Newly acquired car drives with no feet on pedals.

[JenniferJazz09EX]

Hi. Had my car 5 days. Has driven fine so far. Today I decided to completely fill the tank. I then drove to a park to walk my dog. Car was parked about an hour and a half. When I set off the car was surging ahead with no feet on the pedals. It was going about 5 miles an hour by itself. It was seeming to last quite a long time, 30 seconds at least. I drove it onwards and it was fine. I had this problem with my previous car! From research I've done it could be a bad fuel pump, filter or vacuum? Why has it FIRST occurred after a full tank filling? Have I not put the petrol tank cap on properly? Is air getting in? How can I trouble shoot this problem?

[Johncb500]

I your car an automatic?

It could be creep,nearly all auto cars do it,

If not, I have no idea

Sent from my SM-A750FN using Tapatalk

[JenniferJazz09EX]

Thanks for your reply...no it's a manual. The car was driving itself, I stamped my feet on the floor to show my kid I had no feet on pedals. I had it with my last car but my last car also had problems accelerating, starting. Stalling. Not seen that on this one.

[GBH]

Bit confused about this unless you mean you engaged first gear and then the car rolled forward without you touching the accelerator?

It is normal for this to happen when starting with a cold engine (which I presume would be the case after it stood for an hour and a half).  In ancient times when I first learnt to drive you had to use the choke to increase the amount of fuel to the engine when starting from cold, in order to avoid stalling. On modern cars (hence being called an Automatic Enrichment Device or AED) the choke operates automatically and is controlled by sensing the rise in engine temperature, so a cold engine will run quicker when first started and gradually reduce engine revs to a "normal" speed as it warms up.  All you need to do is be aware of this and be ready to use the brakes if necessary.

[Toptek]

Bit confused about this unless you mean you engaged first gear and then the car rolled forward without you touching the accelerator?

It is normal for this to happen when starting with a cold engine (which I presume would be the case after it stood for an hour and a half).  In ancient times when I first learnt to drive you had to use the choke to increase the amount of fuel to the engine when starting from cold, in order to avoid stalling. On modern cars (hence being called an Automatic Enrichment Device or AED) the choke operates automatically and is controlled by sensing the rise in engine temperature, so a cold engine will run quicker when first started and gradually reduce engine revs to a "normal" speed as it warms up.  All you need to do is be aware of this and be ready to use the brakes if necessary.

We had a Fiat Punto which had an issue with a temperature sensor which would activate the AED whilst the engine was rising to the normal running temperature. The scenario was the cart started with the usual choke effect and would settle down shortly afterwards but the engine was still warming up, then the revs would increase at another point for a short while until the temp increased.
Depending on the climate, this could be anywhere on the journey to work and was a bit of a faff waiting for it as it would just kick in and could increase the speed at the wrong time.
New temperature sensor fixed the issue.

[madasafish]

When a student in the 1960s (yes I know),I owned a 1929 Riley 9 Monaco fabric bodied saloon. It had magneto ignition and from the steering wheel you could advance/retard the ignition and use a hand throttle/ All by lovely rods and brass fittings -  a work of art.
The rod drum brake were another thing though........you needed to have strong thighs.

[Lord Voltermore]

I too am  a bit confused .  The engine idles at about 700 -750  rpm anyway.   If you put it in gear  and let the clutch up  gently enough this is enough revs for some cars to drive forward at 5 mph or so without you using any throttle.  Some cars might stall. It depends on the engines torque  (smooth pulling power)        My diesel Yaris could climb quite steep hills at about 5mph just on tickover without throttle.  You had to depress the clutch to stop it , much as you need to do when coming to a stop.

Its probably a good thing, showing the engine is smooth and efficient .  If however your engine is idling (ticking over) too fast it may need to be looked at.  (although it may tick over a bit faster for a short while when you first start, then settle back to the correct speed. Especially in cold weather.  )

[GBH]

When a student in the 1960s (yes I know),I owned a 1929 Riley 9 Monaco fabric bodied saloon. It had magneto ignition and from the steering wheel you could advance/retard the ignition and use a hand throttle/ All by lovely rods and brass fittings -  a work of art.
The rod drum brake were another thing though........you needed to have strong thighs.

Those were the days!  None of your namby - pamby syncro gears and new fangled trafficators.

God, you make me feel like the old git my family keep saying I am. I don't believe it!

[Lord Voltermore]

When a student in the 1960s (yes I know),I owned a 1929 Riley 9 Monaco fabric bodied saloon. It had magneto ignition and from the steering wheel you could advance/retard the ignition and use a hand throttle/ All by lovely rods and brass fittings -  a work of art.
The rod drum brake were another thing though........you needed to have strong thighs.

Rod brakes ? Luxury.  My  1931 Austin 7RN  had cable brakes. 3 speed gearbox, no synchromesh, no seat belts    Petrol tank under the bonnet with the engine. Sturdy steering column at chest spearing height   No indicators of any kind  (except hand signals.)  or brake lights originally.  mascot to disembowel pedestrians an optional extra . Only air bags  were the draught through the floor filling your oxford bags trousers.    Ncap rating ?       Perhaps Britain will build them again, called the Rees-Moggy Minor. 

The petrol tank had  a dip stick and reserve tap.  No computer chips required.

Now you know why the Uk had 6691 road deaths in 1931 and 'only' 1754 in 2012.   (peak year was 1965)


.

[Westy36]

I recall my BL cars, Dolomite, Marina etc, needed a clothes peg to keep the choke open as the twist-hold function had long since given up the ghost! Cars these days are so easy.

To jennijaz, the car will be on fast idle until it warms. IIRC our Jazz has a blue light on the dash that lights up when the engine is cold, and goes out once warm. Normaly taked a mile or two to do so.

Is the Jazz your fist car btw? Fine choice imho. I think we could do with a photo!

[ColinS]

I recall my BL cars, Dolomite, Marina etc, needed a clothes peg to keep the choke open as the twist-hold function had long since given up the ghost!

I had forgotten that.  Thanks for the memory

[nowster]

Any manual car will attempt to drive forwards if it's in gear and the clutch pedal is up. If it hasn't got enough "oomph" to move the car (eg. it's in a higher gear) the engine will stall.

With a cold engine, the ECU will be causing the engine to idle at a higher RPM than if the engine was warm, and that might be enough to allow the car to creep forwards (or backwards) with no pressure on the accelerator pedal.

[JenniferJazz09EX]

Thankyou everyone. What I mean is this: from cold, if the engine is running and I have gear in neutral and no feet in pedals, it will move at about 2mph on its own. I don't think that's a good thing. I think it's dangerous! The blue light does come on though. I don't think the car is safe to drive if it is demonstrating it's own urge to move forward.

[bill888]

In neutral, it should not be moving at all.

Is this a manual or could it be an i-shift model?