What Happened?

Today had an interesting twist. When we set up our campsite in Shawn's back yard on Friday, we left Ruby (my new Explorer) on the street outside the yard. When we tow Ruby, I have to remove the floor mat on the driver's side so the EvenBrake braking system will work properly. This morning, I went out to move Ruby, so I put the floor mat back in place and tried to start Ruby. The starter turned over, but it wouldn't start. It was like it wasn't getting any fuel. I tried several times, with no success. It seemed like a computer problem, since the starter worked but there was no indication it was getting any fuel or spark. We had planned a foray to the ski resorts in the mountains near Shawn and Grace's house, so I gave up and we piled into two vehicles. It was a beautiful drive up to Snow Bird and Alta. They're only about a half hour from Sean and Grace's house, so it's perfect for Sean when he wants to go snow boarding.

When we returned home, we had lunch and I tried Ruby again--with the same result. Amazingly, one of the Ford dealerships had service hours on Sunday. I called them and asked them for troubleshooting ideas, but I had already tried them. I called AAA and Ruby endured the indignity of being winched onto the back of a flatbed truck. We arrived at the dealership about 30 minutes before closing, and most of the techs were gone. I asked if they had anyone who could take a quick look at Ruby and determine how big an issue I had, since we were supposed to leave tomorrow morning. I walked over to the beautiful, new, customer lounge, got a soda from the free fountain, and settled in. I was there maybe 5 minutes when the service advisor came in and told me they fixed the problem. It turns out that when I put the fancy Weathertec floor protector back in, it pushed the accelerator partway down and then held it there. The computer sensor (I had no idea there was an accelerator pedal sensor) said the accelerator shouldn't be depressed during starting, and shut the process down. They adjusted the floor protector, and everything was fine. I worked a couple years as a service advisor, but that was a new one on me. The good news was that I could drive it home in time for dinner, and we can leave for Yellowstone first thing tomorrow morning.