NHTSA Complaint #10711825 — 1988 CADILLAC ELDORADO

FROM A COMPLETE STOP THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AS IF I HAD FLOORED THE GAS PEDAL. I BRAKED HARD AND BROUGHT THE CAR TO A STOP, THE ENGINE STILL RACING. I TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, WAITED A WHILE AND RESTARTED THE CAR. NORMAL OPERATION. I WAS TOO FAR FOR A TOW, SO I DROVE ~50 MILES TO MY DAUGHTER'S HOUSE. THE CAR ACCELERATED TWICE MORE AT FREEWAY SPEEDS. HARD BRAKE, PULL TO THE SIDE, SHUT OFF ENGINE, RESTART, EVERYTHING NORMAL. THIS HAS HAPPENED 5 MORE TIMES, TWICE WITH WITNESSES TO SEE THAT I DID NOT MISTAKENLY HIT THE GAS PEDAL INSTEAD OF THE BRAKE. MORE STUFF REPLACED OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS, BUT THE PROBLEM STILL OCCURS OCCASIONALLY. INDEPENDENT GM MECHANIC THINKS THAT THE COMPUTER DROPPING OUT AND RESTARTING AGAIN AT FULL-THROTTLE COULD CAUSE IT, AND THAT REPLACING THE COMPUTER WOULD NOT GUARANTEE A FIX. THE VEHICLE HAS ONLY 85,000 MILES ON IT NOW AND IS IN OTHERWISE FINE SHAPE AS FAR AS THE DRIVETRAIN IS CONCERNED. *TR