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Stuck Accelerator!

ultimatebob

ultimatebob

Lifer
Hiya gang,

I had quite a scare when I was driving home from work today. I accelerated to pass a car, and the throttle got stuck WIDE open. :Q Needless to say, this is NOT a good thing. Even with my foot off the gas pedal, this sucker just kept going faster! I tried "blipping" the accelerator pedal a few times, but that didn't help. I also tried hitting the brakes, but that wasn't slowing my car down quickly enough with the engine fighting it. There was a tight turn in the road coming up, so I quickly put the car in neutral and was able get the car safely stopped on the side of the road. That was probably horrible for the engine, though, since the poor thing revved all the way up to the rev limiter and got stuck there for a few seconds until it finally calmed itself down. I was able to get the car home, though, and it's going straight to the dealership tomorrow to get this fixed.

This got me thinking... Was it smart to put the car in neutral to get it stopped, or should I have just killed the ignition right away? That's what my dad (an ASE certified mechanic) said that I should have done, but I'm not so sure. I was probably doing at least 65 by that time on a rural road, and I'm not sure if I could have made the turn and get it stopped in time without power steering and power brakes.

Anyway, I'm curious what the car guys in the forum think about this.
 
Safety is most important. Fsvk the engine if its going to kill you. But if your dad is a mechanic, maybe he knows something I don't. Either that, or he is trying to kill you 😉
 
If you kill it above 5500rpm, the RPM gauge can drop below the needle (Happened on a Maxima a few times), but otherwise, no real worries. I've had that happen once when I was replacing a throttle body and forgot to relube it, but I just pressed in the clutch and killed the ignition. That's when my needle just dropped. After that it needed a recalibration which is essentially taking it above 4k RPM and letting it idle down.
 
I dunno, you did what I would have done: put it in neutral, slow the car down with the brakes, and to hell with the engine. An intact engine does you little good if they're using a vacuum to pick up your body pieces.

A completely crazy alternative that someone suggested to me once was gradually pulling on the handbrake. I don't know how well something like that would work, but it was suggested to me, so there you go.
 
Put it in reverse.... 😉


Seriously though, once you shut the engine down you have a limited amount of time with working brakes do you not? There would be a loss of vacumn at the master cylinder I would think, but I drive a pre ABS car, so I don't know if they've changed that with newer cars...

 
I just took drivers ed, and according to our instructer person, you should smack the pedal a few times with your feet, and if that doesnt' work throw it in neutral. Way better to blow an engine than to be stuck in drive with the gas all the way down. Its may also be worth sticking your foot behind the pedel and pulling back (if you can); he explained an incident in which his pedel had gotten caught by the floor matt in the full-on position, and I think that was how he had fixed it.
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
Put it in reverse.... 😉


Seriously though, once you shut the engine down you have a limited amount of time with working brakes do you not?
Click to expand...

Limited time with power-assisted brakes, but they will still work.
 
This happened to my brother a few weeks ago.

Hit a curb, popped 3 tires.. car's suspension is fscked. He was in a parkinglot when it happened.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
pull up on the pedal with your foot?
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It wasn't really the pedal that got stuck, since the pedal was still moving when I was "blipping" it. My dad thinks that either the throttle cable itself got stuck, or the throttle sensor got confused.
 
Originally posted by: sniperruff
won't you lose power steering/brakes if you turn the ignition off?
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Ignition off and then quickly back to on, but not start. You'll lose power-assist brakes after several pumps of the pedal, and you will lose power steering. However, switching the ignition back to 'on' (without restarting the engine) will ensure your steering is not locked.
 
Originally posted by: CheesePoofs
I just took drivers ed, and according to our instructer person, you should smack the pedal a few times with your feet, and if that doesnt' work throw it in neutral. Way better to blow an engine than to be stuck in drive with the gas all the way down. Its may also be worth sticking your foot behind the pedel and pulling back (if you can); he explained an incident in which his pedel had gotten caught by the floor matt in the full-on position, and I think that was how he had fixed it.
Click to expand...

The issue with that is if your foot gets stuck for some reason...


Just KISS , neutral, apply brake slowly as to not lose control, use the pwoer steering to point the car where you want it, and then kill the engine.........
 
Originally posted by: quakefiend420
what kind of car?
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It's a 2003 Audi A4 3.0 Quattro. I think that I'll keep my mouth shut the next time someone starts an Audi quality bashing thread, although this is the first mechanical problem that I've ever had with the car in 65,000 miles 🙁

Plus the car isn't under warranty anymore. Hell, after getting the repair bill for this, I might have just wished that I wrecked it 🙂
 
Killing the ignition would have been my first thought, but I suppose when you're in that situation, forced to make a decision, you did the right thing.
 
Originally posted by: LoKe
Killing the ignition would have been my first thought, but I suppose when you're in that situation, forced to make a decision, you did the right thing.
Click to expand...

problem with that is that it kills the power steering and some people might think the steering wheel is stuck and not even bother forcing it to turn...
 
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