Greg@RME

I couldn't make this **** up if I tried, I seriously cannot believe what happened this morning.

I left my house on the Western Slope of CO at 3 AM on my way to Denver, which is a 4 hour drive. I drove thru the town of Glenwood Springs at 60 MPH or so with the cruise control on, then made my way into the Glenwood Canyon, which has a posted speed of 50 MPH, at just before 4 AM. There was a construction project in the first tunnel in the canyon, so I tapped the brake and slowed to about 40 MPH, in 6th gear. As I excited the construction area, I hit the 'resume' button for the cruise and the truck began to accelerate. Soon I was going over 70 MPH, which is too much speed for that canyon. It's very tight and there's little room for error. I tapped the brake and the cruise did not turn off... I hit the brake again, harder this time in case I didn't use enough pressure the first time. Again, nothing. At this point I'm coming up on a semi in the slow lane, same lane that I'm in. I had to swerve around him, while at the same time I'm turning the cruise off, back on and off again trying to stop the runaway truck. As I get past the semi I'm running over 80 MPH and I'm starting to freak out... I start pumping the brakes over and over, trying to control my speed around one of the canyon corners. I could smell the brakes starting to get hot. I had the thought of pushing in the clutch and pulling over, but there was really no room to park, it would have been a dangerous place to be sitting on the side of the road. I also wasn't sure the engine would stop if I turned the key off and I didn't like the idea of burning up the engine. I had little time to do much thinking, the next freeway exit was miles ahead and I was starting to panic. After about 30 seconds from when it started, the truck finally idled down and I got it back under control.

I exited the canyon pretty shaken up... I kept driving for another 20 minutes, then decided I'd better pull over. The RPM's were running at 2000 no matter what. I drove to the next exit, pulled off and parked. Eventually the RPM's dropped to 1500 and I decided to shut it off. At that point I called my wife, freaked out and told her I felt unsafe driving the rest of the way to Denver. I started the truck back up and it was idling normally, I decided to head back home. I made it back about 30 min ago, did not use the cruise control and I do not want to drive that truck anywhere.

I should be in Denver working, but I didn't feel safe continuing my drive in the mountains. I may visit the local Dodge dealer and see if they've heard of anything like this happening before, if there's anything recall related, etc. No matter what happens, this truck is gone and I'm not interested in owning another Dodge. This could have easily had happened to my wife while she was driving and I don't know that she could have controlled it. That fact scares me, I don't want to think about what could have happened had she been driving.

I'm now at home, thinking about contacting a lawyer. I've never been one to threaten a suite, never had anything happen that was near worth suing over. I think this is noteworthy and Dodge needs to be made aware.

Greg@RME

Anyone have an idea what caused this? Has it happened to anyone else or have you heard of it happening to somebody?

PourinDiesel

Next time turn the key to the off position or take it out 6th gear and put it in neutral, or push the clutch in.

Did you forget those options?

Greg@RME

Next time? Does this happen to you often? Cause I'm not planning on having a "next time".

Did you read? No where to stop and park, there is NO shoulder in that canyon and lots of traffic. I was afraid that putting it in neutral would let the engine rev at max RPM and possibly grenade the motor. I would have shut it off if it got totally out of control, but it did not.

rallydriver

1st off, glad you are ok.

Your truck is an 03 right? Doesn't that have the APPS where a throttle cable attaches to the APPS and from there it tells the engine the throttle position? It could be that the cruise control is another cable that may have gotten stuck or if not another cable, perhaps the APPS malfunctioned. I have a 2006 so I don't have a throttle cable or APPS to speak of but I would maybe have them look at it to ensure it is working properly.

-Chris

tool

I've seen that happen before in GM vehicles so it just isn't confined to Dodge, as was mentioned there are lots of options to control your speed although I understand how scary it can be at the time.

My Second gen would creep up in speed on the cruise control sometimes 10+ MPH, I never did get that corrected.


Again, I realise how scary it is when your vehicle does something unexpected directly relating to the control and safety of the vehicle but it is a machine, made by people, capapble of error and failure.

I don't see your law suit going well, but that is up to you I guess.

PourinDiesel

Seriously if you are more worried about over revving your "motor" than the safety of yourself and others on the road then you don't belong behind the wheel of a vehicle, let alone an 8000 lb pickup truck.

I was giving you sound advice IN CASE THIS DOES HAPPEN AGAIN...

Instead of a lawyer you should hire someone to drive you around.

You want to play the attitude game....I'm all for it dude.

Greg@RME

Yes, '03 has the APPS. I briefly checked it out, didn't see or feel anything wrong. I called the dealer checking into any recalls and there's nothing current out there at this point dealing with cruise control, but there is an older recall that fit's my year and drivetrain.

From here- http://www.internetautoguide.com/aut...500/index.html


I'm not even sure if a lawsuit is the right direction, but if this had happened to my wife I don't think she could have stopped it and would have probably ended up wrecking the truck and hurting herself and perhaps others. That's what scares me and makes me think about calling a lawyer.



The freeway has directional lanes which are split and I passed one semi off the bat, no other traffic as it was 4 AM. But thanks for thinking you know precisely how this all went down and adding your own 'insight'. As for the attitude game, you can go play with yourself.

tcr

Greg, Did you check for any codes or anything obvious? What switch in the braking system disengages the cruise, is it the tail lamp s/w?

Greg@RME

Yep, checked for codes and got nothing. No check engine light ever came on or anything that I'd call obvious. Until that point, the cruise control has always worked just fine. I'm not sure what switch disengages the cruise, it's probably taking input from the taillight switch and the cruise controls on the steering wheel.

donhov

Although nor relevent to your specific truck there was a post last year about an 06/07 truck that did something like this. It happened more than once to him and his dealer just brushed it of. I don't rember the final resolution or if there was one but maybe a search on this site or maybe someone remembers the post and can link it.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Greg@RME

I'll do some searching, thanks for the info! While kind of crazy it's good to hear that my truck isn't the only one. So far I have talked to Chrysler and the local Dodge dealer, neither one has been helpful. Even when I gave the dealer the above recall number that describes my problem to a T, they were lost. I'm concerned the dealer may also brush this off since there's nothing obviously wrong.

tcr

Maybe check and see how far you have to push in the brake to get the lights to kick on. Or get back out on a safe long road and check out the cruise again. I know on our 03s we have vacuum actuated CC. Did you check out the pump assem over behind the passenger battery. I'm probably not much help, I'm just throwing ideas out there. MikeyB might be able to shed some light on this; he knows alot about these 03s.

Jonesey

The recall you describe was the CO2 recall. I had the recall which involved a reflash done on mine when it was almost new. If it has been done on yours there should be a sticker on the airbox cover showing the date it was performed.

Greg@RME

I'll look over those things, I appreciate the ideas.


I don't have an air box cover, but there is a sticker from Daimler-Chrysler mentioning a dealer modification. The reference number is- 05073548AJ. I haven't looked into it at this point.