So I'm driving my green SR5 with my 5 yr old in tow when the following happened. I passed a car in front of me on the interstate doing 50-55 and when I floored it the truck responded. Downshift from 4th to 2nd but the gas pedal stuck to the floor! !! I hit the brakes at first thinking it was stuck in gear. To my surprise it was pulling and the brakes were ineffective. I quickly slapped it in N and shut it off. It took some effort to stop but once I got it over to the shoulder I started it up and the gas pedal went back to normal. Ever happen to a 4runner owner before? Pretty crazy. Just a good thing I have my wits about me.
Just had a good scare
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KidVermicious
New member
opcorn:
IBallEngineer
New member
Green SR5 issue, especially when towing 5 year olds.
Seriously though, do you have cable or fly by wire throttle?
:couch2:
As a valet i have driven thousands of vehicles. This has happened to me twice and both times it was the floor mat was too thick and it trapped gas pedal down.
Start with that and then check the linkage of the pedal. Check your throttle cable to see if it is fraying at either end.
Start with that and then check the linkage of the pedal. Check your throttle cable to see if it is fraying at either end.
atalarico
Senior Member
That's scary as hell. Yeah, definitely check the floor mat situation. It's hard to able to figure it out because it's not like you can reproduce it safely or anything, and if it happens again I doubt you'll be thinking about trying to determine what is causing it.
Glad you all are safe!
Glad you all are safe!
And this was a 3rd gen? 4th gens had a recall for this exact issue relating to the floor mat.
Unner
New member
I'd guess it is the floormat or the drive cable somewhere.
On a side note if the brakes were innefective in slowing the truck then you need new brakes. The brakes on any vehicle will be able to stop it regardless of the accelerator pedal being stuck wide open.
How To Deal With Unintended Acceleration - Tech Dept. - Car and Driver
On a side note if the brakes were innefective in slowing the truck then you need new brakes. The brakes on any vehicle will be able to stop it regardless of the accelerator pedal being stuck wide open.
How To Deal With Unintended Acceleration - Tech Dept. - Car and Driver
jeremyc74
Banned
I think what happens sometimes with these open throttle situations is that you lose vacuum assist, and people just don't mash the pedal hard enough to stop the vehicle. Then if they don't kill the engine and its still at WOT the brakes overheat and aren't effective anymore.
But that's just my theory.
Unner
New member
Never thought about that, but I would think the brakes should still work like normal. Most vehicle's brake booster will hold vacuum to still have power brakes for a could pushes of the pedal so the brakes still work in the event the engine shuts off and you loose vacuum. Isn't there a check valve on the brake booster for situations like this?
2000. But to the thought that my brakes are bad, no. They're all new as of this summer. I wasn't going to attempt to try and stop the truck while the engine is spinning at 6k rpm I made a snap decision to bump it to N and kill the engine. I had about 2 seconds to decide what to do. I had plenty of room to stop on the shoulder.
Valid thought but how were people dying in prius's when their pedals stuck?
Unner
New member
Why did you not want to stop the truck with the engine at 6k rpm? Fear of engine damage, the brakes not working, or something else? I still think the brakes would work then, I don't see how they wouldn't. I could be wrong though. I'm almost tempted to go out to a back road and see how the brakes work at WOT myself just to confirm.
They wouldn't press the brakes, put the car in neutral, turn the engine off, use the emergency brake, or they could even just have slowly driven the car into a concrete barrier/median to slow down. People are pretty dumb. While it's tragic that they died I believe it was easily preventable on their part. Not trying to start an argument or come off as an inconsiderate person either, just my thoughts.
Agreed. I only popped it into neutral and killed it since that seemed the best way to stop a car with a stuck accelerator. Remember the Firestone tire blowouts that were killing people due to roll overs? I've had 4 blowouts in my life. Never flipped a car because of it. It was bad driving and folks panicking. Plain and simple
ChildrenOfBodom
Moderator
Sticking throttle valve? Dirty throttle body? It'd have to be awful to keep the spring tension at WOT, but who knows.
JoeBand
Member
here's one though that would make you think something else was at play:
Feds Point to Stuck Gas Pedal in Lexus Crash | NBC 7 San Diego
a CHP officer should be among the most prepared for such a situation... sad.
jgue467
Senior Member
What else could be at play?
I read about the CHP long ago and Simply could not understand how he failed to Simply shift it out of gear then tried a turn at 100mph!? No disrespect intended but ya' gotta be able to Think under pressure or else. Luck to us all! :cowboy:
4eigner
New member
And this is why I choose not to valet; I don't want someone unnecessarily flooring/abusing my car or truck, and potentially causing excessive wear & tear or hidden damage on my vehicle that doesn't show until they can no longer be held accountable. I've seen a valet put 40,000 miles on a clutch of a car they've only drove less than a mile, and much worse.
OP, a set of weathertechs would help to eliminate the floor mats from ever becoming an issue with a stuck accelerator pedal.
