Why does my accelerator get stuck

Throttle body cleaner is formulated to help breakdown carbon and other fuel related deposits on a throttle body. Have them depress the gas pedal all the way to open the throttle plate so you can gain access to do your cleaning. The Throttle Position sensor measures the throttle position, which is controlled by the gas pedal. It is used to determine engine load and if it fails it can cause automatic transmission shifting problems. What happens when my throttle position sensor goes bad.

The easiest way to reset your throttle position sensor is to unhook the negative cable from your battery for up to five minutes or to remove the fuse for your engine control module. Cleaning the throttle body itself can be done using carburetor fluid and a clean cloth for the removal of light sludge.

During this process, the throttle position sensor should not be cleaned due to the possibility of contamination or wire damage. A faulty TPS can set a trouble code in the computer if the voltage value is either not present, sporadic, slow or constant, and this can illuminate your check engine light.

At idle is should be zero or a couple of degrees. If the TPS has a worn spot, most likely it will be between 0 and 20 percent throttle opening. Try holding the throttle between 0 and 20 percent to see if you get a steady reading.

You can use the position sensor operating characteristics to test it using a digital multimeter DMM. No, you need that there so your ECU knows how much fuel to give your motor. They are held on with bolts that dont have any sort of head on them, so what you do, is take a hacksaw or dremel tool and cut a slit in the top of the 2 bolts holding the sensor on, then use a flat head screw driver to take them out.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Engineering What happens if your accelerator gets stuck? Most newer vehicles will only allow you to shift the vehicle from drive to neutral while moving.

This could cause significant damage to your transmission and may cause you to lose control. You should avoid using the emergency brake or turning the engine off unless nothing else has worked and only as a last resort.

Turning your engine off may stop the vehicle from accelerating but you will also lose your power steering and other safety systems in your vehicle. You will no longer be able to predictably steer or brake your vehicle. If you do turn off the engine, be prepared for your steering to become extremely difficult. So, the brake may fail if you attempt to use it while moving. It could also cause you to lose control. This should only be tried as an absolute last resort.

And again, if you avoid driving while distracted you will be better prepared to handle unforeseen challenges like this. The extra seconds you will have by not needing to focus on the road will be invaluable. Toyota issued a statement last night that said there might be a "rare" problem related to premature wear in a common gas pedal part that could lead to unintended acceleration.

What should Toyota engineers be doing to the fix the problem? The only thing they can do: conduct thorough forensic analysis and testing on the affected vehicles and all of the throttle components to evaluate every possible explanation as quickly as they can.

I can't imagine how terrified they must be of losing their reputation for quality. First, hit the brakes firmly. Then put the car in neutral without taking your foot off the brake. The engine is going to rev higher in response, but bring the car to a full stop safely and turn the engine off.

You need to make sure that you don't release the brake because power brakes work off [engine] vacuum, and you don't build any vacuum when the engine throttle is wide open. As soon as you lift off the pedal, you've lost all your vacuum power-assist, and your brakes get very hard and stiff. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Thanks for reading Scientific American.

Create your free account or Sign in to continue. See Subscription Options. Go Paperless with Digital. How rare is the problem?

Have other automakers encountered the stuck-pedal issue?