You are 100% correct.
When the rod comes out the side of the block will the power steering and power brakes still function?
Of course everyone must quickly make their best effort to avoid a catastrophic crash. But for me it has repeatedly proven worthwhile to turn the ignition off and immediately get the situation out of panic mode. All my experience with unintended WOT was on rear wheel drive vehicles though.
I know this is a very old conversation, but since itās been reanimated, I am willing to bet there was a loose floor mat or non-OEM floor mat that slid out of place.
On the Camry, Toyota did a recall for their unintended acceleration problem. The solution was a shorter gas pedal. We also removed the floor mats from the Camry in our fleet.
This happened to me once when I was driving a class C RV. I removed the floor mats and it never happened again.
@Rod_Knox I doubt that a modern car, with all the computerized engine management, would over rev to the point where it threw a rod. Thatās a conclusion not based on knowledge, just assumption, but even if itās wrong, I donāt care. I have and will continue to tell anyone that asks that the solution is put it in neutral, because I really donāt care about a possible thrown rod if the driverās life is at risk.
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That must have been terrifying. You only had a month to react before it would have exceeded the speed limit. 
Unless youāre having a really terrible day, the rev-limiter will stop that from happening. That said, Iām not terribly concerned about the loss of power steering as you really only notice that at slow speeds at which point youāre not going to kill anyone. And youāll still have one or two pumps of the brake pedal after the engine shuts off, which is plenty to get the car stopped even if you have to let off the pedal for some reason.
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One idea, thereās a potential air path into the engine from the brake power booster to the intake manifold. No air should go in that path b/c thereās a rubber diaphragm blocking flow. But if that diaphragm split something like that could happen. I canāt explain why it would only happen in reverse though, other than perhaps you naturally step a little harder on the brake pedal in reverse. Itās just a guess, but probably worth the trouble to ask your shop to test the ability of the power brake booster to hold vacuum.
Edit: Just noted your handle. If your Altima sports a diesel engine, the above may not apply.
As I said, my experiences with that problem were all on older cars and my instincts told me to kill the engine and in doing so I immediately regained control of the vehicle without any damage to the car I was driving or others around me. Todayās I-O switches will likely make my method impossible but so far I havenāt driven many miles in such cars and may never drive another. I may live to be an anachronism. Heck, I may have already reached that point.
The thread is six years old.
I suspect the problem has long since been resolved.
For the OP, more than likely it was resolved.
However, Bodiediezel97 chose to revive this necro-thread, and his problem has likely not been resolved.
But, before you offer any possible solutions, please bear in mind that he already established restrictions regarding the responses that he wishes to see.
Also someone with thin skin flagged Sgt Rock ( me thinks I know who ).
Iāll be happy to add a little fuel to the fire. It has never happened to me but I never bought the answer that it was a floor mat problem. With all the computer controls I suspect there have been multiple causes included a glitch and the IAC. There were of course several reports that the car would not respond to shutting off or going into neutral but who knows how reliable those were, although one was that CHP officer that killed everyone in the car. I do remember once in out 61 Chevy wagon on the freeway, with my mom driving and the pedal went to the floor and stuck there. Of course in a 6 cyl MT there wasnāt a lot of acceleration. I just reached down and pried the pedal up and it never happened again. In the end just like a pilot, you start trying everything until something works or you find a good place to ditch the thing in bushes or something. As in drivers training, avoid a head on or dead on at all costs.
I tried that. Mine was a 59 Catalina, hydromatic, column shift, as the engine twisted it also prevented shifting. A lot of torque in that old 389.
Thank you. I donāt need to know who flagged me as they must have had their reason and could have misunderstood my comment. āHere we go again. Another OP with an attitude and a non-negotiable self diagnosis of what is absolutely not the problemā. I am school trained and certified as a US Army aviation Accident Prevention/Investigation specialist. OPās statement although not describing an accident goes completely against my training in diagnosis, āOnly my Altima and I am positive I know the difference between a gas and brake pedal so post your sarcastic comments elsewhereā. Violated A basic rule of investigation/diagnosis. Determining prior to investigating. āThis is definitely not the causeā. Twice I have barely caught the edge of my shoe on the power brake pedal while trying to accelerate and stalled my M/T. Human error.
Actually, it was quite terrifying, not necessarily because it had a powerful Chevy workhorse V8 engine, but because the floor mat was covering the brake pedal.
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