2006 Subaru Outback

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.

FALL OF 2011 I STARTED TO NOTICE A FILM, WHICH WAS ALL OVER THE DASHBOARD, THIS FILM WAS OF STICKY SUBSTANCE AND IT WAS MAINLY OR MORE NOTICEABLE ON THE PARTS OF THE DASHBOARD THAT WERE MOST DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE SUN. THIS FILM WAS OF SUCH STICKINESS THAT HAIR, DUST PARTICLES, PAPER, OR ANYTHING THAT WOULD COME IN CONTACT WITH IT WOULD GET TRAPPED AS IF IT WAS FLY PAPER. I DID EVERYTHING THAT COULD HAD BEEN DONE IN ORDER TO IF NOT ELIMINATED, TO MAKE IT ACCEPTABLE AND NOT SO STICKY AND GLUE LIKE. I WENT TO THE SUBARU DEALER, WHERE THE CAR WAS PURCHASED, IN ORDER TO GET SOME RE-DRESS TO THIS PROBLEM, IN SEVERAL OCCASIONS I WAS TOLD THIS FILM, THIS STICKINESS CAME FROM USING ARMOR ALL, THAT IT MUST COME FROM SOME PRODUCT I MUST HAVE USED ON IT. WELL, NOTHING EVER CAME OUT OF MY MANY VISITS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SERVICE MANAGER, AS THE LAST RESORT THE LAST TIME OF MY VISIT TO THE DEALERSHIP, I INSISTED ON THEM OPENING A CASE SO SUBARU HEADQUARTER WOULD BE AWARE OF IT, AFTER I CALLED AND OBTAIN A COMPLAINT #, THE SUBARU DEALER IN SANFORD WAS NOTIFIED AND THEN THEY MADE THE APPT TO TAKE THE PICTURES, THIS WAS SOMETIME THIS YEAR MARCH OR APRIL, ABOUT A WEEK OR SO LATER, I WAS CONTACTED BY THE SUBARU REGIONAL OFFICE AND THE REPRESENTATIVE WENT ON TO EDUCATE ME BY TELLING ME THAT MY CAR WAS OUT OF WARRANTY,THEY HAD NO COMPLAINT OF STICKY DASHBOARDS ON RECORD, AND 3RD THAT NO MATTER HOW MANY TIME I WENT TO THE DEALER OR HEADQUARTERS, I WAS NOT GOING TO GET MY DASHBOARD FIXED OR REPLACED. IN CLOSING THUS LET ME SAY, THAT ANOTHER JAPANESE COMPANY TOYOTA HAS ALREADY OWNED UP TO THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE STICKY AND SHINNY DASHBOARD ALSO REFERRED TO AS MELTING DASHBOARDS: HTTP://MECHANICS.STACKEXCHANGE.COM/QUESTIONS/14613/WHY-IS-MY-TOYOTA-DASHBOARD-SHINY-AND-STICKY-AND-HOW-DO-I-CLEAN-IT

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.

TRAVELING FROM MY HOME TO DENVER, CO I NOTICED THE 'AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT' COME ON. THIS HAS OCCURRED ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. I CALLED THE AUTO NATION SUBARU DEALER TO TRY AND GET AN APPOINTMENT. THE SERVICE REP SAID THEY WERE FULL FOR THE DAY. HE ASKED ME WHAT THE ISSUE WAS AND I TOLD HIM ABOUT THE 'AIR BAG WARNING LIGHT' COMING ON. MOREOVER, HE SAID THAT THE AIR BAG WOULD NOT FUNCTION WITH THE WARNING ICON ON. HE THEN ASKED ME IF I MAY HAVE PLACED MY CELL PHONE IN THE PASSENGER SEAT? I TOLD HIM THAT I HAD INDEED PLACED MY CELL PHONE IN THE PASSENGER SEAT. THE SERVICE REP ADDED FURTHER THAT MY CELL PHONE MAY BE INTERFERING WITH THE ELECTRONICS OF THE AIR BAG WARNING SYSTEM. THIS SOUNDED VERY ODD TO ME. THIS PHENOMENA IS VERY DISCONCERTING AS IT COULD READILY RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY IF THE AIR BAG SHOULD FAIL TO DEPLOY IN A HEAD ON COLLISION. I ALSO SPOKE TO A SERVICE TECH AT ANOTHER SUBARU OUTLET WHO TOLD ME THAT HE HAD HEARD OF THIS ODD CELL PHONE/AIR BAG SITUATION. AS THIS AIR BAG PHENOMENA THAT IS OCCURRING IN MY VEHICLE IS NOT AN ISOLATED SITUATION, I FEEL THAT THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE ADDRESSED AND REPAIRED IMMEDIATELY.

AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED AND REMAINED ILLUMINATED AFTER BIT TEST COMPLETED ON ENGINE START. OWNERS MANUAL STATES AN ILLUMINATED AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT COULD MEAN THE AIRBAG SYSTEM WILL NOT DEPLOY OR PERFORM AS DESIGNED IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT. I BELIEVE THIS IS RESULT OF A SUBARU DESIGN FLAW THAT SUBARU NEEDS TO ADDRESS AND CORRECT VIA RECALL. *TR