...whether you want it to or not.
Posted on 02/06/2010 2:24:20 PM PST by Oklahoma
First, What to Do if Your Car (Not Just a Toyota) Starts to Accelerate Uncontrollably
If your car starts accelerating unexpectedly, hit the brake (it's the one to the left of the gas) and shift into neutral. After you do this, the engine may race loudly but the car won't accelerate. Pull off the road, brake to a stop, shift to park, and shut off the car. This is a simple solution we guarantee will save your life in any car that suffers from unintended acceleration. For more, read our story “How To Deal With Unintended Acceleration,” which is based on our own instrumented testing.
How Big is This Problem?
We're no Toyota apologists, but if you look past the media circus, the numbers don't reveal a meaningful problem
(Excerpt) Read more at caranddriver.com ...
This whole time I’ve been wondering why those people didn’t do just that. Seems better to blow an engine than die.
Years ago I owned a Series III Land Rover. It did this from time to time. You dealt with it. End of story.
Turn off the key. I once had an old Plymouth that did that. All one had to do was push in the clutch and turn off the key and coast over to the side of the road.
It’s nearly impossible to “blow an engine” today except by downshifting into a “too low” gear ... every engine computer I know cuts fuel or ignition at redline.
I had a Buick once that had a transmission problems and nce in a while would get stuck in 3rd gear. Since it was an automatic to keep it from dying at stop lights you had to be quick to shift to neutral then to 2 and down to 1 so it would unstick.When I first heard of this problem it baffled me how anyone couldn’t know how to put the car in neutral?
This isn’t about a recall, it’s all about damaging any auto manufacturer that is not owned by the government. The media and federal agencies are conspiring in an anti competitive way. This is why you can not have government competing with the private sector.
People freak out today ,, cars are so good that even a simple thing like this scares them into non-action.
If you turn off the key you lose steering control.
...whether you want it to or not.
Toyotas in Japan have failed as well. I don’t think Japan imports Toyotas from US. Get real.
Certainly the most natural reaction to a stuck-throttle emergency is to stomp on the brake pedal, possibly with both feet. And despite dramatic horsepower increases since C/D’s 1987 unintended-acceleration test of an Audi 5000, brakes by and large can still overpower and rein in an engine roaring under full throttle. With the Camry’s throttle pinned while going 70 mph, the brakes easily overcame all 268 horsepower straining against them and stopped the car in 190 feet—that’s a foot shorter than the performance of a Ford Taurus without any gas-pedal problems and just 16 feet longer than with the Camry’s throttle closed. From 100 mph, the stopping-distance differential was 88 feet—noticeable to be sure, but the car still slowed enthusiastically enough to impart a feeling of confidence. We also tried one go-for-broke run at 120 mph, and, even then, the car quickly decelerated to about 10 mph before the brakes got excessively hot and the car refused to decelerate any further. So even in the most extreme case, it should be possible to get a car’s speed down to a point where a resulting accident should be a low-speed and relatively minor event.
Most likely drivers in a panic pump the brakes or are pressing the brakes and the accelerator at the same time..
A Toyota Supra Twin Turbo 6-speed manual was my best car buy, lots of fun and I sold it for what I paid for it 8 years later, minus several speeding tickets.
It might not be applicable in this case, but I think one problem is drivers who use both feet to drive an automatic. It always seemed to me that was a bad thing to do. ie: You would have a tendency to press the gas and brake at the same time.
Sorry, but I believe this “fix” with a shim is NOT going to fix them. This is going to be bigger than Toyota thought. It’s not going to take them down, but it will be close. If they were a US corporation, they would have been bought out already by 0dorama and you. And then taxed to high heaven, because HE can.
We’ve had recalls (and design problems) before....and some were serious. They sure are ripping Toyota...But people aren’t stupid...They love their Toyotas and the price tag that goes with it. (And likely old GM owners).
>I don’t think Japan imports Toyotas from US. Get real.
They do BUT it’s not worthwhile for them to sell once the jap buyers ask where it’s from. I have a buddy who teaches English in Hokkaido, and they have a smug, superiority/arroagance towards American cars. It is allowed under the FTA. They do wet their panties though when they see a Harley.
“Turn off the key. I once had an old Plymouth that did that. All one had to do was push in the clutch and turn off the key and coast over to the side of the road.”
I agree about turning off the key, but on a manual you will lock the steering if you turn it all the way off.
Given that most men driving are metrosexuals now, it probably wouldn’t get through to them that they only have to take the key one click.
BTW, on automatics (that I know of) you cannot lock the steering until the car is in park, so shutting off the key is a no-brainer.
Please don’t use jap. It makes you look small.
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