NHTSA Complaint #10107863 — 1999 AUDI A6

I WAS TRAVELING ON PA ROUTE 476 SOUTHBOUND APPROXIMATELY 8:30 PM, MAINTAINING A CONSTANT SPEED OF APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH. THE THERMOMETER IN MY CAR REPORTED AN AMBIENT EXTERIOR TEMPERATURE OF BETWEEN 4 AND 8 F. THE CRUISE CONTROL SWITCH WAS IN THE STANDBY POSITION BUT CRUISE CONTROL WAS NOT ACTIVATED. I BEGAN TO NOTICE THAT THE CAR WAS MAINTAINING SPEED WITHOUT DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. IN FACT, WHEN TRAVELING ON LEVEL GROUND, THE CAR ACCELERATED TO 80 MPH UNTIL I DEPRESSED THE BRAKE PEDAL. THE TACHOMETER REPORTED A CONSTANT ENGINE SPEED OF 2400 RPM WITH NO PRESSURE ON THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. I ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE THE ENGINE SPEED BY ACTIVATING AND DEACTIVATING CRUISE CONTROL, WHICH DID NOT RESPOND AT ALL. I NEXT TAPPED THE BRAKES TO SEE IF THIS WOULD DISENGAGE A POTENTIAL CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTION, AGAIN TO NO AVAIL. THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS FREE OF ANY OBSTRUCTIONS AND MOVED FREELY UNDER MY FOOT. AS I APPROACHED THE TOLL PLAZA, I REQUIRED SIGNIFICANT BRAKE PRESSURE TO SLOW THE VEHICLE DOWN TO APPROXIMATELY 15 MPH. WITH FULL BRAKE FORCE, THE VEHICLE WOULD SLOW TO APPROXIMATELY 5 MPH BUT WOULD NOT STOP. I THEN PUT THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND THE CAR STOPPED BUT THE ENGINE REVVED IN EXCESS OF 6,000 RPM. I IMMEDIATELY SHUT THE ENGINE OFF. UPON RESTARTING THE CAR, THE IDLE SPEED WAS NORMAL. THINKING THAT THE PROBLEM WAS ICING AND NOW RESOLVED, I CONTINUED INTO PHILADELPHIA WITHOUT INCIDENT. UPON MY RETURN TO ALLENTOWN THE SAME NIGHT (APPROXIMATELY 10:30 PM), ALSO ON ROUTE 476, I EXPERIENCED ANOTHER EPISODE OF A STUCK ACCELERATOR. I HAD BEEN TRAVELING AT 65 MPH FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES WHEN THE PROBLEM RECURRED. THE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE WAS 3 F AND THE ENGINE SPEED MAINTAINED 1800 ? 2000 RPM WITHOUT ANY ACCELERATOR PEDAL PRESSURE. AGAIN, IN ORDER TO STOP THE CAR, I HAD TO PLACE THE TRANSMISSION IN NEUTRAL AND QUICKLY TURN OFF THE IGNITION KEY TO AVOID FURTHER ENGINE DAMAGE. *NM