2006 Subaru Outback

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2006 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING AT 70 MPH, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, BUT THE VEHICLE FAILED TO ACCELERATE. THE VEHICLE LOST POWER, THE CRUISE CONTROL DEACTIVATED, AND THE CHECK ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHO DIAGNOSED THAT THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 182,000.

WHILE DRIVING MY SUBARU YESTERDAY, I SUDDENLY LOST THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE. THE CAR SPEED DROPPED TO 10 MPH. I PULLED OFF THE ROAD AND RESTARTED CAR TWICE. BARELY ENOUGH ACCELERATION TO GET CAR TO 18 MPH. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT REMAINED ON AND THE CRUISE LIGHT BLINKED CONTINOUSLY. TOOK CAR TO DEALER TODAY. ERROR CODE IS P2138. DEALER CANNOT FIND WHAT IS WRONG WITH CAR. I AM CONCERNED ABOUT GOING ONTO HIGHWAYS AND HAVING THIS HAPPEN.

I WAS DRIVING WHEN SUDDENLY MY CAR WOULD NOT GO FORWARD MORE THAN A FEW MPH, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS FLASHING. THANKFULLY I WAS ONLY DOING ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR IN TOWN. I PULLED OVER, TURNED MY CAR OFF, TURNED IT BACK ON AND IT WOULDN'T START. I STARTED IT FOR A 2ND TIME AND IT STARTED AND I DROVE HOME. I TOOK IT TO MY SUBARUS ONLY MECHANIC OF 17 YEARS (I'M ON MY 4TH SUBIE) WHO THOUGHT THE ERROR CODE OF P2138 WAS ODD. HE TOLD ME TO LET HIM KNOW IF IT HAPPENED AGAIN....AND IT DID A FEW DAYS LATER SO I TOOK IT BACK IN. MY MECHANIC CALLED SUBARU AND FOUND OUT THIS WAS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM. I'VE ONLY HAD IT BACK A DAY SO I'M NOT SURE IF THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN FIXED. I CERTAINLY HOPE IT HAS AS I'M TERRIFIED OF THE THOUGHT OF THIS HAPPENING ON THE HIGHWAY DOING 70 MPH ON MY WAY TO WORK IN HORRIBLE TRAFFIC. AFTER GETTING ON THE INTERNET, THIS LONG-TIME SUBARU LOVER IS SURPRISED AND DISAPPOINTED THAT SUBARU HASN'T DONE A RECALL ON THIS PROBLEM. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.

I WAS DRIVING WITH MY 10 MONTH OLD IN THE CAR WHEN IT SUDDENLY BEGAN TO DECCELERATE. I PRESSED ON THE GAS PEDAL AND GOT NO RESPONSE. THE CHECK ENGINE AND CRUISE CONTROL LIGHTS BEGAN FLASHING AT THIS TIME AS WELL. FORTUNATELY I WAS ON A RURAL ROAD (SPEED LIMIT 40 MPH) AND WAS ABLE TO LIMP ALONG TO A PULL OFF. I TURNED THE ENGINE OFF AND LET IT SIT FOR 5 MINUTES. WHEN I TURNED THE CAR BACK ON I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE AGAIN. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON WHEN I INITIALLY STARTED THE CAR BUT TURNED OFF WHEN I BEGAN DRIVING AGAIN. THE SAME EVENT OCCURRED 4 DAYS LATER WHEN I WAS TAKING MY 4 YEAR OLD TO PRESCHOOL. I TURNED OFF A 25 MPH STREET INTO HIS SCHOOL WHEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON AND THE GAS PEDAL QUIT WORKING. I SHOULD NOTE THAT WHEN THE GAS PEDAL "QUITS WORKING" THE CAR WILL NOT LET ME GO ABOVE 15 MPH. ONCE AGAIN, I WAS ABLE TO TURN THE CAR OFF AND WHEN I STARTED IT BACK UP THE GAS PEDAL WORKED AGAIN. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A LOCAL MECHANIC WHO REPLACED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL AND SENSOR. FORTUNATELY I WAS ON RURAL ROADS WHEN BOTH OF THESE EVENTS HAPPENED, BUT THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN TERRIFYING IF I WAS ON A BUSY ROAD OR FREEWAY, ESPECIALLY WITH 2 SMALL CHILDREN IN THE CAR.

I WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE AND WHEN I GOT ONTO THE EXIT RAMP, THE VEHICLE GAS PEDAL STOPPED WORKING AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON ALONG WITH FLASHING CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT. I COASTED INTO A DEALERSHIP WITH HAZARD LIGHTS ON AT ABOUT 10MPH. DIAGNOSIS WAS A FAULTY ACCELERATOR PEDAL SENSOR. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN VERY DANGEROUS IF I WAS IN HEAVY TRAFFIC OR STILL ON THE INTERSTATE. CAR ONLY HAS 53,000 MILES ON IT.

I WAS DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 55, MILES PER HOUR THE ENG WENT TO IDE SPEED, THE CHECK ENG LIGHT CAME ON. I DRIFTED OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, THE THROTTLE WAS UNRESPONSIVE. READ THE CODE OUT AND IT WAS FOR THROTTLE PEDAL POSITION SENSOR. IT HAS HAPPENED TWICE SINCE, THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS IF IN MAJOR TRAFFIC SUCH AS ON A FREEWAY. IT COULD CAUSE A CRASH. THIS SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH SUBARU, I HAVE RESEARCHED IT AND MANY PEOPLE REPORT THIS IN FORUMS ON THE INTERNET.

WHEN DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AT 75MPH THE ENGINE LIGHT AND CRUISE CONTROL LIGHT CAME ON AND THE ACCELERATOR BECAME UNRESPONSIVE. AFTER PULLING OVER AND RESTARTING THE CAR IT WORKED FINE. THIS HAS HAPPENED 7 TIMES SO FAR AND AFTER READING MANY POSTS ON OUTBACK FORUMS IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON AND DANGEROUS PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE FIGURED OUT BY SUBARU.

WAS DRIVING AT APPROX 55 MPH WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, CRUISE LIGHT WAS FLASHING, AND SPORT LIGHT WAS FLASHING, CAR SLOWED DOWN TO 10 MPH AND COULD NOT GO ANY FASTER. IT WAS REVVED UP TO REDLINE AND THERE WAS NO RESPONSE WITH THE GAS PEDAL. I WAS ONLY 2 MILES FROM MY DESTINATION, SO I LIMPED IT THERE AND SHUT IT OFF. I HAD IT SCANNED WITH A CODE SCANNER AND CODE "P2138" (THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR) CAME UP. AFTER MUCH RESEARCH I FOUND IT USUALLY IS RELATED TO GAS PEDAL ASSY. IT HAS NOT YET HAPPENED SINCE CLEARING THE CODE AND MAKING SURE THE PLUG ON THE PEDAL WAS TIGHT.