| Components - Details | |
|---|---|
| NHTSA Complaint Number: 004309366 | Incident Date: Nov, 15 2004 |
| Consumer's City: SILVERTHORNE | Consumer's State: CO |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN | Manufacturers Name: Ford Motor Company |
| Model Name: RANGER | Model Year: 2004 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No | Component's Description: Vehicle speed control |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No | Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: 1FTZR45EX4P | Date added to File: May, 25 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Nov, 16 2004 | Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police: No | Purchase Date: Jun, 24 2004 |
| Was Original Owner: Yes | Anti-lock Brakes: Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 6 | Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed: - | Description of the Complaints: The engine controller tends to hold the engine speed between 2000 and 2500 rpm when my foot is not touching the accelerator pedal. this behavior is most obvious when the clutch is depressed while changing gears. the engine rpm is held artificially high (way above normal idle) for as long as i depress the clutch, up until the point that the vehicle has coasted almost to a complete stop. i believe that the computer also does this when the clutch is engaged. for example, if i remove pressure from the accelerator pedal and allow the vehicle to coast with the clutch engaged while in third gear on a level road, the vehicle never slows down below approximately 30 mph (corresponding to approximately 2000 engine rpms). also, while descending a hill in a low (2nd/3rd) gear using engine braking (not touching the gas pedal), i can feel the truck spontaneously accelerate. i first took the truck to the dealer for this complaint on 10/22/04. the technician confirmed the behavior, inspected various sensors, probed the computer for error codes, and eventually resorted to resetting the computer in hopes that the problem would magically disappear. this of course did not fix the problem, so i returned to the dealership on 11/16/04 with the same complaint. they researched the issue and found that it is a "normal characteristic" of the vehicle, supposedly added to the computer program to improve emissions. aside from being annoying, i believe that this "feature" could pose a safety problem because it reduces the effectiveness and predictability of engine braking on down-hill grades. engine braking is very important in my area because of the steep, frequently snow-covered roads.*ak |
