2006 Ford Freestyle: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed Apr 5, 2020 · Acceleration, Engine · 180,575 miles · CA

I bought this car from private seller. On the drive home I turned on AC and noticed a surge so I turned the air off. After getting the car home I filled the tank as it was almost empty when I purchased the car. The car began to surge forwards and backwards at an idle, and then began to surge while driving. Check engine light came on and codes indicated it was a misfire, so did a tune up (changed spark plugs and coils) only to have the issue get worse. The car is now almost stalling and surging hard. Car is very slow to accelerate and feels to have no power while attempting to get up to even in town speeds(25-30mph) car is undrivable safely at this point and I have not even owned 2 months. Surging happens at idle, low speeds, freeway speeds, and surges violently when trying to accelerate.

Filed Dec 30, 2019 · Acceleration, Engine · 60,000 miles · IL

The accelerator pedal is unresponsive and the vehicle will move very slowly at first, then unpredictably lunge forward at higher speeds. Occasionally the pedal will immediately respond with rapid acceleration when lightly touched, causing the tires to spin out while taking off from a stop. Altering the way pressure is applied to the accelerator has no effect. This has been happening for over 3 months without any check engine indicators, and only recently when the vehicle had trouble idling did a check engine light come on. The vehicle has been well maintained and lightly driven.

Filed Jun 2, 2019 · Acceleration · 207,300 miles · MO

When letting up on my brake pedal from a stop my car will randomly accelerate and lunge forward. This problem has been going on since 2017. This problem seems to effect many freestyle owners, and is a safety concern for my family.

Filed Nov 27, 2018 · Engine, Transmission · 128,000 miles · OR

On multiple occasions, while car is braked but in gear (d), car lunges forward despite brakes being applied. I notice the engine revs suddenly increase when this happens. This has happened sporadically over the last few months. On thursday nov 22 around 7.30pm, I stopped at a stop sign in woodburn, oregon as pedestrians were crossing. Suddenly the car lunged forward, but thankfully did not hit a lady who was crossing and thought I was intentionally trying to scare/run her over. Not sure if this is related, but in two occasions the car completely shut down while in motion and driving around 35 - 45mph range. The brakes naturally stiffened and I told power steering. Luckily, I was able to maneuver to the side of the road and restart. Another issue is sometimes I lose throttle control of the car. On few occassions, this happened as soon as I started the car, and sometimes when I was stopped at stop sign. All three of these symptoms started showing up around the same time, which is why I believe they may be related. The problems started approximately when the engine had 128,000 miles and currently it has 140,000miles.

Filed Jul 3, 2018 · Driver assistance, Engine · 140,000 miles · TN

My car will try to surge forward while at a stop with my foot on the brakes. It will happen while driving, in parked position, and while no gas or brake pedal is pressed. This happened in a pick up line and I could have hit a child if I hadn't hadn't my foot in the brake and done all I could to not move forward. Sometimes I'm in reverse and this happens and it's like I put my foot down hard on the gas. There seems to be a connection to the AC unit, because when that is on it is making a loud sound. I went to carmax 3 years ago (in 2015) with this issue and they replaced the throttle body. Now they are saying it needs to be replaced again. There is clearly an ongoing issue with this part in the car and it is a major safety concern. Sometimes after the surge, my car will 'die'. This happened in the middle of 6 lanes of traffic while stationary at a red light. When it turned green, I couldn't go because my car had just surged and died with my foot on the brake pedal.

Filed Dec 20, 2017 · Transmission · 165,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. While the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle independently lunged forward. There were no warning indicators illuminated. A local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency and the dealer. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was approximately 165,000.

Filed Oct 12, 2016 · Acceleration · 78,000 miles · CA

Upon utilizing the drive through of a fast food restaurant, the breaks were being feathered to creep up to the window; the 2006 ford freestyle lunged forward unexpectedly and almost hit a women and her kid crossing in front of the car; I moved the car from the drive through and stopped at the edge of the parking lot before continuing onto the side street; at this time when I moved my foot off the break the car again unexpectedly lunged forward sticking the nose of my car out into traffic, cars swerved into the far lane to avoid colliding with the front of my car. I immediately brought the car to the ford service dealer. Upon arriving at the ford dealership it was diagnosed that the throttle body was failing, additional research revealed that ford issue an extended warranty for a cleaning of the throttle body; however the dealership indicated that the throttle body needed to be replaced as it is faulty, the cleaning wouldn't suffice.

Filed Jul 26, 2016 · Driver assistance, Fuel system · 90,000 miles · NC

I'm writing again. I've had a throttle body issue twice. The customer satisfaction program that ford did was a temporary fix. Ford knew this. Ford dealership mechanics have told them it doesn't solve the issue. Less than a year after I had to the c. S. P. On my car I was stranded on side of road only to find out it was the throttle body I could have it cleaned and reprogrammed again at my cost which was nearly the same cost to replace. I had it replaced at my cost. In my situation the 1st time my car lunged forward toward wall of my home. I had to use both feet and all my weight to stop it. The 2nd time I lost power and control . All while trying to get out of heavy traffic. I could not get my car off the road and in a safe position. After this problem my AC will not work unless accelerating. And my motor went out. All this before I hit 100,000 miles. I've called ford and filed complaints with the federal safety agency. All to no avail. Ford is replacing the same part for other vehicles at a full recall and no cost to the consumer my VIN# is not assoc. With recall. I feel ford and the federal safety agency is ignoring the complaints from consumers this is a major safety issue. I feel that we consumers that have this problem need to file a class action lawsuit against ford & the federal safety agency. Neither is addressing this serious safety issue. Ford needs to take responsibility & the federal safety agency needs to force them to. Continuing to ignore this issue is going to cause hearings on capital hill & a bad name for both. I will be following up with my state representative & my congress person. I intend to see that both ford & the federal safety agency stop ignoring the thousands of complaints regarding this serious safety issue. If you investigate you'll find newer models than mine have the same issue. Same part same part number, mine and others of my year are not recalled while the others are & replaced. Someone better take this serious.

Filed Jul 12, 2016 · Acceleration, Engine · 170,000 miles · OH

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. While driving at low speeds in traffic, the vehicle began to independently surge forward without warning. The contact had to turn the steering wheel towards the median to avoid crashing into another vehicle. The vehicle stalled, but was able to be restarted. The failure recurred. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 170,000.

Filed Feb 11, 2016 · Transmission · 140,000 miles · TN

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. While accelerating from a complete stop, the transmission exhibited a delay. As a result, the vehicle lunged forward. The failure occurred whenever the vehicle was in operation. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

Filed Feb 2, 2016 · Acceleration, Engine · 90,000 miles · AL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that the vehicle lunged forward without depressing the brake pedal. In addition, the vehicle experienced a loss of power sporadically while driving approximately 70 MPH. The check engine and service warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the throttle body valve was sticking and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.

Filed Dec 18, 2015 · Acceleration, Electrical · 150,081 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 ford freestyle. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle accelerated and decelerated independently as the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that when the air condition was activated, the vehicle would lunge forward. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but the failure was unable to be determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,081.