Accelerator Jammed Whilst Driving

Cunny Funt · 26/04/13 - 10:47

Just looking for some advice please before I take my car to the garage.

Yesterday afternoon I was driving up a hill with my accelerator to the floor when suddenly it jammed, it was one of the scariest things ever to happen to me, especially driving as I only passed in January. Anyway I pressed my clutch and break and managed to come to a stop and then turned my engine off.

Luckily this happened right near a garage and the mechanic restarted it for me and bought the car to a safer place... he said when the ignition had been turned on and off its reset something.

I was able to drive the car home with no problems. I'm just wondering though what was the cause of this and is it likely to happen again?

Thanks for any help

Its a 2002 Yaris.

Captain Awesome · 26/04/13 - 10:50

I don't know anything about cars and I don't drive, but I'd have thought that if it's happened once, it could happen again.

Think you need to find out what actually caused it!

Cunny Funt · 26/04/13 - 10:52

Captain Awesome wrote: »

I don't know anything about cars and I don't drive, but I'd have thought that if it's happened once, it could happen again.

Think you need to find out what actually caused it!

I do fully intend to take it to the garage, I've just been awake half the night wondering so I thought I'd ask on here

Geeza Brake · 26/04/13 - 10:57

Maybe a more mundane answer is that the pedal needs some WD40 to stop it sticking when you press it to the floor..

Cunny Funt · 26/04/13 - 11:11

Geeza Brake wrote: »

Maybe a more mundane answer is that the pedal needs some WD40 to stop it sticking when you press it to the floor..

I don't think its that at all. I've Googled but nothing at all has come up about WD40, and hints at it being something internally but isn't specific as to what it could be.

It isn't a rust bucket or showing any signs as such of it being the actual pedal.

rifleman19 · 26/04/13 - 11:29

Might be something to do with this?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/04/toyota-recall-accelerator-fault

[Deleted User] · 26/04/13 - 12:22

Geeza Brake wrote: »

Maybe a more mundane answer is that the pedal needs some WD40 to stop it sticking when you press it to the floor..

Or use a lubricant, instead.

The original aerosol is not intended as a lubricant and is too thin, and contains volatile components that atre likely to wash away some of the grease added during manufacture.

OP: This is safety involved - go to a toyota dealer, point out the recall and get them to sort this under their own liabilty.

dmp · 26/04/13 - 13:38

You said you had your foot pressed to the floor, my guess is that you jammed the throttle pedal by pressing it down to hard, you shouldn't need to go pedal to the metal going up a hill, but change to a lower gear.
Dave

Nigel Goodwin · 26/04/13 - 13:50

As rifleman19 pointed out, there's a safety recall for it - contact Toyota.

collincn · 26/04/13 - 14:15

Do you have additional floor mats in the car? If these aren't fastened down correctly they can creep forward and eventually snag the pedal

Lordy Lordy · 26/04/13 - 14:17

collincn wrote: »

Do you have additional floor mats in the car? If these aren't fastened down correctly they can creep forward and eventually snag the pedal

This is a far more likely explanation.

Cunny Funt · 26/04/13 - 14:35

collincn wrote: »

Do you have additional floor mats in the car? If these aren't fastened down correctly they can creep forward and eventually snag the pedal

Hi, the car matt is fixed to the floor. So it can't be that either

I've been try Toyota all morning but I can't get through yet so I'll just keep trying.

David (2) · 26/04/13 - 14:43

Cunny Funt wrote: »

Just looking for some advice please before I take my car to the garage.

Yesterday afternoon I was driving up a hill with my accelerator to the floor when suddenly it jammed, it was one of the scariest things ever to happen to me, especially driving as I only passed in January. Anyway I pressed my clutch and break and managed to come to a stop and then turned my engine off.

Luckily this happened right near a garage and the mechanic restarted it for me and bought the car to a safer place... he said when the ignition had been turned on and off its reset something.

I was able to drive the car home with no problems. I'm just wondering though what was the cause of this and is it likely to happen again?

Thanks for any help

Its a 2002 Yaris.

Many Toyota's had this problem - google it.
Many other brands include a safety system called "Brake to idle", but at the time Toyota thought their cars were so good they didn't need to put such a system on them.

benjamini · 26/04/13 - 14:45

Cunny Funt wrote: »

Just looking for some advice please before I take my car to the garage.

Yesterday afternoon I was driving up a hill with my accelerator to the floor when suddenly it jammed, it was one of the scariest things ever to happen to me, especially driving as I only passed in January. Anyway I pressed my clutch and break and managed to come to a stop and then turned my engine off.

Luckily this happened right near a garage and the mechanic restarted it for me and bought the car to a safer place... he said when the ignition had been turned on and off its reset something.

I was able to drive the car home with no problems. I'm just wondering though what was the cause of this and is it likely to
happen again?

Thanks for any help

Its a 2002 Yaris.

By a spooky coincidence this happened to me in December. Going up a hill accelerator jammed full on. Very scary indeed. Brakes didn't stop the car and I had to switch of the Engine. The garage fitted a new accelerator but said they could not identify the problem. My car is a 5 year old Toyota Auris.
There have been several recalls on mine. Including new gear box and electric windows.

Sigurd · 26/04/13 - 14:48

Safety recalls for the Yaris are listed here:

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/search.asp?whichpage=1&pagesize=10&resultString=%28TOYOTA%20YARIS%29%20%20for%20the%20date%20range%2001/Jan/1992%20to%2001/Jan/2013&tx=

There is one that refers to "accelerator pedal may fail to return to idle"*, but that applies to more recent versions of the Yaris than the OP's, which is a 2002 model. (It's quite alarming how many of the recalls say "fire may occur"!)

It is quite possible that a loose car mat may have caused the accelerator pedal to stick, and that's something I've experienced myself on a different car. However, if the OP is sure that isn't the cause of the problem, then he should certainly have it investigated by a Toyota dealer or another competent garage.

*See page 3 of the list.

David (2) · 26/04/13 - 14:49

dmp wrote: »

You said you had your foot pressed to the floor, my guess is that you jammed the throttle pedal by pressing it down to hard, you shouldn't need to go pedal to the metal going up a hill, but change to a lower gear.
Dave

a car in which you cant put the gas pedal right to the floor in case it makes the car go wrong?

Bit limiting on a small engine car, and makes kick down a bit tricky.

Waj_100 · 26/04/13 - 15:02

Cunny Funt wrote: »

Just looking for some advice please before I take my car to the garage.

Yesterday afternoon I was driving up a hill with my accelerator to the floor when suddenly it jammed, it was one of the scariest things ever to happen to me, especially driving as I only passed in January. Anyway I pressed my clutch and break and managed to come to a stop and then turned my engine off.

Luckily this happened right near a garage and the mechanic restarted it for me and bought the car to a safer place... he said when the ignition had been turned on and off its reset something.

I was able to drive the car home with no problems. I'm just wondering though what was the cause of this and is it likely to happen again?

Thanks for any help

Its a 2002 Yaris.

Here are the recalls relating to the Yaris, 2002 is too early for the accelerator recall......

http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/search.asp?whichpage=3&pagesize=10&resultString=%28TOYOTA%20YARIS%29%20%20for%20the%20date%20range%2001/Jan/1992%20to%2001/Jan/2013&tx=

I would still get on to Toyota about it though.

If you can't get in touch with Toyota then spray WD40 on the throttle body pivots inside and outside the throttle body.

Also check the free movement of the accelerator pedal inside the car, however, there could be an electrical problem that caused the fault.

Summat wrote: »

Or use a lubricant, instead.

The original aerosol is not intended as a lubricant and is too thin, and contains volatile components that atre likely to wash away some of the grease added during manufacture.

OP: This is safety involved - go to a toyota dealer, point out the recall and get them to sort this under their own liabilty.

WD40 is an excellent lubricant.

http://wd40.com/uses-tips/

trphil · 26/04/13 - 17:51

Could be a mat got in the wrong position, more common than you'd expect! The reason it happened in my car the other week was because the accelerator cable had frayed where it joins onto the carburettor linkage and when I pressed the pedal it was pulling the frayed cable into the sheath which was then jamming.

Schadenfreud · 26/04/13 - 18:34

trphil wrote: »

Could be a mat got in the wrong position, more common than you'd expect! The reason it happened in my car the other week was because the accelerator cable had frayed where it joins onto the carburettor linkage and when I pressed the pedal it was pulling the frayed cable into the sheath which was then jamming.

You've not bothered to read the thread then?

David (2) · 26/04/13 - 18:51

trphil wrote: »

Could be a mat got in the wrong position, more common than you'd expect! The reason it happened in my car the other week was because the accelerator cable had frayed where it joins onto the carburettor linkage and when I pressed the pedal it was pulling the frayed cable into the sheath which was then jamming.

Maybe, ... In 1982.
For à long time there hasnt been a carb or cable. Modern cars have lock on points for model specific mâts to stop the mat slipping around.

MartinPickering · 26/04/13 - 18:58

trphil wrote: »

the accelerator cable had frayed where it joins onto the carburettor linkage

Which models still have carburettors?

trphil · 26/04/13 - 19:16

Schadenfreud wrote: »

You've not bothered to read the thread then?

I had but I missed the reference, only one of my two suggestions related to the mats anyway.

MartinPickering wrote: »

Which models still have carburettors?

None as far as I know, I was merely saying what the cause of this symptom was in my car last week. A 2002 Yaris is probably not drive by wire so the chances are that it has a cable.

Hey there!

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