My 2004 5.4 engine had a cylinder head replaced and last week while coming home and making right turn engine accelerated on it's own to full throttle. With brakes pushed to max made turn around 30mph and finally got it into garage with engine racing up and down. Almost hit a parked car. Took to dealer next day and it ran normal again,,no codes showing up. Am worried it will do it again sometime and kill someone. Did Ford ever come up with a reason for this ?? Or a cure ?
I found this on the internet from a attorney,,Oct 2006 on 2004 f150 scroll down to bottom case of runaway f150
http://www.pharislaw.com/war.htm

 

i had that happen to me in my ranger one time, i was on a bac road and i had it on cruise at 25 cause cops sit there and i can never only go 25, and i was in like third, and it just like went to the floor and it took off for like 10 seconds and it never did it again after that.

 

fx6, trying to use cruise that low in speed is a marginal condition for the control system and too near the lowest speed acceptable.
The cruise program will attempt to maintain the speed even at the expense of down shifting. When this happens the engine rpm rises into a more powerful range and your off to the races.
Why use cruise at that speed anyway? It's senseless. You give away some control of the truck and it become a reactionary game on your part, to whatever happens.

 

It's plenty safe to do. I've done it on every vehicle I've owned for the last 16 years (as long as I've been driving). Traveling 25mph down a 2-lane street, needing to stab the brakes/turn the key off/shift to neutral is no more reactionary than at 55 or 105 mph. You're a lot better off reacting at 25mph than you are at 105mph.

As for the runaway issue, yes, it is possible that the potentiometer on the gas pedal is intermittently sending a WOT signal to the computer. The computer thinks (erroneously) that it's getting the WOT signal and reacts accordingly. Immediately shifting to neutral and/or shutting down the engine is the quickest solution, but generally the last thing people think of. On a throttle by wire truck, it'll generally do two things: First, of course, it disconnects the engine from the drivetrain. Second, it *should* force the idle back down to a normal range. (Ever try and do a neutral drop in the throttle-by-wire vehicle? Not gonna happen.... They generally severely limit the revs in neutral)

Now, the problem is troubleshooting. How do you know what the computer did without some type of on-board monitoring?? Nobody does. You can't tell if the computer is seeing the WOT signal from the pedal and it's trying to react accordingly, or is the computer sending an idle signal and the throttle is erroneously opening the throttle. There's just no way to know.

On a side-bar, I think the driving publis (and the OEMs) are ram-rodding this technology down our throats. The driving public are blind to the operation because it relies far, far too heavily on systems that cannot be easily monitored. It's easy to see what's got my throttle held wide-open. Not so easy on the new trucks.
{steps off soap box}

For the record, teh TPS is still on the throttle body, even on the by-wire systems. It's used as the feedback for the system to know that the throttle motor has properly positioned the throttle butterfly.

-Joe

 

I will ask the guys at the shop tonight. I work at a Ford dealership

 

Mine is not drive by wire, and it has done it before. So has my dad's V10. But his had a chip in it at the time.

 

well if you read my post you would have realized that "i had the truck in third" cause it was a manual, therefor it wouldnt be down shifting and as other people said theres nothing wrnog with using cruise control at low speeds

 

about this time last year there were several reports of this occuring and folks were reporting them to the NTSB but the issiue seemed to die after about 3 weeks

it started when the wife of an airman in fort walton beach fla. (eglin air force base) had one go full throttle when cranked, I have not searched but if I recall correctly she hit somebody.

I researched the local t.v.stations and there was a short report and showed where tires were spinning on the pavement and she flat spotted her front tires.

the story was mentioned either here or on ford-truck.com or possibly another site, but there was a hot topic and then the blown plug seemed to rise to the top again

she had either a 2004 or 2005 f150, i think/recall it was a 2005

she took it to a local shop and they claimed "normal operating parameters"

her last post was it had happened again and she was dumping the truck for another.

 

Since someone started this thread...... We have been having some complaints about the eng racing/revving in our 04 and newer Crown Vics (fly by wire). We also noticed that the brake pedal in these newer cars are about an inch closer to the gas pedal than the older models. Not sure if we might have two seperate problems (people stepping on the brake pedal and the gas pedal @ the same time) or whatever sensors that control the throttle get stuck, etc. We did do a search on the NHTSA site and found about 3 other agencies/businesses that have been experiencing similiar problems with their Crown Vics. We have contacted our local dealer but they don't know of any complaints from the general public. I think Ford needs to step up and do something before someone else gets seriously hurt or killed.

I haven't had any problems with my truck, and hopefully, I won't have problems while I have to drive any of our Crown Vics.
Mike

 

A buddy of mine works at Ford. I asked him if he thinks I might have a fuse blown because my cruise control doesn't work.. He looks at me and started to laugh. He said that it wasn't a fuse but it was a problem with the cruise control. He said the 04's had a problem and it would cause the throttle to go wide open. So he told me I should take it in and have it fixed. He mentioned a recall but said it wasn't manditory and that the dealers might not even mention it or know about it.
Well I still haven't taken mine in and its been about 3 months. But I think about what he said almost every time I'm in the truck.

 

THis thread is an interesting read. My friend had Nitrous in his SVT Contour (1999) and he had to have colder spark plugs put in. Last week the car would actually rev and drive itself when he was driving...not WOT like u guys are talking about but definetly feel it pull for a split second and about 500RPM jump. We switched the plugs back to stock.

Good ionfo Scandall

 

Yeah!!! I'm with you!! They should teach people to fully move their foot from one pedal to the other before pressing on it!! It's outrageous! The pedals should be at least 10 inches apart so that even the widest foot can't hit them both at the same time!!

Seriously, though, on the newer by-wire throttles, I'm not a fan. The feel isn't there, and I can certainly see how a brake pedal too close to the gas could be inadvertently pushed. On my 98 Explorer, I did that a few times when I first got it, but I can feel the gas pedal if my Size 9 wide catches both pedals. If the spring is a little on the light side, I could see not realizing you were on both pedals. However, in that case, the problem is still that the DRIVER is applying both pedals simultaneously. The throttle isn't spontaneously applying itself. How much operator error should the OEMs be liable for???

As for the lady that allegedly flat-spotted her front tires, was this in a truck? If so, I seriously doubt the claim.... Ever tried to brake torque a pickup truck? It'll sit there all day without moving. It'll grind through the rear brakes eventually, but the front brakes, being much larger and significantly more powerful, with far more weight bearing down on them, will easily hold the truck in place long enough to either pop it into neutral, or shut it down.

Here's another random question on the thought: How come it seems like when something like this happens, the first response is to mash the brakes even harder? Why isn't the first response to disable to power source from driving the rear wheels? (e.g., pop it in neutral, press the clutch, or grab the key and shut it off) Why do people somehow think that pressing the brakes harder will somehow miraculously convince the engine to stop revving and the vehicle will stop (which could exacerbate the problem if it's a fat-foot issue to begin with) ??? I'll never understand the sheeple...

-Joe

 

I was told it it a computer malfunction and the vehicle has to be taken into the dealer for a computer reprogramming

 

I really don't like a fly by wire system in a vehicle cause then who is actually incontrol of the vehicle. All it does is promote better gas mileage by easing into the throttle until a problem acures. I don't think alot of racers or hotrodders like it either.

What's next, fly by wire brakes, clutch, steering??

I bet alot of lawsuits hit the fan next year and I can see a big red panic button on the dash saying push to stop

Add it to the list

sparkplugs won't come out
sparkplugs won't stay in
rearend noise
engine bucks
water under cop
won't stop

 

Next???? Those are all already out there. Brakes: See Mercedes Brake by Wire. Clutch? Porsche, Ferrari, and Mercedes, all have them, and one of them was in Car and Driver this month, although I can't remember which. Steering? Seen the vehicle that parks itself yet? IIRC, a Lexus....

-Joe