Sudden involuntary acceleration Ford f-150

I have a new 2006 f 150 with the triton engine. Sitting in a traffic jam with my foot on the BRAKE the truck for no reason accelerated out of control. The power was more force than the brake could stop and was lighting up the back tires like a dragster at the tree. I had enough wit about to turn the key off before plowing into the car in front of me. It is in the shop right now and I have been told the standard response. (I confused the brake pedal and the accelerator) OH stupid me, why didn't I think of that. How can you confuse the pedals sitting dead stopped in traffic???? And this thing about the brakes being stronger than the drive train is a LIE! Let me tell you one thing, I am not a lawyer but a soon to be Non-Ford driver and so will my wife. What I experienced scared me to no end. All the responses I have read from you people seem to have the Legal protection ring to it. So how many more people will be injured or killed before you find a way to diagnose the problem. All I want is for FORD to fix my truck, not feed me a line. Please see if someone can reply to this without the standard response. If Ford would give me a satisfactory reply at the dealership that they have diagnosed the problem and fixed it, I would change my mind, but that is not what I got.

Sincerely Jim P

Reply to
Jim P
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Oh the beauty of drive by wire throttle, you are never realy in control, the ECM is and you depend on it to follow your lead. Glad to see you had the presence of mind to control it. Do not take truck back unless they have fixed or replaced something in it, do not take otherwise. If it happens again, park it in your driveway and contact a lawyer. This is a very dangerous problem. Also if they blow you off, park it and contact a lawyer. I am not one to push lawyers freely but this is serious!

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

On 11 Oct 2006 18:24:59 -0700, "Jim P" wrote:

Jim, You may want to get yourself an automotive forensic expert to examine your vehicle. I have made a living in the field for the past 28 years working for numerous attorneys, manufacturers, insurance companies and corporations in accident related losses. The problem you describe is very familiar to me and I have been involved in forensic inspection and test of many of these uncontrolled acceleration cases over the years including a federal investigation of the Audi in the '80's. I can assure you that your vehicle has several features that would require simultaneous failure along with the proper alignment of the stars to result in the condition you describe. The only problem I have seen is the positioning of the brake and throttle pedal such that a large shoe can depress both at the same time. I have this problem damn near every time I get into my wife's Sable. This is a result of pedal positioning and my inattention after driving my Crown Vic which has much more pedal separation. The pedals are placed in accordance with SAE guide lines and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. I believe you will see if you get into your vehicle and depress the brake pedal firmly with your foot partially off the right hand side, the throttle pedal is also under your foot. And yes, your engine with typical gearing in an empty pickup has enough torque to override the rear brakes especially if the ABS senses the speed differential and does it's job of reducing braking to the other wheels to prevent what it perceives to be skid. If the ABS has kicked in, the brake pedal will start to sink resulting in more pressure on the throttle from your foot. I believe you will find that the vehicle is doing exactly what it was engineered to do. Any other similar vehicle - even of other makes - will perform and react pretty much the same in this situation. I suspect you would find an indication the ABS was activated in the EDR if you have not driven the vehicle since and have it downloaded. The bottom line is that there is no way the engine can produce enough torque to accelerate the vehicle unless the throttle plates are physically opened. The cruise control and your foot are the only things that can do this. The cruise control has redundant devices to prevent unintended operation. Unfortunately, your foot does not.

Lugnut

Reply to
lugnut

This gives a false impression that throttle by wire is bad and unsafe. Every big rig on the road manufactured in the last 10- 15 years is throttle by wire. I never had a problem with them, and never heard of any other driver having a problem with them, be it Cat, Detroit, Cummins, Mack or Volvo powered. They are even moving towards a trailer brake system controlled by wire, the apply valves and dump valves being controlled by wire instead of depending on secondary air pressure systems. Tests are showing the brake lag has been cut in half.

Whitelightning

Reply to
Whitelightning

In other words, you relaxed in traffic and put your foot on the gas pedal while trying to brake. The harder you pressed on the brake pedal, the more gas you gave it.

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

That is pretty much what happens if you have your foot off the pedal to the right instead of squarely on the brake pedal. This is what I have caught myself doing. Mind you, I have no personal experience with the current vintage 2006 F150 doing this. I am simply pointing out a possibility based on my experience in other vehicles and in the course of my work. Even though I am aware of this occasionally happening, I have managed to do it several times in my wife's car for some reason. She claims never to have had this problem with her size 6 foot instead of my 12.

Lugnut

Reply to
lugnut

Not really false, I have read of several instances of it in last year but they have mostly been on a GM vehical in all honesty. You might be correct about it possibly being a dual pedal thing but it would not be hard to install a circuit to limit throttle in drive by wire when brakes are applied too because there is no really need to be able to go to full throttle with brakes applied other than abuse (burn out). The system is not as trouble free as you suggest and detriot is on a tighter budget to implement it than Cat, Cummins, Mack or Volvo is. ALso the one you mention are for electronically controlled diesel injection not for a air valve engine. More to go wrong with that one. Detriot could do more work on failsafes for this system and limiting possible throttle when brakes are applied would be a start.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

Jim. I had the same problem with a E 250 extended van 1992. My foot was NOT on anything. I was going on a mountain highway in cruise control. The engine went wide open. The brakes would not slow van down. I turned off key and pulled to side of road. Sitting still with hand brake on, turned key on to start. Engine screamed to full throttle. Lucky a tourist stopped to help and drove me to a phone to get a tow truck. Was in warranty. Had 3 different Ford dealers try to fix it. Still had same problem (intermittent). So I called Ford Motor Co. They had me take it back to one of the dealers (where I purchased it). They then told them what to do. With the list I saw they must have replaced every component that had anything to do with electronics for engine. Then it was OK. You do have a problem and it is NOT your foot. Warren

Reply to
Warren Weber

Bye.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

I can't get that kind of voluntary acceleration.

Reply to
Joe

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