Hey guys. So I've been away a long time. My sister recently bought a 1997 Ford Explorer with the V8. When she tries to turn on the cruise she says it throws the transmission in to neutral and then locks the gas pedal...has anyone ran in to this problem before?

 

Well, in 1997 the cruise has no way to "throw the transmission in to neutral" so I'm not sure what sensation she's experiencing there. I'd also suggest you get more explanation of what she means by locking the gas pedal as well. The cruise servo has a parallel cable connection to the throttle plate and it will move the accelerator pedal, but if it is connected the way the factory intended, it should not lock the pedal. I would suggest she have someone inspect the accelerator cable routing to figure out what is happening there. Maybe the plastic piece that connects the cable to the butterfly broke and instead of buying the whole new cable assembly to fix it correctly, a previous owner cable tied the cable or something. Is the cruise maybe pulling the throttle all the way open which causes the transmission to downshift a couple of gears and the accelerator to go all the way to the floor, giving the impression that the trans is in neutral (revving high) and throttle "locked?"

Is this a factory-installed cruise system (buttons on steering wheel), or aftermarket (buttons on a box with a wire coming from the box)?

-Rod

 

I thought it was a wee-bit odd when she had described it to me over the phone. She is not very technical and I'm stuck fixing junk. Alright so here we go.

When cruise is activated it floors the pedal and it gets stuck, yet the truck doesn't accelerate (leading her to think it was in neutral...its a start.)

Factory cruise control system. I guess I'll be going home here soon to look at the linkage. Trying to figure out symptoms from a 16 year old girl over the phone is literally the worst.

 

There are some Fords that use a vehicle speed sensor (VSS) for the cruise and others that source vehicle speed from the ABS module. Although the speed source could not be completely dead because the cruise should not try to activate if it thinks the vehicle speed is below 35 mph.

It definitely sounds like an interesting problem.

-Rod

 

Some women are difficult at any age.

 

Turns out the cable had fallen off of the throttle body. Thanks guys for giving me a place to look!

Would've just broke as well. Whenever I drove the thing home for her initially it had worked because I wasn't about to drive 80 miles on the highway without cruise control. I'm too spoiled for tht.