I got a bit of a scare yesterday

[JTalley]

There was a lot of traffic when I was on my way home yesterday, so I was waiting for a while to pull out onto the main road. There was finally a gap, but there was a truck in the far lane. I pulled out into the closest lane, and the truck swerved behind me real quick. I floored it to keep from getting hit, and when I got up to speed, I let off the gas. The van kept accelerating, straight towards a four way stop- and not just any four way stop, but the intersection of two major roads.

I messed with the throttle, trying to get it to come back up, but it wouldn't, so I threw it into neutral and turned it off, then coasted off the road. My sister and her six year old daughter were in the van with me, so it could've been bad if I hadn't reacted so quickly.


Here's what caused it- the linkage that goes to the cruise control unit is broken, and the loose bit of linkage moved around when I had to jump on it like that, and it wedged itself between the throttle body and the top of the engine, holding the throttle open.

[toddb]

WHOA! Happy you are a quick thinker, I'm sure alot of people would have just stood on the brakes. also when you turned it off did the steering wheel lock?

[trapper20]

Proof that Astro/Safari drivers are smarter than Toyota drivers.

[Big_kid]

Glad to read that you're a quick thinker. I'll have to remember to check mine next time I'm under the hood, I tend to pull out and accelerate quickly too sometimes and would NOT enjoy having this happen to me.

Thank you for sharing this, you may have prevented a wreck or worse.

[Jasen]

Good you kept your head on straight, glad you got it stopped safely.

[88astroLT]

Thanks for sharing this. This could be valuable infirmation for the future. Glad to hear everyone's ok.

[JTalley]

WHOA! Happy you are a quick thinker, I'm sure alot of people would have just stood on the brakes. also when you turned it off did the steering wheel lock?

Nope. Steering lock only engages when the car is in Park. I suppose it's like that specifically for situations like this.

[toddb]

Cool, I remember when i was young and had no gas money and shutting off the car on downhills to save gas and got into trouble if I forgot to turn the key back on.

[uknoLSXtro]

Cool, I remember when i was young and had no gas money and shutting off the car on downhills to save gas and got into trouble if I forgot to turn the key back on.

You must be a young victim of the ongoing stock market gas scam... It was $10 bucks a night to be out when I was broke and young. $5 in gas (all night/weekend) @ 99 cents a gallon, and $5 bucks for a cup

[FirstLove]

This also happened to me in my orange '86. Took off from a toll booth and the oil fill tube dislodged itself and sandwiched between the throttle assembly and the intake manifold. I also threw it in neutral, shut it off and coasted to the side of the road. Scared the crap outta me, though.