Scary Rpm Surge on Monday (2/5/07)....as if gas pedal was stuck

[BlueCrush]

I have a 2005 Vibe AWD with the cable throttle. Monday(2/5) afternoon, I warmed it up for 10 minutes before driving since it was -10°F outside. It was driving fine, I got on the freeway entrance ramp and accelerated quickly to get on the freeway. Got off on my exit a couple minutes later. Stopped at light and my rpms were at 2500. I thought Hmmm that's weird. So Turned and it accelerated by itself to 40mph (not cool). I came to my turn and had a helluva time braking before my turn. Pulled in the the parking lot of the post office and had to lock up the brakes to stop. I placed it in park and the rpms went from 2500 to 5000. I quickly shut it off and popped the hood. I checked the throttle rotor to see if it was in the correct spot. I turned it a couple of times and there was a "TWANG" from the cruise control box. It sounded similar but not as loud as when you pop your hood. I started it up again and the idle was normal at around 750rpm. I did my business at the post office and went home without incident. I checked the cruise control box when I got home and it looked normal, not iced up or anything. I also took off my intake tobe and checked out my throttle body and butterfly valve. Nothing there either. Weird! I will have to keep an eye out for it again. If it does happen agian it will be going to the dealer asap. Of course they can never reproduce any car problem. lol. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! It was fine yesterday, btw.PS- I did not use the cruise control at all and haven't used it since last summer.

[bradw]

Funny, the same thing happened to me on a '92 Stanza except the part where it popped back into place. It was the cruise control. I would suggest you test your cruise to make sure it still works.

[joatmon]

I had an old "almost muscle" car once, and it developed a problem where the throttle woudl stick. Took a while to figure out that I had a broken motor mount, and when you hit the gas too much, the torque on the engine would lift it up off the broken motor moutn, pulling the throttle cable more, causing it to be at full throttle until the torque on the engine let up and the engine could settle back down onto the broken motor mount. Had an auto tranny, and when the engine lifted up that far, it jammed the linkage so you couldn't shift to neutral. Turning off ignition would cause it to diesel on, bucking forward. I had a few times sitting at a stop light behind another car, me at full throttle, brakes barely holding, praying for a green light and some open road.Has nothing to do with your problem, but your problem reminded me of that. That was actually my favorite car so far, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the troubles it gave me and the adventures it took me on.

[kevera]

What kind of car was it Joat.Brian,I had a similar problem on my sunfire last year.It was the cruise control that caused it to keep the throttle on.I ended up taking it of for a while and it never happened again.So,I put it back on and it hasn't happened since.But I would def have a good look at it or bring it in just in case.I know when it happened,it scared the crap out of me.

[joatmon]

for me it was in a 69 Dodge Coronet superbee wannabe

[Vibr8tr]

Mine was a '86 Chevy S-10 without Cruise control.... but mine was just ice on the cable.... silly Michigan weather

[redlava]

Almost sounds like something in the throttle body or the accelerator got frozen open. Hopefully it was just a one time fluke thing, and not something else. Keep your eye on it, we need you in one piece for the frozen meet.

[bobbyh]

I had the same thing happen on my 97 blazer, picking up a friend at the airport, getting on the expressway I 'hit the gas' and then when I backed off the rpms jumped to almost the redline and I was breaking as hard as I could. Threw it in Neutral (should have left it there and blew the motor), but then back in gear. I turned it off and coasted to a stop and called Chevy to tow it. On Monday (of course happened on Saturday) they were unable to replicate the condition. I didn't have it much longer, we bought a Suburban because I didn't feel my wife could handle that situation if she was driving it and we were going to have more kids. I have heard that this has been caused by cruise control on or off so it does scare me a bit.

[BlueCrush]

Welcome to GenVibe, Robert! Mine only happened this one time when it was -10°F below. It has not happened since. I even tested the cruise control and everything has been fine since. Hope fully it won't happen again. If it does, I'll be taking it in.

[ajflan]

That happened to me last winter, but it was a one time fluke. Everything has been running fine since. I hope thats how it stays for you bc.

[carolnjus]

Did you every confirm what caused this problem. I have had a similar experience 3 -4 times. Stopped at stoplight with car in gear, and all of a sudden rpm surges to 5000. Shut car off and start up again, immediatly goes to 5000 rpm. Happened 4 times before it started normally. Dealer has never heard of the problem , but disconnected the cruise control to see if that may be the cause. I was not using cruise control when it happened.

[Sublimewind]

This sounds like an intermittent connection problem, activating the Cruise??? If you hit cruise while out of gear or at a stop it'll usually go up that high, because there is no load on the motor...

[BlueCrush]

Mine only happened the one time when it was a little bit nippy. My conclusion is that it was frozen up in the cruise control box, because after I turned the throttle rotor that was a loud "TWANG" from it when it released. It never happened before or since. Do you have a cable throttle or electronic throttle? If you have you have a rotor and cable attached to your throttle body then you have cable throttle. If so, next time it happens, try turning you rotor by hand all the way in both directions(with the car off of course) to see if it releases. Whe it has happened, did it happen soon after you were going WOT(wide open throttle)? Such as when passing or quick acceleraion?

[carolnjus]

After the stuck throttle happened several times when my teenage daughter was driving, I decided I couldn't continue with the risk. Although the service department had never heard of the problem, decided the only thing that would control the throttle other than the gas pedal was the cruise control. I never had the cruise control operating when the problem occurred, but the mechanic completely disconnected it and after 6 months no recurrence. When I asked to replace the cruise control, found out there could be any one of three parts that could be involved - the computer, some mechanical thing that opens the throttle, and the controls on the steering wheel to turn it off and on. Since the problem was occurring when the cruise was off we guessed that the most likely culprit was the computer. I paid to have it replaced and have been driving for over a year with no recurrence.

[northvibe]

Hmm happens to people in MN while cold, vegas and cali, so it cant be a "temp" issue. Also it spans from the dbw and dbc....very odd.

[BlueCrush]

I have only heard of the issue with Cable throttles. Mine has not acted up since that one time 2-1/2 years ago.

[northvibe]

oh thats right some 2005's were cable...

[BlueCrush]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »oh thats right some 2005's were cable...AWD's in '05 &'06 are cable throttle.... like mine.

[northvibe]

oh thats right. and the GT model.

[zyzyix]

Does anyone know if this could happen (or has) with the DBW system with cruise control?