NHTSA Complaint #10301871 — 2004 TOYOTA TACOMA

I WAS DRIVING MY TRUCK TO A WORK LOCATION AND STOPPED AT A T-INTERSECTION TO YIELD TO THE NORMAL TRAFFIC FLOW. WHILE STOPPED, THE ENGINE BEGAN TO REV UP FOR NO APPARENT REASON. I WAS NOT TOUCHING THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL, BUT HAD MY FOOT FIRMLY ON THE BRAKE. AT FIRST, I HEARD THE ENGINE NOISE BUT DID NOT REALIZE THAT IT WAS MY VEHICLE MAKING THE NOISE. THEN WHEN I LOOKED DOWN AT MY INSTRUMENTS, I SAW THAT MY ENGINE RPM'S WERE ABOVE 1800 AND STAYING STEADY. THERE WAS AN AUDIBLE CLUNK NOISE AND THE TRUCK SUDDENLY LURCHED FORWARD (TRANSMISSION ENGAGING I WOULD GUESS) AND I PRESSED THE BRAKE WITH INCREASED FORCE TO KEEP FROM ROLLING FORWARD. THEN THE ENGINE RPM'S RETURNED TO A NORMAL IDLE JUST AS SUDDENLY. THIS OCCURRED WITH A WARM ENGINE AFTER SEVERAL MILES OF NORMAL DRIVING. WHILE THE SAME EXACT THING HAS NOT OCCURRED SINCE THIS INCIDENT, I HAVE HAD AT LEAST ONE OTHER EPISODE WHERE THE TRUCK'S ENGINE RPM'S INCREASED FOR NO REASON WHILE I WAS STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. THE LATTER OCCURRENCE WAS NOT AS SEVERE AS THE FIRST INCIDENT AND HAPPENED WITHIN THE LAST MONTH OR SO. I WANTED TO REPORT THIS BECAUSE MY TRUCK IS A TOYOTA BRAND AND I HAVE READ ABOUT THE RECENT RECALLS RELATED TO ACCELERATOR ISSUES ON SOME OF THE SMALLER TOYOTA PASSENGER CARS, BUT NEVER SAW ANY MENTION OF THIS INVOLVING THEIR TRUCK PRODUCTS. AS AN ENGINEER MYSELF, I STRONGLY SUSPECT THAT THIS PHENOMENON IS DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL AND/OR COMPUTER MALFUNCTION AND NOT SOME SORT OF MECHANICAL OR PHYSICAL INTERFERENCE ISSUE. I SAY THIS BECAUSE OF MY OWN EXPERIENCE WHEN I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT THERE WAS NOTHING INTERFERING WITH THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND IT WAS NOT STUCK MECHANICALLY. *TR