Driving With A Stuck Open Throttle Sucks

This week, I moved a crappy old Mercedes C180 30 seconds from a parking spot on the road to a spot on my driveway. The throttle on the car stuck open en-route and scared the crap out of me...
Driving With A Stuck Open Throttle Sucks

I had to move an old Mercedes C180 this week. It had been sitting in one spot for around two months and for the sake of neighbourly love, I decided to squeeze it onto my overflowing driveway. The journey from my old place to my new place takes around four minutes on foot, so in a car, you’re looking at approximately 30 seconds.

Now before we get onto what happened next, a disclaimer: the Mercedes in question cost me £200. It has an automatic gearbox. It is a pile of crap and I have no love for it. The battery is near dead. It idles like a pig. And the body work looks messier than one of those American housewives who’s spent tens of thousands on lip filler, implants and collagen.

So yes, on my 30-second journey, I pinned the throttle. And no, I didn’t care that the engine was stone cold. My right foot just did it without warning because, like a loyal dog presenting its paw, my leg knew that it would please me, its master.

What didn’t please me, was the unexpected way in which the throttle did not return to its original position after my right foot had lifted off in pursuit of the brake pedal. As the revs rose, my brain had a little panic but knew something was up, and so with full pressure on the brake pedal, a wheel locked up, slowing me down to around 15mph. But the car refused to come to a halt, so with that, I turned off the ignition, and that was that. Danger averted.

Driving With A Stuck Open Throttle Sucks

Straight after this incident, it struck me that mechanical faults and the resulting onset of panic can be catastrophic. Remember the story a few weeks ago about a guy who was decapitated when he collided with a parked lorry after his cruise control ‘locked’ on on the motorway? According to a vehicle data examiner and safety specialist, no braking was recorded before the crash, meaning that the poor guy seems to have had his foot buried on the accelerator pedal, and not the brake pedal as he thought when he called the emergency services before his death. When panic set in, then, this poor driver’s ability to assess the situation was gravely compromised.

And while my little adventure resulted in no harm, it did remind me to be more respectful of the potential dangers that come with driving a car. And without trying to sound like too much of a dad (which I’m not, by the way!), I’d like to extend that message to you guys, especially for those of you who have to deal with cold temperatures a lot at this time of year.

So in summary: enjoy cars, but don’t forget that they have the potential to screw you over. And also don’t forget that you probably don’t know yet how you’d react in a situation where panic takes over and makes you lose many of your senses.

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Comments

Anonymous

My moms renault megane 1.5 diesel gets its throttle pedal stuck sometimes for a couple seconds before it returns, usually when i floor it, and although im quite used to it, i have a mini heart attack everynsingle time

12/17/2016 - 23:13 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

“My right foot just did it without warning because, like a loyal dog presenting its paw, my leg knew that it would please me, its master.” That’s just shows even an unloved merc can bite you in the arse hard if you didn’t treated it with respect.

12/17/2016 - 23:16 |
12 | 0
James Reuter

The sort of situations which would be fun and intestinal to try/practice for on a provide private runway/open bit if tarmac

12/17/2016 - 23:21 |
0 | 0

Bit like an advanced driving courses or somethin’

12/17/2016 - 23:21 |
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Driving With A Stuck Open Throttle Sucks
HF_Martini6

only thing thats more terifying then a Throttle stuck in the wide open position is a Diesel Car with a leaking Turbo or leaking Valve shaft seals.
I will never forget that crappy Megane 1.5DCi with the broken Turbo that did rev sky high as soon as i touched the Pedal to get it on the Hoist and that French Trashcan didn’t quit until a friend riped the Charghe Pipe out and tossed a rag in the Intake to kill the Engine while i was still trying to get out of that deathtrap..

12/17/2016 - 23:25 |
20 | 0

Happened the exact same thing on my Megane 1.9 DCi, I managed to park it in neutral while it reves wild. I had no idea what was going on because I’ve never heard of diesel runaways so I had no idea how to kill the engine from inside the car. It stopped when all the oil was burned wich luckily was very fast and before I could block the air intake.
Replaced the turbo and gladly the engine still works fine with little power loss.

12/18/2016 - 00:27 |
6 | 0

Same thing happened to my old Peugeot 405 1.9td, started running away so I attempted to stall it but it destroyed the clutch in the process, the rev counter pinned past redline and as I got out of the thing I could see oil spraying all over the engine bay, I decided it wasn’t worth getting burnt to try and save the engine and just walked away and waited with the keys in my hand!

12/18/2016 - 00:32 |
10 | 0

Renault has a worse engine. THE 2.2. The manifold is made of plastic. So after a while, it starts to crack until s* hits the fan and it sprays oil over your right front wheel, leaving you with a quarter less brakes.

12/18/2016 - 09:18 |
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JenstheGTIfreak (pizza)

What is up with Adnan’s face in the image?

12/17/2016 - 23:26 |
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Anonymous

I’ve seen it happen with an early ‘90’s 190e or 300e a few years back. Guy panicked and started working the steering wheel like crazy on a turn, overcompensated and totaled 3 parked cars, one of them being a Ford explorer that broke the curb and went airborne after impact. Scary stuff, totally thought he was dead when we were reaching over him to cut off the ignition but he pulled through.

12/17/2016 - 23:27 |
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Anonymous

a friend of my got her throttle stuck on a motocross bike. lets just say it is the fastest she have ever rode and it ended in a bush.

12/17/2016 - 23:29 |
2 | 0
eXoZGaming

I wish the family that was in that lexus did what you did

12/17/2016 - 23:31 |
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Anonymous

This happened with my Spacestar a while back was heading out to my shed to fix an abs issue with it and next thing I know its heading straight for my Chevette thankfully I stopped but it was close about an inch away for the side of the Chevette.

12/17/2016 - 23:43 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

W202!! i love them! i have a 95 c280 drives amazing and looks amazing! personal reference of course. This is not a good model to review so please don’t base your thoughts on the car based on this model these cars are actually really good!

12/18/2016 - 00:11 |
2 | 0