Antony Anderson's Guestbook Archive - Move down page with RH scrollbar ---->
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139 entries on 1 page
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| 139 | Date: 2007-10-03 14:00:54 Gérard D'Ans ( gdans@ulb.ac.be / no homepage) wrote: Congratulations on your site over generator core problems. Many interesting issues are reported. |
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| 138 | Date: 2007-09-25 17:06:20 lesa alexander ( alexander1le@hotmail.com / no homepage) wrote: This website is incredible! My problems are on the list Gear Shaft sticking, car cutting off when cruise control is on etc. But now I am told that a spring broke, #2 valve dropped and tore up the engine. Can you help. |
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| 137 | Date: 2007-09-18 15:40:09 Carole Noe ( cnoe@cavtel.net / no homepage) wrote: My parents bought a 2006 Grand Marquis yesterday. This morning, when backing out of parking space, car suddenly accelerated. My father put brakes on, changed gears (to drive instead of reverse), and car lunged forward,causing his car to hit another. |
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| 136 | Date: 2007-08-29 00:24:11 Henrique Alves ( halma@iol.pt / no homepage) wrote: I am writing from portugal ( Europe) .I had a accident on the 9 August with a XC90 dated 01 2006, with 20.000 Km. On the higway with the cruise control connected at 140 km/h, I saw an accident in front of me. I trybut , i couldn t stop, becouse I had no brakes. I have destroied completly my car and six more were very bad also. |
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| 135 | Date: 2007-07-09 18:37:49 Jack Parker ( pm45305@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: I just returned from a Ford dealer with this problem in a 2006 Mercury Grand Marquis. Got the same run-around. Filed a complaint with NHTSA. My son is a PhD Electrical Engineer. I'll have him look into it. |
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| 134 | Date: 2007-07-01 04:53:05 Robert Nott ( rushnott@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: On June 21 I was almost to a compleat stop at a red light when my brand new f150 ford suddenly accellerated causing me to hit the truck in front of me.I had both feet on the brake to no avail.My wife witnessed this from the passenger side.The truck had under 500 miles and 300 of them on this trip to Atlanta using the cruise control.I can't get anyone to listen to the facts. My insurance co. Ford motor co. and the Ga. State Patrol just ignore my pleas to investigate this.Its very agravating when I shouldn't be at fault at all. |
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| 133 | Date: 2007-06-28 15:47:51 François LAURENTY ( f-me.laurenty@wanadoo.fr / no homepage) wrote: Doctor Karam Moussalmieh would like to get from you direct a letter describing the various malfunctions which may have influenced the accident he was involved back on june 25th 2004. He thinks it might help him his last rout with the judge was not conclusive as late and dismissed!!!Thank you any way. |
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| 132 | Date: 2007-06-20 01:33:40 Mark Waters ( mdwaters@interbaun.com / no homepage) wrote: no issues |
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| 131 | Date: 2007-05-31 22:51:46 ROBERT J. RODRIGUE ( LSUBOBBY@COX.NET / no homepage) wrote: I HAVE A 1999 PACE ARROW RV WITH V10 FORD ENGINE BUT CRUISE CONTROL STOP WORKING. I CALL ALL FORD DEALERS IN NEW ORLEANS,LA. BUT NO HELP.COULD YOU GIVE ME SOME INSIGHT OF MY PROBLEM OR A DIAGRAM OF IT THANK YOU |
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| 130 | Date: 2007-05-30 17:06:27 karen b ( krun2b@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: I have a 2005 toyota/solara 6cyl w/hesitation/unintended acceleration. If it is the stupidity of the driver stepping on the wrong pedal why don't I have this problem driving any other car. Why does Toyota only have the problem with the 6 cyl & not the 4 cyl.? Why is it only with ect? This is a lame poor excuse and is not acceptable.I have excellent reflexes I don't drink, take drugs, am not old, senile etc.and it is a darn good thing because I have had a number of near accidents myself. My car acts like it is starting to stall or is stuck in neutral and you can feel it losing power when slowing down or stopping, the RPMS jump way up from 0 up to 3500 sometimes pressing the gas pedal sometimes without your foot on the gas pedal. This is when you are stopped or going slow, turning a corner or pulling into a parking space --1 to 20 mph but no reaction no power no acceleration. Then all the sudden it kicks in and takes off like a race car. Very dangerous! I don't understand why car makers are allowed to continue to make the same engine and components for years knowing these problems. Toyota has known since 2002 and has been making the same ect engine /transmission for at least 5 yrs. The dealer drives your car down the road for 1 mile and since you don't have the problem instanteously, comments there's nothing wrong with the car --must be the dirver. any advise or comments--email me I feel I haveno recouse other then legal help., |
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| 129 | Date: 2007-05-28 05:04:25 Frank Eggers ( freggersjr2000@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: The matter of unintended acceleration has been in the news for many years. Why is it that no statistics are published to let us know whether the car has an automatic transmission or a manual transmission? Does unintended acceleration EVER occur with a manual transmission? Could it be that manual transmissions are safer than automatic transmissions? Are there statistics regarding this? It seems to me that there should be statistics available regarding the difference in safety between automatic and manual transmissions, but I have not been able to find any. |
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| 128 | Date: 2007-05-24 15:31:38 John Cyphert ( johnclare@everestkc.net / no homepage) wrote: Is it dangerous to drive in the rain with the cruise on? |
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| 127 | Date: 2007-05-18 14:33:24 laurenty ( f-me.laurenty@wanadoo.fr / no homepage) wrote: Sudden acceleration is a problem not linked to cruise control only, it can occur with all electronically controlled engines when they do electronically command the amount of fuel injected in the engine to keep comsumption and pollution under control.This is often forgotten |
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| 126 | Date: 2007-04-24 12:44:48 Paul Stockwell ( pstockwell@iee.org / no homepage) wrote: Interesting Website. I hope to contact you soon. |
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| 125 | Date: 2007-04-23 21:17:24 Ivar Schoenmeyr ( schoenmeyr@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: I was actually looking for papers on uneven brushwear in DC motors but got side tracked and started reading your paper on cruise control problems. |
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| 124 | Date: 2007-03-20 08:31:14 carl ( cemoon@suddenlink.net / no homepage) wrote: I am experiencing negative speed drift. information from this site indicates a possible cause could be dirty wires causing the refference speed capacitor to discharge. Thank you. |
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| 123 | Date: 2006-11-28 23:44:21 jim ( jimatrubyck@shaw.ca / no homepage) wrote: my 2005 nissan frontier suddenly veered full left then right then left then right again at about 25mph before i got it under control. could have got us killed. could cb radios interfere with traction control ?i was surrounded by semis. |
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| 122 | Date: 2006-11-24 15:01:00 Dr. Wejdan Abu-elhaija ( elhaija@psut.edu.jo / no homepage) wrote: Please expect an email from me regarding possible research work |
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| 121 | Date: 2006-11-08 10:47:52 Robert Fudge ( bobfudge@talktalk.net / no homepage) wrote: I take people on Driving tests in the UK. At this time we are on an update course. I have been an examiner for over 17 years.Our training centre (Called Cardington) is advocating the use of Cruise control even in built up areas. This is clearly stupid! Your paper will be used along with others to show our so called training school of exellence just how stupid they are. I have used cruise control many times on your long roads in the US on holidays etc. But I would never use it in heavy traffic or built up areas. Thank you for your time. Best regards, Bob Fudge. |
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| 120 | Date: 2006-11-02 04:34:12 Dante Crisante ( dante@primusonline.com.au / no homepage) wrote: Few days ago I had a terrifying accident when, after driving a Mercedes C180 6-speed manual for some 300km on cruise control from Melbourne to Sydney I reached an intersection where some road work was being done. I pressed the brake and instead of the cruise control to disingage, the car accellerated. After pressing the brakes several more times I applied the hand brakes (which is pedal operated in the Merc) sufficiently to slow the car down and for me to aim between a steel road rail and a traffic light. The car went off the road, hit the steel rail on the opposite side of the road, rolled 2-3 times and came to rest on an embankment some 5m from a river. My partner and I walked out of the car with only minor bruises. None of the airbags in the front of the car went off. The airbags on the doors and from the roof went off and I think they saved our lives. We were lucky that Merc are such strong car structurally. The passenger side door was pushed in at least 20cm. I don't know how we escaped with minor scratches from such horrific accident. Mercedes tells me they have never heard of such incident. The electronic of the car had been playing up with intermittent malfunctions, eg the passenger door window would not operate for about 2 weeks and then resumed normal operations, I would receive a warning about cooling system but there was nothing wrong, etc.. I believe that few of these type of accidents are reported because usually the occupants of the car die at the scene of the accident. I would appreciate if anyone, including Mercedes Benz, would contact me with details of similar accidents. Thanks for your site Dante |
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| 119 | Date: 2006-10-29 01:45:13 Tim G ( tim@amstarrealty.com / http://www.amstarrealty.com) wrote: My 2000 Mercury Sable has unexpectedly accelerated over 6 times in the past 3 years (with the speed control in the off position. Half while stopped but the rest while I was slowly accelerating or decelerating. Very scary. Almost hit cars ahead of me a couple of times. I now drive with my hand on the automatic gear shift so that I can throw it into neutral and hit the brake if and when it happens again. |
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| 118 | Date: 2006-09-22 02:24:37 Roberta Hosken ( rhosken@tampabay.rr.com / no homepage) wrote: Audi A8 LI Accelerator surged and went out of control in rush hour traffic, had to put car in neutral to maintain control, luckily was able to get it home then shipped to Audi dealer. How do you resolve this dangerous defect with the manufacturer? |
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| 117 | Date: 2006-09-18 23:10:32 Michele K. ( cheleken@excite.com / no homepage) wrote: While my mechanic worked on my car, I borrowed his 1989 Crown Victoria. On the third day I had it, while driving in a 45 MPH zone, the gas pedal suddenly pulled away from my foot and went all the way to the floor. I was not using cruise control so I tried pulling the pedal up by placing my foot under it and pulling up. That didn't work so I hit the gas pedal a few times, believing it was stuck somehow. When that didn't work I hit the brakes to pull the car over. The car was quickly gaining speed as I did all of these things and hitting the brakes didn't do anything at all. Then I stood on the brakes with both feet while the car was up to 80 MPH. Standing on the brakes with both feet only brought it down to 60 MPH. I then managed to get the car into Neutral gear and pull it over on the shoulder by also using the brakes, but it was revving high and black smoke was now coming from under the hood. I got out of the car and ran down the road away from the car, when the car started sparking underneath, then it broke into flames. The whole front of the car was engulphed in flames and 2 tires exploded before the fire company arrived. I've read on the internet that a short in the cruise control causes the throttle to open up, even if you're aren't using the cruise control. They say to disable the cruise control.... |
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| 116 | Date: 2006-09-14 14:44:35 Doug DeWitt ( D1DeWitt@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: Had an accident last night crusie control would not disengaging after a car brake was applied? Unfortunately looks like it can happen. Anyone help with what the potential causes be? Thanks & Best Regards, Doug |
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| 115 | Date: 2006-09-07 22:26:43 Hubert C. KOSLOFF ( kosloff@mac.com / no homepage) wrote: this work of yours is a tremendous help for me. I had recently an accident following a speed control failure : impossibility to disengage, be it with the steering wheel control or with the brakes pedal. what is more the brake pedal went all the way to the floot (I think) but with no resistance and braking action. Car was a Renault Megane and has been totaled. Inspection pending. |
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| 114 | Date: 2006-08-30 06:50:54 dave boyle ( daveandann_15@yahoo.co.uk / no homepage) wrote: Very interesting site as I am now entering into discussions with Ford main agent re warranty (just expired) claim as cruise control has a mind of it's own and sometimes holds road speed even though cruise is not activated and no signal light on dash display. Applying brakes does not disengage so have to downshift. Car is Ford Mondeo TDCi, Year 2003 With 56,000 miles . |
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| 113 | Date: 2006-08-27 18:21:47 sam thompson ( sbthompson@centurytel.net / no homepage) wrote: Very informative. Special interest my 1999 Dodge minivan ran away with me. Spent 3 weeks in hospital from head trauma. Backed out of parking place in Sonic drive in, put it in drive and took a wild ride across 3 driveways. Braking didn't help. Ten days earlier I had taken it to a Dodge dealer because of a drive problem. They replaced the transmission sensor. Seemed to work okay except driver door window quit working. A different dealer fixed it 3 days before accident. it had 23,000 miles on it. It hit a parked car at a pizza place totaling both vehicles. A runaway car is a terrifying experience. |
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| 112 | Date: 2006-08-15 19:51:51 w.m.philip ( wmp2788@yahoo.om / no homepage) wrote: 1989 FORD Crown Victoria: under cruise control, at highway speed for 30 minutes, slowed [brake application] to lower speed limit to pass through tunnel, emerged from tunnel, RESUME button pressed and car accelerated gradually almost to previous set speed; VW Golf ahead stopped in fast lane for no apparent reason [no brake lights displayed]; Ford brakes applied to little effect because 5 liter engine still operating at full throttle - the brake application did not disengage throttle as it had a few minutes earlier; the next lane was occupied so could not turn out; had no hand free to shut off ignition because needed to grip wheel hard to get leverage to apply brakes VERY HARD. It is not true that a powerful car under full throttle can be stopped by brakes alone; it was slowed down only to approximately 20mph; resulting in impact with VW Golf, injury to both drivers and writeoff of both vehicles. Ford had about 100 thousand miles, mostly freeway driving, about half under cruise control. No prior problem with CC. Car well maintained; brakes and tires nearly new. Any ideas on cause? |
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| 111 | Date: 2006-08-08 13:20:51 Charley Evans ( charley.evans@olebrook.com / no homepage) wrote: Excellent material. I did not read all of it however I would like to see more warnings on the use of cruise control in wet or raining conditions. Because of initial drivers training that warns not to apply the brake during a slide many wrecks occur because of the driver's inability to recover control of the vehicle because the cruise control maintains the preestablished speed. This comes from personal experience and I have been driving for over 50 years. |
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| 110 | Date: 2006-08-02 02:13:26 Colette ( colette.armand@sbcglobal.net / no homepage) wrote: I forwarded your page concerning "sudden unintended acceleration" to our local TV station in order for them to investigate a recent accident in which it was believed the elderly gentleman "misstook his accelerator for the brake pedal" and drove his car into a group of people. It is the investigative reporting team and I hope the info you provided on this subject will be of assistance to them (if they choose to pursue it). This is a very serious problem! |
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| 109 | Date: 2006-07-31 08:24:33 Ekik ( qama@ewtyl.com / http://ultram.life4you.info/altram.html) wrote: Very good site!Very useful and good site!! |
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| 108 | Date: 2006-07-25 05:10:49 yzd ( yzdrly@yahoo.com.cn / no homepage) wrote: very good |
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| 107 | Date: 2006-07-01 13:57:11 Alan Knobelman ( alan.knobelman@optusnet.com.au / no homepage) wrote: I parked my Porsche 911 (2002 996 model, tiptronic (I believe it is ZF gearbox with Bosch electronics), with about 12,500 kms on odometer) in an underground car park in Sydney. I had my foot on the brake and the gear lever was in the park position, ready to turn off the engine, when the car surged under full throttle in reverse. The car hit the back wall and immediately accelerated forward under the full throttle. It hit two cars parked directly in front, ending up where the last car was originally parked. The car finally stopped when the engine stalled. The gear lever was still in the parked position and my foot was firmly pressed on the brake pedal. No air bags were discharged, notwithstanding the fact that I sustained injuries to my right hand/arm and to my right leg as well as my Porsche and the other two vehicles were very extensively damaged. To date I am finding it very difficult to explain the above events. Specifically, even if I did cause the car to reverse on the full throttle (and I certainly do not accept that I did do it), how was it possible for the vehicle to surge forward (also on full throttle)? |
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| 106 | Date: 2006-06-28 21:36:32 Martyn Thompson ( martynjthompson@blueyonder.co.uk / no homepage) wrote: I am currently researching incidents of Jeep Grand Cherokee's suddenly accelerating out of control for no apparent reason. My reason for this research is that three weeks ago a friend of mine was driving his 93 Grand Cherokee in France when it did exactly this. The outcome of this incident is that the vehicle went off the road at high speed killing 4 people including his wife and 10 year old step daughter. At present he is being investigated by the French Authorities with a view to prosecuting him for manslaughter for which he could go to prison for 10 years. If anyone has any information about Grand Cherokee's suddenly taking off like this then please contact me via the above e-mail. Finally, I would very much like to publicly thank Antony Anderson for this execellent site and his personal assistance, which has already been of great help. Martyn Thompson |
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| 105 | Date: 2006-06-28 11:17:38 hari krishna ( hari_mys@yahoo.co.uk / no homepage) wrote: It was very interesting reading your homepage incidentally i am an electrical engineer with 14 years on the field my experience is spread over consultancy,project execution & management your page has widened my horizons, regards, hari. |
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| 104 | Date: 2006-06-06 21:07:59 Hermann Foerster ( info@hermann-foerster.de / http://www.hermann-foerster.de/) wrote: Hallo Mr. Anderson, lange haben wir nichts voneinander gehört bzw. habe ich "Colditz" nicht aktiv verfolgt. Ich freue mich, dass die Website immer noch "top" ist und viele Besucher hat. Herzliche Gruesse an Sie Hermann Foerster |
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| 103 | Date: 2006-05-12 00:16:50 Bill ( WAJCMW1@ADELPHIA.NET / no homepage) wrote: DRIVING A 05.5 JETTA, WE HAVE HAD ABOUT 3 WEEKS . THIS WAS TH 1ST TIME I DROVE THE VEHICLE.nEEDLESS TO SAY THE CRUISE STUCK AND I ABOUT RAN OVER A MINI VAN AND HAD TO PASS IT IN THE MEDIAN.iT WASN'T UNTIL IPUT IT INTO NEUTRAL IT SLOWED DOWN. THE DEALER LOOKED AT AND FOUND NOTHING.FORE THE MOST PART I DON'T HTINK THEY BELIEVE ME. |
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| 102 | Date: 2006-05-11 22:29:57 Lory James ( lory.james@banffdesings.com / no homepage) wrote: Mom and Dad nearly died in an incident this past year, when their cruise control in their Volkswagon Diesel did not disengage and the car accelerated, causing a major accident. Volkswagon denies any responsibility and the insurance company has increased their premiums 10 fold. This is happen stance upon your page, however are their any specifics relating to these types of incidents and Volkswagon Diesels. |
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| 101 | Date: 2006-04-20 10:42:49 srsharma ( sr_sharma555@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: Shall be keen to know the latest development. |
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| 100 | Date: 2006-04-11 15:02:57 tom d'agostino, p.e. ( tdagosti@aol.com / http://islandwidehomeinspection.com) wrote: I do expert witness.....work...and, I'm planning to market my services.... I have 28 years experience in the electrical industry / UL.... Tom D'Agostino, P.E. |
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| 99 | Date: 2006-03-21 11:17:40 Peggy Hoefl ( phoefl@skybest.com / no homepage) wrote: I have a hearing with Toyota on 4/3/06 regarding my sudden acceleration case in a brand new Toyota Tacoma. |
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| 98 | Date: 2006-03-04 16:02:20 john c ( lan421@epix.net / no homepage) wrote: hello on a recent trip with my 1997 fleetwood bounder motor home on a ford f53 chassis i pushed the on button of the cruise control and nothing else the motor home accelerated to over 65 mph i had to shut down the engine to get it stopped with no power brakes or steering . i tried the off button nothing worked some miles latter i pressed the off button only yes the OFF button same thing all over tried it again worked perfectly again used the cruise latter pressed the on button cruise would not work pressed the off button the motorhome accelerated this thing is scarey john c |
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| 97 | Date: 2006-02-27 18:09:13 Reo Beaulieu ( reobeaulieu@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: On January 24, 2006, I ran into travel agency due to unintended acceleration as described in your article. I reported the incident to NHTSA, ODI number 10149898. I wish to add that a local fire station is located at the intersection and may have been using their two-way radio. |
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| 96 | Date: 2006-02-16 01:00:56 DONALD J. KOVACS,P.E. ( DONKPE@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: RE: 2000 Lincoln LS uncontrolled engine racing to point of tires smoking (engine not slow when brakes applied). No cruise control in use. |
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| 95 | Date: 2006-02-12 20:06:04 Sabuj Pattanayek ( sabujp@gmail.com / no homepage) wrote: A friend is now at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in severe condition (massive head trauma and coma) because his 1998 Grand Cherokee accelerated out of control on the interstate to 120MPH (speed restrained by engine governor) and his airbags failed to deploy. There is plenty of evidence on your website and elsewhere on the net to indicate fault with the manufacturers. Why hasn't there been a class action lawsuit yet? |
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| 94 | Date: 2006-02-08 18:51:04 Loretta Roberts ( info@hydrotech.net / http://www.hydrotech.net) wrote: I was browsing and found that you are available for testing of hydro electric generators. I will keep your page on file. Best Regards, Loretta Roberts |
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| 93 | Date: 2006-02-07 15:37:58 jan heyman ( jan.heyman@trelleborg.com / no homepage) wrote: Dear Mr Andersson Ì would like to get in contact with you to discuss cruise control failure. I`ve been involved in an accident where a possible cause could have been non permanent loss of function of a cruise control. I could not release my control.Please mail. Kind regards Jan Heyman |
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| 92 | Date: 2006-01-11 16:00:43 Gary Motelson ( gmotelso@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: Thank you. In 2000 I was involved in an incident in which my Dad and son were killed. You have just described what in fact I experienced. |
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| 91 | Date: 2005-12-27 18:45:47 Susan Lescarbeau ( Susan.Lescarbeau@Target.com / no homepage) wrote: My daughter was driving my 2005 Jeep Gran Cherokee on Christmas Eve and has the accelerator stick - she was driving at speeds of 120 MPH - with the brakes to the floor the car was still going 45 MPH. She skidded off the road, thank God no one was hurt. Do you know of any other such problems with the 2005's Jeep Cherokee's? |
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| 90 | Date: 2005-12-20 14:09:03 Mark Cowgill ( pilopoli@fuse.net / no homepage) wrote: I borrowed my mother's '96 Jeep Cherokee Sport to run an errand. I pulled into a store parking lot, and as I nosed into a parking space, with my foot on the brake, the car suddenly accelerated against my my full braking pressure and smashed into a concrete column separating the parking area from the sidewalk. The damage to the front of the car is significant, and I feel that if it weren't for the column it hit, the car would have plowed into the store. |
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| 89 | Date: 2005-12-13 18:17:11 Port ( portsider47@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: I have a 2002 Nissan Sentra - 1.8 litre. I too experience sudden acceleration on a fairly regular basis (once a month or so). It happens when I decelerate, typically to a stop light with brake pressure applied. Just before coming to a complete stop the engine will rev to about 3000 RPMs. I quickly shift into neutral and sometimes, but not always, kick the gas pedal and the engines begins to settle down. I have had no accidents yet and the brake does hold the car under control awaiting my quick gear change. However, it could really challenge an inexperienced driver if they were to experience the problem while driving my car. I have alerted my sons and daughter to the problem but I will not let my wife drive it. My Nissan dealer refuses to look at the problem and insisted that the solution is to make sure the floor mat isn't jammed under the gas pedal - of all the stupidity It has a floor 'peg' that holds the mat in place well away from the acclerator - but that's a dealer for you. On hearing (through the internet) that it could be a electronic throttle control problem (as it apparently is for Toyota and Lexus for example) I wonder if Nissan is the same. |
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| 88 | Date: 2005-12-03 22:26:23 JAJ ( bfi@shaw.ca / no homepage) wrote: Dr. Anderson - Almost lost both my parents last month when their 2003 VW GOLF TDI - Cruise control would not disengage. My father tried the brakes and fully compressed the vehicle continued to accelerate. He downshifted - but when the clutch engaged - the engine continued to race! Evasive action was taken to head off the road into trees versus oncoming traffic. I am glad they are OK - although extremely scared and the VW has been written off. Where does a good engineering mind go to analyze the failure? I will dig deeper into your site. Thanks. |
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| 87 | Date: 2005-11-28 19:03:08 Meg Meis ( m.meis@sbcglobal.net / no homepage) wrote: In addition to our recent Accord accident (see posting), in the late 1990's I had an older Ford wagon do the same thing. Cruise was set, the engine revved, and the car continued to accelerate. I burned out the brakes trying to stop it. Eventually I did by turning off the ignition. My husband went to the car a few hours later, turned it on without touching the gas; the engine was racing at very high rpm. I guess the throttle was stuck open? |
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| 86 | Date: 2005-11-28 18:48:04 Meg Meis ( m.meis@sbcglobal.net / no homepage) wrote: Our 1998 Accord cruise was set to 60mph. Car engine began racing--up to 90mph in spite of canceling cruise and pushing brakes. |
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| 85 | Date: 2005-11-23 21:29:17 Robert Stephenson ( bobstep@cox.net / no homepage) wrote: Over the last week my 1989 Cadillac Seville has had two occurances of unintended acceleration while being driven in town. One with the cruise control on but not in use and one with the cruise control off. After car was stopped and restarted it would accelerate again until after the second or third restart. Have removed fuse for cruise control until I can find out a fix for this situation. Does not seem to be very much advice on how to fix system just a lot of discussion out there. The type of cruise control system is electro-mechanical. Any suggestions? |
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| 84 | Date: 2005-11-14 16:02:55 Roxane Ortman ( rortman@cox.net / no homepage) wrote: My cruise control did not disengage upon breaking in my 2004 BMW Z4. I was traveling 70MPH when a car cut me off with just a few feet between us. After multiple attempts to slow my car down I was either going to hit the car that cut me off or take my car off the road. I took the car off the road and after a lot of spinning and sliding I came to stop just right of an embankment. I am very fortunate but this could have been a lot worse. BMW has informed me that it is common for your break peddal to seem harder when you are going up a hill due to the vacuum design. Can anyone elaborate on this? What a nightmare! |
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| 83 | Date: 2005-11-09 10:43:17 Tadel Jean ( jeantadel@yahoo.fr / no homepage) wrote: I was interested by the comments on the risks associated to electronic equipment in cars. My wife is hemiplegic and I bought for her a Peugeot 206 SW with automatic gear box. The equipment was completed by an other firm: small box fixed to the steering wheel and sending infra red signals to control the main auxilaries. After the correction of some initial trouble, it worked during 2 years. But recently, as the car was running slowly, in a mountain road curve, it seemed to accelerate and my wife was unable to control it. We were safe but the the car was destroyed it it was impossible to prove any responsibility of the equipment. |
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| 82 | Date: 2005-11-07 20:42:51 LAURENTY FRAN9OIS ( f-me.laurenty@wanadoo.fr / no homepage) wrote: nice and helpfull |
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| 81 | Date: 2005-10-21 17:46:41 Stan Couch ( couch1@onetel.net / no homepage) wrote: Thank you for this very interesting material. I have been considering having a cruise control fitted to my present vehicle but in the light of your observations, this project will be put on the back burner. |
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| 80 | Date: 2005-10-18 13:00:25 Derrick ( steve@mscwa.com / no homepage) wrote: I was recently involved in an accident while driving a 2005 Lexus GS300. I found your pages very informative & interesting, especially about RFI affecting the onboard electronics. Thanks for putting up such a helpful website. I will contact you soon with more details about this accident. Hopefully you may be able to advise me on my this matter. |
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| 79 | Date: 2005-10-11 15:33:11 Neil Mizen ( nmizen@aol.com / http://mizenengineering.com) wrote: I appreciated reading your material concerning Sudden Acceleration. |
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| 78 | Date: 2005-10-05 20:31:24 Shirley ( sjlmausa@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: Have you heard on any sudden unintentional acceleration problems with the 2003 Jeep Cherokee? |
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| 77 | Date: 2005-09-28 01:26:15 Deborah Johnson ( dajohnson7@comcast.net / no homepage) wrote: My 20 yr old daugher and a friend were driving our 1992 Ford Explorer on September 18.2005. They had just put on the cruise control and the car began to accellerate up to 90mph. They tried flooring the brakes, and did slow it down a little and decided to exit the freeway. After exiting the freeway, they then rolled the car. The car is totaled. Thank God that neither one was hurt seriously. I wonder who I should report this to? Is there a class action suit underway or anything like that? Any information would be appreciated. thanks. |
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| 76 | Date: 2005-09-13 22:20:31 Barbara Brittain ( beepa@adelphia.net / no homepage) wrote: I was driving a 2005 Toyota Camery XLE, my speed was 25mph. The car started to speed up on it's own & started to go faster. The worst ride of my life ended when my car hit a utility pole & cracked it in half. I was not seriously injuried physically but emotionally. We think it might of had something to do with the speed control because my husband was starting to have problems with it. The car will be repaired at a cost of $7,000. I am afraid to drive this car again if Toyota cannot find out why this happened. If I would have been on a highway I could have killed someone. Any info. you could give me would be very much appreciated. This accident happened on 8-12-05. Thankyou, Barbara |
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| 75 | Date: 2005-09-04 11:04:12 Thom Canning ( torccanning@bmi.net / no homepage) wrote: I am researching info about cruise control malfunction concerning Saturn automobiles. My father was in an accident caused when he attempted to disengage the cruise control on an approach to a toll booth. The cruise control would not disengage,the vehicle picked up speed and caused a horrendous accident where my father lost his leg in the resulting crash. ANY INFO? Thanks TC |
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| 74 | Date: 2005-08-19 07:33:42 RUTH ZARESKY ( RUTHZAR@RODGERS.COM / no homepage) wrote: August 9, 2005 THIS IS A COPY I SENT TO HONDA ABOUT MY CAR THAT I PREVIOUSLY POSTED ON YOUR SITE. ********************************************** Mr. H. Kobaiashi President of Honda Canada 715 Melner Dr. Toronto, Ontario M1B 2K8 Dear Sir: Re:Accident due to Unwanted Acceleration 2004 Honda Accord VIN******** On July 7, 2005, while very slowly coasting forward into a parking spot at ***** my car, a 2004 Honda Accord , suddenly shot forward like a bullet,at full throttle, and crashed into a wall 6 feet away. The car sustained extensive damage to the hood and frame. Anyone in its path would have been seriously harmed or killed. This event is particularly perturbing to me for several reasons. 1. I am 100% certain that I did not floor the accelerator pedal. My foot was very lightly resting on the brake but not depressing it, as I was already almost stopped. 2. This particular car had already experienced at least two other episodes of sudden acceleration. The last episode occurred in May 2007 while my husband was driving about 20km. on our street. The car suddenly shot out into the intersection and would not react to the brakes. The only way he could stop the madly accelerating car was to switch off the ignition! 3. Because of this and other reasons I went to a lot of trouble to have this car checked out at X . I even had the cruise control disconnected by them as it had been cited as a possible culprit. I was assured by X that my car was thoroughly checked out and that no problems were detected . Since the accident I have been in touch numerous times with the service department of X and with the customer relations and engineering departments of Honda Canada. No one is willing to take any responsibility for this defect or provide any solutions as to how to fix it. It seems Honda is unwilling to even acknowledge that this problem, a potentially very serious safety issue, exists. I have been in touch with many internet sites dealing with this problem of sudden acceleration and have added my story to the many on record. What I have gleaned from contacting consumer groups, car safety groups, as well as through chance personal contacts(ie. policeman, tow truck driver, other accident victims) is that my problem is far from unique and rarely acknowledged by car manufacturers, since, by virtue of its sporadic nature, the problem is very difficult to replicate. According to experts in the field, electronic throttle modules and cruise control defects are possible culprits but it seems that only more media attention and class action law suits will encourage research. I am not surprised Honda is unwilling to provide me with a log of acceleration problems that it has, although I myself filled out a lengthy questionnaire as requested. At this point I am asking Honda Canada to buy my car back and provide restitution for damages, including repair ($6,500), towing, and car rental. If this car is ever driven by anyone else (as will happen if I trade my car in at X) I am holding you responsible for any injury or fatality as a result of sudden acceleration that may occur with this car. Hoping to hear from you soon, Sincerely yours, Dr Ruth Zaretsky cc: Dave Arseneau, Customer Relations, Honda Canada |
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| 73 | Date: 2005-08-07 01:43:46 Barbara H. ( katgirlnj@peoplepc.com / no homepage) wrote: My life was changed dramatically when my Ford Explorer took off on its own, and believe me it was not ME controlling this vehicle (my foot was not on gas at all when my SUV went up to over 90 mph) The vehicle only "stopped" because I flipped over 7 or 8 times when I hit the brakes. I live with pain every day and spend $813.47 on medicines that enable me to stand upright because of "whatever" this cruise control wire problem or sudden acceleration problem was. I just couldnt prove it happened to me. Is there any kind of group or class action suit against Ford re: this? I am now divorced and would rather spend my prescription money on food for my kids if I could get my medicine taken care of. I wish I knew more about how often this has happened to others. Anger is starting to take over where for years I just felt sad/bad about it. Barb-NJ |
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| 72 | Date: 2005-08-03 22:16:18 Terri Moore ( terrimoore@comcast.net / no homepage) wrote: It appears that I am another victim of sudden acceleration. I own a 2004 Saturn Vue and on July 6th 2005 I was in a parking lot, turned on my car, put it in reverse and it rocketed backward aprox 40 ft. hitting a cememt lamp post. It happened so fast that I thought the lamp post had fallen on my car. I put the car in drive and it "rocketed forward and I swerved to miss a parked car and a cement bulk-head. I destroyed a fence and part of a garage. Thank God no one was hurt!!!! I just got the report back from GM and they could find nothing wrong with the car....... What would you suggest my next steps should be? Do you know any lawyers that specialize in Sudden Acceleration issues in the Seattle area? FYI I am not elderly, I am in outside sales and drive for a living. NO way did I mistake brake and gas!! Thanks for your time. Terri Moore |
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| 71 | Date: 2005-07-28 12:17:53 DeWayne Hyatt, Ph.D. ( BamaCaveDiver@fuse.net / no homepage) wrote: I was a victim of a faulty cruise control almost 8 years ago. Then as always, Ford blamed the problem on driver error. The accident occured on August 31, 1997 and involved a 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis. In total, there were 4 violent collisions; I got hit during collision number 2 as I jumped in front of the car to push a mother and her son to safety. Ford did offer to settle prior to going to trial, but unfortunately the $500,000.00 they offered would not have covered my medical expenses up to the point, let alone offer provisions for the future. The jury found in favor of Ford since I was the only one who could say with any certainty that I saw brake lights on the car that hit me. I was forced to give up my job as a math teacher due to medical problems resulting from this accident, and have since found myself on public assistance. How can anyone support a business who blames their defects on their customers and allows the American tax payers to foot the bill. I live for the day when Ford is held accountable and as a result is put out of business. |
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| 70 | Date: 2005-07-25 09:15:35 ron sullivan ( joannron@optusnet.com.au / no homepage) wrote: Thank you. I now have some insight into my old ford fairlanes tendency to suddenly accerate gradually from a preset speed around 90 km/hr when an increase in gradient is present. |
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| 69 | Date: 2005-07-11 12:11:51 Dennis ( stallion3@earthlink.net / no homepage) wrote: I thought I'd post a follow-up to my previous posting regarding my mother's sudden acceleration incident in her 2000 Chrysler Voyager. She's doing fine physically but continues to be concerned for the safety of the van since Chrysler has been no help regarding this issue. When the van was in for repair at an independent garage, I asked them to install a shift/brake interlock to make it as safe as later model vans but I was told that Chrysler is not making it available to retrofit older cars! So we devised a way to disable the cruise control linkage since a seperate fuse/breaker cannot be pulled to remove power from the unit. Although we have gotten not help from Chrysler, we believe that the cruise control is the only other system on the van that could cause the throttle to independently put the engine in maximum rev's...I also showed the modification to my mother and explained the system in detail to make her confident that at least there is something to prevent this condition from occuring again. She has now begun to drive the van again. That's seems to be the best we can do since Chrysler won't admit it's fault and help it's customer's deal with this issue. Disengaging the linkage by blocking the control cable from pulling on the throttle while not interfering with the gas pedal was a simple fix that was our only choice! Thanks for your support! |
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| 68 | Date: 2005-06-25 17:34:36 karthik ( srikarthik207@yahoo.co.in / no homepage) wrote: hai antony, this is karthik from powertest asia pvt ltd hyderabad.basically now i am in the field of diagnostic testing of generators. i request u to inform some related courses that can help me in assesing the condition of generator insulation and winding condition. from karthik e-mail srikarthik207@yahoo.co.in |
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| 67 | Date: 2005-06-20 23:29:00 Margaret ( Dandymoses@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: I experienced sudden acceleration a couple o days ago whilst doing a 3 point turn in a careful and considered way.The car would not stop and carried on revving even though I was braking,only applying the handbrake and knocking it out of gear brought it to a halt but not until it had ploughed into a brick wall .The car has sustained quite significant damage,which is unexplained by any other reason than sudden acceleration.I have been driving for 33 years without incident and I do feel the fault lies with the vehicle.Your website is very useful to me |
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| 66 | Date: 2005-06-19 03:45:43 Denice Thomas ( denicemthomas@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: could u help me in getting details abt automobile mechanisms |
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| 65 | Date: 2005-06-17 15:00:53 Bill Rathbun ( julaire200304@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: I am a paralegal student in Colorado Springs Colo. and in my trial prep class we are conducting a mock trial of a car crash our defence is a case of sudden acceleration and found your site very helpfull. Thank you |
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| 64 | Date: 2005-06-05 04:51:59 ruth zaretsky ( ruthzar@rogers.com / no homepage) wrote: thank you for your excellent site! my husband and I have been great admirers of honda cars and currently drive a 98 honda accord and a 2004 honda accord. We my husband experienced sudden acceleration of the 2004 honda a few weeks ago while I was the passenger and he was driving at 20 mph on a residential street.He shot out like bullet into the intersction and had to turn off the ignition to stop. He is scheduled to have the car checked at our honda dealer but from reading your site I suspect nothing will be found. Last week the same thing happened to me while Iwas backing very slowly into a parking spot. My daughter in law was a passenger and can testify as to my speed.The car accelerated with such force that the parked car I smashed into released its airbags even though I was only about 15 feet away from it. My own car was badly damaged and is at the garage waiting for the adjuster. Fortunately no one was hurt but I am unwilling to drive either Honda again. My daughter in law who for many years drove a 97 honda accord recalls a similar incidence with her car at a shopping mall, when the curb stopped her car from sudden acceleration .Although she was 95% sure it was not driver error she did not report it. My son in retrospect also remembered a similar experience as some of our friends did when we began describing our recent accident. I wonder how often these incidents of unintended acceleration occur and because they are isolated events, dont cause any damage, and the driver isnt completely sure it wasnt his fault, they are never reported! Do you know of any make of car which is relatively safe from ua? What car do you drive? |
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| 63 | Date: 2005-06-02 14:20:30 Jeanette ( pierceyjeanette@k12.nf.ca / no homepage) wrote: A very informative site. Helped me a lot. |
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| 62 | Date: 2005-05-27 20:14:28 Robert A. Minor ( ramfire@swbell.net / no homepage) wrote: I am a private fire investigator & the information on Ford cruise control deactivation switches was very helpful to me. |
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| 61 | Date: 2005-05-21 22:27:00 Dennis ( stallion3@earthlink.net / no homepage) wrote: Two days ago my 79 year old mother went shopping for groceries after driving and parking her 2000 Chrysler Voyager minivan in the closest handicapped parking spot near the store. She pushed her cart to the car, placed the groceries in the back seat and got into the drivers seat, buckling the seatbelt as she always does...this became the most important item in the story. She started the car with no apparent problem and shifted into reverse to back out of the space. IMMEDIATELY the engine raced to maximum revs and the car sped backwards with her jambed against the harness strap on her chest! She tried to get to the ignition key to turn off the car but was unable and didn't think to move the shift lever to neutral. The car swung around in a circle at full speed, BACKWARDS, slamming into a small tree and continued in another circle with the back of the van hitting the brick front of the store! She was then able to stop the engine by turning off the key and signal for help from people watching in horror inside the store! Police and paramedics were called due to tightness in her chest and she's under observation in the hospital. We've contacted Erie insurance to review the case and investigate this sudden acceleration problem that MUST be resolved on these cars. This van has had a history of cruise control problems for many years but Chrysler mechanics have never been able to simulate the problem and it has gone unrepaired! PLEASE do whatever you can and report these incidents before more people are injured! Auto companies must be urged to come forward and admit to this problem! I understand that 2000 and earlier vehicles did not have the brake interlock installed due to a $9 per car cost that Chrysler did not want to pay...this could save many lives and NHTSA has done little to force compliance! |
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| 60 | Date: 2005-05-16 22:48:55 Angela Sirnik ( lotusflower10899@hotmail.com / no homepage) wrote: My name is Angeal Sirnik. My husband Stanley Sirnik was killed in a 1992 toyota 4-runner. We only had the truck two weeks. He was the father of two young children. He put the cruise control at 40 mph and when he tried to disengage, the truck accelerated and went up to 60 or 70 mph, maybe higher. He applied the brakes but they did not work. This happened in West Virginia. To keep from going off of the cliff, he went up an embankment, the truck flipped over and my husband was killed instantly. My son and brother-in-law was also in the truck. Toyota said my husband just lost control of the truck and it was his fault. |
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| 59 | Date: 2005-04-30 12:35:12 Anna ( luva_anna@hotmail.com / no homepage) wrote: Great Website, lots of detailed information. Explained known concepts further and identified concepts I didn't know, or hadnt considered before. |
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| 58 | Date: 2005-04-11 13:07:27 Decombas ( mdecombas@wanadoo.fr / no homepage) wrote: Very interesting site. My research was realted to electronic cruise control. I had already given your adress to a newspaper. I shall send again information about you, and I hope they will contact you. Best regards M DECOMBAS |
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| 57 | Date: 2005-04-07 17:20:41 Ron ( dr-rjp@writeme.com / no homepage) wrote: Antony, my original post is missing! So, here it is again: I was backing my 1998 Infiniti I30 into a parking space. My foot was resting on the brake, when suddenly the car took off like someone had floored the accelerator pedal. I had to stand on the brake pedal to keep the car from going any further, and slam the transmission into Park. The engine was still racing when I turned off the ignition. What's weird is that my foot was nowhere near the gas pedal. I have since had three sets of mechanics check out my car -- one of them with the Infiniti dealership -- and none could find anything wrong with my car. I have also tried to duplicate the event, but without success. I tried a second time to have the Infiniti dealership check out the cruise control..but it passed all tests. My cruise control cable is now permanently disconnected from the throttle. As far as I can tell, this is the first time that an SAI has occurred with a Maxima/Infiniti type car. |
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| 56 | Date: 2005-04-03 03:04:55 Don Willson ( DonWillson@comcast.net / no homepage) wrote: Trying to get up to speed on electronic throttle modules and the interaction with other systems in the automotive engine. Good discussion |
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| 55 | Date: 2005-04-01 13:07:02 Toyota accident France ( no email / http://news.tf1.fr/news/france/0,,3210568,00.html) wrote: Click on the above link to take you to details of an accident in France on 22nd February in a Toyota Corolla and use Google to translate AFA |
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| 54 | Date: 2005-04-01 11:44:43 carol ( lizaseyes@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: This past week has been a very upsetting one. Three weeks ago I purchased a 2005 Toyota corolla. On March 24, 2005 while pulling into a bank parking lot on North Broadway in Nassau county N.Y. my car suddenly excelerated, knocking over a chainlink fence and landing in the middle of a six lane busy road. It is almost unheard of that there were no cars in my path and no one was hurt. I had the car towed and now wait for Toyota to send an someone to inspect the car. They have one month to do this.Until the inspection is done Toyota will not supply me with a car, however they do expect my first payment on a car that needs inspection. This ever happen to anyone else with a Toyota?? Let me know. |
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| 53 | Date: 2005-04-01 03:02:44 Alan C. Masson CVFI, ASE CFEI ( alancmasson@utwire.com / no homepage) wrote: Very interesting. I am working on a case where a 1993 Dodge accelerated forward while no one was in the driver seat. A mechanic was leaning over the fender reving the engine and checking the O2 sensor. All witnesses say the vehicle was in P. The transmission had recently been worked on - and when disassembled the "forward" clutch (engaged in all forward gears) was found with the plates fused together - obviously didn't happen in five minutes! An injury is involved. Trying to find ways it could have happened. Any help will be appreciated. Ideas, suggestions, recommendations, all desperately needed. Thanks for folks like you who share their findings! Alan. |
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| 52 | Date: 2005-03-30 20:17:02 Ron Polland ( dr-rjp@writeme.com / http://www.myloveneeds.com) wrote: Just a follow-up to my post: The easiest (and surest) way to disable your cruise control is to remove the cable from the throttle arm. That way, the only thing that has access to the throttle is the gas pedal. Cruise controls are nice features, but not when they become a threat to you and everyone else around. Is there any way to determine which cars have a truly safe cruise control system? |
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| 51 | Date: 2005-03-30 10:21:46 Daniel ( no email / no homepage) wrote: Fantastic Site! |
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| 50 | Date: 2005-03-28 23:50:15 John Bachhuber ( pjmbach@netscape.net / no homepage) wrote: Here's the text of a letter I recently sent to Honda: To Whom It May Concern: Background We purchased our Certified 2002 Honda Odyssey EX-L w. DVD (VIN# ) from xxxxx Honda, xxxx, MN on November 18, 2004 for $21,500. Currently the vehicle has approximately 48,500 miles on it. Incident On Thursday, March 24, 2005 at approximately 11:30am, while attempting to parallel park, the vehicle had a severe malfunction causing it to suddenly and unexpectedly accelerate backwards, cross a sidewalk and strike a building. Fortunately, there were no injuries. Detail While visiting xxx, xx, (my wife) pulled up next to the vehicle in front of the spot she planned on parking in. While at a complete stop, she shifted into reverse and began turning her head to park. At that point, the vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated rapidly backwards. Although xxxxx Honda in xxx, WI inspected the vehicle and was unable to identify a defect, we are certain the acceleration was due to a vehicle malfunction. Expectation Since the vehicle malfunctioned and you are unable to identify the source of the problem, we are no longer willing to drive the vehicle. As compensation for this vehicle defect, we request a comparable replacement vehicle. We will accept a Certified 2002 or newer Honda Odyssey EX-L w. DVD with 50,000 or fewer miles and a clean vehicle history report. In addition, we request $500 to cover our insurance deductible. We are not requesting compensation for the anxiety and embarrassment caused by this event or for the lost vacation time, ruined weekend and inconvenience to our family. While we believe that your vehicles are generally trustworthy, we also believe this one to be defective and unpredictably dangerous. As such, we hope that you destroy our current vehicle so it cannot cause any further damage. We have also filed a formal request for investigation with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The request number is 10114716. Thank you for your written reply within 7 days of receipt. |
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| 49 | Date: 2005-03-24 18:37:04 Gerald Miller ( jerry@alcsoftware.com / no homepage) wrote: Great web site. My son was involved in an accident that I believe is an SAI. I have the car (1996 Ford Taurus) in my shop waiting to find someone who would be interested in examining it. The throttle is still in full on position. I am located in Salem, OR USA. |
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| 48 | Date: 2005-03-24 13:55:53 Danny ( cowboyhome@msn.com / no homepage) wrote: I am disabled and the cruise control takes a lot of pressure off my lower back.I think that as long as it is going to take to repair this,there should be another truck made avaible to me from Ford. Please send me a response as you receive this.This will go to the ABCnews next. Thank You |
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| 47 | Date: 2005-03-22 16:57:36 Lee Gladden ( lgladden@sssf-ms.com / no homepage) wrote: I am an attorney representing a Defendant who is being sued as a result of her 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee suddenly accelerating. Anyhelp on reports, complaints or potential experts I can use in her defense would be great. |
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| 46 | Date: 2004-12-08 21:53:04 John Jeffery ( jjeffery@sc.rr.com / no homepage) wrote: Anthony, Read your paper on cruise control disfunctional problems/diagnostics (causes) and find interesting. My VW CCis operating intermitently. Can't seem to differentiate if it is the control module or the servo on the throttle pedal. All other items including the Vac pump are working and test out OK. Can you throw me a clue on how to find if the control unit is to blame or the throttle pedal servo unit? Regards john Jeffery C.Eng, FIEE |
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| 45 | Date: 2004-10-30 14:59:44 Trevor ( tandgee@bluewin.ch / no homepage) wrote: Having road-safety interests, I encountered the site when looking for reasons for a reported UK m/c accident. It occurred on a motorway, with cruise-control (Honda) operating in 'damp' conditions. I first found that Ford warned against using the c-control in 'slippery' conditions. Then I did get to Honda Owner Handbook warnings to use it '.. only .. in good weather' or another Honda m/c warning, not to use it 'in bad weather conditions'. Of course I can see that in such conditions one should retain full control of the m/c. However, I want to know more of the 'nitty-gritty'. Are the warnings to guard generally against the low probability of the unit malfunctioning - with consequences worse on slippery roads? Or can slippery conditions cause the vehicle to behave in ways that confuse the system so that it potentiates, say, skid liability? |
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| 44 | Date: 2004-09-23 16:59:43 Patrick Joyce ( patjoyce@aolc.om / no homepage) wrote: I leased my 1999 Blazer from a dealer with 7,000 miles on it in July 1999. I was told that it had been driven by the wife of the dealer. In August 1999 on the hottest day of the summer, the a/c failed. The dealership replace the compressor under warranty, however they had many questions concerning the electrical history of the vehicle. They suggested that the battery had gone dead or been removed. I reminded them that I only had the vehicle for one month and Mrs. Dealer would know more than I did about the history. In fact I had never opened the hood up to that day. On the next day I drove about 15 miles and upon parking it in my driveway, a neighbor noticed that smoke was coming from under the hood. He put out the fire with a garden hose. The dealership towed the vehicle back to the shop and claimed that the fire was unrelated to the previous day’s repair. They insisted that I file a claim on my automobile fire insurance policy. After sixty days of repairs I was notified that the vehicle was ready. The repairs cost $4,800 and I was billed for the $ 500.00 deductible on my insurance policy. I never paid this bill. The following morning I picked up my Blazer and left for work approximately 40 miles away. Since it was mid morning and the traffic on the interstate was light I decided to use the cruise control feature. Within a couple of miles, the vehicle went into total acceleration and nothing would stop it. I turned of the cruise control switch and applied the brake, still nothing. I shifted into neutral but the engine revved up towards the red-line. I shifted in and out of drive to try to slow down and at one point the engine returned to normal. In about two miles the acceleration started again. I was able to exit from the highway onto a local secondary road, however I could not stop the vehicle with the brakes. I finally spotted a large parking lot and by standing on the brakes was able to get off the road and turn off the engine. Several attempts to restart it resulted in red-lining. The dealership towed it back to the ship and later that day reported that the problem was computer related. I informed them that I refused to drive this vehicle under any circumstances. They furnished me a comparable used vehicle from their inventory and I left the leased vehicle in exchange. Several days later I was notified by General Motors that I would receive a new vehicle in exchange for the leased vehicle if I agreed to sign certain legal documents. I advised their representative to send me those documents for review. Several weeks later I was asked by the dealership to come in to sign the documents. I once again advised that I would not sign anything which I had not time to review. I was given copies of the proposed documents. Included in those documents was a required statement from me that represented that the vehicle being surrendered had no defects. I asked that the history of the fire and runaway speeding incidents be included in the document as exceptions to the no defect representation. They refused. Additionally I was being asked to provide a blanket release to GM for any and all claims arising out of the lease of the original vehicle. In this case I refused. The service representative from GM required me to return the loaned vehicle and accept the original vehicle. I had no choice since I would not misrepresent the condition of the vehicle and I certainly would not release GM from claims not made. The original vehicle was returned to the dealer for electrical problems at 40,000 miles which were repaired at a cost of $ . The problem returned at 60,000 miles at which time the dealership replaced a catalytic converter under warranty. At 80,000 miles the dealership replaced both catalytic converters and reported that a gasoline leak caused them to burn up. Also at 80,000 miles the dealership reported that both front hubs were in need of replacement at a cost of $2,000. I performed the replacement myself at a cost of $943.00 for parts. I also replaced both front rotors and disc brake pads at this time. The vehicle has had many less serious but nagging repairs to the heating system. The radiator has leaked for over two years. The passenger side wiper stopped on a rainy night in December 2003. I have never returned the vehicle to the GM dealership since their refusal to replace my burning blazer. I had hoped that the next fire would occur in their vicinity at which time I planned to drive it inside their service bay hopefully next to some very expensive customer’s cars. As I write this history, the service engine soon light is on and the rear brakes are complaining loudly. The engine skips on dry days and stalls out on wet ones. I have never felt brave (or stupid) enough to try the cruise control again. I now have 126,000 unhappy miles on the vehicle and plan to get as much revenge as possible by selling in on E-Bay with the entire history detailed in as much length possible. For Sale 1 – 1999 Chevrolet Blazer LT – Slightly charred (that’s why they named them blazers) but guaranteed to thrill anyone willing to turn on the cruise control. |
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| 43 | Date: 2004-08-23 22:40:15 Terry Johnston ( tdog6998@msn.com / no homepage) wrote: Yesterday,8/22/04, I was backing my 2000 BMW 323IT up in a parking lot and bumped a post so I put my car in drive to pull foward. It took off foward full throttle even though I had my foot on the brake. It was like I had no brakes and slammed in to a parked car. I did several thousand dollars to both cars. I am selling the BMW. I will never trust it again!!!!! It had a mind of it's own and I had no control over it. Has any other BMW owners experienced this runaway throttle with no brakes? If so please send me an e-mail. Thanks |
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| 42 | Date: 2004-07-13 17:28:04 Wipawan Kulsamrit ( bwipawan@hotmail.com / no homepage) wrote: This is an excellent piece of information. The unsadden acceleration has just happened to me yesterday. I was very dangerous. Fortunately, I was able to control the car by turning ignition off right away. The question is that how we can avoid this incident. How to prevent this problem? What should we do if it happens? |
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| 41 | Date: 2004-07-13 02:14:05 Laurie Stroyan ( lauriestroyan@aol.com / no homepage) wrote: The following incident occurred on 7/10/2004: I drove my son over to his friend's house where we picked up that boy and his mother. We then started out of their sub-division, driving at about 15 miles per hour because it was only a short ways to a stop sign. As would be normal I put my foot on the brake to stop at the sign. Instead of slowing down, my car sped up rapidly. I pressed as hard as possible on the brake pedal and the car finally came to a stop about a car length past the sign. I was quite bewildered and a little frightened. The other people in the car tried to tell me that since my car in new (2005 Ford Focus, with about 270 miles on it) maybe the transmission needs to be broken in. In any case, I was persuaded to continue driving because we had to go 30 miles to get the boys to soccer practice and would be late if we went home to change vehicles. About 25 minutes later I was pulling up to a traffic light and it turned red. I was about 3 car lengths back and no one was in front of me. I braked normally. Suddenly the engine revved loudly (it sounded like a high-pitched scream) and the car took off. It was attempting to go forward VERY FAST. I pushed harder on the brakes to no avail. The brakes made grinding and clunking noises and we kept going. We all thought we were going to crash. I could not control the car at all. I turned off the ignition and pulled the emergency brake and we came to a stop. Other drivers were honking and yelling but no one hit us and no one was hurt. The other three people in the car and I were terribly frightened. I am a 45 year old driver. I had never heard of anything like this before. I am not crazy or conniving or a fraud. I am terrified to get in that car again. |
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| 40 | Date: 2004-07-02 22:37:44 Liz Wallace ( realeliz@gte.net / no homepage) wrote: My car accelerated causing an accident 7/01/04 in St. Petersburg, Fl. My car is a Mercedes. This acceleration happened without me touching the gas pedal. |
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| 39 | Date: 2004-05-20 02:33:00 Linda ( llewers2@excite.com / no homepage) wrote: I had my parents Chrysler Concorde 99 on Sunday. Started the car in my driveway. Put my foot on the brake to put the car in reverse. As soon as the gear shift went in reverse the car went back uncontrollably, I was pressing on the brake but could not stop the car. I went through the first brick wall and thought that would stop me, but it did not. I ran over and flattened a rather large tree and that did not stop me either. The car continued to accellerate and I was unable to stop it with the brake. I went through the second brick wall and finally hit a big palm tree which stopped the car long enough for me to get it into park. The car is totaled but somehow my three year old Goddaughter and I walked away with only cuts and bruises. It is very distrubing to me that this could happen. I am 50 years old and never had an accident. Any advise or information you could offer would be greatly appreciated. |
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| 38 | Date: 2004-04-29 03:42:20 Jan Wedell ( jwedell@wideopenwest.com / no homepage) wrote: My comment is in response to a TV segment I watched tonigh on 48 Hour investigates regarding an accident caused by excessive acceleration in a BMW. I experienced the same reaction from my also German manufactured car upon leaving a toll booth in the Chicago suburbs. While I am not driving a BMW, I drive a VW Passat. Within the first few months of purchasing the car, I was returning from a business trip to Wisconsin, through a toll booth in the suburbs of Chicago. I was in the far left hand lane, there was very little traffic ahead of me. For someone who loves response and handling, a BMW or a VW owner will tell you - you come to depend on it. You know you can hit the pedal and the car will respond. I will also tell you, I am not an agressive driver. As a matter of honor, I don't hog the left lane or tailgate. However, I am also not a passive driver. As I left the toll booth, I essentially "gunned it", which I may assume Mrs. Hill did also. I was stunned when it seemed the acceleration on my Passat stuck and even thought my foot was no longer pressing on the pedal, the car was accelerating at an incredibly fast rate - I could hear it, see it, and feel it. I remember looking - the revs were going off of the register even though my foot was no longer on the pedal. It was a split second reaction - I hit the brake and the car immediately then began to slow down (similar to the reaction when tapping the break after you've set the cruise control) - but if I had panicked and not touched the brake - I don't know what would have happened. I believe Mrs. Hill - please share this info with her - I truly believe this is what happened to her. It's a frightening experience which truly altered my driving behavior. Even though I know my car is designed for the highway, I have never again hit the accelerator as I did when I left the toll booth that night - it scared the hell out of me. I was lucky it occurred on a straight stretch of clear Illinois highway and my reactions were not fogged by any other factors - distraction of 3 teens in the back seat, a curved departure, a much heftier horsed vehicle, she may not have been a highly alert driver comparatively, etc.. Factors which were obviously not in Mrs. Hills favor that day. Please share this information with her and her defense. Jan Wedell |
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| 37 | Date: 2004-04-17 07:51:56 Mrs Nicola Tyers ( tygelert@btinternet.com / no homepage) wrote: Thank you for this very interesting and informing site. We have recently purchased a new Ford Mondeo with cruise control that has within the first 3 weeks had 4 incidences of sudden unexplained accerleration - one of which was on the M1 motorway and almost caused a very nasty accident and certainly scared the driver of the car in front of us. The sudden acceleration in this instance was only stopped through the clutch being operated - applying pressure to the brakes had no effect. Our local dealer cannot identify a fault and apparently new nothing about any recognised problems of this nature! However, we insisted that we weren't lying and they are now asking Ford Technical to investigate it. In the meantime though we are being expected to drive the car as they are unable to identify a problem with it! I have printed off the details of your web site in order that they can be made aware of the details you have so kindly publish on the web. Thank you again. |
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| 36 | Date: 2004-03-30 01:30:44 arthur arcuri ( a.a.arcuri@att.net / no homepage) wrote: My wife had an incident on March 27, 2004, where she was driving into the parking lot of AAA to speak to someone concerning cruises and as she was driving in from the street into the parking lot she had her foot on the brake driving very slowly as she proceeded to park in the parking space the car and she applied the brake full force to make an immediate stop, the SUV bucked and went forward as there was no stopping. She finally was able to stop the car after she crashed into 2 parked cars. Fortunately, no one was in them or else someone would have been hurt. Also, forunately for us, the two cars sort of stopped us from entering the major intersection and/or hitting a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk. |
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| 35 | Date: 2004-03-24 02:58:09 John P. Fyfe ( waterboy55@sbcglobal.net / no homepage) wrote: You have an excellent article on "Sudden Acceleration". I own a 1997 Dodge Ram, 1500- 1/2 ton pickup truck. It has 126000 miles. On March 17, 2004, I had a situation whereby after backing out of my driveway, I put the truck in drive and it took off like a rocket. Fortunately, I was able to shut it off without any damage. I checked to see if anything was wrong and not seeing anything, I started it up again and it took off again. I tried to apply the brakes, but the engine was so powerful that they would not hold. Fortunately, there was no one in the intersection as I went right through it. For some unexplainable reason it suddenly started to run normal. I went to the gas station and they said they could see nothing wrong and suggested that it was a "Chrysler" problem since they have heard of a number of such sudden accelerations. Since the truck appeared to be running OK, I began to proceed to a meeting that I had. However, after going about 1 1/2 miles, it suddenly excellerated again. The odd thing is that the gas station mechanic had disconnected the cruise control. From there I was able to make it home safely. I called Chrysler Corp. and the claim they have never heard of any problems with my model truck. After much discussion with them, I began to realize the game that they play. First of all, deny everything, let the customer pay. But checking futher, it is my belief that most cruise control assemblies that Chrysler uses come from one manufacturer and they are used in all such equipped vehicles. Futher, it is my contention that they play a game of "your vehicle is not on recall", but the same vehicle with say, a different color or letter designation is on recall or it was manufactured the year before or after mine. It appears that unless there a number of deaths or high insurance company losses, nothing will be done. I hope this puts a different slant on the problem and that it may lead to new discovery. Sincerely, John P. Fyfe |
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| 34 | Date: 2004-02-27 21:08:37 bill bollinger ( billbollinger@att.net / no homepage) wrote: First credible scientific information I've found in checking into recent similar accident 2001 Passat. |
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| 33 | Date: 2004-02-23 01:12:21 Ron Boxall ( rboxall@pandp.co.nz / http://www.pandp.co.nz) wrote: Anthony, I am Control Systems engineer working in the Oil & Gas Industry. For the last 14 years I have been concerned with Loss Prevention, that is, the safety of process and control system design as far as the protection of life, assets and environment are concerned. I fully support your comments about a safe failure mode being essential for control systems where life is at risk from malfunction. This obviously applies to cruise control systems. In my industry, we are gradually applying the principles set out in IEC 61508, which covers any electrical system which has a safety related function. I know also that the same Code of Practice is in use for flight control systems. It seems obvious to me that any auto manufacturer whose cruise control system doesn't follow this same Code is risking a mult-multi million dollar lawsuit. The Code has been in draft existence for 10 years, published for 4 years, and has a US equivalent names ANSI/ISA SP 84. |
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| 32 | Date: 2004-01-18 05:16:40 David Stagg ( dstaggpyro@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: I have found the information on this site to be very helpful in an effort to resolve my situation. I know that most experts maintain that the only potential causes for SAI are related to throttle and or cruise controls, however, I am experiencing SAI in my 1956 Chevrolet Pick-up. I do not have a cruise control system or computer on this vehicle. I am using a stock 1974 350cu (carburated) powerplant and I am using the original mechanical throttle linkage. The problem began after I recently installed a 1982 700r4 4speed automatic transmission. During a routine test drive following the installation, I began to experience habitual and consistent SAI. More specifically, while in gear, at a complete stop and engine idling normally, I took my foot off the brake and the engine began to accelerate (without my foot on the accelerator pedal.) Fortunately, I was able to shift into neutral to avoid collission. I have closely inspected the the throttle assembly and have temporarily disconected the transmission kick-down/detent cable in an effort to determine the source. There is nothing else connected to the carburator's throttle plate, and nither has resolved the problem. I now believe the problem may be related to vacuum (or loss there of). Have you any research on such a cause for SAI? |
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| 31 | Date: 2003-12-17 13:19:57 Steven ( schmuel@bigfoot.com / no homepage) wrote: Excellent website. Well done and much appreciated. My 88 Acura Legend LS is having sudden unintended acceleration the last two days, so it off the road for now. Never happened before. Car has cruise-control, but it never worked since I have had it, and I leave it off, afaik. I am in the process of checking with the earlier mechanic from years ago, I bought the car from a friend. Based on web-review, am I right that I should have a mechanic disconnect the system (easy to do ?) as the first step in trying to eliminate the cause. That this *sometimes* solves the problem ? And does anyone keep a database or review of what has actually, in various cars, fixed the problem ? Apparently the root causes may differ widely between various car models. Thanks. Steven Avery Queens NY schmuel@bigfoot.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Messianic_Apologetic/ |
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| 30 | Date: 2003-12-11 19:39:32 Larry Null ( larry55@cfl.rr.com / no homepage) wrote: I got behind the wheel of a 1992 Jeep Cherokee to help someone at a boat ramp and the car took off at a high rate of speed and even though I kept hitting the brake nothing would stop the car. It ended with a fatality. They found nothing wrong with the vehicle and I am being charged with careless driving because they call it a freak accident. |
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| 29 | Date: 2003-12-02 21:23:08 Kurt ( kurt19@earthlink.net / no homepage) wrote: Thanks for all the information on this site. I haven't found much on the issue of sudden acceleration anywhere else on the Internet. I’ve recently purchase a used ‘99 Nissan Pathfinder, the problem surfaced less that a week later. Since then the vehicle has been at the dealer service for a total of 5 days and test driven over 50 miles and haven’t located the problem yet. Having them focus on the cruise control which could be the likely suspect, could help. I may deliver pages from your site for them to read if it helps too. Thanks again. |
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| 28 | Date: 2003-10-04 14:25:00 Frederick Trevorrow ( ftrev1940@earthlink.net / no homepage) wrote: Very interesting article. Have a 1997 Buick Ultra and cruse controll keeps turning off. This is the second time I have had this problem with a GM product and am looking for a probable cause before I am put to the mercy of a dealer. |
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| 27 | Date: 2003-09-23 10:14:51 Gérard D'Ans ( gdans@ulb.ac.be / http://www.ulb.ac.be/polytech/laborulb/index.htm) wrote: great stuff on your web site. Cuurently making a survey of past incidents in my utility in Belgium. But lacking some photos of past incidents when digital cameras were not available. Would you have a nice picture of tooth damage because of interlamination failure with some traces of the melted insulation? Thanks |
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| 26 | Date: 2003-09-23 09:08:45 Antony Anderson ( no email / no homepage) wrote: In reply to Mr Duerr. Figures for Mercedes Sudden Acceleration complaints for the USA can be found out from the NHTSA website at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/complaintsearch.cfm There are a whole variety of different types of cruise control switch arrangement, but all have more or less the same functions. Some switches are mounted in the steering wheel. Some are mounted on a separate stalk. Some are incorporated in the indicator arm. What is critical from a safety point of view is whether or not there is some means of mechanical and electrical isolation of the cruise actuator such that a stray electrical signal cannot cause a wide open throttle condition. Many cruise systems lack such isolating functions. There appears to be a general tendency for car manufacturers to blame drivers for all sudden acceleration events. As Castelli, Nash, Ditlow and Pecht point out Driver Error is a myth that is not supported by the evidence. See http://www.calce.umd.edu/general/published/books/descriptions/sudden.html AFA |
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| 25 | Date: 2003-09-23 00:19:05 duerr from germany ( duerrfn@gmx.de / no homepage) wrote: Last Sunday i survived a sudden acceleration accident with my old mercedes 300/1988 automatic. I started the engine.(i didnt stand on any pedal) I put the gear from park on Drive. And Hell broke loose. My mercedes went off like a rocket(200HorsePower), engine made incredible noise. I only could avoided to crash in my new VW and then i hit a massive stone wall standing 5 meter away . Fortunatly i wasnt hurt. I couldnt do anything, i was so surprised, and anything goes so fast i hit the brakes but without any real helping effekt. One tenth later i hit the wall. Ther were no brake-drums. I have Searched the WEB, i found thousands of english speaking pages regarding sudden acceleration. 99& of the accidents happend in the US. I know that nearly all americans drive Automatic. But there have to be many well discussed accidents/incidents in Germany for example too. My Car has cruise controll, controlled by a lever near the steering wheel. I have to tip the lever to activate or deactivate cruisecontroll(not a switch that stays on on/off). I have read at antonys webpage that "american" cruisecontroll have switches. So it possible to start the car with switched on cruise controll, without the need to tipp a lever?!. Could that be a cause for the higher number of american incidents? Or are the germans not ready to discuss such things in the internet?;) The car was three days before the accident in inspection. They fixed a leak in the exhaust. And didnt find any other defects. Neither did the 4 man expertise group 1 day after the accident. So i destructed my car,was nearly killed, could have killed many pedestrians but mercedes never heard of sudden acceleration. And maybe its true, I didnt find one sudden acceleration incident with a mercedes. For any links , i would be very grateful. Im now depressed... mercedes says it have to be my fault..and I feel like a real JACKASS. |
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| 24 | Date: 2003-09-16 12:40:16 Barry Seward ( barry.seward@avonandsomerset.police.uk / no homepage) wrote: Read with interest. Keep me posted if anything new happens Barry |
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| 23 | Date: 2003-09-09 03:20:56 Lawrence Eriss ( leriss@dmci.net / no homepage) wrote: My son just purchased a 1987 Cadillac DeVille. He told me that the car sped up on him suddenly for no reason, and he had to turn the cruise control ON in order to stop the engine from racing. I couldn't duplicate this failure, but as a precaution, I removed the cruise control fuse. I then tested the vehicle, and to my surprise, the engine started racing immediately as I switched gears. This happened repeatedly. I put the fuse back in, and discovered that the racing can occur when the cruise control is switched OFF, but doesn't appear to happen when the cruise control is on. |
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| 22 | Date: 2003-08-09 02:23:20 George Morford ( georgemorford@comcast.net / no homepage) wrote: I have a 2002 Ford Explorer in the shop for sudden unintended acceleration. |
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| 21 | Date: 2003-07-09 22:17:13 Antony Anderson ( no email / no homepage) wrote: Thanks Linda for your comment, see entry 59 below. Other visitors will be interested to know that a Honda serviceman later identified the root cause of the sudden acceleration in Linda's Honda Civic to have been a twig that somehow got through the airfilter and lodged in the throttle body preventing the throttle plate from closing. Life is stranger than fiction! Antony Anderson |
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| 20 | Date: 2003-07-09 15:33:48 Linda Hudson ( lth@corsbassett.com / no homepage) wrote: Interesting info. I had an incident of uncontrolled acceleration with my 1993 Honda Civic. Cruise control was OFF. Throttle took over as I was accelerating to enter freeway -- could not slow car down! Ended up burning up both brakes & rotor to get speed down to 25-30 so that I could pull over & switch key off without killing myself or others. |
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| 19 | Date: 2003-07-02 19:59:55 marie ( msimpson@lfucg.com / no homepage) wrote: thanks for the information, However, I did not see any information about the cruise disengaging during an uphill climb. I was recent in Maryland and each time I went up a hill, driving 65 mph, the cruise would disengage. My service department appears baffled. What is your opinion? |
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| 18 | Date: 2003-05-16 11:33:51 Gary Duffin ( sduffin@attbi.com / no homepage) wrote: I have a 1990 Buick that recently lost the signal to the cruise control. It will not set, although the indicator on the dash does light up. At the same time the check engine soon light came on. Could this be the cam or crank sensor that is causing both problems? |
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| 17 | Date: 2003-05-10 18:56:31 Mrs. Mettey ( mettey2@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: A dealership installed a cruise control in a pickup in order for us to buy it. The first one burned out afte the first use. The second cruise control caused an accident when we disengaged the cruise control which caused our brakes to fail. The brakes came on after the accident. I saw my husbands foot fail repeatedly to bring the truck to a stop. It totaled our truck. What can we do to get this error corrected as the insurance company cited it as failure to control vehecle. We had to pay a fine. |
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| 16 | Date: 2003-05-07 03:32:33 Joe Leikhim ( rhyolite@nettally.com / no homepage) wrote: I once had a Ford Taurus wagon (1991?) and found by chance that if I used a 5 watt UHF (460 MHz) handheld radio near the dashboard, the cruise control would act if the acceleration button had been pressed. (I did not try this with the cruise control disengaged.) It is common knowledge that many electronic devices are easily affected by RF/EMI from radios in that power range. The Nextel 800 MHz TDMA telephones create interesting buzzing noises in nearby wired telephones. The fast rise times of the TDMA RF envelope are effective at disrupting electronics. Manufacturers of all types of equipment seem to want to ignore these effects and do not install the simple filtering measures required as they do nothing to improve their bottom line. |
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| 15 | Date: 2003-04-16 17:16:24 Karen Price ( chiefprincess@illinoisalumni.org / no homepage) wrote: I have an 1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer and 2 days ago I experienced the out of control acceleration situation. Do you have any data on this model/year with the cruise control/acceleration recall? Thanks |
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| 14 | Date: 2003-04-05 09:20:21 c. blazer ( medsail@hetnet.nl / no homepage) wrote: I'm looking for cruise control reports on cars with an automatic gearbox as usual in the usa. I just bought a new Nissan Primera 1.8, it works fine up to ca. 100 km/h but in the hils or even on the autoroute like in France on higher speeds the system is hunting as it activate the throttle to fully open when the speed drops a bit, which forces the gearbox to step down, then the car reached its setled speed within seconds, then it shifts the gear back and so on and son. The result is a very bumpy drive, and high petrol consumption. The cruise control settings are not adjustable and closely integrated into the motor management system. I thinks this system needs to be adjusted to a slower reaction but its not possible. Is there a cruise control which is suited for this use ? best regrds. carel blazer |
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| 13 | Date: 2003-03-17 08:44:04 jonathan teoh ( tee_jonathan@yahoo.com / no homepage) wrote: i would like to congratulate you for your excellent articles in your website, particularly your write-up on throttle-by-wire features in cars of today. i have been surfing the internet going from one search engine to another to get more detailed information on throttle-by-wire but without much success until i discovered your website. my interest in the subject arose due to my brand new three day old car developing SUDDEN ACCELERATION,which you touched excellently in your website. in view of the many problems faced by throttle-by-wire systems these days, i have lost my confidence in the throttle-by-wire system and as such i would appreciate if you could kindly advise me on the following: 1) Is the throttle-by-wire system in cars "SAFE" to be used in automobiles? 2) As far as Dr. Anderson know, has any safety body given its road-worthiness certification for throttle-by-wire systems found in automobiles of today? 3) how can the SUDDEN ACCELERATION PROBLEM of my car be solved? 4) any additional information from Dr. Anderson will be greatly appreciated. regards jonathan teoh today's |
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| 12 | Date: 2003-03-10 23:44:59 Joseph McFadden ( mcfaddj1@nationwide.com / no homepage) wrote: Investigating NHTSA recall 97V131 and just looking into your site. Very insightful. Thank you. |
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| 11 | Date: 2003-03-03 12:01:47 Antony Anderson ( no email / no homepage) wrote: In reply to C.R.McEwen. Driving on wet or icy roads is potentially much more dangerous than driving on dry roads because the adhesion between road and wheel becomes very much less. Braking distances are greatly increased and there is considerable risk of losing control of the vehicle. For this reason, good drivers will drive with great caution in wet or icy conditions. Hydroplaning or aquaplaning is the condition where water under the tyres can no longer be pushed out of the way but forms a wedge that eventually results in all traction between the wheel and the road being lost. Under such conditions the British Highway Code advises "If the steering becomes unresponsive, it probably means that water is preventing the tyres from gripping the road. Ease off the accelerator and slow down gradually.." It can readily be appreciated that if the cruise control is in operation it is not possible to ease off the accelerator. The engine torque can no longer be transmitted via the wheels to the road and, in consequence, the engine load is reduced, resulting in momentary acceleration of the drive wheels until such time as the cruise control has time to partially close the throttle and control the wheel speed to the set speed. Automobile manufacturers strongly advise not using cruise control on wet or icy roads. In my opinion the right safety message is to always drive at a speed appropriate to road conditions and to avoid using cruise control except under the conditions for which it was designed - i.e. long straight roads with little traffic in fine weather. AFA |
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| 10 | Date: 2003-02-28 01:12:32 C.R. McEwen ( crmcewen@attbi.com / no homepage) wrote: I teach the AARP Driver Safety course in Santa Clara County, California. It has been called to my attention that cruise control + hydroplaning may result in undesired throttling. What can you tell me about this. |
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| 9 | Date: 2002-12-09 17:29:17 Tara kazi ( tarakazi@hotmail.com / no homepage) wrote: I am a Phd student at Brunel (supervised by Nevile Stanton). I am orignally a psychologist but am now researching human interaction with ACC and human performance when driving with ACC. In particular I am examining the variable of Trust in ACC. I have just finsihed my first pilot study where i deliberately programmed the university driving simulator to suddenly accelerate and examined how the trust levels were affected by random failures. Previous research suggests that sudden acceleration or unintened acceleration is the worse out of the four modes of failures with acceleration. The other failures with acceleration are not being able to brake when the driver should be able to, or not being able to accelerate when the driver should be able to, and braking unexpectedly. To validate my decision to use suddden acceleration as part of the failure presented to drivers,I found Dr Anderson's website and even talking to him personally very useful. This makes my research more valid and hopefully enables a contribution to knowledge. I am still researching the affects of Trust on human interaction with ACC. I hope to answer the question of whether drivers will still use an unreliable system by the end of my doctorate. However Researchers predict that by 2015 all vehicles will be automated, but with the risk of sudden acceleration, designers and manufactures will have to guarantee a system that provides efficient feedback and allows the driver to be in the control loop constantly. As far as i can tell such a system does not exist. |
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| 8 | Date: 2002-11-01 19:40:42 David Owens ( daveowens@electeng.prestel.co.uk / no homepage) wrote: Dear Antony I followed the link to your site from the email you sent to the consultants forum earlier. Thank you for what promises to be a most interesting article on car cruise control. As yet I have only quickly scanned it and then saved it for a more detailed studdy later on. My greatest passion in engineering was the design of closed loop systems. Whenever I engage the speed control syatem on my car I invariably start to think how I'd love to gert my hands on the program to sort out what seem to be quite basic failings in both it's interface and CL rersponse. I hope that your article will identify any special problems which may exist in the appplication of CL controls to cars so that I may take these into account as I'm driving (& assessing) my car's system. Best regards David PS Why do people use such tiny windows for these responses? They always remind me of the gynaecologist who papered his hall through the letter box!! |
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| 7 | Date: 2002-09-03 11:34:01 GRAHAM MOOES ( gmoores@orenda.com / no homepage) wrote: CRUISE CONTROL ACCIDENT 1990 JAG SOVEREIGN |
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| 6 | Date: 2002-08-12 13:51:11 Robert Willis ( rwillis@taxidivision.com / no homepage) wrote: Thanks for all your work. I am researching some experiences we have had recently with our 2000 Ford Crown Victoria vehicles. Thanks R. Willis Claims Investigator GHTC Taxi-cab division |
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| 5 | Date: 2002-06-12 20:18:09 Bernie Levy ( Bernie-Levy@prodigy.net / no homepage) wrote: I just came upon your website via Google, as I am now experiencing some Cruise Control surges with my 1997 Saturn. |
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| 4 | Date: 2002-05-30 17:18:19 Gustav A. Nystrom ( GANystrom@sigmaxi.org / http://member.expertpages.com/ganystrom) wrote: Your write-up on sudden acceleration was very interesting. I am investigating a reported sudden acceleration problem with a Jeep Cherokee. I have a Stanford PhD in Mechanical Engineering and have taken a number of automatic controls courses, but have done little with sudden acceleration. I may try to contact you in the future. Thank you. |
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| 3 | Date: 2001-09-18 19:45:49 Bob ( techie@home.com / no homepage) wrote: I reading over your sudden acceleration articles I am shocked that someone of your education is so blind. With the accelerator in the wide open throttle position on any vehicle the brakes (if working) will overcome the vehicle from moving. That said, how can you justify any accident because of sudden acceleration if the driver is alert as they should be? I am a master certified advanced level auto technician. I also have a masters in Auto Curriculum Design. Common sense is the best tool you can use. I regret the loss of live as much as anyone but getting the facts correct is the only way to prevent future loss. |
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| 2 | Date: 2001-06-03 01:35:13 m motelson ( mmotelson@msn.com / no homepage) wrote: I appreciate your article on cruise control faults and sudden acceleration, and your support of Mr. Sero's theory. Unfortunately, my father and nephew were recently killed in a Ford Explorer due to a sudden acceleration event. It is comforting to see that an expert of your qualification recognizes Mr. Sero's theory, and questions the findings of Ford and NHTSA. Thank you. |
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| 1 | Date: 2001-05-04 19:54:42 Don Bearden ( dab1@pge.com / no homepage) wrote: Dr. Anderson I read your paper on Genertor Core Failures and found it very informative. I have to teach a 2 hour class on generator malfunctions to nuclear operators at Diablo Canyon Power Plant next month. Do you have a larger picture of the generator core failure shown in your paper that I can show to the class as an example of a generator catastrophic failure? Thanks again for your informative article. Don Bearden |
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