Sebring---- SUDDEN ACCELERATION

[jonz6]

Our 2002 Sebring Coupe with 6cyl- 3.0 engine suddenly accelerated while backing up in a parking lot causing a wreck. It lurched backward at top speed. Has anyone heard of this happening?

 

[Matt Whiting]

Our 2002 Sebring Coupe with 6cyl- 3.0 engine suddenly accelerated while backing up in a parking lot causing a wreck. It lurched backward at top speed. Has anyone heard of this happening?

Yes, it happened with several Audi's many years ago. The cause then was likely the same as the cause with your Sebring ... the driving mistakenly mashing the throttle thinking they are hitting the brake.

Matt

 

[jonz6]

Nope i didn't happen that way. My wife was backing up with her foot on the brake. She must not have been braking that hard.. but she says she had her foot on the brake pedal and when shifting forward on the shift lever into drive & past neutral is when it SUDDENLY jumped backward and fast. She then smashed on the brake pedal at the same time she crunched into another car.

 

[Alex Rodriguez]

Our 2002 Sebring Coupe with 6cyl- 3.0 engine suddenly accelerated while backing up in a parking lot causing a wreck. It lurched backward at top speed. Has anyone heard of this happening?

Yes. This happened to Audi's a while back. The government did a lot of reasearch. In all instances the brake system was still functioning properly. In all instances the drivers states they were stepping on the brakes as hard as they could and the car kept going. The government came to the conclusion that this was a case of pedal mis-application. That means that driver was stepping on the wrong pedal. I don't think that is what you wanted to hear.

 

[Joe Pfeiffer]

Our 2002 Sebring Coupe with 6cyl- 3.0 engine suddenly accelerated while backing up in a parking lot causing a wreck. It lurched backward at top speed. Has anyone heard of this happening?

Yes. It happens when you aren't sitting as squarely in the seat as you think you are, and the pedal your foot was on was really the gas.

 

[Matt Whiting]

Nope i didn't happen that way. My wife was backing up with her foot on the brake. She must not have been braking that hard.. but she says she had her foot on the brake pedal and when shifting forward on the shift lever into drive & past neutral is when it SUDDENLY jumped backward and fast. She then smashed on the brake pedal at the same time she crunched into another car.

I haven't driven a Sebring, but all floor mounted automatics that I've driven have P-R-N-D-2-1 with Park at the front (towards the dash). So, if your wife was backing up, that suggests she was in reverse. If she moved the parking lever forward from there, she would have engaged park not drive or neutral. If the shifter is column mounted, then it is moving left/right or up/down, not forward/back. Something isn't jiving with this story.

Matt

 

[Matt Whiting]

Yes. This happened to Audi's a while back. The government did a lot of reasearch. In all instances the brake system was still functioning properly. In all instances the drivers states they were stepping on the brakes as hard as they could and the car kept going. The government came to the conclusion that this was a case of pedal mis-application. That means that driver was stepping on the wrong pedal. I don't think that is what you wanted to hear.

Nobody wants to hear that, but that is the fact. Also, there are very few cars that have an engine that can overpower the brakes. And you'd likely need AWD as in FWD or RWD, two wheels locked will keep the other two wheels from moving the car at any rate of speed in any event. When I first heard the Audi stories years ago, I knew they were bogus without even doing an investigation. Simple physics showed that you couldn't possibly have a car that couldn't be controlled using the brakes at full application. Of course, if there had been a defect in the brakes, then the claims would have been plausible, but that was never found to be the case in any of the cars.

Nobody wants to hear that the problem was them, but that is usually the case in these sudden acceleration cases. I'm not saying there isn't the potential for this to happen, as anything is certainly possible. It is possible that the brakes could fail at the exact same time that a software bug in the ECU commanded full throttle, but that is a long shot beyond long shots.

Matt

 

[maxpower]

Does this vehicle have a cruise control servo?

 

[jonz6]

Servo? Yes it has cruise

 

[maxpower]

We talked about this in a class one time where the cruise control servo soloniods could short out or malfunction and cause this. It was awhile ago and cant remember the details. It was not a particular model or make vehicle either. I believe it had something to do with the vent valve on the servo.
Research it on the net.

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

Nope i didn't happen that way. My wife was backing up with her foot on the brake. She must not have been braking that hard.. but she says she had her foot on the brake pedal and when shifting forward on the shift lever into drive & past neutral is when it SUDDENLY jumped backward and fast.

Nope, it didn't happen that way. Your wife hit the gas without knowing it, period. I know it's less embarrassing and less expensive for her to blame it on the car, but cars do not behave so much as they are behaved upon.

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

Yes. This happened to Audi's a while back. The government did a lot of reasearch. In all instances the brake system was still functioning properly. In all instances the drivers states they were stepping on the brakes as hard as they could and the car kept going. The government came to the conclusion that this was a case of pedal mis-application. That means that driver was stepping on the wrong pedal.

Yup. The hysterical media reports nearly ruined Audi, though.

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

Servo? Yes it has cruise

Ah, right, here we go with the "sudden, full, completely unintended activation of the cruise control despite the car being in reverse, below the threshhold speed AND the brakes allegedly applied" theory.

Have you ever heard of Occam's Razor? It's a scientific principle that says the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Now, which is simpler? A or B?

A: Your wife stepped on the wrong pedal.

B: The cruise control on/off switch, the cruise control "set" switch, the brake light and cruise-kill switch, and the SBEC "no cruise control under 30MPH, and only in the Forward direction" programming all failed at the same time, the cruise control engaged and pulled the throttle wide open.

 

[Dave Gower]

Nope i didn't happen that way. My wife was backing up with her foot on the brake. She must not have been braking that hard.. but she says she had her foot on the brake pedal and when shifting forward on the shift lever into drive & past neutral is when it SUDDENLY jumped backward and fast. She then smashed on the brake pedal at the same time she crunched into another car.

If you want to make any kind of a legal case, you will have a major uphill battle. As others have stated, the AVN ("Audi Victims Network") legal campaign went down in flames when multiple and overwhelming sources of evidence showed to everyone (including consumer organizations) that driver error was at fault. Drivers inevitably swore they did not commit pedal error, even when it was conclusively demonstrated they had. Additionally, a high proportion of the drivers involved were either menopause-age women or seniors of both sexes.

Please don't take this as a challenge to your (or your wife's) honesty, merely a "heads-up" about the historical background.

 

[Joe Pfeiffer]

Yup. The hysterical media reports nearly ruined Audi, though.

To Road&Track's credit, they took an Audi and tried it. The result was a driver that was convinced he'd experienced it (and was positive his foot was on the brake), and an observer that said, "no, it was on the gas...."

 

[Larry Crites]

My 1991 Dodge Monaco used to do that. The cruise control would just all of a sudden make the car accelerate. I don't touch the cruise buttons anymore. However, I don't drive it much anymore either.

Larry
Behold Beware Believe

| On Sat, 22 Jan 2005, jonz6 wrote:
|
| > Servo? Yes it has cruise
|
| Ah, right, here we go with the "sudden, full, completely unintended | activation of the cruise control despite the car being in reverse, below | the threshhold speed AND the brakes allegedly applied" theory. | | Have you ever heard of Occam's Razor? It's a scientific principle that | says the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Now, which is | simpler? A or B? | | A: Your wife stepped on the wrong pedal. | | B: The cruise control on/off switch, the cruise control "set" switch, the | brake light and cruise-kill switch, and the SBEC "no cruise control under | 30MPH, and only in the Forward direction" programming all failed at the | same time, the cruise control engaged and pulled the throttle wide open. | | |

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

My 1991 Dodge Monaco used to do that. The cruise control would just all of a sudden make the car accelerate.

Not below 30 mph with your foot on the brake and the trans in "Reverse", it wouldn't.

 

[Matt Whiting]

If you want to make any kind of a legal case, you will have a major uphill battle. As others have stated, the AVN ("Audi Victims Network") legal campaign went down in flames when multiple and overwhelming sources of evidence showed to everyone (including consumer organizations) that driver error was at fault. Drivers inevitably swore they did not commit pedal error, even when it was conclusively demonstrated they had. Additionally, a high proportion of the drivers involved were either menopause-age women or seniors of both sexes.

Please don't take this as a challenge to your (or your wife's) honesty, merely a "heads-up" about the historical background.

Yes, I don't think it is an honesty issue. I believe that many, if not all, of the Audi drivers really believed that they were mashing the brake, when they were, unfortunately, mashing the throttle. And this gentleman's wife very likely also believed that as well. However, that still doesn't change the fact that it is about 99.44% certain that she hit the throttle by mistake, especially if she was twisted around looking backwards when backing up.

Matt

 

[maxpower]

Not an engineer, But if the vent solonoid does not vent the vacuum when the PCM commands it to I would think there is a possiblity of cruise control under the desired limit

 

[maxpower]

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the world's second- largest automaker, settled a sudden-acceleration lawsuit today brought by a Cleveland minister who was left in a coma after his 1987 Crown Victoria crashed into a neighbor's house.

Attorneys for Leon Manigault, 77, said a defect in his car's electronic system caused it to speed up uncontrollably after he put it in gear. Ford and Manigault's family reached a confidential settlement today just before closing arguments were scheduled in the trial in state court in Cleveland.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aor7ME4mr5Dc&refer=news_index Daniel man, just because you have never experienced problems mentioned on here such as cruise control sudden accel, 85 Turbo vehicle Timing changing due to improper plugs and all that does not mean it never happens or cant happen, have an open mind, because it is real pal