I have a 2003 Ford Taurus SEL with 44,500 miles on it. At 20,000 miles in January, 2005 the gas pedal was sticking and under warranty the throttle body was replaced. Now at 44,500 miles the gas pedal is sticking again. Do I actually need to replace the throttle body again? From searching and reading on-line I have picked up that on the Ford Taurus this happens because the butterfly valve seats itself into the tube diameter of the throttle body, is this correct?

This sticking throttle body problem appears to be very prevailant among Ford vehicles and I'm surprised that everyone is not reporting this to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This is a potentially dangerous problem and sudden vehicle acceleration occurrs after the throttle body unsticks after exerting greater than normal force on the gas pedal to break it loose.

I am a Tool and Die Maker and ME, so I'm very familiar with root cause analysis and mechanical design issues. I hate to maybe be beating a dead horse here, but the search function on this was virtually useless. What's the deal with this do I need to call the NHTSA everyday to get them to recognize the danger with this issue?

 

Should be a set screw that you can tweek just a hair to keep the butterfly from seating closed into the throttle body.

 

....I'd try cleaning the TB with carb cleaner first.Had that problem for a while with my Windsor a while back.Cleaning the bores and butterfly helped quite a bit.

 

I agree, it could just be dirty. Id try cleaning it before you jump to the conclusion that its somedesign flawand notify the NHTSA.

 

Thanks for your replies I'll try the cleaning method and look for set screw to adjust the butterfly valva away from the tube it may be seating in.

Octane, I don't know about you, but I've had probably 10-15 cars and motorcycles, US and foreign, over the last 30 years and I can't recall any of them having this problem on a regular basis. For a car built with today’s quality and design standards for this to occur every 20k miles is inexcusable, as an ME if I designed this set-up I'd expect my boss to fire me.

 

My 2009 Fusion has had the accelerator stick 3 times This is a company car (to which I am very thankful to have) and I have gone through the channels for repair. Of course, Ford blamed it on the floor mats (they were the all weather version) and I REALLY do not think that this is the problem. So, I am driving a car that I feel very uncomfortable and unsafe in. Has anyone had anything similar happen?

 

As we found out on Thanksgiving Day, binding of the throttle body is a dangerous problem that can result in serious injury or death, and you need to have the dealership service the throttle body ASAP.

My wife and son were in our 2005 Escape when the gas pedal failed. Luckily, they were not merging onto a busy road with a tractor-trailer bearing down on them, or any number of other scenarios where this failure could have had a tragic outcome. They were going downhill, and there was a place to pull off the road.

When I drove to where they were parked and checked under the dashboard, the cable connector had failed at the top of the articulating arm of the gas pedal assembly. Repeated binding of the throttle body can stress the cable to the point of failure.

If you check the internet, you will see that this problem affects many Ford models. When something like this can happen, either the design itself is flawed or the manufacturer's maintenance regimen is inadequate. Checking the throttle body should be included by Ford in the standard maintenance regimen. We have had all services performed by the dealership according to the Ford maintenance schedule. I follow the manufacturer's guidelines. I entrust to the manufacturer the responsibility for determining the appropriate maintenance regimen, given the tolerances of their designs, which they know better than I. I am a driver, not a mechanic or engineer.

So, if your gas pedal has ever been "sticky", take the car to the dealership and have it checked.

Oh, and by the way, it's costing me $500 and a week without my car to have the throttle body replaced.