Anyone else had the accelerator pedal 'stick'?

I never had to floor it yet or wanted to

 

Here's what I would do: while the car is IG-OFF, use your hand to exercise the accelerator pedal over its entire range of travel. Do you feel any binding or roughness in its operation?

If yes, then you should have the accelerator pedal assembly replaced.

If no, then this sounds like a weird glitch, see if it is repeated. Glad that you kept in mind how to deal with the problem so that it didn't become an accident.

 

Can you replicate the symptom when the car is at rest, preferably in your garage. By this I mean you open the driver's door, stick your head down into the footwell and use your hand to push the accelerator pedal to the floor and back several times.
If the pedal tends to stick or bind at the bottom, then you know you have a problem with that pedal. Take the car in to the dealer and tell them to fix it.

 

It is possible that you have a sticking throttle plate that is preventing the return springs from doing their job, due to an accumulation of gunk in the throttle housing.
I would get that checked out.

 

For what it's worth, here is a sticking accelerator/malfunctioning brake story that showed up today.

 

This is the first sudden backward acceleration (car going in reverse) story I have heard of. Any others out there?


Direct link here:

Postbulletin.com: Rochester, MN

Texts:

 

Thank you for setting this out. Here is another piece of it:

 

That wouldn't be possible, as the Prius throttle is not directly connected to the throttle plate. It's just an electronic sensor.

 

The throttle plate can stick. It is a mechanical throttle with a return spring.

As pointed out above, the accelerator pedal only connects to electronic sensors, so a sticking throttle plate will not change the feel of the accelerator pedal.

Tom

 

Well, I love my 2007 Prius so much that I really never thought this would happen. While driving on a stretch of Interstate 10 from Southern California to Phoenix, my Prius (cruise control was on and set at 70 mph) began accelerating when I lightly put my foot on the gas pedal to move back into the middle lane. The acceleration continued after I removed my foot and before I figured out what was happening, we were up to about 80 mph. It did respond to brief, intermittent taps on the brake pedal while I worked my way over to the right lane. Finally, I remembered to put it into neutral and was able to pull off to the side, place the car in park and turn off the power. A few seconds later, I heard the pedal pop (like becoming unstuck) back into place. My floor mats were nowhere near the pedal. After catching my breath (and knowing that I could control the acceleration, if it happened again, by using the "neutral maneuver"), I went ahead and pulled back into the traffic lanes. I did not put the car back into cruise control and stayed in the far right lane for awhile. Within 15 minutes, pressing on the accelerator to move into the next lane, the pedal stuck again, but corrected itself before I had to get off the freeway. Returning from Phoenix this morning, same thing - no cruise control - and it corrected before things got too scary. I am not an alarmist, nor a troll, and I love my Prius, but with no apparent floor mat issues, something definitely is not right. Today is Sunday. I'll call the dealership tomorrow. Driving on the open highway with this problem is quite a different issue than trying to drive in heavy traffic, so I am not inclined to just let it go and hope that it doesn't happen again.

 

Yes definitely bring to the dealer to check the pedal and please let us know how it turns out for you. Good luck!

 

Does this really happen?

 

Sounds like your accelerator pedal assembly is sticking and needs to be replaced.