My Mariner has on several occasions, had the gas pedal lock up and I am unable to depress the pedal, after a few seconds the pedal releases and all is ok until the next time. I took the car into Palm Springs Motors and after 2 days and $78.00 they could find nothing wrong with the car. Seems to me with as many complaints that Ford has had with Escorts having the same problem they would have a clue as to what is happening and be able to repair it. I am beginning to think that it is a problem that Ford needs to start looking into since it happens quite a bit to all the 2006 mini subs.