Thanks for all of your reponses! I would like to clearify that the gas padel wasn't stucked by the floor mat. It felt like that the gas padel just simply engaged itself and brought the engine to full power accelerating mode. I didn't think about shift into neutral then, but shut the engine off while I was traveling at 85mph on the freeway in the middle lane with traffice around and behind me, such option didn't come across my mind then. Drive by cable system malfunction could be a very educated guess here, I think. I will keep all of the members posted as the whole progresses.

Thank you all.

 

TOPSPEED, glad you are OK.

I had a similar experience once in a 1974 Fiat - mechanical throttle would stick wide open occasionally and rev to 8k or something - FWIW my first reaction after disengaging the clutch and hearing the engine rev like a jet engine was to fumble for the key and turn off the ignition all while trying to gain dontrol of the vehicle too. I never blew an engine and that happened a few times.

The good thinig about those experiences is that I believe I am trained to quickly turn the ignition off first in the event a similar episode on these electronic cars. I guess that is still the best first move.

Does your car have a recorder in CBEST or somewhere that would confim the event to the service people with diagnostic details or aren't even these cars that far along, I thought I had read new cars recorded certain operating parameters for the last few minutes of operation - maybe not so good as it provides evidence of speeding but it's likely inevitable, imo

 

TOPSPEED you should report this experience to NHTSA however it turns out, this is how recalls are usually initiated as manufacturers are very reluctant to do this voluntarily, this way if yours turns out to be more than an isolated incident the rest of us can get our cars repaired BEFORE it happens to us, glad to see you are ok man.

 

glad to hear you're ok TOPSPEED. however, i think this is once of those one-in-a-million-chance things. i dont think anyone here will really ever have to worry about the problem you experienced, but thanks for sharing nevertheless

 

Salimshah: Going 85 mph and trying to stop the car with the brakes while the car (engine) is almost being floored would be difficult. The engine power CAN overcome the brakes. Haven't you ever heard of powerbraking? Think how far it takes to stop a car at 85 mph with your foot off the gas. Don't forget the heat buildup during the process. The hotter they get the less efficient they become. That's why cars and trucks coming down from high elevations sometimes lose their brakes from riding them and the heat build up.

 

Holy Cow!!!!!

Scary indeed! Glad to hear everything turned out OK. Keep us updated with what the dealership tells you.

 

I have had throttle stuck open and total loss of brakes experience, but not both at the same time. It has been years and my stomach still knots up thinking about it. It is so unfortunate that TOPSPEED was faced with both at the same time.

Any one wants to test out keeping throttle at position for 65mph and applying brakes? Assuming the pads are not HOT before the test, I wouls\d say, the GS will slow down .... with the assumption that there are no defects.

we all agree that it was not a normal thing that happened.

Salim

 

Indio,

I had just filed a complaint to NHTSA. All I really care right now is that such incident won't happen to any other Lexus owners. Thanks for all of your member inputs.

 

Oh wow...just reading the story I got nervous.

Glad to see you are ok and that you're able to tell it. I'm really curious as to what the mechanics will have to say about what happened. Keep us posted.

 

I would guess that the cable got stuck. Unfortunately, one incident is NOT going to initiate a recall on all 98-00 GS400's. I can understand the problem because it happened to me in an Audi, except I plowed into a parked car and totalled it...funny, nothing really happened to the Audi...just a broken light and some scratches. Yes, this was one of theose infamous Audi's with the gas pedal problem...found out the hard way.

Glad your OK though! I agree that you should try to get Lexus to replace your brakes while your at it.

 

its usually the pedal under the floor mat.
happens alot.

scary.

i had it happen for like < 1 min before....same situation gass.brake simultaneously....finally saw what was happening and kicked the mat out of the way

glad that turned out ok for u

 

WOW do i smell a lawsuit !!!

 

Update on my case:

I received an email this morning from the service manager and stated that he had put my car to a "16 mile road test" and can't duplicate the problem and he is in contact with the Lexus technical to find out what went wrong. However, my point is that it is hard for a road test to duplicate the problem. What about the moden technology? They can't hook up the computer with engine to test and see if anything went wrong? Furthermore, I had contact the Lexus customer service this morning and report my incident. They told me a case specialist will contact the dealer then she will contact me in the next few days. Also, I am trying to arrange a legal consultation with a lawyer in town, maybe more than one so I can hear different opinion. I will keep all of the members posted on my case.

thanks

 

wow thats crazy...


what highway were you on? i know where 95 and 15 intersect here.... and i would hate driving that fast near that place..... bumps and Dips around that part of the Highway.......

well glad your ok!


kam

 

First of all thank God u are safe Second, i also disagree, the brakes are not the problem. The problem is why the engine kept accelerating.