My wife and I own a 1998 Ford Explorer. Last Thursday my wife was coming to my work with my 2 year daughter. As she was coming over an overpass the truck started accelerating by itself. She took her foot off the peddle and hit the brakes as hard as possible and the truck just kept going faster. At this point she was getting on an off ramp dodging cars. She swerved on the dirt shoulder and flew through a red light sideswiping a turn signal. Now she is merging back on an onramp. She slammed it in to 2nd and then 1st, but the truck kept accelerating. Finally in a panic she slammed it into park and the vehicle came to a grinding halt. Fire dept. and cops show up she is freaked out and lucky to be alive.
Have any of you heard anything like this happening before with Fords?
We took the car to the dealership and they said it looked fine. The suggested we replace the throttle body and some valve (total $600). There is a recall on a throttle cable sticking but they said it has nothing to do with what she experience.
We called Ford and they basically said there is nothing they will do.
Any suggestions?
Any good Ford BB I can check?

A while back there was something on the news about cruise controls shorting out, and doing that.

A while back there was something on the news about cruise controls shorting out, and doing that.

Do you remember where you heard it?

I've got a stuck throttle on an explorer but not what you described.

Any Ford BB around? Didn't see anything on google...

A friend's dad traded in an 03 Superduty for an 04 F150...

Three days later it stuck open on him on the highway. He immediately did the drop down in gearing, and it still wouldn't stop, just like you said. So he slammed the fucker into the side of a bridge on purpose, and called the dealership.

They gave him some bullshit about a recall, but it wasn't anything to do with that too. IT WAS 3 DAYS OLD!! I don't know all of the details, but to make a long story short, he sued the dealership. He won. He now has a CTD for him, and a new SS for the wifey. All paid for with Ford's shut-up money...

gas pedal stuck under the floor mat.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/

Try there.

Dumb question, but instead of slamming into something or jamming the truck in park to stop, why not just turn the key off?

Dumb question, but instead of slamming into something or jamming the truck in park to stop, why not just turn the key off?


thats what my brotherinlaw did, he has a 98 explorer and we were crusing along doing 35mph, damn thing started going faster and we were able to use the brakes for a while but after they got hot we were done, so i told him to put it in nutral and turn the key off. thats was the only time it done it, he drove it back to the dealer with no problems and traded it in. i also heard about those recals just never thaught nothing of it. never found out what went wrong

Why not neutral or shut the key?

Sounds like the cruise control.

On my 84 bronco as soon as you turned the cruise on, pedal goes to the floor and off you go.


I don't use cruise on it anymore.

Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) gone awry?

The recall for the cruise controls was for fire, not uncontrolled acceleration FWIK. I had a recall on both of my F-150's. The problem they had was that the pressure switch was wired on a 20A constant on circut. Over time the membrane from the master cylinder would break letting flammable brake fluid to enter the circut thereby causing a fire. Since the circut was always hot it could happen at any time, not just while driving. The temp fix was to disconnect the switch and not have CC. They put a new wiring harnes on to fix it IIRC.

Dumb question, but instead of slamming into something or jamming the truck in park to stop, why not just turn the key off?

Becuase she was in a panic and didn't think of it. Now she knows if it ever happens again. It scared her really bad. Could of been so much worse :(

The other part they suggested replacing is the idler control valve.

Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) gone awry?

The recall for the cruise controls was for fire, not uncontrolled acceleration FWIK. I had a recall on both of my F-150's. The problem they had was that the pressure switch was wired on a 20A constant on circut. Over time the membrane from the master cylinder would break letting flammable brake fluid to enter the circut thereby causing a fire. Since the circut was always hot it could happen at any time, not just while driving. The temp fix was to disconnect the switch and not have CC. They put a new wiring harnes on to fix it IIRC.

Exlporers did have a recall on cruise control cables due to them sticking and holding the throttle open. However 98 Explorers are not covered under that recall. The only recall remotely related to what happened that 98 Explors have is for the throttle sticking CLOSED. Explorers did NOT have the cruise deactivation switch recall you are thinking about.

i have nothing to add other than glad your wife and kid are ok.

Glad youre wife is OK

I had something similar happen on a Mitsabishy Montaro. The lining of the throttle cable came loose and held the cam open. I dident have enough engine to overpower the brakes though.

i have nothing to add other than glad your wife and kid are ok.
X10 on that







A few years back we had that kind of problem in my friends machI mustang, we were doing about 75 when the pedal stuck,my friend freaked out and did not no what to do so by the time I reached over and turned the key off and then back on so we had steering we were doing about 140+.I just about had to clean my pants out.LOL

my moms Mazda MPV with a Ford 3.0L V6 did the same thing. driving normal then all of a sudden it reved up and she couldnt stop it so she put it in neutral. she said it was bouncing off of the rev limiter for couple of seconds before she shut it down. couldnt find any problems and never happened again. :confused:

Sounds like the cruise control.

On my 84 bronco as soon as you turned the cruise on, pedal goes to the floor and off you go.


I don't use cruise on it anymore.
thats halarious :laughing: :laughing:

Just for laughs you should google 'pedal misapplication'.

Yeah it was funny. The first time it was like WTF! After that is was Hey watch what this button does.

couldnt find any problems and never happened again. :confused:

seriously, like i said before, pedal stuck under the floor mat. floor mat shifts a little lower, and then when you floor the pedal, the bottom of it gets caught on the floormat. you keep accelerating, and hitting the brakes. nobody usually hits the gas pedal again, which usually dislodges it. its happened to be before in my 92 explorer.

I was driving a 93 Ranger in the woods and I floored it, then got off the gas but it kept accelerating. I hit the brakes cause the trail curved up ahead and I was headed straight into the trees. Nothing. So I hooked my foot behind the gas pedal and pulled back. It was caught under the floor mat. I know it was mentioned above but it's definitely something to consider.

I submerged my 4runner one night and my cruise control flipped out and redlined my motor. While I was stuck, in nuetral with my headlights underwater, while my friend (the one who begged me to drive into the water to pull his truck out) held my air filter above water while the distributer was shocking the shit out of him. My tailpipe was underwater, and I feared hydrolocking throught the exhaust. I keyed it off then back on, engine never stopped spinning but it reset the computer.

I would like to know what you find on your truck, as I have one too. My girl is pretty level headed, but I probably oughta go through the protocols.

nothing to add, just glad there ok.

Just in case, take a look on the back of the pedal where it mounts to the firewall. The brackets in the explorer have a thing for brakeing off, that could be the problem. Mine broke off. If the pedal got lodged some way when it fell off, it could happen.

The three holes, are where the spot welds pulled through.

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/12287holes-med.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/12287firewall.jpg

http://www.explorerforum.com/data/500/12287bracket-med.jpg

to many computers running the show.

I got a couple of things to add:
1. I am glad that your wife is alright.
2. Ford Explorer, enough said
3. Ford Explorer, sorry, but it is the stupidest, piece of shit suv that Ford or any American vehicle manufacture ever made.
They have been nothing but pure and fucking crap ever since their inception.
Ever go online and reserve a trailer from Uhaul? For vehicles NOT recommended to tow with, Yup, you guessed it, Ford Explorer.
4. Ford Explorer, okay I have said enough. Dead horse beaten enough.
5. I agree with the turn the key and engine off deal. I know in a moment of desparation, some people forget that water puts out most kinds of fire, but why would you drive a brand new truck that has a stuck throttle into the side of a bridge and possibly kill yourself or your passengers? Or someone else?
Turning the key to "off" seems so much more effective and less detrimental.:shaking:

Yup, Explorer is the biggest pile of shit ever made.. Wait a second.. Did someone forget about the s10 blazer?? :flipoff2:

99% of the explorer's issues are just cuz there are so freakin many of the damn things on the road, every freaking idiot out there either has one, had one, or will get one. Too many idiots equals a ton of idiots pulling stupid shit.

I had an old 77 2wd dodge pickup that pissed me off, so I kicked the gas pedal and it got stuck in the floorboards. It was fun while it lasted.

I had this happen in my 1994 Explorer and it was the floor mat, as mentioned above.

A buddy and me were cruising around one night in his '68 Chevelle that ran 12's in the quarter mile when he decided to do a burnout at a light. The throttle stuck and we were gone. After we got it together he reached over and grabbed the key. We were doing 90 in a 35 when he finally killed the ignition.

Happened in both of my explorers, both times it was the floor mat because the screw down holders are broken

Same shit has happened to me a few times.. Once in my work truck, a 1998 f150.. Damn pedal stuck under the carpet! Glad your wife is ok & nobody got hurt