I bought a car a few months ago. An old Honda Accord. Check engine light says knock sensor. SRS light stays on and side airbag light comes on occasionally and randomly. Possibly unrelated but wanted to include.
Today I was driving and turned right from a stop. I was accelerating and when I hit about 35 mph I released the gas pedal. The car continued accelerating and running at high rmp’s (6-8) and wouldn’t stop. I, of course, freaked out, I checked the pedal and it wasn’t stuck. I tried the brakes and they were hard to push. I put it into neutral and attempted to pull over. Once I was safely off the road I yanked the key out of the ignition. I realize this was probably not the best choice now, but at the time… With 2 children in my car, on a road that people get killed often… I was in panic mode. I pulled the parking brake, put it in park, put my foot on the brake and tried to start it again. Same thing. VROOOM. My stepdad came and clicked a lever thing near the windshield under the hood (I assume manual shifting somehow)? And when I started it, it was fine. He took one of the kids and went where I was supposed to be going. I took the other and turned around to take the car home. No problems on the drive home. It was probably a mile and I was VERY easy on the gas pedal. There is a wire unplugged on the thing he clicked and I was told that had something to do with the cruise control. When I bought the car I was lied to about a good many things but it was driving well despite the problems. Anyway, is there a way to prevent this from happening again? Or find out why it happened in the first place? As a single mom on a disability budget, taking it into the shop for hundreds of dollars of diog tests isn’t in the cards right now. Thanks!
What year is this old Honda Accord?
Tester
It would help if you said what this lever thing was. Ask your stepdad what it was.
I’m gonna guess it was the throttle actuator. The “wire” would be the throttle and/or cruise control cable. And it probably either needs lubrication or the wire got hung up somewhere and was binding.
2000 (EX if that matters)
Lots of possible reasons for this. One idea, ask your shop to inspect the area where the throttle valve seats in the bore. That valve is what opens and closes when you step on the gas pedal, and that area can gunk up and the throttle start sticking. If that’s the problem it can often be solved with a simple throttle body cleaning.
If we could ask your stepfather what was stuck we could answer your questions or you could ask him yourself and tell us what was stuck.