Gas Pedal Getting Stuck At WOT

[gt03gt93]

What is the usual causes of the 99-04 model years, or specifically the 03 GT model year having issues with the gas pedal getting stuck at the floor at WOT?

Throttle cable returns smoothly without any sticking. Floor mat is not in the way, but the usual worn out carpet area is present under the pedal. I am thinking about stapling a large piece of plastic or rubber material under the pedal area to see if that will solve a possible pedal issue.

Has anyone come up with a clever fabrication or idea for which I can cover up the wear and tear area under my pedal? I dont know what the heck else the problem can be. Thanks.

 

[trinity_gt]

Check the linkage under the hood, right at the throttle body. The linkage comes quite close to the damper on the fuel rail supply hose and it's possible it's hanging up there.

Work the throttle by hand (engine off, of course) to the WOT position and look very carefully for anything that could hang-up. Also check the strength and condition of the throttle return spring there.

 

[wmburns]

Assuming this post is not a joke.

+1 on everything above. Esp check the throttle return spring. Should be two of them. If not, one is broken.

Recommend getting new floor mats. Will get rid of those "ugly" worn spots and will really brighten up the interior.

 

[40oz]

The problem for usually uis caused by my foot pressing on the gas pedal. I typically solve it by removing the foot from the pedal, or simply reducing the applied pressure.

 

[gt03gt93]

Assuming this post is not a joke.

+1 on everything above. Esp check the throttle return spring. Should be two of them. If not, one is broken.

Recommend getting new floor mats. Will get rid of those "ugly" worn spots and will really brighten up the interior.

Thanks. And its definitely not a joke. I would find it very distasteful to joke about a stuck accelerator pedal.

I bought a new (and expensive I may ad) custom fitting Mustang mat from AM. With it in proper placement, the mat actually catches the pedal between itself and the carpet on the left side of my pedal every time I floor it. So I now run without my (expensive ) driver floor mat but it still gets stuck at WOT. Throttle cables and springs are not flawed in any way.

 

[gt03gt93]

The problem for usually uis caused by my foot pressing on the gas pedal. I typically solve it by removing the foot from the pedal, or simply reducing the applied pressure.

Yea thats genius. Well done.

 

[gt03gt93]

Check the linkage under the hood, right at the throttle body. The linkage comes quite close to the damper on the fuel rail supply hose and it's possible it's hanging up there.

Work the throttle by hand (engine off, of course) to the WOT position and look very carefully for anything that could hang-up. Also check the strength and condition of the throttle return spring there.

Thanks for the tips. All that you mentioned checks out fine and appears to not be causing the issue.

I think I may just have to staple a plastic mat or something to the floor area under my accelerator pedal. I really dont want to create an eyesore in that area by doing this but it seems I am running out of options.

 

[trinity_gt]

It's a very simple mechanism. It shouldn't be hard to isolate what's causing any alleged sticking. Get down there and work the pedal by hand. Force it to WOT until it sticks. Then examine everything under there and under the hood to see where it's stuck.

It's a foot pedal, a cable and a throttle body linkage. That's it. It shouldn't take you stapling nonsense to your carpet to find out where the binding/sticking is.

Does the car have cruise? If so, disconnect it from the throttle linkage at the throttle body and see if the problem persists.

 

[gt03gt93]

It's a very simple mechanism. It shouldn't be hard to isolate what's causing any alleged sticking. Get down there and work the pedal by hand. Force it to WOT until it sticks. Then examine everything under there and under the hood to see where it's stuck.

It's a foot pedal, a cable and a throttle body linkage. That's it. It shouldn't take you stapling nonsense to your carpet to find out where the binding/sticking is.

Does the car have cruise? If so, disconnect it from the throttle linkage at the throttle body and see if the problem persists.

I will try your suggestion of trying to get it to stick by hand, thanks for that suggestion.

The car does have cruise. I will also try that suggestion as well. Thank you for those ideas, I appreciate it.

 

[Dark04GT]

I was hoping to learn more about run away toyota priuses in this thread.

 

[gt03gt93]

I was hoping to learn more about run away toyota priuses in this thread.

Looks like you found the wrong forum them.

Its not just Toyotas that this occurs. My 92 and 93 Foxes BOTH did this. NEVER had any serious problems EVER with them except THIS SAME EXACT problem. Frankly, this problem P1SSES me off.

 

[95Vert383AOD]

Oh you have the Prius throttle mod

 

[fshawn50]

One of these might help

Sorry had to

 

[whitemustang89]

man i know how you feel in my fox it did this to me and it will scare the **** outta you at first. mine just happenend to be some crap floor mats.

 

[mat82284]

Why is it everyone who gets a stuck gas pedal gets scared ****less!

There is a simple fix. TURN THE CAR OFF.

I've had my peddle get stuck before and while cruising on the free way the car wouldn't come out of wot so i turned it off. the cable turned in the throttle body and got stuck. Never happened again, but it was probably cause i just put a new throttle body on that day.

The solution to fix any run away car is to turn the car off. Then pull over and pull the keys out. This works the same if your breaks are out, then you can at least coast to a stop.

I'm not ranting at the op or anyone on here. Mostly all those out of control toyota's I keep seeing. Example. Guy flys past a cop in LA and then the cop goes after him. The dumb whole keeps driving for miles not stopping because hit accelerator was stuck!

 

[Flghtmstr1]

Why is it everyone who gets a stuck gas pedal gets scared ****less!

There is a simple fix. TURN THE CAR OFF.

I don't think this is wise advice. Turning the car off and removing the key will lock the steering column. Instead, shift to neutral and then bring the car to a safe, controlled stop. Only after the car is stopped should the key be removed. The other advantage to this method is that the brakes and steering will continue to have power assist during the maneuver. Sure, the engine will bounce off the rev limiter while the car is being stopped, but that's what it's there for!

 

[trinity_gt]

The solution to fix any run away car is pull the keys out. This works the same if your breaks are out, then you can at least coast to a stop.

As noted, don't do this as the steering column will lock. Just turn the key back a notch.

I'm not ranting at the op or anyone on here. Mostly all those out of control toyota's I keep seeing. Example. Guy flys past a cop in LA and then the cop goes after him. The dumb whole keeps driving for miles not stopping because hit accelerator was stuck!

Ah yes, the Balloon Boy of the auto world:

Investigation of Runaway Prius Uncovers Incident was a Hoax | AutoGuide.com News

 

[mat82284]

I don't think this is wise advice. Turning the car off and removing the key will lock the steering column. Instead, shift to neutral and then bring the car to a safe, controlled stop. Only after the car is stopped should the key be removed. The other advantage to this method is that the brakes and steering will continue to have power assist during the maneuver. Sure, the engine will bounce off the rev limiter while the car is being stopped, but that's what it's there for!

I never meant to say take the keys out. I mean just turn of the car. Thats only 1 click back to the accessory. If the car is off you have control of the car. Shifting to neutral does nothing except cost you thousands on a new engine if the pedal is stuck it will rev higher and higher untill it goes past rev line. Kaboom! turning the car off and dealing with no power steering and no power breaks is the safest way to do it. The classics never had either of those yet people survived driving them. People have just gotten to dependent on all the extra accessories.

I re-read my post then edited it. I then noticed it was never edited so i re-edited it.

I guess from your post of view I was wrong and now i see why. I still dont know why my edit right after posting didnt change. O well.

 

[wmburns]

Shifting to neutral does nothing except cost you thousands on a new engine if the pedal is stuck it will rev higher and higher untill it goes past rev line. Kaboom! turning the car off and dealing with no power steering and no power breaks is the safest way to do it.

At the risk of beating a dead horse, on many automatic stock computer controlled cars the PCM "knows" when the car has been shifted into neutral. The PCM responds by limiting the amount of timing advance. This servers as a rev limiter usually limiting revs to about 3500 RPM's.

Try it sometimes in your driveway (not all cars and MY's have this feature). It may surprise you that the car will not rev above 3500-4000 RPM's.

For those of us with a manual transmission, the risk of blowing a motor by shifting into neutral or depressing the clutch is greater. But I suspect that given a choice of new motor or wreck, most ppl will choose new motor. Beside, there is always the "turn off the motor" option.

No one has mentioned an old racer's trick. Put your toe under the pedal and pull UP!

Myself if faced with the run away situation, I hope that I would react by turning off the motor (1 click). Power steering steering goes. So put both hands on the wheel.

Power brakes have a reserve so don't pump. Depress the brake and hold it.

Moral of the story. Check the return springs on the throttle. There should be two working springs. If not, one is broken. Don't ignore a binding throttle.

Finally, understand the car you are driving. Have a plan worked out. When an emergency actually happens, this is not time to have a debate with yourself.

 

[trinity_gt]

No one has mentioned an old racer's trick. Put your toe under the pedal and pull UP!

wm, that used to work when there was a solid linkage between the throttle pedal and the butterfly on the engine. That is, such a linkage worked as well in compression as it did in tension. However, the cable operated system used on these cars wouldn't transmit much, if any, force if one was to lift the throttle pedal (i.e. tried to use the throttle cable in compression.)

It would work, though, if the pedal was physically jammed under a pat or something.

Myself if faced with the run away situation, I hope that I would react by turning off the motor (1 click). Power steering steering goes. So put both hands on the wheel.

On a manual trans car, at least, the engine will continue to spin as long as the car continues to move as long as the clutch is not released. With the power steering pump turning, steering and braking assist would still be present. I don't know if the 4R70W (or whatever) is capable of driving the engine through the converter (sprag clutch perhaps?)...

Moral of the story. Check the return springs on the throttle. There should be two working springs. If not, one is broken. Don't ignore a binding throttle.

As I noted earlier, the throttle linkage is dead simple and easily visualized. It shouldn't be hard to find sources of sticking, interference or binding. I agree, one should not ignore a sticking throttle, especially on a V8-equipped car like these.

Finally, understand the car you are driving. Have a plan worked out. When an emergency actually happens, this is not time to have a debate with yourself.

Always a good idea