1997 Chevrolet Venture Auto Acceleration

1997 ALL OTHER MAKES ALL OTHER MODELS
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I have the following symtphoms.

My car sometimes autoaccelerates. What I mean by that is that it reaches by itself to even 60km or more without even having to push the acceleration.
Once this happen if I shift it from drive it will abruptly shake you (like somebody hit you from the back), and once put in parking the engine RPM goes skyroket (stupid car dosen't have a RPM gauge, but you can hear how the engine goes very high in turration) like I would be half the pedal to the ground. The thing is tho, that sometimes I have this problem, sometimes it's normal. Once I started the engine again in 10-20 seconds and it was normal.
All this started when I drove the car by accident with the handbrake on. (kinda stupid story)

What could the problem be? I just don't want to go to a mechanic to throw away some money again. I did that twice and I wish I didn't.

Highly appriciated, thank you
Feb 5, 2007 at 4:11 AM
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CHEVY22
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first thing i would check is the throttle plate to see if it is gummed up , this is a major problem for any car and will have the effect you are describing , if it id dirty clean it , get some throttle plate cleaner from any parts store and open the throttle by hand , spray it down and use a rag to wipe the body and plate until they are clean , this may not be the issue , but a good start

jim
Feb 15, 2007 at 11:16 PM
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In case this might give additional clues.

The car autoaccelerates if you are driving downhill. if you arrive to a downhill and you just let it speed up, it will get the above problem. Ususaly to get rid of the problem, is once I put the gear into park I instantly shut the engine off (in the progress of the RPM going up).
Right now I am doing my best to avoid hills, and if I do get into a hill I just keep my break on to keep constant speed. I'm thinking of activating cruise control if i'm over 50. This dosen't happen on shallow hills, but on step ones, 15-20 degrees.
Feb 16, 2007 at 2:31 AM
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CHEVY22
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check the throttle plate for sticking , if its dirty it will do just what your saying , if you clean it and it does not fix the problem we will go from there ,

jim
Feb 16, 2007 at 8:19 AM

Suggested Repair

Inspect the throttle plate for dirt or sticking. Spray throttle-plate cleaner, open the throttle by hand, and wipe the plate and bore clean. If cleaning does not stop the unintended acceleration, continue diagnosis from there.

Conversation Summary

The owner of a 1997 Venture reports intermittent unintended acceleration, especially on steep downhill grades, with a sudden jolt when shifting out of Drive and very high engine speed in Park. The issue began after the vehicle was driven with the parking brake applied. The expert advises checking and cleaning a dirty or sticking throttle plate as the first step, then reassessing if the problem remains.

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