Our sabel station wagon continued to accelerate after reaching highway speed. The brakes could not slow it, so I had to turn the ignition off to slow, and on again to regain brakes and steering. I was able to pull off the next exit and into the park and ride. Raising the hood I found the throttle cable housing was out of its socket and holding the throttle open. I put it back in and put some tape on it to keep it in. Koons ford annapolis performed service bulletin no.: csp-13b04b on 26 july 2013 to correct this problem. The fix did not work. Component(s): vehicle speed control the federal safety agency id number: 10052600
2002 Mercury Sable acceleration complaints
Page 2 of 3: complaints 11 to 40 of 56, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for a manufacturer's voluntary recall of the speed control cable collar replacement however, the failure was not corrected. The vehicle suddenly accelerated while the contact applied the brake. The engine rpms also increased to 4000. The failure was recurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who advised that they could not duplicate the failure and there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. The failure and current mileage was 125,263. Updated 10/30/13*lj the consumer stated the vehicle was taken to another dealer and was reimbursed the amount charged for clearing the valve of carbon. The contral cable was damaged and was replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Updated 10/30/2013
This has caused me much problems as my brother no longer let's me drive my mom's car thinks he's running the show which is quickly changing... Pulled into garage at 2 miles a hour. Speed rapidly changed couldn't stop center pinged the washer and dryer end of them. I'm very sick and unable to go to all my doctors appointments. Thank you mercury!
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that while descending a hill at unknown speeds, the vehicle erroneously accelerated and the contact crashed into a fence. There were no injuries and no police report. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where it was determined that the throttle cable had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The dealer was contacted about the failure. Updated 11/12/13
Car was revving at high rates of speed. While at light it would rev at1700, in park 4600. Idling at 30 MPH and car would speed itself up as if accelerator was stuck. When let off brake car would jump due to high revving. If I was waiting on train and didn't know better and edged up I would have jumped into the train. Issue was faulty cable that broke off at throttle and wouldn't allow a deceleration. Was very scary. Luckily I know my car and knew something was wrong.
Accelerator stuck. Vehicle accelerated when cruising on highway. Put it in neutral at exit from highway, stuck at 4000 RPM. Problem was accelerator cable. Ferrule broken in engine compartment and outer part of cable hung up on mounting bracket.
Traveling on highway, preparing to turn left onto a freeway onramp. As I took my foot off the gas pedal, the speed suddenly increased and the engine revved. I applied the brake, but the engine continued to rev, as the throttle was now stuck. The vehicle continued forward and I had to throw it into park to stop the forward motion. The engine even revved faster and I turned off the ignition and engine stopped. When I re-started the engine, it immediately continued to rev over 4300 RPM as the throttle was stuck. I had the vehicle towed to an automotive repair shop. The mechanic said the throttle control cable had become stuck against the collar shoulder, resulting in the throttle becoming stuck and unable to disengage. *tr update by smch: it was the cruise control cable not the throttle cable
I have a 2002 mercury sable I stepped on the accelerator I got my speed up to about 50 MPH, I then took my foot off the accelerator but the accelerator was stuck, the speed started climbing by in itself it got up to 70mph. I taped the accelerator a few times to try to get it to release, I also tried to lift pedal with my foot. I had to ride the brakes and that brought me down to about 50 MPH, it finally let loose and slowed down. My husband had the same thing happen to him today january 22,2013, he stepped on the brakes to slow the car down as much as possible he then put the car in neutral the engine was revving he had to shut the car off then turn the key back to the on position so he could steer the car and coast to the side of the road to get out of traffic.
While I was driving to work, my car suddenly began to accelerate by itself. It was full throttle, and I could not stop it from speeding up. Thank god I was entering the highway when this happened, because I could not slow the car down. While on the highway, I held my foot all the way down on the brake, and the car would still not go below 65 MPH. Without my foot on the brake, it got up to 95 MPH and would have kept getting higher. So I drove with my foot on the brake at 65 MPH, weaving in and out of traffic. I tried switching into neutral, but this had no effect. I called 911 and they sent a police officer out to follow me. I was driving like this for 10-15 minutes with my life constantly flashing before my eyes. Eventually, I was instructed by 911 to turn off the ignition off while in neutral (which I did not know could be done until they told me). If there had been traffic on the highway at any point, I would have gotten into a terrible accident and could have injured/killed myself and others. It was a very traumatic experience, and I am extremely shaken up. According to the auto shop that is working on my car, the incident occurred because the cable that runs from the cruise control to the throttle body broke.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact removed her foot from the accelerator pedal however, the vehicle continued accelerating. The air conditioning unit also began to operate independently. As the contact applied the brakes, the vehicle continued to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis where the idle was adjusted however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The failure and current mileage was 99,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that the vehicle was sitting idle when it lunged forward abnormally with the illumination of the check engine warning light. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the problem. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 10,000 and the current mileage was 60,000.
I was driving on route 31 west in medina ny and the car would not stop I had to put my car in park and my transmission was really grinding. Thank god no one was in the area or someone would have been really hurt ? I brought the car to the repair shop and the cause was the cruise control and it was removed.
While driving at 35 MPH, gas pedal was stuck down to floor, RPM and speedometer controls were at the maximum and the engine revved up. Vehicle started to accelerate so I depressed brake pedal slowing the vehicle down enough to shift it into park and shut the vehicle off. A passerby stopped by and taped the cruise control cable back together.
Tl* the contact owns 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact mentioned that he was able to merge to the shoulder of the road, shifted into neutral in order to stop the vehicle. Once the vehicle was turned back on the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the vehicle speed control cable snapped and threw the vehicle into a full throttle. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 131,000. ..updated 11/14/12 *bf updated 11/19/2012
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH there was an increase on engine rpms and the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact mentioned the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. However, once the vehicle was shifted into neutral and then park he was able to turn the engine off. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnose that the cruise control cable failed. The contact had the cable disconnected. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 131,000 and the current mileage was 132,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that the vehicle would sporadically accelerate independently. The contact was able to apply the brakes to stop the vehicle from accelerating further. The vehicle had not been inspected. The failure and the current mileage was 50,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that while driving 25 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle began to accelerate abnormally. The vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnosis where the contact was informed that the cruise control cable was broke and caused the vehicle to accelerate. The contact requested the cruise control be disconnected. The manufacturer was notified and stated that the case was under investigation. The failure and the current mileages were 86,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that the vehicle abnormally accelerated while driving 40 MPH. The accelerator was released, the brake was depressed and the vehicle continued to accelerate. The gear was placed in the neutral and the contact was able to coast the vehicle onto the shoulder as the rpms increased to 4,000. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer nor repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 144,000.
My daughter had just merged onto the highway going approximately 65mph. Initially it felt difficult to get the car up to speed. She noticed she was edging up on the vehicle in front of her and took her foot off the accelerator to slow down but instead the car sped up. She applied the brakes which did not slow the car down. She applied pressure to the accelerator in an attempt to "unstick" it which had no effect on the speed of the car. She then attempted to apply the brakes further at which time the brakes began smoking. The car had reached 90mph at this point and was shaking. While continuing to keep her foot on the brakes, she was able to pull into the breakdown lane and put the car into neutral but the vehicle only slowed down minimally at which time she put the car into park. The vehicle then stopped but she kept her foot on the brake because the engine continued to rev between 3,000 - 4,000 rpms and she could feel resistance as if the car wanted to continue to move forward despite being in park. At that time she shut off the engine and called for assistance. When my husband and I arrived on scene my husband verified that the accelerator was not stuck on anything, such as a floor mat. Once he saw that the accelerator appeared to be in a normal position he started the vehicle and immediately the engine was reving with rpms again between 3,000 - 4,000. The engine was again shut off and the vehicle was towed to the local ford dealership.
We were backing out of a parking space & the car accelerated as though I had pressed the gas pedal. This is the third time this has happened, but the first time going in reverse. Both other times the car was in drive. The first time I was on the freeway and I assumed my foot had accidentally pushed the gas, so I ignored it. The second time I was on a county road, and again I assumed it was my fault. This is the first time I could have really hurt someone, and this could potentially be very dangerous.
The cruise control gas cable broke off the holder by the throttle valve, resulting in jamming the throttle valve in open position, the car became out of control as the brakes are not able to slow down the car, only turning off the ignition helped slowing down the car so no brake booster. One very dangerous situation. The design and material are of substandard. I have it documented with pictures.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that he heard a banging noise while driving 50 MPH and the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The contact shifted into neutral and shut off the engine. The vehicle was then towed to an independent mechanic where the contact was informed that the cruise control cable was damaged and caused the failure. The mechanic disconnected the cruise control cable. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 81,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. While driving 35 MPH, the contact noticed that the vehicle had suddenly began to accelerate without warning. In order to stop the vehicle, the contact had to shift into neutral and then shut the vehicle off. The failure had not been diagnosed and had not been repaired. The failure and current mileages were 88,000.
When cruise control is on and active and gas pedal manually depressed ( to pass car) throttle will stick open. Ball on throttle plate comes out of saddle on cruise control cable. When foot taken off gas ball on throttle plate does not return to original saddle position at end of cruise control cable. Ball on throttle plate gets stuck on edge of entrance to cable saddle. Throttle sticks partway open with amount open depending on cruise control cable position / amount of throttle commanded by cruise control. I fixed by placing a piece of 1/2" o.d. Tube over cable (slit along length and then over cable, cable tie in position). This is enough to keep ball on throttle from coming out of saddle on cruise cable. Basically snap lock in saddle is wearing out after repeatedly pressing on gas while cruise control is on and active. No more problems for 20,000 miles.
Cruise control cable broke or came loose causing throttle return spring to fall off. I could not stop car no matter how hard I pushed the brake pedal. The engine ran at full speed. The cruise control was not on. I was able to quickly put car in neutral and turn off the engine. I started the engine again and it revved up to full speed immediately. It was very difficult to move the car off the main road without starting the engine. We were fortunate there were no cars in front of us when this happened. We were about 50 yards from having to make a sharp left turn to go onto the main highway and traffic. We never would have been able to make the turn without crashing or the car turning over. My wife and I had just picked up two of our dogs at the vet and were returning home. The car was towed to the nearest ford garage in the next town. I believe ford has a bigger problem than they are admitting. The mercury's should be included in their problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. The contact stated that the vehicle was equipped with adjustable pedals that would intermittently become stuck. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 60,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. While at a stop light, the vehicle began moving forward while the contact's foot was depressing the brake pedal. The vehicle began to accelerate and was taken to the dealer, but they could not find any failures. The vehicle has been to the dealer approximately three times for the same failure. The contact believes that the brakes may not be the cause of the failure. The vehicle will be taken to the dealer on june 4, 2009 for another diagnosis. The failure mileage was 38,500 and current mileage was 39,000. Updated 07/24/09.
We have a 2002 mercury sable ls premier model. This "failure" has happened several times now, but neither of us communicated to the other about it until today. It is an intermittent surge of the car when braking. The latest time was today, and it happened to my wife. It happened to me also several weeks ago as well. I stepped on the brakes and instead of stopping, the car seemed to go faster and not want to stop. Extreme force was needed to stop the car. Then it was fine.
Tl*- the contact owns a 2002 mercury sable. While driving 15 MPH and due to heavy traffic the cruise control cable jumped out of its socket and the vehicle started to accelerate. The contact applied the brakes, but the vehicle did not respond. The driver had to turn the vehicle's power off completely to stop it from accelerating. The contact scheduled an appointment with a repair facility. The failure mileage was 100,000. *ak the consumer stated he experienced unwanted acceleration. Updated 02.27.07.
I put my foot on the brake, and the car accelerated and I was unable to stop causing an accident. This has also happened on several other occassions causing near miss accidents.
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