Mitsubishi Montero Sudden Acceleration Accidents [MERGED]

[Retz]

Dumami pa lalo pala cases nito. The official blog lists 20, then plus 1 for the recent report at 4x4ph.

In fairness to Mitsu, they could always consider driver error. But why so many cases for the MS? If it is not some sort of intermittent electronic failure, then is the MS design that error prone or that difficult to drive correctly?

1 or 2 cases could be just an isolated case or coincidence pero more than 20 na pala and all of them sa Monty pa nangyari.

[OTEP]

As I've said, I'm not affiliated with any automaker and my profession is very far from this industry. But I have taken an interest in this kind of complaint since the 1990's (panahon pa ng Andrew E., Gwapings, etc.).

There are lots of sudden unintended acceleration incidents. It's not an uncommon complaint. Audi almost became extinct in the U.S. because of this. Back then it was called 'Unintended Acceleration Syndrome' or something like that. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is tasked with investigating these incidents. So far, nothing has been proven. But in the interest of safety, rules have been made to make cars safer still. All manual transmission cars in the U.S. can only be started with the clutch pedal fully depressed (Toyota's Vios has this feature locally), all automatic transmission cars in the U.S. also require the brake pedal to be fully depressed when moving the shifter from neutral or Park and a placard must be placed near the shifter stating so (we usually don't get the placard, but we still have the interlock). And now, hooks are installed on the driver's side footwell to hold floor mats in place (the MS has this). But Mitsu has no control as to what aftermarket mats you will put.

So these kinds of claims aren't really pretty new. Basically the same M.O. Groups of owners get together and claim the same thing looking for a settlement from the manufacturer. Not to say that they are liars but they have so much to prove especially in the MS case wherein the vehicle has a mechanical twin (they differ only in the body and rear suspension plus some minor trim) which doesn't seem to be plagued with the same complaint.

There was also a case of a Kia Rio (back when Kia was a new player in the U.S. market) whose owner claimed she could not stop and the car started driving itself. With the wide open spaces available in the U.S., she could not crash onto anything. Police officers found her circling a parking lot and shouting for help. If I recall right, a police officer was finally able to stop the vehicle. A later investigation seems to point out that she was dissatisfied with her purchase (Kia wasn't exactly making great cars then) but the dealer refused to refund the cost of the unit. I lost track after that.

Other unintended acceleration claims in the U.S. resulted from owners wanting to escape liability for crashes they had been in where in fact there was nothing wrong with their cars but they instead stepped on the wrong pedal or their foot slipped from one pedal to the next as they tried to stop the vehicle.

On a Kia unit I drove it is very possible to hit the gas and brake pedal at once especially when equipped with those bling after market pedals. Happened to me in more than one panic stop incident during test runs but ramming the shifter into neutral prevented any drive force and allowed the vehicle to be safely stopped albeit with the engine revving wildly.

So it's no surprise that manufacturers are looking into these cases with their doubt caps on.

Is the MS drive by wire or is there still a cable physically connecting the gas pedal to the throttle at the engine?

Other plausible causes for unintended acceleration are cruise control wiring error (the involved MS doesn't have cruise control) because the cruise control can control the vehicle throttle irregardless of throttle position.

Is the MS wired up for cruise control? But that still doesn't explain why it's mechanical twin isn't doing the same crazy things.

[niky]

may mga sudden acceleration incidents din ba sa ibang bansa na may montero?

Nope.

But if you are asking if there are sudden acceleration incidents for other cars here and overseas... plenty.

I know of at least two cases of sudden acceleration involving the TDCi Everest. One in the Ateneo parking lot, one at Starbucks Tagaytay. In neither case did the drivers make a big media brouhaha claiming that they were victims of some mysterious electronic glitch. Likely it's because there's less throttle and turbo lag on the Everest, so the drivers are already used to surging acceleration when they press on the gas pedal accidentally.

I was the victim of "sudden acceleration" when a Toyota Noah hit our Crosswind. The driver admitted it was unintended sudden acceleration, he stepped on the accelerator by mistake.

Most such cases, where the car comes from a dead stop, are simply due to pedal misapplication. There are many cases in the US similar to this.

-

Overseas, there are thousands of reported incidents that are hard to attribute to operator error (wherein the vehicle is already moving on the highway, so the driver obviously knows which pedal is which), but the mode of failure is usually floor mat entanglement or cruise control failure. When we checked the standard mats of the Montero Sport, they didn't seem big enough to entangle the pedal, and the MS has no cruise control.

This is not to say that electronic failure is impossible, but cases where the electronic throttle fails open are exceedingly rare... I can find evidence for only one, and it was traced to an ECU short caused by rain. A short at the pedals (as theorized in the Toyota cases in the US) won't cause SUA, because the two sensors operate at different voltages, which would result in an error message at the ECU when they short together.

And again... the MS brakes are more than powerful enough to prevent acceleration as long as you are stepping on them when you shift it into "Drive". This is because the low rpm power of the MS engine is not enough to overwhelm the brakes. And the turbo lag prevents the MS from reaching high rpms for at least half-a-second to a second after shifting to "Drive".

[111prez]

as far as i am concerned, with my monty, from a standstill and with my foot on the brakes, then shifting to D and fully releasing the brakes, it does not even jump forward. i moves a bit but still needs a little tap on the gas pedal to get it going

my suspicion is that most of these paSUAys are either new to mitsu vehicles or new to the invecs II system

even i was, admittedly, surprised with the invecs II system after coming from a manual paj so i had to carefully re-learn everything including reading the manual

[Archi]

Yung lumang modelo pa rin itong latest na sudden acceleration kasi yung "V" nasa ibaba ng GLS.
Nasaan yung mismong driver para sya magsabi ng boung katotohanan?

[111prez]

Yung lumang modelo pa rin itong latest na sudden acceleration kasi yung "V" nasa ibaba ng GLS.
Nasaan yung mismong driver para sya magsabi ng boung katotohanan?

baka bumili ng mas bagong modelo na monty

:hysterical:

[Retz]

This is the complete opposite of the anti collision radar feature of some european cars.

[OTEP]

Most drive by wire throttle systems also now sense brake pedal application and retard engine power automatically. Nissan has been doing it for quite a while. Toyota followed suit after the Lexus incident. Again, I haven't checked if the Monty is drive by wire but it should have a similar logic if it is. At least something good comes out of these sudden acceleration claims.

I'd just like to add that I agree with niky on all his points.

[zix888]

Most drive by wire throttle systems also now sense brake pedal application and retard engine power automatically. Nissan has been doing it for quite a while. Toyota followed suit after the Lexus incident. Again, I haven't checked if the Monty is drive by wire but it should have a similar logic if it is. At least something good comes out of these sudden acceleration claims.

I'd just like to add that I agree with niky on all his points.

Monty is already drive by wire. I was able to see that when i installed my sprintbooster

[OTEP]

If that's the case, Mitsu should be able to check parameters concerning throttle position through their diagnostic equipment. That is if their ECU's store this information.