This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
While driving and approaching an intersection I began to apply brake for red light, the rpms spiked to 4000. The car continued to accelerate on it's own.tried to tap brake again..no change. Put the car in neutral and tapped gas to finally get the rpms to lower to at least 2000 level. This has happened at least 4 other times.
Traveling at 35mph and pressed on the brake and the car did not idle down and usual. Tapped the gas and no response. Slipped the car into neutral and the RPM's raced to 3 and 4000. Tapped the gas harder and the car idled down. Slipped the car into drive and continued on. This has happened three times now all at speeds between 35 and 40mph. Have contacted Ford customer service got a case number and was told to get it fixed at a dealer and keep the receipt in case there is a recall. Not happy with that response. How long or what does it take to make this right? this seems to be more serious than how it is being handled. You don't know how serious unless you are on the receiving end of a car that doesn't what to stop.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the contact removed his foot from the accelerator pedal but the speed remained at 40 mph. The contact had to depress the brake pedal several times in order to get the vehicle to stop. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop for inspection where they stated that there was an accelerator clip malfunction. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and stated that there were no recalls for the vehicle. The failure mileage was 195,000. Updated 12/5/12 updated 12/11/2012
While driving vehicle to work, noticed that cruise control would not engage as normal. As I began to decel onto the off-ramp, the engine RPM stay at approx 2800 RPM and would not go any lower. Found that black cruise control tab on throttle body had allowed throttle cable to slip out partially, causing the throttle body to stay partially open. Had to wire-tye the end of throttle body for cable to remain engaged to operate vehicle.
My 2004 Ford Taurus accelerated on it's own on 3 separate occasions. Without my foot on any pedal, my car kept going faster & faster. It would not stop by pressing the brakes. Car had to be put in neutral & then turned off. It happened when mechanic drove my car, also. No car in front of me, so no accident. I paid twice to have my car fixed, since problem was difficult to diagnose. Sounds like same throttle problem that is happening to other tauruses now. I have copies of my car repair receipts.
- West Bridgewater, MA, USA
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Starting approximately a month ago my throttle started getting stuck on my car. I was driving down the highway and when I took my foot off of the gas peddle, the speed slowed down some, but then it acted as though the cruise control was on and the throttle was stuck. I was pressing the brake but the throttle was still engaged. Even when I was at a complete stop, the throttle was still engaged and the engine racing. Several times I had to put the car in neutral and/or stomp on the gas pedal several times to get the throttle to release. This doesn't happen all the time but is an intermittent problem.
My son and wife were in the vehicle when it accelerated out of control. My son hit the brakes hard and found it difficult to keep the car below 30 mph. He noticed the tachometer was racing 3,000 RPM even though he was applying the brake hard. He was able to pull over into a convenience store and shut off the engine. This was the only time this happened although I often felt the car was going too fast (@ 20mph) when starting up with no foot pressure on accelerator. Car was towed to dealer and repaired 2 days later. Mechanic said the 'air intake valve' was dirty (carbon deposits) and replaced. He also noted car was reprogrammed by the computer. Car performance I believe, was due to malfunction of computer or microprocessors which caused too much fuel to be injected into the engine.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving, she turned on the cruise control and the vehicle began slipping out of gear. When she pulled over, the vehicle began sputtering. She turned the vehicle off and restarted and the vehicle stalled. She turned it off and on again but it stalled again. The contact opened the hood of the vehicle and flames began "shooting out". the vehicle completely burned. There was a fire report filed with the fire department; a firefighter stated that a fuel leak could have caused the failure but was unsure. The contact had not spoken with the manufacturer at the time of the complaint. The current and failure mileages were approximately 130,000-
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Taurus. He stated that the fuel filler pipe was pinched and he was unable to put gasoline in the vehicle. There were no visible signs of a foreign object causing the blockage. The contact had the vehicle repaired and notified the manufacturer. The current and failure mileage was 48,109.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Portland, OR, USA