I've got a strange problem with my wife's '97 Explorer that has me scratching my head. She was driving today about 10 mph down a dirt road when the truck tried to accelerate on its own. It was accompanied by what she described as a squealing sound coming from the speakers. She turned the radio off and it quit. A few minutes later, she turned the radio back on and the same thing immediatly happened again. Luckily she had her foot on the brake pedal both times and was able to maintain control. She drove the rest of the way home with the radio off and didn't have any more problems.

I wasn't able to duplicate the symptoms myself. I disconnected the battery and pulled the airbag module to check for pinched wires to the cruise control buttons, there was only one spot on the thin film wires that was slightly damaged, but was not touching anything. I also disconnected the cable from the cruise control module that attaches to the throttle cable under the hood, so if it does it again at least it won't try to floor the throttle.

The radio is an aftermarket Sony unit, but is connected with an adapter to the factory plugs in the dash.

I have also had occasional problems with the windshield wipers not working properly. Sometimes the delay times vary without changing the setting of the switch and sometimes the washer doesn't work when pressed.

If anyone has had similar problems, I would LOVE to hear about it because this one definetly takes the cake in my book!!