Toyota accelerator stuck? Push on the keyless ignition button for three seconds, get into neutral

[steven johnson]

I own a Camry with a keyless ignition system but the Owner's Manual does not tell how to kill the engine in an emergency. The answer was something I found on line.

Push the wireless ignition button for three seconds in the Toyota to kill the engine and coast to a stop.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/02/03/toyota.how.stop.car/index.html

[liberal N proud]

1. But with the engine off, you lose your power steering

[frylock]

3. not the end of the world..

had a serpentine belt break on my 1998 Grand Prix GTP on the freeway. Initially it was a little disconcerting, but I was able to steer it and get it off the freeway.

[liberal N proud]

6. Could be if you are driving on a mountain road

[Tsar_Bomba]

20. I had a timing belt break on the turnpike

on my Dodge Spirit. Worst car ever.

[gristy]

4. life is full of tradeoffs

150mph or no power steering as I slow to a stop. I choose the latter.

[liberal N proud]

7. If you put the car in Neutral then stop

So what if the engine blows up, you got off the road and stopped safely.

[Tesha]

11. The engine won't even blow up.

The engine management computer will kill the spark
before it lets the engine be commanded to accelerate
past the redline. That's been the case in essentially all
autos for years.

(Heck, even higher-end old points-and-distributor cars
used to usually contain a centrifugal rev limiter in the
distributor.)

Tesha

[NYC_SKP]

5. But not with the Prius, which uses an electronic drive system. I checked.

I have no idea about a Camry hybrid.

And no idea how to put this back together. :cry:

[liberal N proud]

8. LOL

[Obamanaut]

13. There was a time when cars/trucks did not have power steering, and

we survived. Even on mountain roads.

[Romulox]

18. No offense, but this is a ridiculous statement. Those cars' steering didn't drop out at 80 mph...

:hi:

[Obamanaut]

24. No offense taken. It is a fact that we didn't always have power

steering. Some people still managed to drive fast, even 80 mph.

[Romulox]

25. One of the first cars I test drove as a 16 yo was a Ford Escort "pony"

with a four speed and no power steering. As a stocky 16 yo boy, I was not strong enough to steer with one hand and shift with the other (think a wide left hand turn).

An old lady driving Toyota Camry (or whatever their Buick equivalent is) would have no prayer if the steering dropped out at high speed.

[Obamanaut]

32. My car as a high school senior in 1959 - 60 was a 1949 Pontiac

with manual transmission and no power steering. I was not stocky, but rather small at 115 lbs, and had no problem.

[Romulox]

37. The steering geometry on the Pontiac was designed for no power assist...

Not so for the Pony or the Camry...

[liberal N proud]

21. A car without power steering steers easier than...

one with power steering where you have no power.

[JVS]

27. There was a time when cars didn't need batteries, but remove one from a modern car and you're fucked

[Craftsman]

2. And in about 2 second of that you slam into the back of the guy in front of you.

[still_one]

9. PUT THE CAR IN NEUTRAL FIRST. Then when it has slowed down enough, turn off the engine /nt

[MindPilot]

10. In those three seconds you go the length of a football field.

Add a few more seconds to figure out to do that in a moment of panic and you're another quarter mile down the road.

They really need to consider human factors when they design this stuff.

[Tesha]

12. Just shift into neutral and leave the engine to do whatever it does. (NT)

[MindPilot]

14. The point is by the time you do that, you may have already hit something

It's easy to sit at the keyboard and say do this or that, to practice in a parking lot, but when the moment actually comes, does the driver have the presence of mind to do this or that?

Most people's best reaction time is about .05 second; so at 60 mph, between the time you figured out something is wrong and acted to do something about it, you've gone at least four car lengths.

[Tesha]

22. "Sudden Acceleration" isn't magic and your brakes *WILL* be fully effective for at least a few...

...seconds. So take your foot off the gas, stomp
on the brakes, and if the car is still struggling against
the brakes, slam the shifter into neutral.

If people can't do this, maybe they should put down
the cell phone and take some refresher driving lessons.

Tesha

[Canuckistanian]

40. A reaction time of 0.05 sec.?

More like 0.5 sec.

The information that you're fucked may reach your brain in 0.05 seconds, but actually DOING something takes far longer.

[MindPilot]

41. Oops you're right. 0 POINT 5 too late to edit

[Lance_Boyle]

26. Try the brakes - they work (unless you kill the ignition).

People act as if their only option is to let the car do its thing with the runaway engine. News flash - unless defective, your brakes will stop the car, even under full acceleration.

[NNN0LHI]

31. Thats what I used to think too. We were both wrong. Look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT07_JbnKWQ

[Lance_Boyle]

33. Wow - those have to be bad brakes, right? I had no sound when I watched...

Or is this somehow an artifact of ABS?

All the more reason to only drive manual transmissions, as far as I'm concerned. Runaway? Clutch in, put it in fifth, stand on the brake and dump it.

[NNN0LHI]

36. No, they were good brakes on a brand new car as far as I could tell

I always thought the brakes on any car would stop even the most high powered engines when directly applied. Boy was I wrong.

I don't know if it has anything to do with ABS or not? The video is much better with sound. Actually terrifying.

Don

[MindPilot]

44. Wow! And look at that; the VW has a brake override system

so the uncontrolled acceleration issue can't even occur.

[FarCenter]

15. On my '68 LeMans I'd put the edge of my sole under the accelerator and pull up

I'd also avoid kicking it down unless absolutely necessary.

(the dealer was eventually persuaded to add a second return spring)

[DainBramaged]

16. If the solution was so simple, why have so many people died from this?

:shrug:

[Tesha]

23. Hundreds of thousands of people crash every year even when *NOTHING* is wrong with their cars.

A lot of people are lousy drivers, distracted drivers,
or both.

Tesha

[DainBramaged]

28. You're simply blinded by ignorance, Toyota has admitted to serious issues with their cars

(sigh) you truly need brain bleach, this isn't about bad drivers, this is about bad engineering that is killing people.

[Tesha]

34. Listen to me carefully: *I DON'T EXCUSE TOYOTA ONE BIT*.

But on the other hand, there's no excuse for drivers
who have no idea how to operate their cars in emergency
situations, and many drivers seem to be incapable of
operating their cars in *ORDINARY* situations, let alone
emergency situations.

Such people need further training, stat!

Tesha

[DainBramaged]

35. (sigh) you can't blame the drivers, it's that simple

was it the driver's fault when Firestone was making donuts pretending to be tires?

[Tesha]

38. Different situation entirely. A car losing the use of a wheel is quite different...

than a car where the engine suddenly goes to full throttle.

Sensible emergency actions will recover from the latter whereas
the former is quite serious, especially if the car has lousy suspension
geometry to begin with (as the Explorer did/does).

Tesha

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

42. You mean all five? In two different accidents?

You're more likely to be run over by a Ford than die in a Toyota with a stuck accelerator.

[Romulox]

17. This is bad advice. Unrec. nt

[Trailrider1951]

19. Ok, I just talked to the service manager at Round Rock Toyota

where I bought my 2007 Prius, and here is what he said:

1. The braking problem pertains to the 2010 Prius only.

2. The acceleration problem does NOT pertain to the Prius, as it is "built differently" from the other hybrids that Toyota sells.

3. If you do experience unintended acceleration, SHIFT THE CAR INTO NEUTRAL FIRST (so you do not lose power braking and steering), coast to a stop on the side of the road, and THEN shut off the engine with the 3-second button push. He also explained that there is a "governor" on the engine so that it cannot over-rev.

The unintended acceleration problem happened to me about twenty years ago. I was driving a Chevy product from Houston to San Antonio on I-10 and the accelerator return spring on the side of the carburetor broke. I had NO control of my speed whatsoever! I shifted the car into neutral and turned off the key. Unfortunately, I turned the key too far and locked the steering! Yikes! I then turned the key back to the on position and regained steering and pulled to the side of the road. I did have some tools with me, so I made a repair to the spring with a pair of needle-nose pliers, and continued on to the next town where I found a replacement for the spring. So, please do not assume that because you drive a different make of car, you do not need to know how to stop a car that is running away. For what it's worth. Be safe out there!

[mucifer]

39. I have a 2007 Prius and I feel it accelerate a bit sometimes when I hit a bumb.

but no more problems than that. it doesn't go out of control.

[hunter]

29. I think they need an engine eject button...

... push a big red button on the dash and the engine breaks into little pieces and falls out from underneath the car. It'd be just like ejecting the warp cores on the Starship Enterprise.

It could turn on the hazard lights too.

[Hardrada]

30. It's more like they have one of thise red self-destruct buttons

and you need to beam into another car.

[RedCappedBandit]

43. Why not get into neutral before wasting three seconds on a ridiculous ignition button?