Toyota's problem happened to me

In my 2001 GT. Floor mat hooked over the accelerator, I was on the highway, and headed straight for an 18 wheeler. I put the brakes on full power, didn't work, hit the back of the truck. He didn't even know I'd hit him, he just kept going. I was covered for the minor front bumper damage by Ford's red carpet lease. The floormats were winter mats from Can. Tire. which I tossed that day. Problem, I think was that the peddle was too low to the floor, but I could be wrong.

Reply to
Rich
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Hey Rich, That's a big ouch! I don't have the same problem, but somewhat related. I have carpeted floor mats on my 98 Ford Escort that always slide foreword UNDER the accelerator and brake peddles. Not a good thing if you need to stomp on the accelerator and there's a floor mat under it! FWIW Dick

Reply to
dickr2

Yeah, this happened to me once yaers ago while driving a company vehicle, a 1975 Ford Econoline with a 300 6. I nailed it taking off from a light and it stuck wide open. Amazingly I didn't hit anyone/thing, didn't run off the road and I didn't die. I turned off the key, went under that hood unstuck it, and went on my way. Amazing turn of events apparently, especially for a 20 year old driver....

Reply to
WindsorFo

I know this is pretty long, but ...

In the early 1970s I bought a 1965 Corvair Corsa convertible. I was so pleased with it; looked good, sounded great, handled good, felt right to me. One day I was going down the Ulric hill from Linda Vista to Mission Valley, nice wide, four-lane road. Top down, sun shining, new duals sounding fresh. Fresh oil and filter in the engine a few days earlier. Sweet scene, fine prospects all around. I thought that was a good time to open it up in third gear, see how it cranked with that hill to aid and abet it.

Gas pedal to the floor, decibels and speed mounted quickly, and at about 65 miles per hour I let off the gas. It kept going, flat out full accelleration! Ack! No panic, reached for the key and turned it off before putting in the clutch. Coasted to the side of the road and went back to see what part of the throttle linkage was stuck.

Well, the linkage was stuck, all right. It was jammed open by the jack. The thing you use to lift the car when a tire change is necessary outside of the store. It was one of those swinging-peg-goes-in-a-hole kind popularized by European or British cars. In standard form it was mounted along the wall of the engine compartment, with the swinging peg part faced to the fender, away from the engine. I had not had it out, and whoever had last put it back put it back with the peg faced toward the engine and set so the peg could swing out under heavy acceleration. Heavy braking would just confirm its folded position.

So there it was, swung into a postion it could only reach under full throttle, by the only force that could swing it there: sudden, hard accelleration. It will make a good plot device in a murder mystery. I try to find something good in every circumstance. Silver lining, you know.

Reply to
Frank ess

w0w truly amazing! But then again it was the 70's, you didn't have a cell phone to call 911 on...

Reply to
WindsorFo

Rich, that's not Toyota's problem at all. Toyota's problem is a faulty pedal design that over time becomes a serious issue. I feel for all the Toyota owners who have an older car and pending problem.

Your problem Rich has to do with roaming carpetted matts and I would do away with them immediately. I took the carpetted matts out of ever new Ford I have ever bought back to 1996 Mustang GT to currently 2009 Ford Escape and put heavy rubber matts in that catch everything and do not roam as much. Plus, I also make a conscious decision to push them back when I get into my truck each time.

Most if not all new cars have a hook at the back of the driver's side matt to prevent it from creeping forward, however a lot of people take the matts out to clean them and forget to hook them back on.

Toyota, Ford, GM, anyone can't be blamed for that.

AC

Reply to
notmenoway

The natural tendency is for floor mats to migrate forward. They should all have those in-floor lock thingies.

Reply to
Rich

Toyota has both problems: accelerator pedals that dangle too close to the floor, allowing floor mats to hold them down, and accelerator pedals that stick open or are slow to close.

I'm going to put down a marker right here and now that the REALLY BIG problem is yet to come, and that is a general aversion or phobia or hysteria -- pick your favorite characterization -- regarding drive by wire throttles. Floor mats and sticking pedal assemblies do not explain a lot of the observed incidents. It's not a mechanical problem, it's electronic. With drive by wire, the accelerator pedal is merely a potentiometer, sending a variable voltage signal to the electronic control unit. The ECU tells an electronic actuator to open and close the throttle. If that actuator is getting a signal to open the throttle when it shouldn't, that's a big problem. A BIG problem. And that is exactly what is happening in a large number of these incidents -- the actuator is getting a signal to open the throttle. Toyota, the industry at large, and I believe NHTSA and Congress, all would prefer to ignore this elephant in the room.

But it's not going away. And the coverup will ultimately prove more damaging than an open approach at de-bugging would do. If the industry loses credibility, consumer fear increases. I can easily envision a federal ban on drive by wire, including mandatory retrofits of all existing vehicles. That result is on the edge of probability -- a switch which breaks the circuit to the actuator when you apply the brakes will also solve the problem -- but given the Chicken Little world we live in, it's not impossible.

180 Out
Reply to
180 Out

I don't know, DbW is also integrated with traction control and vehicle stability control. They use it for better gas mileage and less wear n tear on the drive components. It's assimilated like a Borg......

Reply to
GILL

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