The gas pedal on my 2000 Ford Expedition stops working intermittently. The engine idles fine but no amount of pressure on the pedal with work to move the car. The engine will not rev at all, just idle. Once i restart the car the pedal starts working again.

When the problem occurs, I have tried shifting the car in and out of park and neutral, but it does not fix the problem until the car is restarted.

This has happened twice while stopped at a light, and once will moving at about 30 MPH.

Anyone have any ideas about what the problem is? It makes me pretty nervous...

 

A likely place to start checking would be the throttle position sensor and its connections.
Also since this has happened a few times there might be a history code in the computer that might help direct you to the possible problem.
Autozone will check your computer for any codes and I believe they do this free of charge.

 

I thought that it could be the TPS, but even if it quit working intermittently, wouldn't the computer still detect an increase in flowing air when I pressed the pedal and up the fuel input, which would cause the engine to rev? I checked it, removed it, and cleaned it anyway, but everything there looks fine.

I also checked the cable and the way it moves, but everything there looks fine, too, including it's interaction with the throttle body plate...

 

Whatever is causing the problem is allowed to reset when you turn the ign off then restart the vehicle. Have you had a chance to check for any codes in the vehicle's computer?

 

Yeah there aren't any codes.

 

The combination of mass air flow, throttle position and manifold vacuum usually tell the computer to increase injector on time ,more fuel, and therefore, an increase in engine RPM. Somewhere along the line either the computer isn't getting the information or something is telling the computer don't respond and turning off the ignition cancels that info and allows the computer to do its job. The question is to find where the signal is either defective or getting intercepted or maybe even lost. The computer itself might even be doing this.