cruise control cable came loose

My wife said her 2005 Taurus,3.0L was accelerating on it's own so I drove it tonight to see for myself. I discovered that at times you could remove your foot from the accelerator and the car would stay at that speed without the cruise control being on. I tried setting the cruise when this condition was happening but as soon as I pushed the set button there was a load popping sound from under the hood and the car would jerk and the speed would start dropping off untill the cruise light would go out altogether and the car would continue to slow down normaly. When I returned home I checked under the hood and found the cruise control cable had come loose from the throttle. My question is, could the loose cruise cable cause the accelerator to keep the car at the same speed even when you took your foot completly off the gas pedal? I have not driven the car since I put the cable back on the throttle.

It won't keep the same speed but it will cause the throttle to be in the same postion if it is jammed.

The throttle cable breaks and then the cruise cable is able to come off because the tension is relieved from the throttle cam.

Check this area and make sure the cable isn't cracked.

My 2000 Duratec did the same thing.

Cable was like 34 bucks Dealer only item.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d132/mwt60/IMG_1568Cruisecable.jpg
Mike
:smokin: