A scary thing happened to me (and a warning)

[annageckos]

Quote:
Is this how must CC works in cars? I had a cougar and that is not how mine worked. I only used it a few times, but if I hit the breaks it would stop the CC and I would have to hit the CC button again if I wanted to use it. There was a acceleration/decell. buttons too, and off/on. But hitting the brakes of gas turned off the CC. The reason I don't like CC is it doesn't feel right to me. And I don't want to get side tracked because I don't need to watch my speed.

 

[herfrds]

Never use cruise control at night or when tired.

Know a family that the driver fell asleep with the cc on, went off the road and crashed into a culvert. One person in the car died another lost their left arm.

 

[RabbitMage]

Quote:
I'm not sure that would have ended any better if they hadn't been using cruise control.

Don't drive unless you are awake and aware, period.

I don't think cruise control was the actual cause of the OP's problem, either. I agree it has something to do with the accelerator getting stuck, but I'm not a car guy.

 

[Tala]

As a 100lb whisp of a thing who DELIVERED PIZZA for over a month without any power steering, I'm tellin ya, yall are wimps if you think you can't drive without power steering

It's difficult in tight spaces like parking lots, so I always had to think out how I was going to exit before I parked, but for ordinary driving you can do it.
Now about the steering wheel locking up, on mine it unlocks easy enough if you turn the key back forward to the first click. If you've been driving your car very long you should automatically know stuff like this, even in a stressful situation. Perhaps fidning a parking lot with a hill and practice "driving" in neutral should be required for getting a driver's license. My grandpa drilled me on all kinds of helpful "tricks" when he taught me to drive, and knowing how to drive your car when it's partially disabled could save your life.

Of course I drive a standard tranny and it doesn't have cruise control. There's a whole lot more options if you drive a stick, which is why I will ALWAYS drive one. For one thing, any shifting errors are easily pinpointed to user error

and it's generally a whole lot uh, cheaper to fix than having your 4x4 auto tranny cracked open and repaired..... plus even if your brakes go out you can gear it down or stall it out, and dropping into neutral is a piece of cake, it's pretty much impossible to accidentally hit reverse. Automatic transmissions are highly overrated, if you ask me, and they take away a lot of your control.

The fact that they started again an it went up to a steady 4000 means it was not a computer issue.

Agreed. If it quicky dropped back down, it was possibly because the engine was near flooded with gas from the previous run-away, but if it stayed that high then something was definitely stuck.​

 

[Cetawin]

BorderKelpie how terrifying...I am so thankful you are safe and uninjured. I hate cruise control and never use it...I am scared of not being in control of my vehicle.

Thank you for the warning...

 

[BorderKelpie]

Wow, I just finished reading everything. Now I'm afraid to drive home from work.
I also had no clue that this would end up 6 pages long. I have read some very interesting things and I thank you all for your input and advice. I have emailed the dealership from whom I purchased the jeep to make them aware that something happened. I think I will be sending the jeep to them to thoroughly check it out. Never occured to me that it could have been anything other than the CC.

(Moabite: I think you just named my liberty. - I LOVE Stephen King and always thought that if I ever win the lottery, I would get a '58 Plymouth Fury and rebuild it to Christine's standards and take it to car shows for fun. lol Now I don't have to, I've got my very own Christine. I think I'll go out back and offer her a puppy as a snack or something, stay on her good side....)

 

[welsummerchicks]

I don't think emailing the dealership will go anywhere.

One person who replied here thought the event was driver error. It's likely that a dealership would conclude same.

Driving a stick is not always an option. For example, it is not recommended to use a stick shift vehicle for hauling a trailer, for good reason.

Too much discussion of what to do in an emergency might direct attention away from keeping a vehicle in good repair. Most mechanical problems give a warning, and when that occurs, the car should be fixed, rather than just resorting to something like either of the above.

A number of problems can occur when the floor mats get stuck on the pedals and that was mentioned, but I think could be rementioned, but it's also like all others, speculation.

 

[denim deb]

And, some people have physical problems that make it so they can't drive a stick. I have nerve damage in my right leg as a result of being rear-ended several years ago. There is no way I can drive a stick. It would aggravate my leg to no end. About the only time I use CC is if my leg is bothering me so much that it's hard for me to drive, period. Most cars will also bother it, so I drive a truck.

 

[acid_chipmunk]

Quote:
I'm glad to hear you are going to have the entire car checked out. Your mechanic should have insisted on it when you told him what happened, I know mine would have. I hope you get somewhere with your dealership, if not, call Chrysler. My friend is have a problem with her Grand Cherokee not starting after sitting for a couple hours and her warranty was about to run out. She called them, explained what was going on, and they extended her warranty until they get the problem fixed.


Good luck.

 

[booker81]

Quote:
All the wimp bashing aside, when my belt failed and cut power while heading down the highway, and I had to get OFF the highway, I had one living hell of a time driving. At that time, I was not a big person, I didn't have enough arm and hand strength to feel that driving a Taurus with no powersteering was "easy". It scared the daylights out of me - as much as the fact that multiple women had been abducted on that stretch of highway at night in the previous months when they stopped with disabled vehicles, and were waiting for assistance.

My hands and arms hurt the next day from wrestling that thing off the road and to the gas station. Many of my fingers can and do dislocate, so wrestling a car manually is not high on my strengths.

I also cannot drive a stick due to the same "disablilty" - can't do repeated knee or ankle motions without dislocating those joints.

My mechanics have supported the neutral shift, and as I said, I practice it. My hands can handle that much better.

As for not driving because I'm a wimp, well, I've never caused an accident, I've had one single ticket, 10 years ago, and I continue to be a very aware driver. I know my limits and abilities, and don't over estimate them. I enjoy driving, and will continue to do so - safely. As I've posted previously, I also do stop and assist others who have disabled cars from accidents, because my wimpyness doesn't stop me from being kind, helping, and calling 911 if needed.

This wimp has the best driving record in my entire family, extended included.