2005 Subaru Outback Speed Control & Cruise Problems

P2138 code. Gas pedal stops responding to inputs. Car goes into limp mode and managed to get car off the road. Shut off and waited 5 minutes, restarted and it works again. Associated P0500 code also present. First time this has happened on this car.

The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing cruise control failures. Additionally, the contact stated while driving at 50 MPH up a steep hill of a bridge, the brake pedal was depressed and the vehicle decelerated significantly to 20-25 MPH. The accelerator pedal was depressed but failed to respond. The contact stated that the vehicle lost motive power and remained at the bottom of the hill facing an incline, while there was oncoming traffic. The check engine warning light and other unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact engaged the Sport mode first gear and the vehicle moved slowly. The contact continued to depress the accelerator pedal but the vehicle failed to respond. The contact switched to the slow lane and drove to the top of the incline and made a left turn off the end of the bridge downhill. The vehicle rolled down, allowing him to veer to the side of the road. The contact parked the vehicle. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that the engine was running at 2,000 RPM, even though the vehicle had no motive power. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle. The contact shifted to drive and low gear, and he was able to drive the vehicle to an independent mechanic. The independent mechanic diagnosed that the throttle position sensor had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 177,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Subaru Outback. The contact stated while driving downhill at 40 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The accelerator pedal was depressed however, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact parked on the side of the road and restarted the vehicle after 3-4 minutes and continued driving to his destination. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was turned off after restarting the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 215,500.

EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE THE GAS PEDAL STOPS FUNCTIONING. IT HAPPENS AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS AS WELL AS LOCAL ROADS. WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN YOU HAVE TO FIND A SAFE SPOT TO PULL OVER AND SHUT OFF THE ENGINE FOR AT LEAST A MINUTE OR MORE. RESTART THE CAR AND THE PEDAL COMES BACK. THIS IS VERY HAZARDOUS. I COULD END UP GETTING REAR ENDED. MY GRAND CHILDREN RIDE IN THE CAR. THE SCANNER CODE CAME UP P2138 SUBARU RECOMMENDS THAT THE GAS PEDAL ASSEMBLY NEEDS TO BE REPLACED. IT'S A 185.00 PART PLUS LABOR.I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THERE ISN'T A RECALL BECAUSE OF THE SAFETY ISSUE

I AM HAVING AN ISSUE WITH MY CAR GOING LIMP AFTER START. THE ENGINE DOES NOT REGISTER THE GAS PEDAL/THROTTLE. CODE READER SAID ITS THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR. BROUGHT TO MID HUDSON SUBARU IN WAPPINGERS NY, THEY SAID GAS PEDAL SENSOR. THAT DID NOT FIX VEHICLE. SUBARU DOES NOT SEEM TO RECOGNIZE THIS AS A SAFETY ISSUE... THE PROBLEM IS SPORADIC AND THERE IS NO WARNING, JUST DRIVING ALONG AND GAS PEDAL NO LONGER HAS ANY EFFECT ON PROPULSION OF VEHICLE.

1) RECURRING PHANTOM REVVING (IN NEUTRAL AND/OR CLUTCH DEPRESSED, BOTH WHILE COMPLETELY STOPPED AND WHILE SLOWING DOWN FROM ANY AND ALL SPEEDS) UPWARDS OF 4-5K RPM WITH DIFFICULTY GETTING THE RPMS BACK TO NORMAL. HAPPENS SOMETIMES DAILY, SOMETIMES CONSTANTLY, SOMETIMES IT GOES A FEW DAYS WITHOUT HAPPENING. 2) COMPLETE LOSS OF PEDAL CONTROL/RESPONSE (A "LIMP" PEDAL) WHILE GOING 60MPH ON A FREEWAY, MANAGED TO COAST TO SAFETY AND LET THE CAR SIT FOR 10+ MINUTES, WHEN IT RESTARTED AND THE THROTTLE WORKED AGAIN. STORED CODE P2138, CEL ON AND CRUISE CONTROL DISABLED. HAVE ONLY DRIVEN THE CAR A FEW TIMES SINCE, OUT OF FEAR OF LOSING PEDAL CONTROL AGAIN. -- ONLINE RESEARCH HAS LED ME TO A NUMBER OF POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS, MOST COMMON BEING DEFECTIVE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR CONNECTIONS (WHICH FREQUENTLY GET EXPOSED TO THE ELEMENTS AND CORRODE, APPARENTLY), BAD ACCELERATOR PEDAL POSITION SENSOR, AND MANY PEOPLE REPLACED THE ENTIRE PEDAL ASSEMBLY WHEN THE PREVIOUS "FIXES" DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

ERROR CODE P2138: SOME FAILURE OF PEDAL SENSOR ASSEMBLY WHILE IN MOTION. EXACT ISSUE UNKNOWN. ACCELERATION GOES LIMP AND PEDAL BECOMES NON-RESPONSIVE. HAS HAPPENED IN BOTH CITY AND HIGHWAY DRIVING SITUATIONS. VERY DANGEROUS IN TRAFFIC

INTERMITTENTLY AND WITHOUT WARNING, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WILL BECOME UNRESPONSIVE. ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS, THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION WHEN THIS HAPPENED. THE SPEEDOMETER FELL TO 0, AND WHEN PRESSED, THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL DID NOTHING. THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE LIMPED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND RESTARTED IN ORDER FOR IT TO WORK AGAIN. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD THEN COME ON. ON OTHER OCCASIONS, THE ACCELERATOR WOULD NOT RESPOND IMMEDIATELY UPON STARTING THE VEHICLE, AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON IMMEDIATELY UPON STARTING. THIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS OR FATAL IF THE CAR WERE TO GO LIMP WHEN DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AT HIGH SPEEDS, OR TAKING A TURN. RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT THIS IS A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM WITH THE OUTBACK, AND ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN BY SUBARU. THIS SHOULD BE TREATED AS A RECALL.

CAR RANDOMLY GOES LIMP WHILE DRIVING, ACCELERATOR WILL NOT RESPOND. HAVE TO PUT IT IN NEUTRAL AND EEK TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. VERY DANGEROUS! CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATES, PULLING A P2138 CODE.

WHILE DRIVING OR ACCELERATING FROM A STOPPED POSITION THE ACCELERATOR LOSES CONTROL. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON AND I THEN HAVE TO COAST TO A SAFE PLACE ON THE ROAD. I TURN OFF IGNITION, REMOVE AND REPLACE GAS CAP, RESTART THE XAR. HAD THE CHECK ENGINE CODE CHECKED AS P2138. TROTTLE/PEDAL POSITION SENSOR SWITCH. SO FAR I HAVE BEEN LUCKY AND NOT BEEN HIT WHILE THIS OCCURS.THIS HAS BEEN HAPPENING FOR 2 WEEKS NOW. GOING TO REPAIR SHOP TO HOPE FOR REPAIR.

ACCELERATOR PEDAL RANDOMLY STOPPED FUNCTIONING WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT ON FLAT ROAD APPROXIMATELY 30MPH, RESULTING IN NO SPEED CONTROL, ABLE TO DRIVE ONLY ON IDLE SPEED. FIRST SEEMS LIKE NOT 'SHIFTING GEARS' CORRECTLY, THEN NO SPEED CONTROL. (MANY COMMENTS IN ONLINE FORUM OF ELUSIVE PROBLEM TO DIAGNOSE BY SUBARU DEALERS AND MUCH MONEY SPENT WITH ONLY RANDOM SUCCESS.) WHEN RESTARTED CAR DROVE NORMALLY WITH 'CHECK ENGINE LIGHT' ON ABOUT 3 MILES THEN SAME THING, ACCELERATOR WENT LIMP, NO SPEED CONTROL BUT GOT ME HOME. CAR TAKEN IN TO DEALER THE NEXT DAY.(DROVE DOWN HILL APPROX 30 MILES WITH NO PROBLEM). SERVICE DEPARTMENT CLAIMED "NOT CURRENT CODE" (CLEARLY THE PROBLEM IS INTERMITTENT) AND SAID NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A PROBLEM (NONSENSE, IT'S ALL OVER THE WEB); THEY CLEANED THE THROTTLE MECHANISM, HOPING THAT WOULD FIX. DROVE CAR TO SAN FRANCISCO ABOUT 100 MILES AND FOUR DAYS LATER IT FAILED AGAIN, SAME SCENARIO--ACCELEARTOR FAILS TO FUNCTION WHILE DRIVING ON FLAT GROUND, THIS TIME GOING ABOUT 20MPH, 55F OUTSIDE, AFTER ABOUT 5 MINUTES OF DRIVING, IN SAN FRANCISCO THIS THIRD TIME! SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD IF HAPPENS ON A FREEWAY, A BRIDGE, A HILL, ETC. CALLED TWO SUBARU DEALERS, NOBODY WANTS TO HELP!

DRIVING ON INTERSTATE FREEWAY, IN HEAVY TRAFFIC, WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL SET, WHEN THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY LOST ALL POWER AND THROTTLE RESPONSE. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT CAME ON, AND THE "CRUISE" LIGHT STARTED BLINKING. ENGINE CONTINUED TO RUN AT HIGH IDLE BUT SPEED AND RPM WERE NOT MAINTAINED. I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO CROSS 4 LANES OF TRAFFIC AND STOP. TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, WHICH WAS RUNNING AT 2200 RPM. AFTER A BRIEF STOP AND INVESTIGATION, I WAS ABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE AND DRIVE NORMALLY TO AN AUTO PARTS STORE. I SCANNED THE OBD II CODE (DTC CODE) AND FOUND P2138 - THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR. NO INJURIES, BUT THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DEADLY ISSUE. HAS RECURRED ONE TIME SINCE. *TR

CAR SUDDENLY LOOSES POWER AND WILL NOT RUN ABOVE 1500 RPM IT WILL RUN BUT YOU HAVE TO TURN IT ON AND OFF SEVERAL TIMES IT DOES THIS WHEN PULLING OUT OR GOING STEADY DOWN THE ROAD .... CRUISE LIGHT FLASHING AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON

FROM AN INTERSECTION, I SLOWED DOWN TO MAKE A RIGHT TURN AND UPON COMPLETING THE TURN, I PUT MY FOOT ON THE GAS PEDAL TO ACCELERATE AND THE PEDAL WAS UNRESPONSIVE. I HAD ENOUGH MOMENTUM TO QUICKLY TURN ONTO A SIDE STREET OUT OF TRAFFIC. THE GAS PEDAL WHEN PUSHED DOWN ALL THE WAY WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AND DID NOT MAKE THE REVVING SOUND. THIS IS THE FIFTH TIME THIS HAS OCCURRED TO ME SINCE PURCHASING THIS NEW VEHICLE IN 2005. IT SEEMS TO BE OCCURRING MORE OFTEN NOW. *TR

LOST THROTTLE RESPONSE ON EXPRESSWAY WITH ONCOMING TRAFFIC FROM ON-RAMP ALMOST CAUSING COLLISION WHILE TRYING TO MOVE TO THE SHOULDER. APPLIED BRAKES TO STOP VEHICLE ONCE ON SHOULDER, CAR WAS REVVING AT 3300 RPMS. PLACED VEHICLE IN PARK AND TURNED SWITCH TO OFF. STARTED CAR TO FIND THE THROTTLE STILL REVVING TO 3300 RPMS AND TURNED OFF AGAIN. WAITED 5-MINUTES AND STARTED CAR AGAIN WITH THE THROTTLE AT NORMAL IDLE. DROVE CAR 15-MILES AND THE CRUISE AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TURNED OFF. HAPPENED IN RAINY AND COLD WEATHER. *TR

BOUGHT THE CAR FROM A TOYOTA DEALER IN JUNE 2011. WITHIN 5 DAYS OF BUYING IT, WHEN DRIVING THE CAR ON HIGHWAY, WITHIN 15 MINS OF DRIVING, ALL OF A SUDDEN THE CAR JERKS, WITH A SUDDEN DROP IN SPEED, WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TURNED ON AND CRUISE LIGHT STARTING TO BLINK. CAR WOULD NOT SPEED UP NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE ACCELERATOR IS PRESSED. I HAD TO PULL THE CAR TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I HAVE TAKEN IT SEVERAL TIMES TO SUBARU SERVICE...THEY SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AND ATTEMPT TO FIX IT - I PAY THEM AND DRIVE IT BACK HOME AND, THE SAME PROBLEM PERSISTS. I GET THE SAME CODE EACH TIME - P0638. REPLACED THROTTLE BODY. REPLACED TIMING BELT. REPLACED THE THROTTLE CONTROL RELAY. ETC. THE MECHANICS SEEM TO TEST DRIVE IT AND FIND NO PROBLEM WITH IT. EVERY TIME THEY SEEM CONFIDENT THAT THEY HAVE FIXED IT. BUT, EVERYTIME I BEGIN TO DRIVE, THE CAR FAULTS AND THE SPEED DROPS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. IT IS A DANGER TO ANYONE IN THE CAR AND TO PASSENGERS IN OTHER CARS. *TR

I WAS ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE FROM A STOP LIGHT AND MY OUTBACK ACTED AS THOUGH I TOOK MY FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR. THE MORE I ATTEMPTED TO ACCELERATE THE LESS IT RESPONDED. IF THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC HADN'T NOTICED, THEY WOULD HAVE HIT ME. WHEN I FINALLY GOT IT OFF THE ROAD AND SHUT IF OFF FOR AWHILE, IT STARTED BUT DIDN'T RUN CORRECTLY. I CALLED THE SUBARU DEALER AND THEY HAULED IT 90 MILES TO THEIR SHOP. THE REPLACED THE FOOT PEDAL SENSOR AND IT WORKED OK UNTIL THE LAST 2 WEEKS AND IT IS ACTING LIKE IT DID 2 YEARS AGO. AS I VISIT WITH OTHER OWNERS, THEY SAY THEY HAVE THE SAME ISSUE BUT DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT. I FEEL AS THOUGH THIS IS A SAFETY FEATURE THAT NEEDS ATTENTION AND A PERMANENT FIX FOR A SOLUTION BEFORE SOME ONE GETS HURT DO TO THE INABILITY TO ACCELERATE AND GET OUT OF HARMS WAY. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 SUBARU OUTBACK. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WOULD INTERMITTENTLY BECOME UNRESPONSIVE. THE DEALER REPAIRED THE DEFECT, BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 65,696 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 75,000.

FOLLOWING A FEW WEEKS OF A RUFF IDLE AT STOP LIGHTS, THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR FAILED ON MY 2005 SUBARU OUTBACK 2.5I. AFTER GETTING OFF OF THE HIGHWAY AND SITTING AT A STOP LIGHT, THE GAS PEDAL WOULD NOT WORK. THE VEHICLE WAS RUNNING, HOWEVER THERE WAS NO REACTION AT ALL FROM PUSHING THE PEDAL ALL THE WAY TO THE GROUND AND THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WAS ON. AFTER TURNING THE CAR OFF AND RESTARTING IT NORMAL FUNCTION RETURNED, HOWEVER I WAS INFORMED THAT FAILURE COULD OCCUR AGAIN AT ANY TIME INCLUDING WHILE DRIVING. MY MECHANIC READ THE CODE AS THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR AND REPLACED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL POSITION SENSOR. *TR

TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 SUBARU OUTBACK. WHILE DRIVING WITH THE CRUISE CONTROL SET TO 75 MPH, THE CONTACT APPLIED REPEATED PRESSURE TO THE BRAKES YET THE CRUISE CONTROL WOULD NOT DISENGAGE. THE CONTACT USED THE CRUISE CONTROL OFF BUTTON BUT TO NO AVAIL. THE CONTACT WAS UNABLE TO STOP THE ACCELERATION OF THE VEHICLE AND PROCEEDED TO CRASH INTO AN UNKNOWN OBJECT. THE VEHICLE WAS DESTROYED. THE DRIVER AND PASSENGER SUSTAINED UNKNOWN INJURIES. A POLICE REPORT WAS AVAILABLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE CONTACT'S INSURANCE COMPANY LOT AND WAS NOT EXAMINED FOR THE CAUSE OF FAILURE. THE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGES WERE 77,000.