The transmission of my vehicle, without warning or prior history of failure, acted like I'd moved the gear into neutral while driving the legal speed limit on the interstate. Engine would rev, but nothing happened. Coasted to a stop on the side of the road without the ability to accelerate or move the vehicle to a safer location. There are at least 150 people who have had a similar experience as me but ford will not issue a recall despite a clear fault with the transmission for this make and model. Http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/taurus/2005/transmission/transmission_failure.shtml.
2005 Ford Taurus acceleration complaints
Page 10 of 19: complaints 251 to 280 of 529, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Hello, I have recently purchased a used 2005 ford taurus. The problem is that the car accelerates without me touching the gas pedal, this is a very dangerous problem especially with snow and ice on the ground. I noticed it happens when I take my foot of the brake at stop signs, the car will start to accelerate very suddenly reaching speeds up to 40mph until I step on the brake.
I have multiple times where my car is accelerating on its own and have to put car in neutral to stop it. Rpm's are so high the rev limiter kicks in and at least 15-20 times while stopped at a traffic light with the car at idle, car would accelerate fast with my foot on the brake almost hitting car in front of me, once again putting in neutral to stop it, had it looked at by service centers but no fault codes were found and was told not repairable if no code were found because they would be guessing for the problem. And I did look to see if the cruise control cable was on or off the linkage assembly, but cable was attached ok and had not fallen off like other reports.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle began to accelerate independently. The contact applied the brake and the vehicle emitted a loud noise from the brakes. The vehicle attempted to continue accelerating. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where the throttle body was cleaned. The failure recurred immediately after the repairs. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 68,400 and the current mileage was 68,545.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 MPH, the accelerator pedal became jammed and caused the vehicle to accelerate to 40 MPH. The contact immediately depressed the brakes and powered the vehicle off. The vehicle was later taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure and current mileages were approximately 127,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the contact removed her foot from the accelerator pedal and noticed that the RPM reading increased as the vehicle abnormally accelerated to 70 MPH. The contact applied the emergency brake and was able to come to a stop by driving over a curb. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or repaired. The failure later recurred and the contact crashed into a fence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician advised the contact that the throttle would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle began to accelerate on its own. The contact had to apply pressure to the brake pedal in order to stop the vehicle. The contact restarted the vehicle and the rpms increased excessively. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection nor was it repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 135000.
Cruise control cable on this vehicle popped off of the throttle body. I reconnected the cable but it popped off again. I secured the cable away from the throttle body to prevent the throttle from being jammed open. This defect needs to be addressed as a design flaw worthy of a manufacturer recall; failure of the cruise control assembly doesn't simply render the cruise control inoperative, but has the real potential for fatal accidents. As an interim measure the federal safety agency should issue a bulletin warning owners of the potential for failure.
My wife and I have noticed that the gas pedal sticks as you accelerate at any speed. In addition, out of the blue you notice that the car seems to be revving and sort of moving faster than you are depressing the gas pedal. We bought the car at 9000miles and not until we got to over the 100,000mile point did we start noticing these problems.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently to 70 MPH. The contact depressed the brake pedal and was able to stop the vehicle. The vehicle continued to rev after restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing. The mechanic stated the idle engine motor needed to be replaced. After the repair the failure continued. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 97,000.
I was driving about 40mph when my car started accelerating. I pulled over, got the car towed and "fixed" that day. About a month later, it happened again on a busier street. Being familiar with the feeling, I rode it out to my home except towards the end it would not stop. The friction on the tires made it smell like fire also and they were smoking. I got it towed again except when the driver got there, the car was fine and nothing seemed wrong at the mechanic's. This has happened at least 3 more times in the past year, each time exactly the same.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while traveling 55 MPH, the vehicle erroneously accelerated. The contact was able to slow the vehicle by firmly pressing the accelerator. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the issue. The failure mileage was 113,000 and the current mileage was 114,000.
Driving around 35mph vehicle started to accelerate on its own. Hit brake but RPM's still climbed. Hit brake again and fixed issue. Also cruise control stopped working around the same time. Has happened 3 times since first incident. Have to smash accelerator repeatedly to fix issue. Very scary feeling and will not let wife drive kids around in this vehicle. After reading the 100's of complaints on internet describing this exact same issue cannot believe ford has not issued a recall on this problem yet. This is literally an accident waiting to happen. Have owned car since 2007 and this is the first major issue we have had with this vehicle.
The first time this happened, I was leaving the grocery store. The RPM went up very high, and I could not control the speed of the car. It was very scary. I had to put the car in neutral, with engine still running, to control it at stop lights. For a long time, this was a constant problem, but I learned how to control it. I could not afford to take my car in to have it checked. I learned that if I hit the accelerator hard & quick, it would unstick. I can always feel it unstick, and can sometimes even hear a popping noise when it unsticks. As time went on, this happened less and less often. It still happens now, but infrequently, probably less than once a week. In the beginning, however, it happened every day at some point during the day. This is obviously a huge problem for the 2005 models as well as others, as I can see others are posting this same problem. This is very dangerous and the 2005 model needs to be included in the recall.
My 2005 ford taurus all of the sudden started accelerating on its own. The first time this happened was october 1, 2012. I was going 45 MPH when all of the sudden it started revving up even as I applied the brakes. I had to jump up onto a median at 65ish MPH to avoid other cars. The brakes began to smoke and grind as I tried to stop. I had to apply the emergency brake to stop. Even stopped the motor continued to rev at 8000 RPM. I had to turn the car off. Since then the sudden acceleration has occurred five more times. I had to take it in for brake repairs and the mechanic said he didn't know what was causing the acceleration and suggested I remove my floor mats as they may have gotten jammed under the pedal. While I know this to be false I nonetheless removed the floor mats and the condition remains. Another terrifying incident happened while I was visiting my daughter. She lives off a windy dirt road high on a leaf covered ridge. I usually don?t go any faster than 15 MPH on her road. The car experienced another sudden acceleration as I was turning a bend. The car began to slide on the leaves and I bounced off a tree stump and almost hit my daughter?s fianc. Again I applied the emergency brake to stop and had to turn the car off. The last occurrence happened in my driveway before I took the car out of park. I had to mash down on the accelerator to bring it back to idle. At this point I am too afraid to drive my car. I have incurred replacement brake bills and various car damages as a result of these incidents. Thankfully no one has been hurt.
The cruise control cable pops off of its connection, and gets in the way of the throttle, holding the car at a higher RPM and speed after the foot pedal is released. Normally this can be handled by stomping on the gas a couple of times to clear the interference and the car returns to idle. Certainly the potential is there for an accident to occur if the driver is not cognizant of how to handle a vehicle that acts as if the cruise has been actuated when the driver is not expecting it to do so.
I was trying to park the vehicle but when I hit the brakes, it accellorated, then I put it in reverse and it went about 50mph backwards causing me to crash into 2 parked vehicles. It stopped when I put on the emergency brake.
While driving the throttle got stuck and the car would accelerate itself. After taking my foot off the pedal the car would continue to accelerate and I had to step on the brake very firmly in order to stop. As I let go of the brake the car would jerk forward as if I was holding it back. If I stopped and put the car in neutral the rpms would continue rising as if I was stepping on the gas. After putting it back into drive the car would jerk or jump forward. After putting the car in park and turning it off the problem was usually solved. This occurs frequently though and usually happens at least once a week. It hasn't LED to an accident but it is very dangerous.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. While driving approximately 25 MPH, the engine rpms began to increase abnormally as the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact applied the brakes and was able to come to a stop. The failure recurred when driving at various speeds intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnostic testing however, the mechanic was unable to diagnose the failure. There was a concurrent investigation under the federal safety agency action number: pe12033 (vehicle speed control:cruise control vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000. Updated 01/15/13*lj the consumer stated at times the issue would resolve itself. Other times the ignition had to be quickly shut off. The failure would occur in motion and at stopped. Updated 1/23/2013
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 MPH the accelerator pedal became stuck. The driver depressed the brakes with extreme force until she was able to stop the vehicle 15 to 20 minutes later. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the throttle need to be clean which might repair the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and they offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 66,700 and the current mileage was approximately 60,787. Updated 12/5/12 *cn the consumer stated on november 18, 2012 there was another incident with the throttle sticking. The manufacturer was contacted, and suggested taking the vehicle to the dealer. Updated 12/11/2012
Vehicle speed did not reduce after removing foot from pedal. Applied brakes to slow vehicle, and then vehicle resumed acceleration when removed foot from brake. Was able to "unstick" throttle by repeatedly tapping accelerator pedal, and also pulling up on it with my foot from underneath. Used brakes to come to a stop. Mechanic found the cruise control cable had come unattached, possibly getting caught up in the throttle system. Cable was reattached. On 10/21/12 cruise control would not engage. 10 miles later vehicle would not de-accelerate. Again pumped gas pedal while applying brake pedal. Vehicle resumed normal operation. Contacted ford after seeing numerous online postings about this, and the federal safety agency investigation (march 2012) and was told there is no recall or safety bulletin regarding the dangling cruise control cable getting stuck in the throttle body, but that I could get it repaired at my own expense.
While driving in a 45 MPH zone throttle stuck had to brake hard to slow vehicle down put into neutral, engine rpms in excess of 6000 turned off car waited several minutes before restarting. Seemed fine however cruise control no longer worked. Upon inspection later on the cruise control cable had become disconnected. Reconnected cable, problem recurred in residential neighborhood. Reconnected again and again problem of stuck accelerator happened, again in a residential area.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle suddenly accelerated while attempting a left turn at an intersection. The vehicle increased speed to 65 MPH as the contact had the brakes depressed. In addition, the engine rpms abnormally increased to 4,000. The contact was able to stop the vehicle by applying the brake pedal with force, shifting into park and turning the engine off. The failure was experienced several times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer numerous times for the failure. The idle arm was replaced however, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle continued to accelerate sporadically and without warning. The failure mileage was 93,709 and the current mileage was 96,000.
Noticed 2 days prior that the cruise control no longer worked. Then, the car suddenly hit about 4,000 RPM without my foot on the gas pedal while driving 45 MPH. After I braked and pull off the road it was still running high RPM without touching the gas. After I tried to start it again it went straight to 2500 RPM and stayed there, while in park and foot on the brake (not the gas). Had to have it towed. Very scary, very dangerous. Ford need to pay for this/recall it.
Driving appx 25 miles per hour in stop-go traffic, car accelerated as if I had pushed the gas pedal to the floor, tried to brake and had to fight the car for control, veered off the road and put the car into park and engine continued to rev at high rate. Turned ignition off and waited. Started car and engine continued to rev at high rate. Had vehicle towed.
Stopped at a stop sign behind another car and it accelerated into the first car.
For approximately the last year, off and on, the throttle will stick causing the car to accelerate. It usually happens at low to midrange speeds accelerating to at least 60 MPH if left unchecked. Punching the accelerator pedal will usually release the pedal. Occasionally, when it happens on an open road with no traffic and I have the time to try different things I have found that turning the cruise control button to on (although the cruise control light will come on, the cruise control hasn't worked in over a year) while pushing the set button and then pushing coast, the accelerator pedal will release with an audible pop. Sometimes this occurs several times a day, sometimes only once or twice a week.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. The contact stated that while traveling 55 MPH the cruise control switch was engaged and when the brakes were depressed the vehicle accelerated un-expectantly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 122,780 and the current mileage was 122,800.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 ford taurus. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle accelerated independently to approximately 70 MPH. The contact applied the brakes, shifted into neutral and was able to stop the vehicle on the shoulder. The failure recurred approximately six times. The engine rpms increased excessively as the vehicle parked. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. There was a concurrent investigation under the federal safety agency action number: pe12005 (vehicle speed control:cables) that could have been related to the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.
After getting off the highway my car begin accelerating on its own. While applying the brake the car remained at 1500 rpms. I put the gear in park and the car went to just over 4000 rpms. I put the car in neutral and it remained around 4000 rpms. This has not caused an accident, but it is very dangerous and not normal. I contacted ford and they told me that they are not aware of this particular problem with 2005 ford tauruses.
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