STRAIGHT to red-line revs on startup!

[Chris Meutsch]

I'm still shaking.
2016 4Runner, 70k miles.

I cleaned my floormats this morning (Weathertech's) and reinstalled them a few hours ago.
I got in about 20 minutes ago, fired it up, and it went all the way up to 5900RPM's instantly. After about 1.5 seconds my brain managed to shut it off.

Waited about a minute while panicking. Got down on the floor and saw the mat pinning the gas down. Fixed that issue (completely my fault) and restarted, and it sounds fine, no smoke, etc.

Holy jeez. Let's hope it survives without any issue. Luckily it's 75 here today so it wasn't 0 in the winter. 0w20 oil.

 

[supton]

Not sure I'd have worried about it even if it was cold out. You should read about some of the torture tests that the Ford Ecoboost went through--and I'm guessing many of the OEM's have similar tests.

Now having it rev up on me unexpectedly... I would need to clean out my shorts, no doubt about that!

 

[Gimpy1]

While its not a good idea to rev up to the redline when your engine isn't up to temp, you caught it fast, and stopped it. IMHO I don't think you did any damage.

 

[TmanP]

This would have spooked me for sure, but just be very glad that this didn't happen while you were driving.
It could've been much, much, much worse than an extra bit of startup wear! Glad you're ok (and I'm confident the truck will be ok too).

 

[Zaedock]

Millions of Mom's do this every morning in minivans and 4 door Wranglers. Start-up and punch it.

Your 4Runner will be fine.

 

[RhondaHonda]

Not much of a load on it either so I’m sure it’s fine. Reminds me of the runaway Camrys and the floor mats.

 

[Chris Meutsch]

Not much of a load on it either so I’m sure it’s fine. Reminds me of the runaway Camrys and the floor mats.

It was exactly the same, except this was my fault. Happy it was in Park!

 

[Eddie]

People who don't have a clue do this frequently. I have a neighbor who does this because it " gets oil pressure up quicker"

 

[Lubener]

It's done and over with. Why worry about something that has already happened. If severe damage had occured, the engine would be knocking. Like the song says, "don't worry, be happy". Your engine will be fine.

I had a Ford Fairmont long ago that the carb froze in minus 10 degree weather. I didn't realize that it was floored till I cold started it. The engine screamed for a few seconds. The 2.3 engine survived better than me as my fingers froze to the carb trying to free it up.

 

[hemitom]

Doubt it if hurt anything, this is how my grandfather started his car every morning even in the middle of winter .
his starting procedure, pump gas pedal a couple times put gas pedal to floor hold their twist key engine starts screams wide open for 15 to 20 seconds release gas pedal throw into reverse and be on his way.
don't know how he never managed to launch 8 pistons through the hood of his poor buick regals.

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

I wouldn't make a habit of this but I wouldn't worry about it either. Generators and what not do this all the time.

 

[Tkonrr]

My Scion has been through that before. Went on strong for years afterwards with no odd noises, oil consumption or noticeable reduction in performance. At a little above freezing, I pulled out of a parking space near work and noticed a car barreling up on me from behind at well above the 25 mph speed limit. I immediately floored the go pedal. Engine labored past 5,000 rpms to avoid an accident. Another time, I installed a new larger battery in it, started it up and heard the engine race to the limit for about 2 seconds before I turned it off. The big battery was pressing down the accelerator cable (old 2006 model) that was routed around the battery. You might have reduced the 4 Runner's engine lifespan by 50 miles, no worries.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

A lot of toyotas have been wrecked from floor mats!

Funny story when I did the first oil change on my Jeep at 95000 miles when I bought it. I was used to vehicles where I can hold the pedal to the floor to do a clear flood mode prime of the oil filter. I didn't realize my Cherokee doesn't have that.

So I filled up the oil, hopped in and held the pedal to the floor. The instant I touched the key it fired right off and was hitting the rev limiter for a few seconds until I figured out what was happening.

It now has 214000 on it and still going strong.

 

[ATex7239]

Millions of Mom's do this every morning in minivans and 4 door Wranglers. Start-up and punch it.

Your 4Runner will be fine.

Dude, this my entire neighborhood in the morning... the distinct sounds of starters cranking over, transmissions immediately chunking to gear, followed by engines high reving can be heard far and wide.

 

[vwmaniaman]

Probably few will remember the 56 Olds and Buicks that had the starter engage with the gas pedal all the way to the floor.

 

[ZedzAmg]

My neighbor fires up his mustang and RIPS IT every morning, still going strong. Considering it was stationary and not under load you did no harm

 

[CR94]

My sister-in-law's '96(?I think) Camry unexpectedly did something like that, when nothing was on the accelerator. No rev limiter. Engine did not survive; a rod punched through the oil pan. We heard a rumor that there had been a problem with throttle plates coming loose that year, but nobody tore her car down for specific diagnosis, as far as I know.

 

[Bird's_Garage]

I see a lot of comments about it being fine since it wasn't under load. I've always been under the impression that it's worse if it isn't under load, hence the 4k rpm rev limit many cars used to have in park and neutral. Either way, OP would've known by now if damage was done.

 

[Accent Abuser]

I'm still shaking.
2016 4Runner, 70k miles.

I cleaned my floormats this morning (Weathertech's) and reinstalled them a few hours ago.
I got in about 20 minutes ago, fired it up, and it went all the way up to 5900RPM's instantly. After about 1.5 seconds my brain managed to shut it off.

Waited about a minute while panicking. Got down on the floor and saw the mat pinning the gas down. Fixed that issue (completely my fault) and restarted, and it sounds fine, no smoke, etc.

Holy jeez. Let's hope it survives without any issue. Luckily it's 75 here today so it wasn't 0 in the winter. 0w20 oil.

It will be fine. Redlining or high revs in general can wear an engine more before it's up to temp, but a one time occurrence is nothing, especially with no real load on the engine. They're designed to take it. I've been guilty of flooring it in the winter when idling just to get it hot enough to melt the snow and I've never had any problems.

 

[Accent Abuser]

I see a lot of comments about it being fine since it wasn't under load. I've always been under the impression that it's worse if it isn't under load, hence the 4k rpm rev limit many cars used to have in park and neutral. Either way, OP would've known by now if damage was done.

I don't think that's why. Overheating or overreving when not moving are the main concerns. Many cars today are designed with a large margin of safety on the electronic limiters. Lots of systems have a fuel cut off limiter, when it's initially floored at idle it will briefly bounce past the rev limit before settling. Why take a chance allowing it to run at 6k rpm when the engine goes boom at 6.5k?