Brown Pants Time!

[Anees]

So there I was driving along through St Marys Way in Oldham (Town Centre). Car seemed to be getting faster and faster AND FASTER AND FASSSSTTTTERRR!! Looked down and saw that my accelerator pedal was planted to the ground. Kept going in a straight line – thankfully the next set of lights didn’t turn red. I put my foot on the brake to slow myself down, the car was screaming and I could smell burning and pulled into a bus stop and turned the car off…………phew!!

The classic thing had happened! My front drivers mat had moved and was resting on the accelerator pedal. The little clip you have under then drivers seat which is supposed to hold the mat in place had come out. I put it all back in and now all is fine again.

I was just wondering if I will have done any damage to the car? The burning smell lasted for about 15 minutes and I assume its the brake pads. When I got out of the car you could feel the heat coming off the brake disks too. No smells or anything now.

Car seems to be handling and driving just as well as normal. Am I okay then? :D

Thanks,

Anees

[waddy]

Sounds like you were lucky mate.

Just shows how accidents can happen.

Smell was probably brake pads. The engine should be fine as the limiter would have been kicking in to prevent any damage.

Just take it easy for a day or so to make sure the brakes are ok.

[Rob]

the car is good for the bin, but as its green it will match with the wheelie bin :P

[Anees]

the car is good for the bin,  but as its green it will match with the wheelie bin :P

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Round my end the wheelie bins are actually BLACK! :P :P

[Anees]

Sounds like you were lucky mate.

Just shows how accidents can happen.

Smell was probably brake pads. The engine should be fine as the limiter would have been kicking in to prevent any damage.

Just take it easy for a day or so to make sure the brakes are ok.

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Thanks Mark. This was at about luchtime. Just driven to my next appointment at work and car seems fine.

[Lex-aholic]

Whaaat ?? Boy are you lucky, or are you lucky. Somebody is definitely looking down on you ! :D and glad to hear you got away with this one :winky:

BTW. That funny smell probably came from your Driver's seat area !!

[Rob]

just imagine how brown ur pants would have been if u had the SC - u might have gone above 20mph!

ur car will prob be fine, just check the brakes have not warped.

on a more serious note :ur wheelie bin would be brown when u put ur pants in it

[Mr Morse]

That must have been terrifying Anees.....good to see you came out of it OK. Shouldn't be any damage to the car as it didn't last all that long.

I have heard of this same thing happening to a few IS drivers now - Lexus cured the problem by fitting a pair of small clips to the drivers side footwell just in front of the seats, where Lexus mats can clip on to and don't move. Do you have these on your car?

[Lex-aholic]

That must have been terrifying Anees.....good to see you came out of it OK. Shouldn't be any damage to the car as it didn't last all that long.

I have heard of this same thing happening to a few IS drivers now - Lexus cured the problem by fitting a pair of small clips to the drivers side footwell just in front of the seats, where Lexus mats can clip on to and don't move. Do you have these on your car?

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Clips ??? I'm gonna NAIL mine down after hearing this !!

[MrADeveci]

Glad ur ok mate !

This has happened to a few people ........... Paul (Fargo) included.

I, out of habbit just always kick the mat back .... everytime I sit in it ! ;)

[Drummerboy]

Throttle on my IS is constantly getting jammed............. between my foot and the floor

Had throttle jam on my last Avensis, dodgy throttle cable.............. well scary experience though and that was on a quiet road........... wouldn't like it to happen in built up area

[aido]

Good to hear you're ok, this happened to me a while back after the Jap Show in Notts, I loved it, unfortunately the throttle stuck from me launching at the lights and it was bouncing off the rev limiter in sixth for a few minutes - I actually passed a copper at 137 with the hazards blaring, and he never even blinked :o

Realised what it was as well then and just pulled the mat back, the worrying thing is that you can't press the brake pedal when it's really wedged down so remember folks, if it sticks, pull the mat back :D

[Lex-aholic]

This is like Speed, only without Sandra Bullock - wow, what a nightmare !

[Starbuk]

**** will certainly bear that in mind! I can only imagine how loud my wife would be screaming if that happened to us.

Fortune was shining down on you there man! Glad all is ok.

[Brettster]

Scary Stuff Anees, glad ur ok tho, Im too scared to go below 14mpg so i dont press my pedal down that much lol

[Gord]

WOW Anees :o Nice to see you ok mate :D your car will be ok :D not sure about your pants

[Anees]

Thanks for the replies so far! :D

Suprisingly I honestly wasn't panicing at all. My first thought was - "make sure you don't hit a kerb" :P and then then checking to make sure I didn't get too close to any other cars. I was lucky because their were not any other cars immediately around me. Didn't sound too good too - got people looking at the car for the wrong reasons!

Just got back from work - and can still smell slight burning - car is driving good however. Think I'll see how it goes tommorow. Hope I don't have a stuck calipher or anything. I don't think the brakes have warped - not getting any vibrations through the brake pedal. Car feels abit nipper too - lol - maybe I've blown some of the crap out of it!

Its only now that I realise how fortune I have been to get away with it - both for myself and the car. At the time I was very calm and even laughed to myself.

@Mr Morse - yes I do have that clip under the drivers side seat. The mat had become "unhooked" and pushed itself forward. BTW I ordered those blue bulbs you recommended so thanks :D

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Don't you just drop the clutch when this happens or hit neutral on the auto? Then all you gotta do is slow down while you got some power to the brakes and steering then switch off then you darken your pants :)

[Mark D]

Don't you just drop the clutch when this happens or hit neutral on the auto? Then all you gotta do is slow down while you got some power to the brakes and steering then switch off then you darken your pants :)

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Just what I was thinking - and if you didn't use the clutch then the smell is most likley your clutch burning.

[Kazi]

Happened to me when I first bought mine last year. Thank *** your ok though mate. I nearly soiled myself to when it happened!!

[Anees]

Don't you just drop the clutch when this happens or hit neutral on the auto? Then all you gotta do is slow down while you got some power to the brakes and steering then switch off then you darken your pants :)

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Just what I was thinking - and if you didn't use the clutch then the smell is most likley your clutch burning.

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Clutch burning

*** I hope not!

[star a]

wouldn't be the clutch unless you were riding the clutch.

[Anees]

wouldn't be the clutch unless you were riding the clutch.

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Foot was nowhere near the clutch. :D

Surely if I'd burn't the clutch I would have felt it afterwards or the clutch would be "high" seems nice and smooth.

[Andy_F]

wouldn't be the clutch unless you were riding the clutch.

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Not necessarily - under that kind of load its likely to slip - a lot, my guess is that its clutch you can smell. Should stop smelling after a few drives, and it should be fine - unless you already had a pretty worn clutch to start with. You've probably just burned off a few thousand miles of usage, but not really anything too serious. Brakes shouldn't smell like that just by doing one emergency stop unless you brake from about 100mph and stand on them.

[star a]

wouldn't be the clutch unless you were riding the clutch.

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Not necessarily - under that kind of load its likely to slip - a lot, my guess is that its clutch you can smell. Should stop smelling after a few drives, and it should be fine - unless you already had a pretty worn clutch to start with. You've probably just burned off a few thousand miles of usage, but not really anything too serious. Brakes shouldn't smell like that just by doing one emergency stop unless you brake from about 100mph and stand on them.

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what you are suggesting just would not happen to an engaged clutch (in good cond), the brakes wouldn't be able to cope with that amount of prolonged heavy braking and would begin to fade dramatically, they would not out grip the clutch...by applying the brakes whilst flooring the accelerator, you are basically driving up a steep hill., the wheels would spin if the hill got too steep...or the engine would stall...geddit