[99zoo]

Hello I'm a newbie, hoping to get some answers from good folks here.

My 1999 Rodeo LSE, 44K mi, owned since new. Everything on the truck is stock. I did all the maintenance myself and never had any problem, no dealer or repair garage visits except Isuzu recalls.

Here is what happened yesterday: I was at freeway on ramp waiting for my turn at the metering light to get in freeway. It took about 5 minutes to get up ahead in the first. Just when I pull up to the light and press the brake to stop to wait for the green light, suddenly I could feel the engine is accelerating and truck tries to buck forward. The scary thing is the harder I press on the brake, the faster the engine runs. My instinct is to put the trans in park. No use. I can still feel the truck is still moving. By now, my rear tires are spinning so fast that rubber smoke is everywhere. Finally, I manage to put the trans in Neutral and turn off the key. Restart it and everything is back to normal as nothing ever happens.

What's going on? Might it be that I press the brake and gas pedal at same time? Not likely. Even if I did that, put the truck in park should stop the movement right away. I'm taking the truck to the dealer tomorrow, but I doubt they can find anything since it's all back to normal now. Did anyone experience this kind of problem before?

 

[bigpoppax2]

Very well possible you had your foot on the gas and brake at the same time.

I don't think your truck is the drive by wire, I don't remember when Isuzu went to the DBW system.

My 98 still has the throttle cable.

Joe

 

[trooperbc]

.......the harder I press on the brake, the faster the engine runs. My instinct is to put the trans in park.... No use.... the truck is still moving. By now, my rear tires are spinning so fast that rubber smoke is everywhere. Finally, I manage to put the trans in Neutral and turn off the key. Restart it and everything is back to normal... put the truck in park should stop the movement right away.

wow. that must have scared the :!: outa you.

the thing that doesn't quite "compute" is if you actually did get into Park, the force, with the thing going bonkers in gear, would have been enough to blow that thing to oblivion.

so, imho, i don't think you actually got into park; which is a good thing, as it turned out, really.

i suggest you check out the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) site for information on recalls and owner reports/complaints on problems they think the nhtsa ought to check out.

click here:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/home.cfm

one possibility: awhile ago they had a recall on some isuzus for a defective throttle cable 'boot' that would cause the throttle to stick open.

this happened on my trooper a couple of years prior to the recall, and it scared me too; but i popped it into neutral and shut it down real quick.
then it would be ok. this happened a couple of times until

i discovered that this boot "melted" and would grip the throttle cable and keep it from closing. and then it 'let go' and all would be good for awhile.

i just removed the gooey mess, and all was well.

the recall was to replace it. but it really isn't worth the trip and time, it's not all that important since the cable is horizontal at that point.

maybe this is on your rodeo, too. on the throttle cable next to the intake, where the cable gets adjusted.

hth

 

[BigSwede]

I think 2000 Troopers are drive-by-wire throttle control, not sure about Rodeos...

And yes, almost all the cases of "unintended acceleration" have been due to people stepping on both pedals or the wrong pedal entirely...which doesn't rule out a mechanical problem in your case, however.

Taking it out of gear was a good move, though I would have gone for Neutral instead of Park...as noted above, if you had actually gotten it into Park with the wheels spinning, catastrophic damage would have resulted to the transmission and/or drivetrain.

 

[99zoo]

Well, no :!: I kept hearing honking sounds from the cars behind me. It might be more scary to them, seeing my truck bucking back and forth with big cloud of rubber smoke from my rear wheels. :?

Anyway, I think I did get my trans in park for a few seconds. I could feel the clicking/rocking motion from drivetrain before I put it back in reverse and then neutral. I'm planning to do a trans fluid drain this weekend. Hope I don't see big chunk of metal flakes coming out.

I have logged a complaint at NHTSA site. In the mean time, I want to give Isuzu dealer a chance to check on things. All things considered, I think I'm pretty lucky this time since it happened when the truck is almost staionary. Hate to think what it may be like if this happens while driving on highway.

 

[¡Oracle!]

I'm more shocked than anything to hear that the car produced enough torque to spin the tires.

 

[bigpoppax2]

I'm more shocked than anything to hear that the car produced enough torque to spin the tires.

215 ft-lbs of torque isn't anything to sneeze at. I've always been quite impressed at the power Isuzu has squeezed out of 3.2 liters.

I towed my 67 Convertable Mustang on a flat trailer in the mountians of WV with my wifes 98 Passport. The only complaint I would have would be in the brake department.

I'm still guessing the foot was on both. Or the floor mat had it stuck. I've done that one before.

Joe

 

[¡Oracle!]

Thanks for jogging my memory bigpoppax2. I do recall having my floormat jam my accelerator once. The results were nowhere as dramatic for me.

 

[trooperbc]

I think 2000 Troopers are drive-by-wire throttle control, not sure about Rodeos...
.

well, which is yours, 99zoo:: throttle cable or drive-by-wire? it makes a difference in troubleshooting.

and "for the record" i believe this could happen w/out it being 'driver-induced', simply because of my own experience with the cable boot, detailed in another post. although my first reaction was something like "WTF am i doing", with quick tallies of feet, hands and pedals :roll:

what have you found out?

 

[99zoo]

Just took my truck back from dealer. As I predicted, they couldn't find anything wrong. They hooked the truck with their diagnostic system and didn't find anything standing out. Engine, trans, brakes are all in order. The mechanic even rode with me around the lot for about 10 mintues, try to duplicate the problem. Well, there's $80 out of door for nothing

Anyway, to answer ur question, trooperbc, my 'zoo has throttle cable, not DBW. I checked all linkages from pedal to throttle assembly and everything looked fine. This is also confirmed by the mechanic. The topic of pressing the brake & gas pedal simultaneously did come up with the mechanic. He looked at my size 10 shoes and didn't say anything. It'd be a real stretch, literally, for me to do that, judging the layout of brake & gas pedal. But then, nobody can prove and disprove now whether I actually did that or not, including myself.

The Isuzu mechanic mentioned that if this happens again fairly soon, they can hook up a device to track what's really happened. I guess until then all I can do is keep my eyes on things under similar condition.

 

[Rural53]

My bet is on the floor mat catching the accelerator. I've had that happen a couple of times, espically if you 4wd it and have a second rubber floor mat. I ended up chucking out the carpet floor mat and only using the rubber one.

 

[RodeoRed]

my money is on the floor mat as well. i was at a light about a month ago and the truck seemed to be revving a bit (not to your extent). i slid my foot back, the mat came with it and the revs stopped.

 

[trooperbc]

...my 'zoo has throttle cable, not DBW. I checked all linkages from pedal to throttle assembly and everything looked fine. This is also confirmed by the mechanic....

thanks for the followup

one last question/clarification:

do you have that small, black throttle cable boot up where the cable attaches to the throttle lever at the air intake? if so, did you inspect it and actually feel it and ascertain that it is not disintegrating? (which could cause intermittent throttle sticking)

thanks....and at least it's not happening now..