incline. I had my left foot on the brake and lightly touched the gas pedal with my right foot. (n. B. I used both feet, because on two occasions while backing up with my body turned, my right foot twisted and got caught between the accelerator and brake pedals--which are the same height. ) I barely got a few feet before I heard an odd noise--a sound that I can neither remember or describe --since I have no frame of reference for this sound. I believe the car was vibrating when this sound occurred. I put my right foot on the brake and moved the gear selector to the park position. Within about 3 seconds the engine raced so high--as if the car was traveling 120 miles +. I have never heard an engine accelerate as rapidly and as high as this. It was as if rocket fuel was suddenly added to the fuel line. If this vehicle was in drive, I would have been unable to stop. My relative is proficient in both computers and cars. He suggested that there could be several reasons for this problem including corrosion on computer parts, ic chips not seated properly, problems with the wiring harness, and the last suggestion, that the ecm (car computer) gave the wrong command to open up the throttle body, which caused the engine to race. After I turned the engine off and back on, the car worked normal--my relative said that the ecm could have reset itself. Even if Toyota could claim that the problem is in the gas pedal, its important to know that there is a sensor by gas pedal (wires attached) which I understand would tell the ecm where its [pedal] position is. Since there is no mechanical linkage (cable) that connects to the throttle body--the accelerator would have to be controlled electronically. Updated 03/30/10.