2004 Ford Taurus: adaptive cruise control problems

Filed Dec 18, 2018 · Acceleration, Electrical · 139,000 miles · KY

After exiting the highway, braking to stop a red light, the car proceeded to slowly accelerate on its own. After letting it go for a while, it topped out around 52mph, as if the cruise control was working on its own. I kept pressing off, but that wouldn't work. The car stopped revving rpms when I put it in neutral.

Filed Mar 27, 2018 · Acceleration, Engine · 100,000 miles · TX

The problem is the cruise control cable can come a loose from the throttle body when the accelerator is pressed. When the driver releases the accelerator, if the cruise control cable has come loose, the fitting at the end of it can get jammed in the cam that rotates the throttle plate, and it won allow the throttle to close, causing the engine RPM to stay high. This can happen randomly. It may happen while driving, and it can be duplicated when the car is in park. Several other people have had this concern. I "googled" throttle sticking on 04 taurus, and came back with several hits, including some shadetree fixes. I feel this should be a recall as it can lead to a crash if the brakes arent powerful enough to overcome the engine's power output or the driver doesnt think to turn the ignition off (or they turn the key too far and lock the steering too) and/or engine/transmission damage.

Filed Feb 18, 2018 · Acceleration · 77,000 miles · NY

Throttle stuck open while driving down the street at 40 MPH. The car did not slow down with the foot off of the gas, slowly increased speed instead. The cruise control linkage became detached and got stuck in the throttle. Had to put the car into neutral to stop the car from accelerating. The car revved other 4000 while idling.

Filed Jan 4, 2018 · Acceleration, Engine · 89,000 miles · WV

I am filing dual complaints pertaining to this issue, first with the national highway transportation safety authority and a second consumer complaint with mr. Patrick morrisey, attorney general west virginia. The attorney general has a consumer protection division to help residents in the event of a safety concern and a consumer complaint that brings a concern to the safety of others, as well as the safety of the public and the consumer. Under "speed control" as checked off, this includes systems and devices intended to control (accelerate) the speed of the vehicle to the driver's intent such as the accelerator pedal, throttle control cables, linkages, actuators, electronic control units and software, cruise control system actuators and deactivating systems, and other components and systems that may interfere with the speed control system (e.g., floor mats). My 2004 taurus has nearly 90,000 miles. It has been running well. On multiple incidents in 2017 my taurus would without any warning or indications suddenly begin to accelerate on its own. I describe it to others as having to throttle stick. I was freaking out, because cars behind me did not understand what was happening and I was afraid they would easily become collateral damage. I put the car into nuetral and the engine on its own volition revved up to over 4000 RPM. A person on the side walk thought I was about to strike them as they jump out of the way. I learned 150 faulty speed control problem complaints, 6 injuries, and 1 death. This problem is a very common problem the federal safety agency has known since 2004, people have been injured as a result and even death reported but strangely no safety recall has been issued about this terrible and tragic problem, which is another reason I am filing the dual complaint in the hopes that attorney general morrisey. He is responsible for public safety from such issue.

Filed Aug 5, 2017 · Acceleration · 1 miles · IL

2004 ford taurus accelerating by itself to 4000 RPM...throttle is sticking...looking under hood... Throttle appears to be getting stuck on cruise control cable end that keeps falling off of throttle arm.

Filed Nov 22, 2016 · Acceleration · 145,000 miles · MO

This is crap, the same cable is used on the 2000-2003 taurus as my 2004 has, numerous people have nearly wrecked, including myself because the throttle sticks open propelling you at excessive speeds. I was smart enough to shut the key off to keep from rear ending someone, numerous times before I found the issue. The cruise control cable is the same junk design on previous models, and the internet is filled with thousands of taurus owners like me in the 2004 and up model years nearly crashing, yet ford has done nothing. Someone need to get killed before you all make them do something about this hung throttle issue???

Filed Aug 21, 2016 · Acceleration · 166,000 miles · MT

The vehicle accelerates on its on up to 4k plus rpms and drives itself with increasing speed. This is our 18 year olds car. I can't believe this is a known issue by the federal safety agency and ford and no recalls have been issued. How many deaths does there have to be before some one issues a recall for the accelerator cable/cruise control system. Ford had the same issue with there 90 models taurus and a recall wasn't issued til 2008. Wow is all I can say. Ford should be held responsible for their known issues that they continue to have repeated issues with. The cruise control doesn't work and the car continues to accelerate without the gas pedal being touched. An the rpms shoot up, almost rearending other cars.this has been an ongoing issue but I thought my daughter was over exaggerating till we took the car out.

Filed Aug 19, 2016 · Acceleration, Engine · 80,000 miles · CT

Vehicle throttle got stuck, daughter was drive had to put car in neutral to kick throttle down, found out that cruise control cable is coming off throttle body and jamming, been happening multiple times for last year

Filed Feb 14, 2016 · Acceleration · 80,000 miles · AL

Sitting at stop light foot on brake vehical accelerates on its on. This is a problemi have experianced before on a 1976 mecury wagon. Its the cruise control. Ford was told then and did nothing but charge me for the inspection saying nothing was wrong. It happened again so I disconected the cruise control. Now its happening on a 2004 taurus. If I was the one driving it wouldnt concern me but my x-wife panics easy so will disconect her cruise control. Ford needs to fix this before someone dies

Filed Nov 24, 2015 · Acceleration · 122,000 miles · OH

Today I noticed my cruise control would not engage. Later as I pulled up to a stop sign, my car revved forward and I had difficulty stopping it with the brakes. When I proceeded, it accelerated quickly with no gas applied, until I stopped it. It continued to rev after putting it in park. I troubleshot it with a coworker who saw a few other friends with this problem, and he showed me what it was: my cruise control cable disconnected from the throttle, and then stuck in front of the throttle so that it would not close. The clip locking the cruise cable to the throttle is defective. Very dangerous! I can't believe there hasn't been a recall for this.

Filed Feb 4, 2015 · Acceleration · 70,000 miles · CA

Cables for throttle and cruise control are routed in such a way that they are rubbing against other parts and their insulation is wearing out. I spotted this just as the sheath was being bit into and have rerouted. It is likely that both cables would have eventually have been cut through. Additionally, contrary to the federal safety agency findings that there were no crashes due to stuck throttles on 2005-2006 taurus, there is evidence here that there has been: http://www.taurusowners.com/topic/3377-possible-taurus-recall/.

Filed Nov 22, 2014 · Engine, Transmission · 130,802 miles · CA

Coming down poway road in poway, ca it was very difficult to stop and it seemed the engine was revving. I pulled over to a safe turnout and it was difficult to stop completely as the brakes were spongy. When I put the transmission in park, the engine speed was over 2500 RPM. I turned the engine off and could smell the brakes. Suspecting a stuck throttle, I removed the protective cover and the accelerator was being held open by the cruise control cable which had become disconnected at the throttle linkage area. I removed the assembly and pushed it aside so we could continue driving. I consider this a very dangerous situation as we were driving down a grade and I was trying to apply the brakes at the same time the engine was pushing us faster. Since it was saturday I drive to the dealer. I knew there had been a similar recall I checked to see if our vehicle was included and it was not but the service advisor was very familiar with the recall which ford had done as "customer satisfaction program 13b04" which he provided me a copy of. I have seen this in my son's 2002 ford taurus also. The clip that holds the cruise control cable to the throttle linkage disconnects and because of the stiffness, actually prevents the accelerator linkage from returning to idle. Although it has not failed, I can see the same linkage on my 2003 mercury sable which of course is a repackaged taurus. This clip is a very poor design in that it does not do a good job of holding onto the accelerator pin. From observation I know that it was used in at least 3 model years and perhaps more. This should have been more than a courtesy fix as unintended acceleration can be very dangerous as the last few years have shown. It should be expanded to include any vehicle that used this design. It's not a question of if it will fail but as our experience today shows, when.