Concerning cars accelerating out of control. I have a 98 pontiac gtp. The garage has not checked out the cable yet. They were thinking it was something else. Thought they had it fixed. Still not fixed. Every time I step on the gas to go into passing gear at any speed the accelerator stay on. I have found nothing to get out of the situation except back the key off one click. Acceleration stops. I still have power steering and brakes. Then I shift into neutral and restart it while I am still going down the road. I can make the car stick on every time with out fail. It only happens when I press the peddle all the way down at once. Very dangerous to drive. I drive it because I know not to go into passing gear and how to come out of it if it does stick on. Turning it one click shuts off your head lights too. Found that out when I got it back and was driving after dark, after the garage thought it was fixed, and got to experience panic of not being able to see for a moment.
I unplugged the cruise and pulled the fuse on it a long time ago thinking that was the problem. Could it be the throttle body or cable? If it is the cable why does it go back to normal right away when I click the key off one click and put it in neutral and restart it fine.
The garage has not checked out the cable yet.
Accelerator cables on a car that’s almost 14years old would be the FIRST thing I’d check.
After the cable (checking to see if anything binds at full throttle) I’d make absolutely sure nothing was catching around the gas pedal, and that the throttle body wasn’t sticking from deposits - I’d have it cleaned just to make sure.
As to why it fixes itself, I don’t know. But assuming you’re correct that it has a cable pulling on the throttle plate (and not a motor) I think something mechanical is the issue.
It could be the throttle plate is sticky only when the engine is pulling air past it.
I had an '88 Accord with ~200K miles and the pedal started to feel sticky.
I lubricated the cable: no help. I twisted the throttle directly and it felt sticky, but only when the engine was running.
Cleaning the throttle body fixed it.
The cable can be tested by just disconnecting at the pedal and the throttle body…Try moving it by hand…it should move freely and not bind. If it’s not moving smoothly…then replace it. Shouldn’t be that expensive.
circuitsmith brought up a good point also…Sometimes the throttle body will get gummed up and needs to be cleaned. Try that next.
Thanks so much, I had them clean up and lubricate the throttle body and the problem went away. I will be bringing any questions I have here in the future if I need to. Thanks every one.
Normally the TB does not need any lubricant. I haven’t seen one in awhile, but in years past, the failure mode was the throttle shaft would wear out the bosses it rode in causing air leaks and sticking. The fix was to drill out and install bushings or replace the TB. I’m concerned that lubrication may not last very long and it will fail again and catch you by surprise. If it were mine, I’d want to know what was causing the binding to understand the risk of it returning.
Secondly, the idea of turning off the electrics and it going away seems unlikely to be related to some part mechanically sticking on the TB. When I read that, my first thought was some inadvertant interaction with the cruise control…