2006 Subaru Outback

The engine will randomly loose power. This has happened three times now. You must coast to a stop, turn the key off and try to restart the car. Sometime it will take several tries to restart. I see this as a real safety concern in heavy traffic. Especially so if heavy traffic makes it impossible to reach the side of the road safely. The service code points to the throttle peddle position sensor. Reading some of the internet forums it seems to be a fairly common issue. Of course internet forums must be considered carefully. However with the above said I see this issue as a real safety concern. Not only for my safety but those around me if this happens in heavy traffic. Thank you

The accelerator pedal position sensor is faulty. It is prone to wear in these vehicles based on my research. This caused my car to go into limp-mode on the highway, rapidly cutting my speed in half. The accelerator provides no response until vehicle was restarted. The ECU put out the code P2138 for loss of voltage in throttle system.

I EXPERIENCED MY GAS PEDAL NO LONGER WORKING WHILE DRIVING, CAR WAS DRIVING WELL, ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET GOING ABOUT 25 MPH, THEN THERE WAS SUDDENLY NO GAS/ACCELERATION, HAD TO COAST TO A STOP. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT WAS FLASHING. ABOUT 2 HOURS LATER THE CAR WAS RUNNING NORMAL AGAIN. THE DIAGNOSIS CODE GIVEN WAS P2138 THROTTLE/PEDAL POSITION SENSOR/SWITCH D/E VOLTAGE CORRELATION. IT IS VERY SCARY AND UNSAFE TO SUDDENLY NOT HAVE POWER WHILE DRIVING, WILL BE DRIVING ON THE OUTSIDE LANE UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS FIXED TO I CAN GET OUT OF TRAFFIC SAFELY.

I WAS DRIVING STRAIGHT DOWN THE HIGHWAY GOING ABOUT 50-60 MPH AND OUT OF NOWHERE MY THROTTLE PEDDLE FAILED TO WORK. MY CAR IMMEDIATELY SLOWED DOWN TO A CRAWL AND I HAD TO QUICKLY FIND A SAFE PLACE TO PULL OVER ON A ROAD WITH BARELY ANY SHOULDER. LUCKILY NOT MANY CARS WERE ON THE ROAD SO I DID NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT A PILE-UP ACCIDENT. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND STAYED ON WHILE THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT BEGAN TO FLASH ON AND OFF. AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF AND WAITING A FEW MINUTES I DECIDED TO TRY AND DRIVE THE CAR AGAIN SINCE I WAS IN AN AREA WITH NO SERVICE AND IT WAS BELOW FREEZING OUTSIDE. THE CAR STARTED AND I COULD USE THE THROTTLE PEDDLE AND THE CAR DROVE WITH NO PROBLEM FOR ABOUT 5 MILES BEFORE THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED. LUCKILY SOMEONE DROVE BY AND I WAS ABLE TO CATCH A RIDE WITH THEM TO GET SERVICE AND CALL A TOW TRUCK. THIS ISSUE CAME OUT OF NOWHERE WITH NO PRIOR ISSUES TO THE CAR. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE THAT COULD RESULT IN NOT ONLY AN ACCIDENT ON THE ROAD BECAUSE OF THE RAPID SPEED DECREASE BUT ALSO RISKS LEAVING PEOPLE STRANDED LIKE I WAS.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING AT 35 MPH, THE CONTACT ATTEMPTED TO DEPRESS THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL HOWEVER, THE PEDAL REMAINED IN THE UPRIGHT POSITION. THE VEHICLE SHIFTED INTO LIMP MODE. THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE CONTACT PULLED OVER, TURNED OFF AND RESTARTED THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS DRIVEN TO THE RESIDENCE. THE FAILURE RECURRED SEVERAL TIMES. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO BE DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. NEITHER A DEALER NOR THE MANUFACTURER WERE NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 160,000.

AT HIGHWAY SPEED THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST POWER. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON SOLID WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT BLINKING. THE CAR DID NOT RESPOND TO ANY INPUTS FROM THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND BEGAN TO DECELERATE. UPON STOPPING AND SHIFTING INTO NEUTRAL THE CAR HELD ITSELF AROUND 2800RPM WITH NO ACCELERATOR INPUT FROM THE DRIVER. AFTER READING THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CODE, THE CAR GAVE A P2138 INDICATING A PROBLEM WITH THE PEDAL POSITION SENSOR.

THREE TIMES THE ENGINE RPM'S SPEED UP AND THE THROTTLE PEDDLE FAILS TO WORK, THE ONLY WAY TO RESET THIS IS PULL TO THE SIDE TURN CAR OFF AND IT USUALLY BUT NOT ALWAYS RESETS. THIS HAS HAPPENED TWICE WHILE CAR WAS IN MOTION AND ONCE WHILE CAR WAS IN PARK. LUCKILY I WAS IN A 40 MPH ZONE WHEN THIS HAPPENED AND NOT ON THE HIGHWAY. I HAVE HAD THE CAR LOOKED AT AND IT HAS A ENGINE CODE THAT SAYS THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE THROTTLE SYSTEM. IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME THAT THIS HAPPENS WHEN THE CAR IS IN MOTION AND THROTTLE PEDDLE IS UNRESPONSIVE AND UNABLE TO PULL TO SIDE OF ROADWAY.

THE SAME PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, RANDOMLY, WHILE VEHICLE IS IN MOTION, BOTH ON HIGHWAY AND ON AUXILIARY ROADS AT LOWER SPEEDS. ON 01/20/2020, WHILE DRIVING ~65 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY, SUDDENLY, THE CAR LOST POWER--ALTHOUGH MY FOOT WAS ON THE GAS PEDAL, NO ACCELERATION WAS POSSIBLE. THE CAR "LOCKED UP," AND BEGAN TO DECELERATE, SINCE NO GAS WAS AVAILABLE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, WITH THE FLASHING CRUISE LIGHT SIMULTANEOUSLY ON. LUCKILY, I WAS ABLE TO MOVE THE CAR ACROSS THE HIGHWAY AND STOP ON THE SHOULDER. THE CAR WAS TURNED OFF, AND I RE-STARTED AND DROVE AWAY. WHEN THIS SAME TYPE OF EVENT OCCURRED ANOTHER TIME, ON 02/01/2020, THE CAR WAS IN MOTION ON AN AUXILIARY ROAD, ~30 MPH, IN HEAVY TRAFFIC. THE CAR AGAIN LOCKED UP, NO GAS WAS AVAILABLE--THE CAR WAS ONLY ABLE TO DRIFT VERY SLOWLY. I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT TO A STOP LIGHT, WHICH, LUCKILY, WAS A RED SIGNAL. AT THE STOP, I SHIFTED THE GEAR INTO NEUTRAL. WHILE IN NEUTRAL, THE ENGINE REVVED TO ~2500 RPM, EVEN THOUGH NO PRESSURE WAS BEING APPLIED TO THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL. I HAD TO RESTART THE CAR TWICE, BUT THE PROBLEM DIDN'T CLEAR RIGHT AWAY. AFTER A FEW MINUTES, IT DID. IN THE SEVERAL OTHER INSTANCES WHEN THIS VERY UNSAFE CONDITION OF LOSS OF POWER/ACCELERATION AND REVVING IN NEUTRAL HAS OCCURRED, WHEN THE CAR RESETS, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ALSO RESETS, SO THE CODE CANNOT BE READ IN TIME. FOLLOWING THE MOST RECENT INCIDENT, I WAS ABLE TO READ THE ERROR CODE: P2138 THROTTLE/PEDAL POSITION SENSOR/SWITCH "D"/"E" VOLTAGE CORRELATION. I HAVE READ MANY OTHER REPORTS TO NHTSA AND ON SUBARU ONLINE FORUMS OF THIS VERY SAME PROBLEM. I HAVE READ THAT IT MAY HAVE BEEN CORRECTED ON SUBSEQUENT YEAR MODELS, BUT NOT ON THE 2005 AND 2006, AND DEALERS DON'T FIX. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS, DANGEROUS, LIFE-THREATENING CONDITION. I AM AFRAID TO DRIVE MY CAR. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. SHOULD BE A RECALL.

P2138 CHECK ENGINE CODE. VEHICLE LOST ALL POWER WHILE TRAVELING 55MPH IN 4 LANES OF TRAFFIC. GAS PEDAL DIDN'T WORK AND THE ENGINE WAS RACING. THANKFULLY I WAS ABLE TO COAST OVER INTO THE LEFT TURN LANE. THE VEHICLE WOULD ONLY MOVE FORWARD WHILE IN DRIVE AND AT A SLOW CRAWL. I WAS ABLE TO GET A LARGE ENOUGH WINDOW TO CRAWL ACROSS THE OTHER 2 LANES AND CRAWL INTO A PARKING LOT. I ENDED UP GETTING TOWED FROM THERE. WHEN CHECKING FOR REPAIRS I HAD A SMALLER 'SUBARU ONLY' REPAIR SHOP TELL ME THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND I AM LUCKY NO ONE WAS INJURED. THEY SAID THEY REPAIR 1 TO 2 OF THESE EACH MONTH. MY LOCAL SUBARU DEALER SAYS THEY'VE NEVER HEARD OF THE ERROR CODE OR MY SPECIFIC PROBLEM. THEY DON'T EVEN STOCK THE PART I NEED. THE INTERNET HAS MANY REPORTS OF MY SPECIFIC SCENARIO. THIS SEEMS LIKE A SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERN TO ME. SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT HERE BUT NO BY SEEMS TO BE DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT.