Ford Explorer Cruise Control sticking - latest
Submitted: Saturday, Feb 13, 2010 at 20:06
ThreadID:
76006
Views:
2719
Replies:
6
FollowUps:
10
This Thread has been Archived
CJ
Ford boffins have examined the car
They could not find any fault.
I alway thought that it sounded too crazy to be true:
Whilst I can understand that he could not turn the car off (button does not work while car is driving apparently) there is no way that the brakes can not outbrake the accelerator. On ANY car, hiting the brakes will bring the car to a stop even if you hit the brakes and accewlerator
PLUS he could have just shifted the gear into neutral
Now Ford (or anybody to date for that matter) haven't found anything wrong with the car or cruise control
Figure that
CJ
Reply By: Member - Wayne B (NSW) - Saturday, Feb 13, 2010 at 22:21
Saturday, Feb 13, 2010 at 22:21
Don't for get he most likely ran out of vacuum for the brakes so he would have to push hard
Still I think the whole thing is BS. IMOP
Cheers
Wayne B
AnswerID:
404105
Follow Up By: Fab72 - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 00:31
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 00:31
Can't see how he'd run out of vacuum with the engine still running.
FollowupID:
673782
Follow Up By: Member - Shane D (QLD) - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 09:33
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 09:33
There's no vacuum at full throttle.
Shane
FollowupID:
673807
Follow Up By: Fab72 - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 10:58
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 10:58
Mmmm...your right.
A 4 litre 6 cylinder Explorer would have 1.5 intake cycles per revolution. If the thing was at full throttle (assuming injector cut off at 5,500 rpm), that would be 8250 induction cycles per minute.
4 litre engine divided by 6 cylinders equals 666.66 cc per cylinder. Multiply that by 8250 equals 55,000cc of vacuum created by induction per minute.
Given the throttle body would have a maximum allowable flow in the vicinity of 1000 cfm (28,316,846.592 cc per minute), the area behind the throttle body at 100% throttle opening would in fact in theory be able to have a positive pressure.
Dam I hate being wrong.......LOL.
FollowupID:
673815
Follow Up By: Member - Wayne B (NSW) - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 13:36
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 13:36
Fab.
I dont know if you agree there would be no brakes or not. TOOOO Many numbers in your post. LOL
Simply connect vacuum gauge and use full throttle up
hill. Vacuum =0 or close enough to it.
FollowupID:
673846
Follow Up By: Fab72 - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 22:05
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 22:05
Yes Wayne, I was agreeing with you. Sorry...I got carried away.
FollowupID:
673922
Reply By: Ozhumvee - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 07:37
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 07:37
From what I read somewhere else (may be wrong too ;-))) when the cruise is on in the explorer everything is locked out, ignition cannot be turned off, gear selector cannot be moved, accelerator inoperable etc. It all relies on either being turned off with the buttons or touching the brake. IF the brake switch is faulty then the system will never turn off except with the manual cruise control button.
Maybe the system being electronic had a moment?
With a lot of momentum (travelling at 100kph) the brakes would have had a hard time as the auto would have just kept dropping down with the cruise thinking "big hill" probably boiled the brake fluid and the pedal went to the floor.
Could be BS, we may never know.l
AnswerID:
404121
Follow Up By: Rockape - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 08:31
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 08:31
Peter,
you are correct in what you say, by the report it stated he had no control over any of the functions except the brakes. Yep I can just see the auto banging down a few cogs and the cruise engine pouring on the power to maintain speed.
Scary when you realise just on switch leads to this with no other way out if the switch or Ecu have a problem.
About 12 years ago I saw a Bogger or u/g loader that was being remotely operated have a hissy fit, the operator having no control at all.
All this was caused by water in the electronics.
Have a good one
FollowupID:
673798
Follow Up By: Ozhumvee - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 08:42
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 08:42
Sort of like the current problem with some Toyota's, a blip in the software/sensor/ecu (take your pick ;-))) and the braking feel is up the creek, the accelerator plays up etc etc and then combined with a multitude of other influences like environment, drivers reactions etc as to what happens and again how the driver reacts, either causing an accident or a brown pants moment.
And people wonder why bods like me (an many other"oldies") want vehicles without all the electronic crap.
FollowupID:
673801
Follow Up By: Fab72 - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 11:03
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 11:03
Just a thought....if the auto started banging down the gears, it would eventually get down to 1st gear.
With an injector cut off, red line in 1st gear would probably mean a vehicle speed of only about 40kmph then....wouldn't it??????
FollowupID:
673816
Follow Up By: Rockape - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 13:19
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 13:19
Fab,
it would only go down a gear when it reached it's change point, as the brakes got hotter and hotter you might not even get down to 1st gear and 40 kph. As it went back through the gears the torque would multiply, thus requiring more braking power, then as the brakes started to
cook up,
Have a good one the speed would go again.
FollowupID:
673841
Reply By: CJ - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 10:42
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 10:42
If indeed the gear lever sticks to D then it is the first time I hear of it as I have never had a vehicle that doesn't slip from D into N at any time
If that is the case I say it is dangerous .
CJ
AnswerID:
404140
Reply By: get outmore - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 14:21
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 14:21
cosidering even airline engineers have difficlties in isolating intermittant faults on 747s electrics
and Quantas still doesnt know why an airbus took its passengers for a stunt flight near
exmouth
its not out of the realm of possability that a couple of ford mechanics on $22 per hour might also struggle to understand some random problem
AnswerID:
404166
Follow Up By: CJ - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 14:38
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 14:38
This was national news and probably required Ford to do a formal investigation.
Ford themselves have a lot at stake. I would think they uused their boffins , reporting directly to the top brass, not a $22/hr mechanic
FollowupID:
673866
Reply By: Mogul - Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 20:32
Sunday, Feb 14, 2010 at 20:32
Of course they didn't find a fault.
AnswerID:
404222
Reply By: DIO - Monday, Feb 15, 2010 at 09:54
Monday, Feb 15, 2010 at 09:54
As previously stated and alluded to by a few, the whole thing was a 'beat-up' by the driver. Without any corroborative evidence there is no way that what happened to him was factual. The media - as usual - fell for it. Makes great headlines for the 6 o'clock news. Looks good on You Tube too.
AnswerID:
404286